MOSFET

Symbol

Definition (MOSFET Controlled Thyristor) A special type of SCR that has the function of a GTO
with its gate driven from a FET.
In general, the MOSFET works as a switch, the MOSFET controls the voltage and
current flow between the source and drain. The working of the MOSFET depends
on the MOS capacitor, which is the semiconductor surface below the oxide layers
between the source and drain terminal
Working In general, the MOSFET works as a switch, the MOSFET controls the voltage and current flow
Principle between the source and drain. The working of the MOSFET depends on the MOS capacitor,
which is the semiconductor surface below the oxide layers between the source and drain
terminal. It can be inverted from p-type to n-type, simply by applying positive or negative gate
voltage respectively. The below image shows the block diagram of the MOSFET.
When a drain-source voltage (VDS) is connected between the drain and source, a positive
voltage is applied to the Drain, and the negative voltage is applied to the Source. Here the PN
junction at the drain is reverse biased and the PN junction at the Source is forward biased. At
this stage, there will not be any current flow between the drain and the source.

If we apply a positive voltage (VGG) to the gate terminal, due to electrostatic attraction the
minority charge carriers (electrons) in the P substrate will start to accumulate on the gate
contact which forms a conductive bridge between the two n+ regions. The number of free
electrons accumulated at the gate contact depends on the strength of positive voltage applied.
The higher the applied voltage greater the width of the n-channel formed due to electron
accumulation, this eventually increases the conductivity and the drain current (ID) will start
to flow between the Source and Drain.

When there is no voltage applied to the gate terminal, there will not be any current flow apart
from a small amount of current due to minority charge carriers. The minimum voltage at which
the MOSFET starts conducting is called the threshold voltage.
 Operation of MOSFET in Depletion Mode:
The depletion-mode MOSFETs are usually called the “Switched ON” devices as they are
generally in the closed state when there is no bias voltage at the gate terminal. When we
increase the applied voltage to the gate in positive the channel width will be increased in
depletion mode. This will increase the drain current ID through the channel. If the applied gate
voltage is highly negative, then the channel width will be less and the MOSFET might enter
into the cut off region.

Curve
Freq./Am Year made Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward
p voltage current frequency power voltage
Volt 1976 500V 50 A 1MHz 100kW 3-4V
Applica. Used in inverters rated >100 kW
Advantage  MOSFETs provide greater efficiency while operating at lower
voltages.
 Absence of gate current results in high input impedance producing
high switching speed.
 They operate at lower power and draws no current.

Disadva.  The thin oxide layer make the MOSFETs vulnerable to permanent
damage when evoked by electrostatic charges.
 Overload voltages makes it unstable.
IGBT
Symbol

Definition The IGBT combines the simple gate-drive characteristics of power MOSFETs
with the high-current and low-saturation-voltage capability of bipolar transistors.
The IGBT combines an isolated-gate FET for the control input and a bipolar power
transistor as a switch in a single device.
Working The working principle of IGBT is based on the biasing of Gate to Emitter terminals
Principle and Collector to Emitter terminals. When collector is made positive with respect
to emitter, IGBT gets forward biased. With no voltage between Gate and Emitter,
two junctions between n- region & p region i.e. junction J2 are reversed biased.
Therefore, no current flows from collector to emitter. You may refer figure-1 for
better understanding.
When Gate is made positive with respect to Emitter by some voltage VG (this
voltage should be more than the threshold voltage VGET of IGBT), an n-channel is
formed in the upper part of the p-region just beneath the Gate. This n-channel is
called the inversion layer. This n-channel short circuits the n- region with n+
emitter region. Electrons from n+ emitter begins to flow to n- drift region through
n-channel.
As IGBT is forward biased with collector positive and emitter negative, p+
collector region injects holes into n- drift region. Thus, n- drift region is flooded
with electrons from p-body region and holes from p+ collector region. With this,
the injection carrier density in n- drift region increases considerably and
subsequently, conductivity of n- region enhances. Therefore, IGBT gets turned
ON and begins to conduct forward current IC.
Current IC or IE comprises of two current components:
 Hole current Ih due to injection of holes from collector p+, p+n–p transistor
Q1, p-body region resistance Rby and emitter.
 Electronic current Ie due to injected electrons flowing from collector,
injection layer p+, drift region n-, n-channel resistance Rch, n+ and emitter.
Therefore, the collector, or load current
IC = Emitter Current
= IE
= Ih + Ie
Major current of collector current is electronic current Ie i.e. main current path for
collector, or load, current is through p+, n-, drift resistance Rd and n-channel
resistance Rch. This is shown in exact equivalent circuit.
The voltage drops in an IGBT during its ON condition consists of voltage drop in
n-channel, voltage drop across drift n- region, voltage drop across forward biased
p+n- junction J1. The voltage drop across junction J1 is very small of the order of
 0.7 to 1V. The ON state voltage drop of IGBT is very small and hence ON state
losses are also low.

Curve

Freq./Amp Year made Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward

Volt voltage current frequency power voltage
1983 1.2 kV 400 A 20 kHz 100’s kW 3–4V
Application The IGBT is popular in inverters from about 1 to 200kW or more. It is found almost
exclusively in power electronics applications.
Advantage  Simple drive circuit.
 Low on-resistance.
 High voltage capacity.
 Fast switching speed.
 Easy of drive.
 Low switching loss.
 Low on stage power dissipation.
 Low gate drive requirement.

Disadva.
TRANSISTO
R
Symbol

Definition A transistor consists of two PN diodes connected back to back. It has three
terminals namely emitter, base and collector. The basic idea behind a transistor
is that it lets you control the flow of current through one channel by varying
the intensity of a much smaller current that's flowing through a second channel
Working The element named silicon is generally preferred for transistor construction.
Principle The silicon is less sensitive to the temperature. It has the capability of handling
the high values of voltages and the greater ranges of currents.

As it is known that the emitter base junction must be in forward bias and the
collector base junction remain in reverse bias. Because of the forward bias
condition at the emitter base junction there is the majority of the carriers
entered in to the base.

This is the reason for the constitution of the base current that tends to flow
through the region of base. This current tends to flow towards the collector and
in response the electron movement is observed in the collector region from
base.

The base current is also responsible for creation of vacancy at the collector.
But it has small magnitude. As we already know that the base present in the
transistor has always lightly doped.

This is the reason there will be the lesser amount of charge carriers like
electrons are less in amount in comparison with that of the emitter. These few
amounts of electrons get interacted with respect to the holes at the base whereas
the left over amount of electrons can be seen moving towards the collector.

This paved the way for the generation of collector current. Hence the variations
at the base can constitute large amount of current at the collector.
Curve

Freq./Amp Year Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward

Volt made voltage current frequency power voltage
1.2 kV 300 A 100 kHz 10’s kW 10–20V
Advantage  Smaller mechanical sensitivity.
 Lower cost and smaller in size, especially in small-signal circuits.
 Low operating voltages for greater safety, lower costs, and tighter
clearances.
 Extremely long life.
 No power consumption by a cathode heater.
 Fast switching.

Disadva.  The power transistor cannot be operating satisfactorily above switching

frequency of 15 kHz.
 It can be damaged due to thermal runway or second breakdown.
 It has reverse blocking capacity is very low
TRIAC
Definition A semiconductor constructed to resemble two SCRs connected inreverse parallel.
Symbol
Working
Principle
Curve

Freq./Amp Year made Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward

Volt voltage current frequency power voltage
1958 1 kV 100 A 500 Hz 100’s kW 1.5–2V

Ratings from 2 to 50 A and 200 to 800V.

Application Used in lamp dimmers, home appliances, and hand tools. Not as rugged as many other
device types, but very convenient for many ac applications.
Advantage  TRIAC can be triggered with positive or negative polarity voltages.
 A TRIAC needs a single heat sink of slightly larger size, whereas anti-
parallel thyristor pair needs two heat sinks of slightly smaller sizes, but
due to the clearance total space required is more for thyristors
Disadva.  TRIAC have low dv/dt rating compared to SCRs.
 SCRs are available in larger rating compared to TRIACs.
 Since a TRIAC can be triggered in either direction, a trigger circuit
with TRIAC needs careful consideration.
 Reliability of TRIAC is less than that of SCRs
JFET
Definition The bipolar junction transistor is a current controlled device. In this transistor mainly base
current controls the operation of the device. In BJT both minority and majority carriers are
involved in the operation
Symbol

Working The working of JFET can be explained as follows:

Principle

Case-i:
When a voltage VDS is applied between drain and source terminals
and voltage on the gate is zero as shown in fig.3(i), the two pn
junctions at the sides of the bar establish depletion layers.

Fig.3 (i)

The electrons will flow from source to drain through a channel

between the depletion layers.

The size of the depletion layers determines the width of the channel
and hence current conduction through the bar.

Case-ii:
 When a reverse voltage VGS is applied between gate and source
terminals, as shown in fig.3(ii), the width of depletion layer is
increased.

Fig.3 (ii)

This reduces the width of conducting channel, thereby increasing the

resistance of n-type bar.

Consequently, the current from source to drain is decreased.

On the other hand, when the reverse bias on the gate is decreased,
the width of the depletion layer also decreases.

This increases the width of the conducting channel and hence source
to drain current.

A p-channel JFET operates in the same manner as an n-channel JFET

except that channel current carriers will be the holes instead of
electrons and polarities of VGS and VDS are reversed
Curve
Freq./Amp Year made Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward
Volt voltage current frequency power voltage

Advantage  The JFET has high input impedance.

 The JFET can be fabricated in small size area.
 It is a majority charge carrier device, hence it has less noise.
 It is a low power consumption device.
 It can be fabricated in small size area.
 It occupies less space in circuits due to its smaller size.
Disadva.  The main disadvantage of the JFET is the relatively low gain bandwidth product.
The performance of JFET goes downs as frequency increases due to feedback by
internal capacitance.
THYRISTR
Definition hyristor are current operated devices, a small Gate current controls a larger
Anode current. The Thyristor acts like a rectifying diode once it is triggered “ON”.
Anode current must be greater than holding current to maintain conduction.
Blocks current flow when reverse biased, no matter if Gate current is applied.
Turns off only when current becomes zero. Prevents current flow until a pulse
appears
Symbol

Working
Principle A Thyristor acts like a diode. It has two layers of semiconductors
namely p-type and n-type sandwiched together to form a
junction. The anode is connected to the outer p-layer, cathode to
the outer n-layer and gate to the internal p-layer. It has 3
junctions namely J1, J2, J3 as shown in the Figure 2 below.
When the anode is at positive potential with respect to cathode,
no voltage is applied to the gate. The junctions J1, J3 is forward
biased and J2 is reverse biased. So no conduction takes place
here.

Fig. 2 – Layer Diagram of Thyristor

Now, when the positive potential is increased beyond the
breakdown voltage, breakdown of junction J2 takes place and it
starts conducting. Once the breakdown has occurred, it
continues to conduct irrespective of the gate voltage, until the
potential at the anode is removed or current through the device is
made less than the holding current.

Now when a positive potential is applied at the gate terminal with

respect to cathode, the breakdown of junction J2 takes place. To
switch on the Thyristor quickly, an appropriate potential value
has to be selected.

The gate acts as a controlling electrode. When a small voltage

known as gate pulse is applied to its gate , the device is triggered
into conduction state .This continues until the voltage across the
device is reversed or removed.

The gate trigger current varies inversely with the gate voltage
and a minimum gate charge is required to trigger it. Thus the
switching of Thyristors can be controlled through its gate pulse.
Curve
Freq./Amp Year made Rated Rated Rated Rated Forward
Volt voltage current current power voltage
1957 6 kV 3.5 kA 500 Hz 100’sMW 2.5V
Application Widely used for controlled rectifiers. The SCR is found almost exclusively in power
electronics applications, and is the most common member of the thyristor family.
Advantage  Low cost.
 Can be protected with the help of fuse.
 Can handle large voltage/ current.
 Able to control AC power.
 Very easy to control.
 Easy to turn on.
 GTO or Gate Turnoff Thyristor has high efficiency.
 Takes less time to operate
Disadva.  The disadvantages of Thyristor includes:
 Cannot be used for higher frequencies.
 In AC circuit, Thyristor needs to be turned on each cycle.
 SCR takes time to turn on and off. ...
 It can stop the motor when connected, but cannot hold it stationary.
 The response rate of Thyristor is very low