Electronic principles and circuits (BEC303) 2023-24

Module 5 (b) – Thyristors

Thyristors
The word thyristors come from Greek and means”door” as in opening a door and leeting something pass
through it.A Thyristor is a semiconductor device that uses internal feedback to produce switching action.The
most important Thyristors are Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) and the Triac.

Applications
Thyristors are used for (i) overvoltage protection (ii) motor controls, (iii) heaters (iv) lighting systems, and
other heavy current loads.

The Four-Layer Diode (Shockley Diode)

Fig: Four layer diode Fig: Four layer Transisitor switch

The upper transistor Q1 is a pnp device and the lower transistor Q2 is an npn device. The collector of Q1 drives the
base of Q2. Similarly, the collector of Q2 drives the base of Q1. The Circuit uses positive feedback. Any change
in the base current of Q2 is amplified and fed back through Q1 to magnify the original change. This positive
feedback continues changing the base current of Q2 until both transistors go into either saturation or cutoff.

Working

(i) As closed Switch - If the base current of Q2 increases, the collector current of Q2 increases. This
increases the base current of Q1 and the collector current of Q1. More collector current in Q1 will further

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increase the base current of Q2. This amplify-and-feedback action continues until both transistors are driven
into saturation. In this case, the overall circuit acts like a closed switch.

(ii) As Open Switch - If something causes the base current of Q2 to decrease, the collector current of Q2
decreases, the base current of Q1 decreases, the collector current of Q1 decreases, and the base current of Q2
decreases further. This action continues until both transistors are driven into cutoff. Then, the circuit acts like an
open switch.

The circuit is stable in either of two states: open or closed. It will remain in either state indefinitely until acted
on by an outside force. Because the circuit can remain in either state indefinitely, it is called a latch.

Closing the Latch ( Applying Break-over Voltage)

Figure shows a four layered diode connected to a load resistor with a supply voltage of VCC. Assume that
the latch is open, because there is no current through the load resistor, the voltage across the latch equals the
supply voltage. The only way to close the latch is by using a large enough supply voltage VCC to break
down the Q1 collector diode called as Break-over.

Since the collector current of Q1 increases the base current of Q2, the positive feedback will start.

Fig: Latching Circuit

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Fig;Breakover characteristics

This drives both transistors into saturation. When saturated, both transistors ideally look like short-circuits, and

the latch is closed, the latch has zero voltage across it when it is closed.

Opening a Latch

By reducing the VCC supply to zero. This forces the transistors to switch from saturation to cutoff, this type of
opening is called low-current drop-out because it depends on reducing the latch current to a value low enough
to bring the transistors out of saturation

Holding Current: Thyristor can be turned off or can return to forward blocking state if and only if current

through Thyristor fall below certain value of current called as Holding current.

Latching Current: It is the minimum value of anode current which is necessary to make SCR in conduction
mode even though gate pulse are removed.

Problem (a) The diode has a break-over voltage of 10 V. If the input voltage of is increased to 15V,
what is the diode current? (b) If the diode has a holding current of 4 mA. The input voltage is
increased to 15 V to latch the diode and then decreased to open the diode. What is the input
voltage that opens the diode?

Solution:

(a) Given Vin = 15V; VBO = 10 and Vin > VBO

The diode breaks over. Under ideal condition I = (Vin / R) = (15/100) = 150 mA

Using the approximation as Vk= 0.7V I = (Vin – Vk)/ R = (15 – 0.7)/100 = 143 mA

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b) The holding current, given as 4 mA.

At this small current, the diode voltage is approximately equal to the knee voltage, 0.7 V. Since 4 mA flows

through 100 Ω the input voltage is: Vin = 0.7 V + (4 mA)(100 ) = 1.1 V

So, the input voltage has to be reduced from 15 V to slightly less than 1.1 V to open the diode

Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)

The SCR is the most widely used Thyristor. It can switch very large currents ON and OFF. Because of this, it is

used to control motors, ovens, air conditioners, and induction heaters.

Structure of SCR:

Fig: Silicon Controlled Rectifier

Figure above shows the structure of the SCR.The input is called gate,the top is anode,the bottom is cathode.The SCR
is more useful than four layer diode because gate triggering is easier than breakover triggering

Triggering the SCR (turning ON)

By adding an input terminal to the base of Q2 and by applying a trigger (sharp pulse) to the base of
Q2, the SCR can be turned ON. Therefore, the SCR is equivalent to a latch with a trigger input. Since
the gate of an SCR is connected to the base of an internal transistor, it takes at least 0.7 V to
trigger an SCR. The trigger momentarily increases the base current of Q2. This starts the positive feedback,
which drives both transistors into saturation and voltage across the device is ideally zero.

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Fig: Transistor latch with trigger input

Required Input Voltage

Fig: Basic SCR circuit

An SCR has a gate voltage VG. When this voltage is more than VGT, the SCR will turn on and the
output voltage will drop from +VCC to a low value. The input voltage needed to trigger an SCR

Vin = VGT + IGTRG

In the above equation, VGT and IGT are the gate trigger voltage and current for the device. Unless the above
equation is satisfied, the SCR cannot turn on.

Resetting the SCR

After the SCR has turned on, it stays on even though the gate supply Vin is reduced to zero. In this case, the
output remains low indefinitely. To reset the SCR, reduce the anode to cathode current to a value less than its
holding current IH. This can be done by reducing VCC to a low value.

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Since the holding current flows through the load resistor. supply voltage for turn-off has to be less than:

VCC = 0.7 V + IH RL

The other two common methods are current interruption and forced commutation.

Current interruption- By either opening the series switch, or closing the parallel switch The anode-to
cathode current will drop down below its holding current value and the SCR will switch to its
off state.

Forced commutation - When the switch is depressed, a negative VAK voltage is momentarily applied. This
reduces the forward anode-to-cathode current below IH and turns off the SCR.

Fig:Current Interruption Fig: Forced Commutation

Problem: The SCR has a trigger voltage of 0.75 V nand a trigger current of 7mA.What is the input voltage
that turns the SCR on? If the holding current is 6 mA,what is the supply voltage that turns it off?

Solution:

The minimum input voltage required

The supply voltage that turnoff the SCR is

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SCR Phase Control

Phase Control of SCR means having control on the phase relationship between the start of current through the
SCR and source voltage. These are used as rectifiers to generate controlled DC voltage from the ac input.

Fig: SCR phase control

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Operation: Figure (a) shows ac line voltage being applied to an SCR circuit that controls the current through a heavy
load.In this circuit, variable resistor R1 and capacitor shift the phase angle of the gate signal.When R1 is 0 ,the gate
voltage is in phase with the line voltage and SCR acts like a half wave rectifier. When R1 increases,ac gate voltage
lags the line voltage by an angle between 0 and 90 degrees as shown in Fig (b) and (c).Before the trigger point ,SCR
is off and load current is zero.At the trigger point,the capacitor voltage is large enough to trigger the SCR.The SCr
turns on and almost all of the line voltage appears across load and load current becomes high.SCR remains latched
until the line voltage reverses polarity(Negetive half cycle).

During negative half cycle,SCR is off and no voltage across load.

The angle at which the SCR fires is called the firing angle shown as

The angle between the start and end of conduction is called as conduction angle shown as

Bidirectional Thyristors

The DIAC and Triac are bidirectional Thyristors. These devices can conduct in either direction.

DIAC - DIAC stands for Diode for Alternating Current.

A DIAC is a semiconductor diode for conducting alternating current. Basically, it is a

power electronic bidirectional semiconductor uncontrolled switch that is capable of conducting the
electric current in both directions only after its break-over voltage, VBO, has been reached
momentarily.

The Diac is sometimes called a Silicon Bidirectional Switch (SBS)

Fig: Diac

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TRIAC is basically a 3 terminal ac switch that shows conduction in both the directions. These are triggered

into conduction by low energy gate signal.

TRIAC is a contraction of TRIode for Alternating Current. It is a bidirectional device that belongs to
the Thyristor family and is basically a Diac with gate terminal used to control the turn-on conditions of the
device.

The Triac acts like two SCRs connected in reverse. Because of this, the Triac can control current in both
directions. If v has the polarity shown a positive trigger will close the left latch. When v has opposite
polarity, a negative trigger will close the right latch.

Fig:Triac

The Triac normally operates in quadrants I and III during typical ac applications.

Triac Phase Control

An RC circuit that varies the phase angle of the gate voltage to a triac. The circuit can control the
current through a heavy load. When the capacitor voltage is large enough to supply the trigger
current, the triac conducts. Once turned ON, the Triac continues to conduct until the line voltage returns
to zero.

When conduction on both half-cycles is important, Triacs are useful devices, especially in
industrial applications.

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Fig:Triac Phase Control

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IGBT Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)

The IGBT is the combination of BJT and MOSFET. It is a four-layer PNPN voltage controlled high speed
switching device capable of handling large currents. It has three PN junctions and three terminals Gate (G),
Collector(C) and Emitter (E). Gate terminal as it is the input part, taken from MOSFET while the
collector and emitter as they are the output, taken from the BJT.

Construction

Figure shows schematic symbol of and internal structure IGBT

IGBT is made of four layers of semiconductor to form a PNPN structure. The collector (C) electrode is
attached to P layer while the emitter (E) is attached between the P and N layers. A P+ substrate is used for the
construction of IGBT. An N- layer is placed on top of it to form PN junction J1. Two P regions are fabricated on top
of N- layer to form PN junction J2. The P region is designed in such a way to leave a path in the middle for the gate
(G) electrode. N+ regions are diffused over the P region as shown in the figure.

The emitter and gate are metal electrodes. The emitter is directly attached to the N+ region while the gate is
insulated using a silicon dioxide layer. The base P+ layer inject holes into N- layer that is why it is called
injector layer. While the N- layer is called the drift region

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The N- layer is designed to have a path for current flow between the emitter and collector through the junction
using the channel that is created under the influence of the voltage at the gate electrode.

Working – The collector-emitter is connected to VCC such that the collector is kept at a positive voltage
than the emitter. The junction j1 becomes forward biased and j2 becomes reverse biased. At this point,
there is no voltage at the gate. Due to reverse j2, the IGBT remains switched off and no current will flow
between collector and emitter.

Applying a gate voltage VG positive than the emitter, negative charges will accumulate right beneath the
SiO2- layer due to capacitance effect. Increasing the VG increases the number of charges which eventually
form a layer when the VG exceeds the threshold voltage, in the upper P-region. This layer form N-channel
that shorts N- drift region and N+ region.

The electrons from the emitter flow from N+ region into N- drift region. While the holes from the collector are
injected from the P+ region into the N- drift region. Due to the excess of both electrons and holes in the drift
region, its conductivity increase and starts the conduction of current. Hence the IGBT switches ON.

Advantages

(i) It has higher voltage and current handling capability (ii) It has very high input impedance and can switch
high currents using very low voltage. (iii) It is voltage-controlled device with very low ON-state resistance i.e.
it has no input current and low input losses. (iv) The gate drive circuitry is simple and cheap.(v) It can be easily
switched ON by applying positive voltage and OFF by applying zero or slightly negative voltage. (vi) It has
a higher power gain than both BJT and MOSFET.

Disadvantages

(i) It has a moderate switching speed. (ii) It is unidirectional it cannot conduct in reverse. (iii)It cannot block

higher reverse voltage. (iv)It is costlier than BJT and MOSFET.

Applications of IGBT

IGBTs are used in AC as well as DC circuits. It is used in SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply),
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems. It is used in AC and DC motor drives offering speed
control. It is used in chopper and inverters.

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Other Thyristors

Photo-SCR

A photo-SCR, also known as a light-activated SCR. The arrows represent incoming light that passes through
a window and hits the depletion layers.

Fig:Photo SCR

When the light is strong enough, valence electrons are dislodge from their orbits and become free
electrons. The flow of free electrons starts the positive feedback, and the photo-SCR closes. After a light
trigger has closed the photo-SCR, it remains closed, even though the light disappears. For maximum
sensitivity to light, the gate is left open. To get an adjustable trip point, trigger adjust is included. The
resistance between the gate and ground diverts some of the light-produced electrons and reduces the
sensitivity of the circuit to the incoming light.

Gate-Controlled Switch

Low-current drop-out is the normal way to open an SCR. But the gate-controlled switch is designed
for easy opening with a reverse biased trigger. A gate-controlled switch is closed by a positive trigger and
opened by a negative trigger.

Fig: Gate Controlled Switch

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Each positive trigger closes the gate-controlled switch, and each negative trigger opens it. Because of
this, the output is a square-wave .

The gate-controlled switch has been used in counters, digital circuits, and other applications in which a
negative trigger is available.

Silicon Controlled Switch

It is latch with access to both bases. A forward-bias trigger on either base will close the silicon controlled
switch. Likewise, a reverse-bias trigger on either base will open the device. The lower gate is called the
cathode gate, and the upper gate is the anode gate. The silicon controlled switch is a low-power device
compared to the SCR. It handles currents in milli-amperes rather than amperes.

Fig: Silicon Controlled Switch

Uni-junction Transistor (UJT)

A UJT is a three terminal semiconductor device which exhibits negative resistance and switching characteristics for
use as relaxation oscillator in phase control applications.

Construction of a UJT

The basic structure of a UJT, its symbol and equivalent circuit is shown in figure. It essentially consists of a
lightly-doped N-type silicon bar with a small piece of heavily doped P-type material alloyed to its one side to
produce single P-N junction. The silicon bar, at its ends, has two ohmic contacts designated as base-1 (B1) and
base-2 (B2) and the P-type region is termed the emitter (E). The emitter junction is usually located closer to
base-2 (B2) than base-1 (B1) so that the device is not symmetrical.

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When the input voltage is zero, the device is non-conducting. When the input voltage is increased above the
standoff voltage (given on a data sheet), the resistance between the p region and the lower n region becomes
very small

Fig:UJT Symbol Fig: UJT Circuit

UJT relaxation Oscillator

The UJT can be used to form a pulse-generating circuit called a UJT relaxation oscillator. When the power
supply is applied, the capacitor charges towards VBB with a time constant (R1 +R2)C. When the
capacitor voltage reaches a value equal to the standoff voltage, the UJT turns ON. The internal lower
base (lower n region) resistance quickly drops in value allowing the capacitor to discharge. The capacitor
discharge continues until low-current drop-out occurs. When this happens, the UJT turns OFF. Now the
capacitor begins to charge again and the cycle repeats. The charging RC time constant is significantly larger
than the discharge time constant. Hence a sharp pulse waveform developed across the external resistor at B1
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which can be used as a trigger source for controlling the conduction angle of SCR and Triac circuits.
The waveform developed across the capacitor can be used in applications where a saw-tooth generator is
needed.

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