1. what is power electronics?

Power Electronics is the study of switching electronic circuits in order to control the flow of
electrical energy. Power Electronics is the technology behind switching power supplies,
power converters, power inverters, motor drives, and motor soft starters.
2. what are various types of thyristors?

There are four major types of thyristors:

1. Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
2. Gate Turn-off Thyristor (GTO) and Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor (IGCT);
3. MOS-Controlled Thyristor (MCT)
4. Static Induction Thyristor (SITh).
Based on turn on and turn off capabilities the thyristors are classified into the following
types:
1. silicon controlled thyristor or SCRs
2. Gate turn off thyristors or GTOs
3. Emitter turn off thyristors or ETOs
4. Reverse conducting thyristors or RCTs
5. Bidirectional Triode Thyristors or TRIACs
6. MOS turn off thyristors or MTOs
7. Bidirectional phase controlled thyristors or BCTs
8. Fast switching thyristors or SCRs
9. Light activated silicon controlled rectifiers or LASCRs
10. FET controlled thyristors or FET-CTHs
11.Integrated gate commutated Thyristors or IGCTs
3. What is commutation circuit?and how can a conductiong thyristor is turned off?
The process of turning OFF SCR is defined as "Commutation".
 In all commutation techniques, a reverse voltage is applied across the thyristor during the
turn OFF process.
 By turning OFF a thyristor we bring it from forward conducting to the forward blocking
mode.
 The condition to be satisfied in order to turn OFF an SCR are:
i. IA < IH ( Anode current must be less than holding current)
ii. A reverse voltage is applied to SCR for sufficient time enabling it to recover its
blocking state.
 There are two methods by which a thyristor can be turned OFF.
i. Natural Commutation
ii. Forced Commutation
Natural Commutation or Line commutstion:-
 In AC circuit, the current always passes through zero for every half cycle.
 As the current passes through natural zero, a reverse Voltage will simultaneously appear
across the device.
 This will turn OFF the device immediately.
 This process is called as natural commutation, since no external circuit is required for this
purpose.
Forced Commutation(DC supply based circuits)
 To turn OFF a thyristor, the forward anode current should be brought to zero for sufficient
time to allow the removal of charged carriers.
 In case of DC circuits the forward current should be forced to zero by means of some
external circuits.
 This process is called as forced commutation.
3.what is the difference between thyristor and TRIAC?
TRIACs differ from SCRs in that they allow current flow in both directions, whereas an SCR
can only conduct current in a single direction.
Most TRIACs can be triggered by applying either a positive or negative voltage to the gate
(an SCR requires a positive voltage).
Once triggered, SCRs and TRIACs continue to conduct, even if the gate current ceases, until
the main current drops below a certain level called the holding current.
Operation
Quadrant 1 operation occurs when the gate and MT2 are positive with respect to MT1
Quadrant 2 operation occurs when the gate is negative and MT2 is positive with respect to
MT1
Quadrant 3 operation occurs when the gate and MT2 are negative with respect to MT1.
Quadrant 4 operation occurs when the gate is positive and MT2 is negative with respect to
MT1.

Ref : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIAC

4.what is the gating characteristics of GTO?

The GTO can be turned on by a gate signal, and can also be turned off by a gate signal of negative
polarity.
Turn on is accomplished by a "positive current" pulse between the gate and cathode terminals.
Turn off is accomplished by a "negative voltage" pulse between the gate and cathode terminals.

5.what is turn off time of thyristor?

turn off time of SCR can be divided into two time regions,
1. Reverse Recovery Time.
2. Gate Recovery Time
Reverse Recovery Time
It is the interval in which change carriers remove from J1, and J3 junction. At time t1, anode
current falls to zero and it will continue to increase in reverse direction with same slope (di/dt)
of the forward decreasing current. This negative current will help to sweep out the carrier
charges from junction J1 and J3. At the time t2 carrier charge density is not sufficient to maintain
the reverse current hence after t2 this negative current will start to decrease. The value of
current at t2 is called reverse recovery current. Due to rapid decreasing of anode current, a
reverse spike of voltage may appear across the SCR. Total recovery time t3 - t1 is called reverse
recovery time. After that, device will start to follow the applied reverse voltage and it gains the
property to block the forward voltage.
Gate Recovery Time
After sweeping out the carrier charges from junction J1 and J3 during reverse recovery time,
there still remain trapped charges in J2 junction which prevent the SCR from blocking the
forward voltage. These trapped charge can be removed by recombination only and the interval
in which this recombination is done, called gate recovery time.