Introduction

• Power diode acts as a switch to perform various functions:

▶ switches in rectiers,
▶ freewheeling in switching regulators,
▶ charge reversal of capacitor and energy transfer between
components,
▶ voltage isolation,
▶ energy feedback from the load to the power source, and
▶ trapped energy recovery.
• Can be assumed as ideal switches for most applications
Topic: Power Diodes
Module Name: Power Electronics
• Power diode is uncontrollable semiconductor switch
Module Code: EEU 07302 • The diode allows a unidirectional current ow
Module Leader: Dr. G. G. Moshi
Email: godfrey.moshi@dit.ac.tz
November 17, 2022

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 2 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Diode Characteristics Diode Characteristics (cont.)

• A power diode is a two-terminal pn-junction device

• When the anode potential is positive with respect
formed by alloying, diusion, and epitaxial growth.
to the cathode, the diode is said to be forward
biased and the diode conducts.
• A conducting diode has a relatively small forward
voltage drop across it; the magnitude of this drop
depends on the manufacturing process and junc-
tion temperature.
Figure 1: pn-junction and diode symbol. • When the cathode potential is positive with re-
spect to the anode, the diode is said to be reverse
biased.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 3 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 4 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Diode Characteristics (cont.) Diode Characteristics (cont.)

• Under reverse-biased conditions, a small reverse

current (also known as leakage current) in the range
of micro- or milliampere ows and this leakage
current increases slowly in magnitude with the re-
verse voltage until the avalanche or zener voltage
is reached.

Figure 2: v-i characteristics of a diode

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 5 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 6 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Diode Characteristics (cont.) Diode Characteristics (cont.)

• The v-i characteristics shown in Figure 2a can be IS = leakage (or reverse saturation) current, typi-
expressed by an equation known as Schockley diode cally in the range 10−6 to 10−15 A;
equation, which is given under DC steady-state op- n = empirical constant known as emission coe-
eration by: cient, or ideality factor, 1 to 2.
• The voltage VT in Eq. (1) is a constant called
ID = IS (e VD /nVT − 1) (1)
thermal voltage and it is given by:
Where
ID = current through the diode, A; VT = kT
q (2)
VD = diode voltage with anode positive with re-
spect to cathode, V; Where
q = electron charge: 1.6022 × 10−19 coulomb (C);
Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 7 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 8 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Diode Characteristics (cont.) Diode Characteristics (cont.)

T = absolute temperature in Kelvin (1K = 273+◦ • The diode characteristic of Figure 2a can be di-
C ); vided into three regions:
where VD > 0: The diode current
k = Boltzmann's constant: 1.3806 × 10−23 J /K . ▶ Forward-biased region,
ID is very small if the diode voltage VD is less than a specic
• At a junction temperature of 25 ◦ C , Eq.(2) gives value VTD (typically 0.7 V). The diode conducts fully if VD is
higher than this value VTD , which is referred to as the threshold
−23 voltage, cut-in voltage, or turn-on voltage. Thus, the threshold
VT = 1.3806 1×.6022
10 × (273 + 25)
× 10−19
≈ 25.7 mV voltage is a voltage at which the diode conducts fully.

(3)
• At a specied temperature, the leakage current IS
is a constant for a given diode.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 9 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 10 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Diode Characteristics (cont.) Diode Characteristics (cont.)

▶ Reverse-biased region, where VD < 0: If VD is negative and
|VD | < VT , which occurs for VD < −0.1 V , the exponential
term in Eq.(1) becomes negligibly small compared with unity
and the diode current ID becomes
ID = IS (e VD /nVT − 1) ≈ IS
which indicates that the diode current ID in the reverse direction
is constant and equals IS .
▶ Breakdown region, where VD < −VBR : High reverse voltage
usually with a magnitude greater than 1000 V. The magnitude of
the reverse voltage may exceed a specied voltage known as the
breakdown voltage VBR . The operation in the breakdown region
will not be destructive, provided that the power dissipation is
(4) within a "safe level" that is specied in the manufacturer's data
sheet. However, it is often necessary to limit the reverse current
in the breakdown region to limit the power dissipation within a
permissible value.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 11 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 12 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Reverse Recovery Characteristics Reverse Recovery Characteristics

• IF is due to the net eect of majority and minority

carriers.
• Once a diode is in a forward conduction mode and
then its forward current is reduced to zero the
diode continues to conduct due to minority car-
riers that remain stored in the pn-junction and the
bulk semiconductor material.
• Reverse recovery time: time required by
the minority carriers to recombine with Figure 3: Reverse recovery characteristics.
opposite charges and to be neutralized.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 13 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 14 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Reverse Recovery Characteristics Reverse Recovery Characteristics

• Note: Figure is not to scaled I

just to indicate the shape
• The tailing of the recovery
period is expanded to illus-
trate the nature of recovery
• In reality ta > tb .
• At t = to the diode current
starts to fall from the on-
state current IF at a rate of
di −IF
dt = (t1 −t0 ) .
• The diode is still conducting
with a forward voltage drop
of VF .
Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
• F falls to zero at t = t1 ,
and then continues to ow
in the reverse direction be-
cause the diode is inactive
and not capable of blocking
the reverse current ow.
• At t = t2 , the reverse cur-
rent reaches a value of IRR
and the diode voltage starts
to reverse.
• After the recovery process is
completed at t = t3 , the re-
verse diode voltage reaches
a peak of VRMS .
15 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 16 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Reverse Recovery Characteristics Reverse Recovery Parameters
• The reverse recovery time I
• The peak reverse current RR can be expressed as:
trr , from the initial zero
crossing of the diode current di
IRR = ta dt (7)
to 25% of IRR .
• Reverse recovery time trr may be dened as the time
trr = ta + tb (5) interval between the instant the current passes through
zero during the changeover from forward conduction to
t
• a due to charge storage in
reverse blocking condition and the moment the reverse
the depletion region of the
current has decayed to 25% of its peak reverse value IRR .
junction
• Variable trr is dependent on the junction temperature, rate of
• tb due to charge storage in
fall of forward current, and forward current prior to commuta-
the bulk semiconductor ma-
tion, IF .
terial
• Softness factor (SF)
SF = tb /ta (6)
Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 17 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 18 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Reverse Recovery Parameters (cont.) Reverse Recovery Parameters (cont.)

• Reverse recovery charge QRR is the amount of charge I

• Substituting RR from Eq.(7)
carriers that ows across the diode in the reverse direction
due to changeover from forward conduction to reverse
di
QRR = 12 trr ta dt (12)
blocking condition.
• Value of reverse recovery charge is determined from the area t t t t
• Since b is negligible as compared to a , the rr ≈ a , and
enclosed by the curve of the reverse recovery current. Eq.(12) becomes
di
QRR = 12 trr2 dt (13)
QRR = Q1 + Q2 (8)
• Thus
QRR ≈ 21 IRR ta + 12 IRR tb
trr ≈ 2diQ/RR
(9)
s
(14)
QRR ≈ 21 IRR (ta + tb ) (10)
dt
• Thus
QRR = 21 IRR trr (11) di
r
IRR ≈ Q dt
2 RR (15)

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 19 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 20 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Reverse Recovery Parameters (cont.) Reverse Recovery Parameters (cont.)

t
• Forward recovery time FR is the time required for the diode • The forward recovery time limits the rate of the rise of the
voltage to drop to a particular value after the forward current forward current and the switching speed.
starts to ow. •
• The application of forward voltage would force the diode to carry
current in the forward direction.
• However, it requires a certain time known as forward recovery
(or turn-on) time before all the majority carriers over the whole
junction can contribute to the current ow.
• If the rate of rise of the forward current is high and the forward
current is concentrated to a small area of the junction, the diode
may fail.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 21 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 22 / 43 Arusha Technical College

General-Purpose Diodes 1. General-Purpose Diodes

• Ideally, a diode should have no reverse recovery time.
• Manufacturing cost of such a diode is high.
• In many applications, the eects of reverse recovery time is not
signicant, thus inexpensive diodes can be used.
• Power diodes can be classied into three categories depending
on the recovery characteristics and manufacturing techniques:
1. Standard or general-purpose diodes
2. Fast-recovery diodes
3. Schottky diodes
• Have relatively high reverse recovery time, typically 25 µ ; s
• Are used in low-speed applications, where recovery time is not
critical (e.g., diode rectiers and converters for a low-input fre-
quency up to 1-kHz applications and line-commutated convert-
ers).
• Current ratings from less than 1 A to several thousands of am-
peres, with voltage ratings from 50 V to around 5 kV.
• Are generally manufactured by diusion.
• Congurations of general-purpose diodes basically fall into two
types: a stud, or stud-mounted type; and a disk, press pack, or
hockey-puck type.
• NB: In a stud-mounted type, either the anode or the cathode
could be the stud.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 23 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 24 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 2. Fast-Recovery Diodes 3. Schottky Diodes

• The fast-recovery diodes have low recovery time, normally less • To eliminated (or minimized) charge storage problem of a pn-
s
than 5 µ . junction
• Used in DC-DC and DC-AC converter circuits, where the speed • Setting up a "barrier potential" with a contact between a metal
of recovery is often of critical importance. and a semiconductor.
• Current ratings from less than 1 A to hundreds of amperes and • A layer of metal is deposited on a thin epitaxial layer of n-type
voltage from 50 V to around 3 kV silicon.
• Made by epitaxial and diusion processes.

Figure 4: Structure of Schottky diode.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 25 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 26 / 43 Arusha Technical College

3. Schottky Diodes (cont.) 3. Schottky Diodes (cont.)

Figure 5: Schottky diode and its symbol

• The potential barrier simulates the behavior of a pn-junction.

• The rectifying action depends on the majority carriers only, and
as a result there are no excess minority carriers to recombine.
• The recovery eect is due solely to the self capacitance of the
semiconductor junction.
• The recovered charge of a Schottky diode is much less than that
of an equivalent pnjunction diode.
• Because it is due only to the junction capacitance, it is largely
independent of the reverse di/dt.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 27 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 28 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 3. Schottky Diodes (cont.) Silicon Carbide Diodes

• Silicon carbide (SiC) is a new material for power electronics.

• A Schottky diode has a relatively low forward voltage drop. • Its physical properties outperform Si and GaAs by far.
• The leakage current of a Schottky diode is higher than that of • They have the following features:
a pn-junction diode. ▶ ultra low power losses
• A Schottky diode with relatively low-conduction voltage has rel- ▶ No reverse recovery time;
atively high leakage current, and vice versa. ▶ Ultrafast switching behavior;
▶ No temperature inuence on the switching behavior.
• As a result, the maximum allowable voltage of this diode is
generally limited to 100 V.
• The current ratings of Schottky diodes vary from 1 to 400 A.
• The Schottky diodes are ideal for high-current and low-voltage
dc power supplies.
• However, these diodes are also used in low-current power sup-
plies for increased eciency.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 29 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 30 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Silicon Carbide Diodes (cont.) Silicon Carbide Schottky Diodes

• The SiC Schottky diodes have the following features:
▶ Lowest switching losses due to low reverse recovery charge;
▶ Fully surge-current stable, high reliability, and ruggedness;
▶ Lower system costs due to reduced cooling requirements;
▶ Higher frequency designs and increased power density
• These devices also have low device capacitance that enhances
Figure 6: Comparison of reverse recovery time. overall system eciency, especially at higher switching frequen-
cies.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 31 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 32 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Silicon Carbide Schottky Diodes (cont.) Series-Connected Diodes

• Applicable in many high-voltage applications (e.g., high-voltage

direct current [HVDC] transmission lines), where one commer-
cially available diode cannot meet the required voltage rating.
• Diodes are connected in series to increase the reverse blocking
capabilities.

Figure 7: 2017 Wolfspeed Datasheet

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 33 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 34 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Series-Connected Diodes (cont.) Series-Connected Diodes (cont.)

Figure 8: Two series-connected diodes with reverse bias.

• Practically, the v-i characteristics for the same type of diodes

dier due to tolerances in their production process.
• In the forward-biased condition, both diodes conduct the same
amount of current, and the forward voltage drop of each diode
would be almost equal.
Figure 9: Series-connected diodes with steady-state voltage-sharing
• However, in the reverse blocking condition, each diode has to characteristics.
carry the same leakage current, and as a result the blocking
voltages may dier signicantly.
• Due to equal voltage sharing, the leakage current of each diode
• Solution: Voltage sharing networks are needed to equalize the
voltage sharing. would be dierent.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 35 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 36 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Series-Connected Diodes (cont.) Series-Connected Diodes (cont.)

• Since the total leakage current must be shared by a diode and • The voltage sharings under transient conditions (e.g., due to
its resistor, then switching loads, the initial applications of the input voltage) are
accomplished by connecting capacitors across each diode.
Is = IS 1 + IR1 = IS 2 + IR2 (16)
• From which we have

IS 1 + VRD 1 = IS 2 + VRD 2 (17)

1 2

• If the resistances are equal R = R1 = R2, then

IS 1 + VRD 1 = IS 2 + VRD 2
Figure 10: Series diodes with voltage-sharing networks under steady-state
(18) and transient conditions.
VD 1 + VD 2 = Vs (19)

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 37 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 38 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Series-Connected Diodes (cont.) Parallel-Connected Diodes

• To increase the current carrying capability in high-power appli-

• Resistor Rs limits the rate of rise of the blocking voltage. cations.
• Parallel diodes of the same type do not share the same on-state
current due to mismatches in their forward v-i characteristics.
• The reverse blocking voltages of each diode would be the same.
• Sharing networks are needed to equalize the current sharing.
• Uniform current sharing can be achieved by providing equal in-
ductances (Figure 11b) or by connecting current-sharing resis-
tors (Figure 11a)
• The current-sharing resistors may not be practical due to power
losses which may be very high.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 39 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 40 / 43 Arusha Technical College
 Parallel-Connected Diodes (cont.) Parallel-Connected Diodes (cont.)

• If the current through D1 rises, the voltage Ldi /dt across L1

increases, and a corresponding voltage of opposite polarity is
induced across inductor L2 .
• The result is a low-impedance path through diode D2 and the
current is shifted to D2 .
• The inductors may generate voltage spikes and they may be
expensive and bulky, especially at high currents.

Figure 11: Parallel-connected diodes.

• The approach of Figure 11b is more ecient and enables current

sharing under dynamic conditions.

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 41 / 43 Arusha Technical College Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 42 / 43 Arusha Technical College

Study Power Diode Datasheets

https://www.inneon.com/cms/en/
https://www.mitsubishielectric.com/semiconductors/products/
https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/semiconductor.html
*** END ***

Dr. G. G. Moshi ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 43 / 43 Arusha Technical College