Gate Turn On Turn Off Thyristors

What is a thyristor?
 Thyristors are power semiconductor devices used in
power electronic circuits
 They are operated as bistable switches operating
from non-conducting to conducting states.
 They are made of 4 layers and 3 pn junctions.

 Thyristors are three terminal devices the terminals

being anode, cathode and gate.
How is a thyristor different from
transistor?
 Thyristors have lower on state conduction losses.

 They also have higher power handling capacity.

 On the other hand transistors have superior

switching performances

 Transistors also have better switching speed and

lesser switching losses
Symbol and cross-section of a
thyristor
Working of a thyristor
 When anode voltage is positive with respect to cathode
junctions J1 and J3 are forward biased and junction J2 is
reverse biased and the thyristor is off. This state is
called forward blocking state.
 When the voltage is increased the reverse junction
breaks and it is called forward breakdown voltage.
 In this state a large anode current flows and the
thyristor is said to be on or in conducting state
Latching and holding currents
LATCHING CURRENT :
It is defined as the minimum value of
anode current required to maintain the thyristor in on state
immediately after a thyristor has been turned on and the
gate signal is removed.
HOLDING CURRENT:
It is defined as the minimum value of
anode current to maintain the thyristor in conducting state.
V-I CHARACTERISTICS
 WHAT IS A GTO?
 GTO stands for Gate Turn On Turn Off Thyristor.

 It is a four layered pnpn device.

 It three terminals just like all thyristors.

 GTO is similar to SCR s and can be built with

current and voltage ratings similar to that of an
SCR.
 It was developed in the late 1960 s.
HOW IS A GTO DIFFERENT FROM
OTHER THYRISTORS?
 Conventional thyristors have only gate – controlled
turn on capabilities.
 They can recover from conducting state to a non-
conducting state only when the current is brought
down to zero by other means.
 GTO s on the other hand have gate controlled
turn off capacity.
 They can be switched on or off by applying short
positive or negative pulses respectively.
SYMBOL AND CROSS-SECTION
CONSTRUCTION OF GTO
 Compared to a conventional thyristor it has an
additional n+ layer near the anode .
 In order to obtain high emitter efficiency the
n+ cathode layer is highly doped.
 This forms the turn off circuit between the gate and
the cathode.
 The doping level of the p type gate region is highly
varied.
GTO CONSTRUCTION Cont..
 The gate cathode junction is highly interigited

 The maximum forward blocking voltage of the device

is determined by the doping level and the thickness of
the n type base region.

 In order to block several kv of forward voltage the doping

level of this layer is kept relatively low while its thickness is
made considerably higher (a few hundred microns).
CONSTRUCTION Cont
 The junction between the n base and p+ anode (J1) is
called the “anode junction”.
 For good turn on properties the efficiency of this
anode junction should be as high as possible .
 However, turn off capability of such a GTO will be poor
with very low maximum turn off current and high
losses.
CONSTRUCTION Cont
 In the first method, heavily doped n+ layers are introduced
into the p+ anode layer.

 They make contact with the same anode metallic contact.

 This is the classic “anode shorted GTO structure”.

 In the other method, a moderately doped n type buffer

layer is juxtaposed between the n- type base and the anode.

 This is called the “Transparent emitter structure”

 GTO – TURN ON
 The turn on process for GTO is similar to a
conventional thyristor.
 GTO has no regenerative state and hence it
requires a large initial gate trigger pulse for
turning on.
 If the anode current is low a longer period of gate
pulse is required.
 GTO-TURN ON Cont..
 The turn on time for GTO consists of

 Delay time

 Rise time

 Spread time

 The turn on time can be decreased by increasing

its forward gate current as in thyristors.
 GTO ON STATE
 Once the GTO is turned on the forward gate
current must be continued for the whole of the
conduction period.
 This ensures that the device remains in
conduction state .
 The device cannot remain in conduction state
otherwise.
 The conduction gate current should be atleast 1%
of the turn-on pulse to ensure that the gate does
not unlatch.
TYPICAL TURN ON PULSE
 GTO TURN OFF
 The turn off characteristics is greatly influenced by the
gate turn off circuit and it must match the device
requirements.
 This process involves the extraction of gate charge,
gate avalanche period and anode current decay.
 The charge extraction is not significantly affected by
external circuit conditions
 The turn off time and peak turn off current depend on
the external circuit components.
 GTO TURN OFF
When a large pulse current is passed from cathode
to gate , sufficient charge carriers are taken away
from the cathode (emitter of npn transistor).
 This draws out the pnp transistor out of
regenerative action.
 As the transistor Q1 (npn) turns off and leaves
transistor Q2 (pnp) with an open base.
 Hence Q2 also turns off and the GTO returns to
non conducting state.
GTO V-I CHARACTERISTICS
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
 The first quadrant is similar to the V-I characteristics
of a thyristor.
 A GTO can block rated forward voltage only when the
gate is negatively biased with respect to the cathode
during forward blocking state.
 A low value resistance must be connected across the
gate cathode terminal.
GATE CHARACTERISTICS
Ig

Min Max

Vg
 GATE CHARACTERISTICS
 The zone between the min and max curves reflects
parameter variation between individual GTOs.

 These characteristics are valid for DC and low

frequency AC gate currents.
DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
 DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
 Dynamic characteristics are otherwise called as
switching characteristics.
 When the GTO is off the anode current is zero and
VAK =Vd.
 To turn on the GTO, a positive gate current pulse is
injected through the gate terminal.
 There is a delay between the application of the gate
pulse and the fall of anode voltage, called the turn on
delay time td
 DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
 After this time the anode voltage starts falling while the
anode current starts rising towards its steady value IL.
 Within a further time interval tr , they reach 10% of their
initial value and 90% of their final value respectively.
 It should be noted that large value of ig (IgM) and dig \dt
are required during td and tr only.
 A minimum ON time period tON (min) is required for
homogeneous anode current conduction in the GTO.
 APPLICATIONS
 GTO s replace thyristors in inverters and choppers
where they are turned off by forced commutation.

 GTO eliminates the need for forced commutation

circuitry and hence reduces the cost.

 They are widely used in voltage –source converters .

ADVANTAGES OVER SCR
 Elimination of forced commutation circuitry.

 Faster turn off giving rise to high switching

frequencies

 Reduction in acoustic and electromagnetic noise

 Improved efficiency of converters

ADVANTAGES OVER TRANSISTOR
 Higher blocking voltage capacity

 High ratio of peak controllable current to average

current

 High on state gain

 Pulsed gate signal of shorter duration

DISADVANTGES OF GTO
 Higher latching and holding currents

 Gate drive circuit is costlier

 On state voltage drop is high

 Triggering gate current is higher as compared to SCR.

 FET Controlled Thyristors
 Combines a MOSFET & a
thyristor in parallel as
shown.
 High switching speeds &
high di/dt & dv/dt.
 Turned on like
conventional thyristors.
 Cannot be turned off by
gate control.
 Application of these are
where optical firing is to
be used.
 MOS-Controlled Thyristor
 New device that has become commercially available.
 Basically a thyristor with two MOSFETs built in the gate
structure.
 One MOSFET for turning ON the MCT and the other to
turn OFF the MCT.
Structure
 Equivalent Circuit
Anode

D + p S
n
+
p
n
Gate (G) M1
M2 S n D ON-FET
Q2
OFF-FET
-
n p
-
p
Q1

+
n
Cathode
 Features
 Low on-state losses & large current capabilities.
 Low switching losses.
 High switching speeds achieved due to fast turn-on & turn-
off.
 Low reverse blocking capability.
 Gate controlled possible if current is less than peak
controllable current.
 Gate pulse width not critical for smaller device currents.
 Gate pulse width critical for turn-off for larger currents.
THANK YOU!