Power Electronics  

Text Books: 1. Mohammad H Rashid, Power Electronics, Circuits, Devices and

Applications, 3rd/4th Edition, Pearson Education.
2. M.D Singh and K B Khanchandani, Power Electronics, 2nd Edition, Tata Mc-
Graw Hill,
 Module-1 Introduction 10 hours

 Applications of Power Electronics, Power Semiconductor Devices, Control

Characteristics of Power Devices, types of Power Electronic Circuits, Peripheral
Effects. Power Transistors: Power BJTs: Steady state characteristics. Power MOSFETs:
device operation, switching characteristics, IGBTs: device operation, output and
transfer characteristics, di/dt and dv/dt limitations. (Text 1) L1, L2

 Module-2 Thyristors 10 hours

 Introduction, Principle of Operation of SCR, Static Anode-Cathode Characteristics of

SCR, Two transisitor model of SCR, Gate Characteristics of SCR, Turn-ON Methods,
Turn-OFF Mechanism, Turn-OFF Methods: Natural and Forced Commutation – Class
A and Class B types, Gate Trigger Circuit: Resistance Firing Circuit, Resistance
capacitance firing circuit, UJT Firing Circuit. (Text 2) L1, L2, L3
 Module-3 Controlled Rectifiers 10 hours

 Controlled Rectifiers -

 Introduction, Principle of Phase-Controlled Converter Operation, Single-Phase Full Converter

with RL Load, Single-Phase Dual Converters, Single-Phase Semi Converter with RL load. 

 AC Voltage Controllers – 3rd module

 Introduction, Principles of ON-OFF Control, Principle of Phase Control, Single phase controllers
with resistive and inductive loads. (Text 1) L1, L2, L3

 Module-4 DC-DC Converters 10 hours

 DC-DC Converters -

 Introduction, principle of step-down operation and it‘s analysis with RL load, principle of step-up
operation, Step-up converter with a resistive load, Performance parameters, Converter
classification, Switching mode regulators: Buck regulator, Boost regulator, Buck-Boost
Regulators, Chopper circuit design. (Text 1) L1, L2
 Module-5 Pulse Width Modulated Inverters 10 hours

 Pulse Width Modulated Inverters-

 Introduction, principle of operation, performance parameters, Single phase bridge

inverters, voltage control of single phase inverters, current source inverters, Variable
DC-link inverter, Boost inverter, Inverter circuit design.

  Static Switches:

 Introduction, Single phase AC switches, DC Switches, Solid state relays,

Microelectronic relays. (Text 1) L1, L2
Course Outcomes:

 At the end of the course students should be able to:

 Describe the characteristics of different power devices and identify the various
applications associated with it.
 Illustrate the working of power circuit as DC-DC converter.
 Illustrate the operation of inverter circuit and static switches.
 Determine the output response of a thyristor circuit with various triggering options.
 Determine the response of controlled rectifier with resistive and inductive loads.
INTRODUCTION TO POWER ELECTRONICS

 Power Electronics is a field which combines Power (electric power), Electronics and Control
systems.
 Power engineering deals with the static and rotating power equipment for the generation,
transmission and distribution of electric power.
 Electronics deals with the study of solid state semiconductor power devices and circuits for
Power conversion to meet the desired control objectives (to control the output voltage and
output power).
 Power electronics may be defined as the subject of applications of solid state power
semiconductor devices (Thyristors) for the control and conversion of electric power.
Brief History of Power Electronics

 The first Power Electronic Device developed was the Mercury Arc Rectifier during the
year 1900. Then the other Power devices like metal tank rectifier, grid controlled
vacuum tube rectifier, ignitron, phanotron, thyratron and magnetic amplifier, were
developed & used
 The first SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) or Thyristor was invented and developed by
Bell Lab’s in 1956 which was the first PNPN triggering transistor.
 The second electronic revolution began in the year 1958 with the development of the
commercial grade Thyristor by the General Electric Company (GE).
 Thus the new era of power electronics was born. After that many different types of
power semiconductor devices & power conversion techniques have been introduced.
 The power electronics revolution is giving us the ability to convert, shape and control
large amounts of power.
 Power Electronic Applications
 COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS
 Heating Systems Ventilating, Air Conditioners, Central Refrigeration, Lighting,
 Computers and Office equipments, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Elevators, and
Emergency Lamps.
 DOMESTIC APPLICATIONS
 Cooking Equipments, Lighting, Heating, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators & Freezers,
 Personal Computers, Entertainment Equipments, UPS.
 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
 Pumps, compressors, blowers and fans. Machine tools, arc furnaces, induction furnaces,
 lighting control circuits, industrial lasers, induction heating, welding equipments.
 TELECOMMUNICATIONS
 Battery chargers, power supplies (DC and UPS), mobile cell phone battery chargers.
 TRANSPORTATION
 Traction control of electric vehicles, battery chargers for electric vehicles, electric
locomotives, street cars, trolley buses, automobile electronics including engine controls.
 Power electronics is one of the important branch of electronics and electrical
engineering. It deals with conversion and control of electric energy.
 We know that AC voltage and current of fixed frequency is available from mains. This
supply cannot be used always directly. For example computer needs SMPS (Switched
Mode Power Supply) for its working.
 The electric energy in one form is given at the input. The power electronic system
converts the electric energy in the other form. For example, the input may be AC and
the output can be DC. We know that such conversion is performed by rectifier.
 Thus rectifier is a power electronic system. The power electronic system thus performs
conversion of electric energy. It also controls the amount of electric energy to be given
to the output. The word power means high amplitude of current and voltages.
 The power electronic system uses power semiconductor devices such as diodes,
transistors, FETs and IGBTs for conversion of power.
 Definition of semiconductor : The semiconductor has too low resistivity compared to
insulator and it has not as high conductivity as conductor. Hence it is neither insulator
nor conductor. Therefore it is named as semiconductor

Introduction
 Silicon as semiconductor Silicon is a group IV member of periodic table. It has four
electrons per atom in its outer orbit. A pure silicon is called intrinsic semiconductor.
 It has high dielectric strength of about 200 kV/cm. •n-type semiconductor : When pure
silicon is doped with small amount of group V elements such as phosphorus, arsenic or
antimony, then there remains one loose electron after covalent bonds are formed.
 These loose electrons form the current through the material, Hence it is called n-type
semiconductor
 p-type semiconductor : When pure electron is doped with group-III elements
such as boron, gallium or indium, a vacant location is formed which is called
hole. It also carries current.
 Hence itis called p-type semiconductor.• Electrons carry the current in n-type
semiconductor and holes carry the current in p-type material.
Applications of Power Electronics
 1. Uninterruptible power supplies and stand by power supplies (emergency power
supplies) for computers, medical critical loads such equipments etc.
 2. Power control in resistance welding induction The po controlle correction heating,
electrolysis, process industry etc. 3. 3. Power conversion for HVDC and HVAC
transmission systems.
 4. Speed control of motors which are used intraction drives, textile mills, rolling mills,
cranes, lift, compressors, pumps etc.
 5. Solid state power compensators, static contactors, transformer tap changers etc.
 6. High voltage supplies for electrostatic precipitators, and x-ray generators, etc
 7. Power supplies for communication systems, telephone exchanges, satellite systems
etc.
 These are some of the important applications of power electronics.
 Classification of power devices
 The power semiconductor devices are used as on/off switches in power control circuit.
Small Signal Diode
Power diode
conductivity modulation
 The N- drift region in IGBTs and other high-voltage switching devices is thick and has
low dopant concentration. Therefore, the N- drift region has extremely high
resistivity. ... This increase in conductivity (i.e., a reduction in resistivity) during a
conduction period is called conductivity modulation.
Switching characteristics of Power Diode

 A power diode takes finite time to

change its state from ON (conduction-
state) to OFF (blocking-state) and
vice-versa.
 The switching properties and values of
a diode are given on the specification
sheet of the diode.
Turn On Transient

 It is the transient condition obtained when the Diode enters the Forward
biased state (i.e. the On-state) from the Reversed Biased state (i.e. the
 Turn ON Characteristics of Power Diode
Off-state).
 Turn-on transient spans over time periods t1 and t2 and two processes
occur during these periods
 During t1: space-charge stored in the depletion region due to the reverse
biasing is removed because the diode is now forward biased.
 During t2: the forward biased diode causes the injection of the excess
carriers into the drift region actually injection takes place.
 During the Reversed Biased condition, the stored charge exists in the
depletion region hence the region acts like a capacitor. Hence, even if
the Diode is abruptly forward biased, the voltage across the diode
increases smoothly because of the capacitance of the Space-charge
region and current starts to increase see the waveform during t1.
 Current also increases smoothly due to the inductance of the material
and similarly the voltage across the depletion region increases smoothly
due to the capacitance of the Depletion Region (There is no
Conductivity Modulation until the depletion region decreases to its
normal open circuit value. Therefore, the resistance of the Drift Region
is large till then).
Turn OFF Transient / Reverse Recovery Characteristics

 It is the transient condition obtained when the

Diode enters the Reverse biased state (i.e. the
Off-state) from the Forward Biased state (i.e.
the On-state). It is exactly the reverse process
of Turn ON transient. Turn-off characteristic
is also known as Reverse Recovery
Characteristics.
 Here, mainly the excess charges stored due
to the Injection in the Drift Region are
removed first so the depletion region could
be formed and the diode can be reversed
biased (i.e. Off-state).
Turn OFF Transient / Reverse Recovery Characteristics

 When di/dt is –ve ,diode current reduces i.e

t3-t4.
 But voltage drop is small .
 At the end of t4 excess carriers in the drift
region is removed.
 -ve current flows upto ?
 What happens to depletion region?
 What is reverse recovery time ?
Based on the Reverse recovery characteristics, diodes can be classified into 3 types

 General Purpose Diodes: These diodes are used for normal uses. General Purpose Diodes have
large reverse recovery time(trr) about 25μs, hence they are used in low speed and low-frequency
operations (up to 1- KHz).
 Fast Recovery Diodes :their reverse recovery time is very small less than 5μs. These diodes are
used in high speed switching applications.
 Fabrication Techniques Used: Diffusion Process and Epitaxy is used. Epitaxy provides faster
recovery time.
 Schottky Diodes :A Schottky diode is a special diode which is basically a metal-semiconductor
junction diode (it is different from normal semiconductor-semiconductor junction diode e.g. pn
junction diode).
 Use of only one type of semiconductor material i.e. n-type makes it a unipolar device.
 In this diode, charge storage problem is eliminated hence it has much less reverse recovery time
since only one type of charge carrier is responsible to carry current.
 With less voltage rating, Schottky diode is mostly used in low voltage and high current applications
such as DC Power Supplies, Rectifiers etc.
 Application of power diode
 Power diodes provide uncontrolled rectification of power and are used
in applications such as battery charging and DC power supplies as well as
AC rectifiers and inverters.

 Due to their high current and voltage characteristics they can also be used as
free-wheeling diodes and snubber networks.
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
 SCR is a unidirectional semiconductor device made of silicon. This device is the solid
state equivalent of thyratron and hence it is also referred to as thyristor or thyroid
transistor. In fact, SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) is a trade name given to the
thyristor by General Electric Company. Basically, SCR is a three-terminal, four-layer
semiconductor device consisting of alternate layers of p-type and n-type material.

 Hence it has three pn junctions J1, J2 and J3 The device has terminals Anode(A),
Cathode(K) and the Gate(G). The Gate terminal(G) is attached to the p-layer nearer to
the Cathode(K) terminal.
Reverse Blocking Mode of SCR
 In this mode, the SCR is reverse biased by connecting its anode terminal (A) to
negative end and the cathode terminal (K) to the positive end of the battery. This leads
to the reverse biasing of the junctions J1 and J3, which in turn prohibits the flow of
current through the device, in spite of the fact that the junction J2 remains in forward
biased condition.

 In this state, the SCR behaves as a typical diode. In this reverse biased condition, only
reverse saturation current flows through the device as in the case of the reverse biased
diode. The device also exhibits the reverse breakdown phenomenon beyond a reverse
safe voltage limit just like a diode
Forward Blocking Mode of SCR
 Here a positive bias is applied to the SCR by connecting anode terminal (A) to the
positive and cathode terminal (K) to the negative terminal of the battery, as shown in
the figure below. Under this condition, the junction J1 and J3 get forward biased while
junction J2 gets reverse biased.

 Here also current cannot pass through the thyristor except the tiny current flowing as
saturation current as shown by the blue curve in the characteristics curve below
 Forward Conduction Mode of SCR
 The SCR can be made to conduct either
 (i) By increasing the positive voltage applied at anode terminal (A) beyond the Break
Over Voltage, VB or
 (ii) By applying positive voltage at the gate terminal (G)
 In the first case, the increase in the applied bias causes the initially reverse biased
junction J2 to break down at the point corresponding to forward Break Over Voltage,
VB. This results in the sudden increase in the current flowing through the SCR
,although the gate terminal of the SCR remains unbiased.

 However, SCR can also be turned on at a much smaller voltage level by proving small
positive voltage at the gate terminal. The reason behind this can be better understood by
considering the transistor equivalent circuit of the SCR .