What are Thyristors?

• A thyristor is one of the several controllable semi conductor devices

that can act either like a switch, rectifier or as a voltage regulator.
The thyristor is a solid-state analogue of the thyratron vacuum tube.
The name ‘thyristor’ is a combination of two words – the thyratron
and the transistor. A thyristor functions a little like a transistor. It
consists of three electrodes: the gate, the anode and the cathode.
The gate acts as the controlling electrode.
• When a small current flows into the gate, it allows a larger current
to flow from the anode to the cathode. A thyristor can be switched
from a blocking state (high voltage, low current) to a conducting
state (low voltage, high current) by a suitable gate pulse.
• Forward conduction is blocked until an external positive pulse is
applied to the gate terminal. A thyristor cannot be turned off from
the gate
 Thyristor
• A thyristor is a four-layer semiconductor device,
consisting of alternating P type and N type
materials (PNPN).
• thyristor has three terminals: an anode, a
cathode, and a gate .
• When a small current is passed through the
gate terminal to the cathode, thyristor
conducts, provided that the anode terminals is
at a higher potential than the cathode.
 THYRISTORS Family Members

SCR: Silicon Controlled Rectifier

• •DIAC: Diode on Alternating Current
• •TRIAC: Triode for Alternating Current
• •SCS: Silicon Control Switch
• •SUS: Silicon Unilateral Switch
• •SBS: Silicon Bidirectional Switch
• •SIS: Silicon Induction Switch
• •LASCS: Light Activated Silicon Control Switch
• •LASCR: Light Activated Silicon Control Rectifier
• •SITh: Static Induction Thyristor
• •RCT: Reverse Conducting Thyristor
• •GTO: Gate Turn-Off Thyristor
• •MCT: MOSFET Controlled Thyristor
• •ETOs: Emitter Turn ON Thyristor
 Structure and symbols
•
 Equivalent Circuit
ANODE

• ANODE

Q1

N N
BJT_PNP_VIRTUAL

GATE
Q2
P P
GATE
BJT_NPN_VIRTUAL

CATHODE

CATHODE
 Thyristors have three states:

• 1) Reverse blocking mode

• 2) Forward blocking mode
• 3) Forward conducting mode
 Thyristors have three states:

• Reverse blocking mode — Voltage is applied in the

direction that would be blocked by a diode
• Forward blocking mode — Voltage is applied in the
direction that would cause a diode to conduct, but
the thyristor has not been triggered into conduction
• Forward conducting mode — The thyristor has been
triggered into conduction and will remain
conducting until the forward current drops below a
threshold value known as the "holding current"
• BREAKOVER VOLTAGE
• I t is the minimum forward voltage gate being open at which SCR starts conducting
• heavily i.e turned on
• PEAK REVERSE VOLTAGE( PRV)
• It is the maximum reverse voltage applied to an SCR without conducting in the
reverse
• direction.
• HOLDING CURRENT
• It is the maximum anode current gate being open at which SCR is turned off from
on
• conditions.
• FORWARD CURRENT RATING
• It is the maximum anode current that an SCR is capable of passing without
destruction
• Triggering turning on Process of the SCR is known as Triggering. In other words,
turning the SCR from Forward Blocking state to Forward Conduction state is known
as Triggering.
• Firing Angle
• Firing Angle is the angle (in the input AC) at
which the gate is triggered.
• Latching current : The minimum value of
anode current required to turn ON a thyristor
from it’s OFF state.
 Turn on mechanism
• To turn on a THYRISTORS for its forward
conduction state or on state, there are five types
of mechanism to turn on process of
THYRISTORS . These are :-
• 1) forward voltage triggering
• 2) light triggering (or radiation triggering)
• 3) temperature triggering (or thermal triggering)
• 4) dv/dt triggering
• 5) Gate triggering
 Forward voltage triggering
• In this method anode is made positive with
respect to cathode by which the thyristor will
be in forward blocking state where junction j1
and j3 will be in forward bias and j2 will be in
reverse bias .
• As the forward voltage is increased, avalanche
breakdown occurs at junction j2 which causes
the breakdown of junction and voltage across
j2 is called forward breakover voltage .
 Light triggering
• this type of triggering is used by LASCR .
• When light waves of certain wavelength and
frequency are made incident on the hole of
the inner p layer of the thyristor junction, they
turn on the thyristors.
 temperature triggering
• Temperature has an effect on the electronic
devices. When thyristor is in forward-blocking
mode without a gate pulse , a small amount of
current called leakage current flows through
thyristor.
• With an increase in junction temperature across
j2, junction leakage current increases.
• In this process at some point of temperature
thyristor will turn on.
 dv/dt triggering
• As we have from the above discussion that
during forward blocking voltage the junctions
j1 and j3 will be forward bias whereas junction
j2 in reverse bias. Due to the presence of free
space across junction j2. charges will be
accumulated and the junction acts as a
capacitor.
• This charging current of junction j2 is sufficient
enough to turn on the thyristor.
 Cont…
• If this charging current is of high value then
the thyristor may get damage.
• So before using a thyristor it is necessary to
look at the maximum allowable dv/dt rating
given by the manufactures.
 Gate triggering
• The gate triggering is given to the thyristor to
make it turn on such that the anode terminal
should be positive with respect to cathode .
• The gate current or voltage will be in any of
the following form
• a) DC triggering
• b) Ac triggering
• c) Pulse triggering
 Turn off mechanisms
• The main principle involved in the turn off
thyristors is by making conduction stop and
the positive voltage to anode should not allow
the current to flow unless there is a gate
signal.
• The process of making the thyristors to turn
off is called commutation.
 three methods to turn off

• 1) natural commutation
• 2) forced commutation
• 3) gate turn off
• a) natural commutation:-in this methods
anode current is made to decrease below
holding current and then it is made to turn off.
• In this natural commutation no external circuit
is used.
 Forced commutation
• In this method the voltage across anode to cathode is
reverse which results in interruption of anode current.
and the cathode terminals becomes positive with
respect to anode, capacitors are used for obtaining the
reverse voltage across thyristor.

• Gate turn off :- this methods is rarely used for

turning off the thyristors. This methods is applied only to
few thyristors the negative gate current increases the
holding current which causes load current to increase
results in turning off the thyristor.
 Silicon Controlled Rectifier

•• A Silicon Controlled Rectifier (or Semiconductor Controlled

Rectifier) is a four layer solid state device that controls current
flow
• The name “silicon controlled rectifier” is a trade name for the
type of thyristor commercialized at General Electric in 1957
 Silicon Controlled Rectifier

•• An SCR can be seen as a conventional rectifier controlled by a

gate signal
• It is a 4-layered 3-terminal device
• When the gate to cathode voltage exceeds a certain threshold,
the device turns 'on' and conducts current
 Silicon Controlled Rectifier

• The operation of a SCR can be understood in terms of a pair of

tightly coupled Bipolar Junction Transistors
• SCR has three states:
– Reverse blocking mode, forward blocking mode, and forward
conducting mode
 SCR applications
• The SCR is the most important member of the thyristor family. The SCR is a
capable power device as it can handle thousands of amperes and volts.
• Generally the SCR is used in many applications such as in high power
electronics, switches, power-control and conversion mode.
• It is also used as surge protector.
• Static Switch: The SCR is used as a switch for power-switching in various
control circuits.
• Power Control: Since the SCR can be turned on externally, it can be used to
regulate the amount of power delivered to a load.
• Surge Protection: In an SCR circuit, when the voltage rises beyond the
threshold value, the SCR is turned on to dissipate the charge or voltage quickly.
• Power Conversion: The SCR is also used for high-power conversion and
regulation. This includes conversion of power source from ac to ac, ac to dc
and dc to ac.
 SCR Application

• Application
• SCR as a static contactor
• SCR for power control
• SCR for speed control of d. c. shunt motor
• Over light detector
 TRIAC
• The term TRIAC is derived by combining the first three
letters of the word “TRIODE” and the word “AC”.
• A TRIAC is capable of conducting in both the
directions. The TRIAC, is thus, a bidirectional thyristor with
three terminals. It is widely used for the control of power in
ac circuits.
• TRIAC is a bidirectional controlled THYRISTORS switch
which performs as two THYRISTORS connected back to
back.
• This device come into existence for solving the problem of
controlling alternating current for load.
 TRIAC
• TRIAC is very useful for controlling ac power
which provides load circuit in response to gate
control.
• TIAC are used for controlling ac motor starting
and heating and power handling applications.
• Even though THYRISTOR (SCR) can be used
instead of TRIAC by connecting two anti
parallel SCRs.
 Advantages of the TRIAC:
• The TRIAC has the following advantages:

(i) They can be triggered with positive- or negative-polarity

voltage.
(ii) They need a single heat sink of slightly larger size.
(iii) They need a single fuse for protection, which simplifies
their construction.
(iv) In some dc applications, the SCR has to be connected with
a parallel diode for protection against reverse voltage, whereas a
TRIAC may work without a diode, as safe breakdown in either
direction is possible.
 Disadvantages of the TRIAC:
• The TRIAC has the following
disadvantages:

(i) TRIACs have low dv/dt ratings compared to SCRs.

(ii) Since TRIACs can be triggered in either direction,
the trigger circuits with TRIACs needs careful
consideration.
(iii) Reliability of TRIACs is less than that of SCRs.
 Simple Applications of the TRIAC:
• The TRIAC as a bidirectional thyristor has various
applications. Some of the popular applications of
the
TRIAC are as follows:

(i) In speed control of single-phase ac series or universal

motors.
(ii) In food mixers and portable drills.
(iii) In lamp dimming and heating control.
(iv) In zero-voltage switched ac relay.
 DIAC
• The DIAC is a full-wave or bi-directional
semiconductor switch that can be turned on in
both forward and reverse polarities.
• The DIAC gains its name from the contraction of
the words DIode Alternating Current.
• The DIAC is widely used to assist even triggering
of a TRIAC when used in AC switches. DIACs are
mainly used in dimmer applications and also in
starter circuits for florescent lamps.
 DIODE AC SWITCH (DIAC):
• The DIAC is a combination of two diodes. Diodes being
unidirectional devices, conduct current only in one direction.
• If bidirectional (ac) operation is desired, two
Shockley diodes may be joined in parallel facing different
directions to form the DIAC.
 Constructional Features:
• The construction of DIAC looks like a transistor but there are major
differences.
• They are as follows:
(i) All the three layers, p–n–p or n–p–n, are equally doped in the DIAC,
whereas in the BJT there is a gradation of doping. The emitter is highly
doped, the collector is lightly doped, and the base is moderately doped.
• (ii) The DIAC is a two-terminal diode as opposed to the BJT, which is a
three-terminal device.
I-V characteristics of the DIAC:
 Applications of DIAC
• It can be used mainly in the TRIAC triggering circuit.
• . The DIAC is connected in the gate terminal of the
TRIAC. When the voltage across the gate decreases
below a predetermined value, the gate voltage will
be zero and hence the TRIAC will be turned off.
• The main applications are-
• It can be used in the lamp dimmer circuit.
• It is used in the heat control circuit.
• It is used in the speed control of a
universal motor.
 light activated SCR
• The Light-activated silicon-controlled rectifier ( LASCR) is also
a four layer semiconductor device ( thyristor) .
• These devices are triggered (turn on)by incident of light on
the depletion layer.
• When no light is present , the LASCR is off; no current will
flow through the load .
• When the light Activated SCR is illuminated, it turn on
allowing to flow through the load
•
 Gate turn off THYRISTORS
• Gate turn off thyristors has three terminals :
anode (A),cathode (k) and gate (G).
• It looks like two connected BJTs
 Gate turn off thyristors
• These type of thyristors are used in chopper
and inventors with a rating of 100kw to mw
• This gate turn off thyristors has some similar
characteristics like an SCR in blocking ,
conducting and triggering stages.
• It also has the characteristics of power
transistors by which switch it can self turn off
 Application
• Thyristors are mainly used where high currents and voltages
are involved, and are often used to control alternating
currents, where the change of polarity of the current causes
the device to switch off automatically, referred to as "zero
cross" operation. The device can be said to
operate synchronously; being that, once the device is
triggered, it conducts current in phase with the voltage applied
over its cathode to anode junction with no further gate
modulation being required, i.e., the device is biased fully on.
This is not to be confused with asymmetrical operation, as the
output is unidirectional, flowing only from cathode to anode,
and so is asymmetrical in nature.
 Thyristor Protection:
• For reliable operation of SCR, it should be operated
within the specific ratings.
• SCRs are very delicate devices and so they must be
protected against abnormal operating
conditions. Various protection of SCR are:-
• 1. di/dt Protection
• 2. dv/dt Protection
• 3. Over voltage Protection
• 4. Over Current Protection
 di/dt Protection:
• di/dt is the rate of change of current in a device.
• When SCR is forward biased and is turned ON by the
gate signal, the anode current flows.
• The anode current requires some time to spread
inside the device. (Spreading of charge carriers)
• But if the rate of rise of anode current(di/dt) is greater
than the spread velocity of charge carriers then local
hot spots is created near the gate due to increased
current density. This localized heating may damage the
device.
 dv/dt Protection:
• dv/dt is the rate of charge of voltage in SCR.
• We know that iC=C.dv/dt. ie, when dv/dt is
high, iC is high.
• This high current(iC) may turn ON SCR even
when gate current is zero. This is called as dv/dt
turn ON or false turn ON of SCR.
• To protect the thyristor against false turn ON or
against high dv/dt a “Snubber Circuit” is used.
 Points to remember while
operating thyristor
• The following steps should be kept in mind during the normal
operation of thyristor:
• - the voltage across anode to cathode (supply voltage )
should be less than the breakover voltage to prevent the
damage of thyristors .
• - If Ac supply is applied across anode to cathode, care should
be taken so that peak inverse voltage (PIV) no in excess value.
• The gate signal should be given properly to thyristor, i.e. it
should be applied to gate to cathode such that positive gate
voltage should appear at the gate terminal with respect to
cathode.
• - if one wants to turn off the thyristor from on
state, forward anode current should be less
than below holding current.
• - if the latching current is obtained the gate
losses its control over thyristor.
• - if the gate current is more than forward
anode to cathode, requirement of voltage will
be less.