MCQs in pnpn and Other Devices

Choose the letter of the best answer in each questions.

1. How many layers of semiconductor materials does a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) have?

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5

2. Which of the following devices has (have) four layers of semiconductor materials?

A. Silicon-controlled switch (SCS)

B. Gate turn-off switch (GTO)

C. Light-activated silicon-controlled rectifier (LASCR)

D. All of the above

3. A thyristor is a _____-layer semiconductor material device.

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5

4. Which of the following devices is unquestionably of the greatest interest today?

A. SCR

B. GTO

C. LASCR

D. SCS

5. What is the frequency range of application of SCRs?

A. About 10 kHz

B. About 50 kHz
 C. About 250 kHz

D. About 1 mHz

6. Which one of the SCR terminals fires the SCR?

A. Anode

B. Cathode

C. Gate

D. All of the above

7. What is the typical value of the reverse resistance of SCRs?

A. 1 to 10

B. 100 to 1 k

C. 1 k to 50 k

D. 100 k or more

8. Which of the following transistors is an SCR composed of?

A. npn, pnp

B. npn, npn

C. pnp, pnp

D. None of the above

9. Which of the transistors of an SCR are conducting when the SCR is fired and is in the conduction
mode?

A. npn

B. pnp

C. Both npn and pnp

D. Neither npn nor pnp

10. What is the range of the turn-on times in high-power SCR devices?

A. 30 s to 100 s

B. 10 s to 25 s
 C. 5 s to 8 s

D. 1 s to 5 s

11. What is the typical range of turn-off times for SCRs?

A. 5 s to 30 s

B. 1 s to 5 s

C. 0.1 s to 1 s

D. 0.01 s to 0.1 s

12. This symbol is an example of a(n) _____.

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. GTO

D. DIAC

13. Which of the following parameters are usually provided by the manufacturer on the specification
sheet for SCRs?

A. Turn-on time (ton )

B. Turn-off time (toff )

C. Junction and case temperatures (tj and tc )

D. All of the above

14. How many terminals does a silicon-controlled switch (SCS) device have?

A. 2

B. 3

C. 4

D. 5
15. What is the typical value of the triggering anode gate for SCS devices?

A. 1.5 mA

B. 150 A

C. 15 A

D. 1 A

16. Which of the following is (are) the advantages of the SCS over a corresponding SCR?

A. Reduced turn-off time

B. Increased control and triggering sensitivity

C. More predictable firing situation

D. All of the above

17. Which of the following areas is (are) applications of an SCS?

A. Counters

B. Pulse generators

C. Voltage sensors

D. All of the above

18. This symbol is an example of a(n)_____.

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. GTO

D. DIAC

19. For an SCS, a _____ pulse at the anode gate turns the device on, while a _____ pulse will turn it off.
 A. negative, positive

B. positive, negative

20. An advantage of the SCR over the SCS is the reduced turn-off time.

A. True

B. False

21. Which of the following devices has the smallest turn-off time?

A. SCR

B. GTO

C. SCS

D. LASCR

22. Which of the following devices has nearly the same turn-on time as turn-off time?

A. SCR

B. GTO

C. SCS

D. LASCR

23. This symbol is an example of a(n) _____.

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. GTO

D. diac

24. What is the maximum current (rms) rating for commercially available LASCRs today?
 A. 3 A

B. 15 A

C. 20 A

D. 25 A

25. How many terminals does a Shockley diode have?

A. 5

B. 4

C. 3

D. 2

26. This symbol is an example of a(n) _____.

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. GTO

D. DIAC

27. Which of the following devices does not have a cathode terminal?

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. Triac

D. Shockley diode

28. Today, the SCR is more widely used than the TRIAC.

A. True
 B. False

29. Which of the following devices has a negative-resistance region in its characteristics curve?

A. SCR

B. SCS

C. Unijunction transistor

D. Phototransistor

30. What is the range of the variable resistor in the equivalent circuit of a unijunction transistor?

A. 50 to 5 k

B. 6 k to 10 k

C. 5 to 50

D. 1 to 5

31. This is an example of a high-isolation _____ gate.

A. OR

B. NOT

C. AND
 D. NAND

32. The ISO-LIT Q1 16-pin Litronix opto-isolator DIP contains _____ opto-isolators.

A. 4

B. 8

C. 12

D. 6

33. How many terminals does a programmable unijunction transistor (PUT) have?

A. 4

B. 3

C. 2

D. 1

34. Determine RB1 for a silicon PUT if it is determined that h = 0.84, V P = 11.2 V, and RB2 = 5 k.

A. 12.65 k

B. 16.25 k

C. 20.00 k

D. 26.25 k

FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS

1. The two-layer semiconductor diode has led to _____layer devices.

A. three-

B. four-

C. five-

D. All of the above

2. The four-layer devices with a control mechanism are commonly referred to as _____.

A. thyristors

B. transistors
 C. diodes

D. None of the above

3. _____ are areas of application for SCRs.

A. Relay controls

B. Time-delay circuits

C. Motor controls

D. All of the above

4. SCRs have been designed to control powers as high as _____, with individual ratings as high as _____
at _____.

A. 1800 MW, 10 A, 2000 V

B. 1800 MW, 2000 A, 10 V

C. 10 MW, 2000 A, 1800 V

D. 2000 MW, 10 A, 1800 V

5. The _____ are the terminals of SCRs.

A. anode and cathode

B. anode, gate, and cathode

C. base, anode, and cathode

D. gate and anode

6. In the conduction region, the dynamic resistance of the SCR is typically _____ to _____.

A. 0.01 , 0.1

B. 1 , 10

C. 50 , 100

D. 500 , 10 k

7. The SCRs have typical turn-on times of _____ in the regeneration action.

A. 0.1 s to 1 s

B. 0.1 ms to 1 ms
 C. 3 ms to 5 ms

D. 5 ms to 9 ms

8. The method(s) for turning off an SCR is (are) categorized as _____.

A. current interruption

B. forced commutation

C. both current interruption and forced commutation

D. None of the above

9. At 65C the minimum current that will trigger the series of an SCR is _____, while at +150C only
_____ is required.

A. 20 mA, 100 mA

B. 50 mA, 75 mA

C. 75 mA, 50 mA

D. 100 mA, 20 mA

10. In a half-wave variable-resistance phase control operation, the control cannot be extended past a
______ phase displacement.

A. 45

B. 90

C. 135

D. 180

11. The _____ are the terminals of an SCS.

A. anode, anode gate, cathode gate, and cathode

B. anode, cathode, cathode gate, and gate

C. anode, anode gate, cathode, and gate

D. anode, cathode, and gate

12. The _____ the anode gate current, the _____ the required anode-to-cathode voltage to turn the SCS
device on.

A. higher, higher
 B. lower, lower

C. higher, lower

D. None of the above

13. The anode gate connection can be used to turn the SCS device _____.

A. on

B. off

C. neither on nor off

D. either on or off

14. To turn on an SCS device, a _____ pulse must be applied to the anode gate terminal; to turn off the
device, a _____ pulse is required.

A. positive, positive

B. negative, positive

C. positive, negative

D. negative, negative

15. In general, the triggering (turn-on) anode gate current is _____ the required cathode gate current.

A. larger than

B. the same as

C. smaller than

D. None of the above

16. A(n) _____ can be triggered in either direction.

A. SCR

B. Shockley diode

C. diac

D. SCS

17. _____ is (are) the element(s) of a unijunction transistor's equivalent circuit.

A. One fixed resistor

 B. A variable resistor

C. A diode

D. All of the above

18. The current induced by photoelectric effects is the _____ current of the transistor.

A. collector

B. base

C. emitter

D. None of the above

19. _____ in light intensity corresponds with _____ in collector current.

A. An increase, an increase

B. An increase, a decrease

C. A decrease, an increase

D. None of the above

20. _____ is(are) example(s) of applications of phototransistors.

A. Punch-card readers

B. Lighting control (for example, on highways)

C. Level indication

D. All of the above

21. An opto-isolator contains _____.

A. an infrared LED

B. a photodetector

C. both an infrared LED and a photodetector

D. None of the above

22. The switching time of an opto-isolator _____ with increased current, while for many devices it is
exactly the reverse.

A. increases
 B. decreases

C. remains the same

D. None of the above

23. In a programmable unijunction transistor (PUT), the _____ can be controlled through a couple of
resistors and the supply voltage.

A. interbase resistance RBB

B. intrinsic stand-off ratio

C. emitter firing potential VP

D. All of the above

24. The peak and valley currents of the PUT are typically _____ those of a similarly rated UJT.

A. lower than

B. the same as

C. higher than

D. None of the above

25. The minimum operating voltage of the UJT is typically _____ that of a similarly rated PUT.

A. lower than

B. the same as

C. higher than

D. None of the above

ANSWER

1. C. 4

2. D. All of the above

3. C. 4

4. A. SCR

5. B. About 50 kHz

6. C. Gate
7. D. 100 k or more

8. A. npn, pnp

9. C. Both npn and pnp

10. B. 10 s to 25 s

11. A. 5 s to 30 s

12. A. SCR

13. D. All of the above

14. C. 4

15. A. 1.5 mA

16. D. All of the above

17. D. All of the above

18. B. SCS

19. A. negative, positive

20. B. False

21. B. GTO

22. B. GTO

23. C. GTO

24. A. 3 A

25. D. 2

26. D. DIAC

27. C. Triac

28. B. False

29. C. Unijunction transistor

30. A. 50 to 5 k

31. C. AND
32. A. 4

33. B. 3

34. B. 16.25 k

FILL-IN-THE-BLANKS

1. D. All of the above

2. A. thyristors

3. D. All of the above

4. C. 10 MW, 2000 A, 1800 V

5. B. anode, gate, and cathode

6. A. 0.01 , 0.1

7. A. 0.1 s to 1 s

8. C. both current interruption and forced commutation

9. D. 100 mA, 20 mA

10. B. 90

11. A. anode, anode gate, cathode gate, and cathode

12. C. higher, lower

13. D. either on or off

14. B. negative, positive

15. A. larger than

16. C. diac

17. D. All of the above

18. B. base

19. A. An increase, an increase

20. D. All of the above

21. C. both an infrared LED and a photodetector

22. B. decreases

23. D. All of the above

24. A. lower than

25. C. higher than