A Simple Dimmer Using a MOSFET for AC Driven
Lamp
Jong-Hyun Kim*, Jee-Hoon Jung*, Myung-Hyo Ryu*, and Ju-Won Baek*
* KERI, 28-1, Sungju-dong, Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea
E-mail; kimjh@keri.re.kr
Abstract- This paper presents a simple dimmer using a MOSFET
for AC driven lamp such as AC LED and incandescent lamp.
The control method of the proposed dimmer is pulse width
control (PWM) method. Compared with the conventional phase-
controlled dimmer, the proposed PWM dimmer can produce
sine wave and it does not cause harmonics problem.
Furthermore, because the MOSFET is free from latching &
holding current, the proposed dimmer using a MOSFET has
wide dimming range and the proposed control method does not
amplify the light flicker due to independence of the input voltage.
Therefore, the proposed PWM dimmer can be used as the AC
driven lamp’s dimmer instead of the conventional phase-
controlled dimmer. The experimental result shows that the
proposed PWM dimmer has good performances.
I. INTRODUCTION
The dimmer is a power electronic device for lighting
control and is used in various applications including industrial
and residential lighting control. The use of dimmers brings
many advantages to consumers. One advantage is that
dimmers provide a way to adjust the artificial lighting level.
Another advantage of using dimmers is energy conservation
[1, 2]. Up to now phase-controlled dimmers using a triac (or
two thyristors) have been the main technique for lighting
control. And their circuits have been developed both with
forward and reverse phase-controlled approaches [3].
Nowadays, energy saving, carbon reduction, and
environmental protection recently have became a common
consensus of every country. To comply with these energy
policies, lower power consumption, higher lumen efficiency,
longer lifespan, and lower pollution are the most important
demands for new light sources. AC directly driven LED lamp
is one of which meets such demands. AC directly driven LED
lamp is the light source that operates directly from a
sinusoidal AC voltage source-typically the utility line voltage
without a converter. Because of its simplicity and higher
lumen efficiency, AC LED lamp has tremendous potential to
become the dominant type of lighting in many applications
instead of incandescent lamp [4].
In the forward phase-controlled dimmers, the triac is
triggered into conduction at some point during the ac half-
cycle and continues to conduct until it self-commutates at the
end of the half-cycle [5-8]. These dimmers produce audible
noises in lamps due to the sharp turn-on waveform of current.
So a large bulky filter-inductor is needed to be placed in
series with the load to reduce the rate of change of current
through the lamp in the forward phase-controlled dimmer.
But the price to be paid for this is the addition of bulky
inductors, introducing both resistive and reactive power
978-1-61284-972-0/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
losses. An alternate method to avoid using the bulky inductor
is reverse phase-controlled approaches [9, 10]. In the reverse
phase-controlled dimmers, the triac is triggered into
conduction immediately after the zero crossing of line voltage
and then commutated off at some point during the ac half-
cycle. The bulky filter-inductor can now be replaced by a less
expensive capacitor in parallel with the power switches and
the rate of change of current through the load after turn-off
will be reduced [10].
Forward and reverse phase-controlled dimmers chop the ac
sine wave in such a way the output waveform is noticeably
deformed and produce discontinuous current flow in the
power distribution system. So they make undesirable
harmonics. Harmonics can cause audible noise and
overheating in the distribution wires [5-10]. Therefore, phase-
controlled dimmers have important drawbacks when used
with AC driven lamps such as AC LED and incandescent
lamp.
Phase-controlled dimmers are believed to play a role in the
increased number of flicker-related complaints. In many cases,
a typical R-C circuit is used for triggering the triac of the
phase-controlled dimmer. In case of the input voltage flicker,
it has effects on triggering the triac and substantially
amplifies the light flicker while dimming. A typical phase
controlled dimmer will nearly double the change in light
output for a typical change compared to the same lamp
without dimmer [11]. Furthermore, Triacs have generally
latching and holding currents characteristics. The latching
current is the minimum principal current required to turn the
triac on when given a sufficient gate pulse. The holding
current is the minimum principal current required to maintain
the triac in the on state. When the current drops below this
holding current, the triac will be turned off. The latching
current is typically higher than the holding current. For the
residential lighting dimmers that use triacs, the holding and
latching currents are the order of several ten’s mA. We
remark that the LED currents during dimming often may drop
below the latching and holding current, making it difficult to
trigger the dimmer and making its dimming range narrow.
Under the light load, Triac dimmers have difficulty working
with LED lamps [12].
To free from latching & holding current characteristics and
to solve the harmonics problem, a simple dimmer using a
MOSFET for AC driven lamp is proposed in this paper. The
proposed dimmer can be used for traditional incandescent
lamp as well as newer AC directly driven LED lamp. Because
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the control of the proposed PWM dimmer is independent of
the input voltage, it does not amplify the light flicker. The
proposed PWM dimmer consists of only two active switches
and an EMI filter. Because two active switches are
configurated with common source and gate, they can be
easily driven by a single PWM signal. An EMI filter is for the
elimination of high frequency component. So it can be small (b)
and light. The volume of two active switches and an EMI Fig. 1. Typical phase-controlled dimmer. (a) Basic circuit. (b)
filter is so small that the proposed dimmer can be used as the Typical waveforms (a blue solid line: the line voltage, a red bold
AC driven lamp’s dimmer instead of phase-controlled line: the output voltage).
dimmer. III. THE PROPOSED PWM DIMMER

Fig. 2 shows the basic schematic of the proposed PWM

II. PHASE-CONTROLLED DIMMER dimmer and typical waveforms. The PWM dimmer consists
Fig. 1 shows the basic schematic of the previous forward of only two active switches and an EMI filter. An EMI filter
is for the elimination of high frequency component. Because
phase-controlled dimmer and typical waveforms. The triac Q1
two active switches (MOSFET Q1, Q2) are comprised with
is triggered into conduction at the desired phase angle (α )
common source and gate, and they are turn on and off
and off at the zero crossing of the line voltage to transfer
simultaneously, they can be easily driven by one signal. The
partial power from line to the lamp. The output voltage output voltage (Vout) of the PWM dimmer is given by
function (Vout) of the triggering phase angle is given by: ton
Vout = D ⋅ Vin + VF = ⋅ Vin + VF (3)
T
α sin 2α Where, Vout is rms value of the dimmer output voltage, Vin is
Vout = VF + Vin ⋅ (1 −
+ ) (1)
π 2π rms value of the line voltage, and D is a duty ratio. VF is
Where, Vout and Vin are rms value of the dimmer output threshold voltage of AC LED.
voltage and the line voltage, respectively [11]. VF is The proposed dimmer has two possible modes during one
threshold voltage of AC LED. switching cycle. During the powering mode (ton), the switches
The power factor (PF) can be expressed as: Q1 and Q2 are turned on and the input current flows through
the switches Q1 and Q2. During this mode, the input power is
transferred to the lamp. The blocking mode (toff) is
α sin 2α
PF = (1 − + ) (2) complementary to the powering mode. During this mode, the
π 2π switches Q1 and Q2 are turned off and the input current is
Under the dimming condition, the output waveform is blocked by the body diode of the switches Q and Q .
1 2
noticeably deformed and has undesirable harmonics. If the Therefore, the proposed PWM dimmer does not amplify the
triggering phase angle ‘α ’ closes to ‘π’, the power factor light flicker because its control is independent of the input
decreases. voltage.
As the lamp current is distorted by the dimmer, harmonic MOSFET
currents are produced. The worst case occurs when the triac is Q1 Q2
turned on in the maximum voltage of the sinusoidal
waveform. In this case, the 3rd harmonic current is d1 s1 s2 d2
predominant. So a large bulky filter-inductor is needed to be g1 g2 Lamp
placed in series with the load to reduce the rate of change of Vac
EMI
Filter
current through the lamp. (Light)
The firing angle is determined by a combination of the
magnitude of the line voltage and R1-C1 time delay, as shown
in Fig. 1. Under the same R1-C1 time delay, the magnitude of (a)
the line voltage has an effect on the triggering phase angle. So
the phase controlled-dimmer substantially amplifies the light
flicker which is caused by the fluctuation of the line voltage
[11].

(b)
Fig. 2. Proposed PWM dimmer. (a) Basic circuit. (b) Typical
waveforms (a blue solid line: the line voltage, a red bold line: the
output voltage, a red dotted line: the output’s average voltage).
(a)

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 IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT equation (1). Fig. 4(b) shows typical waveforms of the phase-
In order to verify the proposed dimmer for the AC driven controlled dimmer under the voltage flicker with lower
lamp, the PWM dimmer with the EMI filter as shown in Fig. voltage of 200 Vac, and its output voltage is 165 V. The
3 is implemented and detail parameters are listed in table I. voltage flicker affects on the R-C gate circuit of triac dimmer
Input filters (CX1, CX2, and LF1) are adopt to the PWM dimmer and it delays firing-angle. Therefore, a decrease in the output
to filter out high frequency current. The universal power voltage is bigger than the input voltage. In case of voltage
analyzer (WT3000) was used to measure the harmonics in the flicker with higher voltage of 240 Vac, typical waveforms of
input current. the phase-controlled dimmer are represented in Fig. 4(c), and
Under the same input voltage of 220 V and output voltage its output voltage is 216V. The voltage flicker also affects on
of 195 V, comparison results of harmonic components in the the R-C gate circuit of triac dimmer and it advances firing-
input current between the phase-controlled dimmer and the angle ahead. Namely, an increase in the output voltage is
proposed PWM dimmer for AC LED lamp and incandescent bigger than the input voltage. In this case, the light flicker is
lamp are shown in table II and table III, The test results of the amplified by the voltage flicker in the phase-controlled
table II indicate that the THD of phase-controlled dimmer for dimmer.
AC led lamp is 108% and 3rd harmonic current is 81.6%. The On the other hand, Fig. 5(a) shows typical waveforms for
THD of the proposed PWM dimmer, on the other hand, is applying the proposed PWM dimmer with duty ratio of 0.5.
significantly reduced as 48% and 3rd harmonic current is also The output voltage is 195 V and it equals to the result of
decreased as 47%. The test results of the table III indicate that equation (3). Fig. 5(b) is expanded waveform of Fig. 5(a).
the THD of phase-controlled dimmer for incandescent lamp is The switching frequency is 98 kHz and the input power is
measured as 73.33%. The THD of the proposed PWM transferred to the lamp during the powering mode (ton). Fig.
dimmer, on the other hand, is significantly reduced as 3.4%. 5(c) shows typical waveforms of the PWM dimmer under the
voltage flicker with lower voltage of 200 Vac, and its output
TABLE I voltage is 180 V. Fig. 5(d) shows typical waveforms of the
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS AND PARAMETERS PWM dimmer under the voltage flicker with higher voltage
Item Value/Unit
of 240 Vac. The output voltage is 205 V. Because the duty
VAC 220 V / 60 HZ
ratio is independent of the input voltage, the PWM dimmer
PO 100 W
Fsw 98 kHz does not amplify the light flicker for the voltage flicker.
QL, Q2 12NM50 Fig. 6 shows typical waveforms of the proposed PWM
LF1 40 mH dimmer for incandescent lamp under the above condition.
CX1 330 nF Fig. 6(a) shows typical waveforms of the proposed PWM
CX2 220 nF dimmer at duty ratio of 0.7. The output voltage is 154 V and
CY1, CY2 1 nF it equals to the result of equation (3). Fig. 6(b) shows detailed
TABLE II waveforms of the PWM dimmer at the same duty ratio. The
HARMONICS ANALYSIS FOR AC LED LAMP switcing freqency is 98 kHz and the input power is
Phase-controlled transferred to the lamp during the powering mode (ton). Fig.
Order [n] PWM dimmer [%]
dimmer [%] 6(c) shows typical waveforms of the PWM dimmer under the
I1 100 100 voltage flicker (lower voltage, 200 Vac). The output voltage
I3 81.6 47.3 is 140 V. Fig. 6(d) shows typical waveforms of the PWM
I5 53.1 2.9 dimmer under the voltage flicker (higher voltage, 240Vac).
I7 26.5 6.9 The output voltage is 168 V. Because the duty ratio is
I9 16.2 1
independent of the input voltage, the PWM dimmer does not
I11 17.4 1.1
amplify the light flicker for the voltage flicker.
TABLE III Fig. 7 shows photographs of the phase-controlled and the
HARMONICS ANALYSIS FOR INCANDESCENT LAMP PWM dimmer. Because the size of the PWM dimmer is
Phase-controlled PWM similar to that of phase-controlled dimmer, instead of the
Harmonics dimmer [%] dimmer [%] previous phase-controlled dimmer, the PWM dimmer can be
I1 100 100 used for the residential wall dimmer models.
I3 55.7 0.9
I5 19.5 3
I7 18.4 1.1
I9 10.8 0.3
I11 10.6 0.7

Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show typical waveforms of the phase-

controlled dimmer and the proposed PWM dimmer for AC
LED lamp under the above condition. Fig. 4(a) shows typical
waveforms of the phase-controlled dimmer at firing-angle of
90°. The output voltage is 195 V and it equals to the result of Fig. 3. Proposed PWM dimmer with the EMI filter.

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 220V ac 200V ac
V ac V ac
[200V/div] [200V/div]

Vo Vo
[200V/div] [200V/div]

Iac Iac
[1A/div] [1A/div]

[5ms/div] [5ms/div]
(a) (c)
200V ac 240V ac
V ac V ac
[200V/div] [200V/div]

Vo Vo
[200V/div] [200V/div]

Iac Iac
[1A/div] [1A/div]

[5ms/div] [5ms/div]
(b) (d)
Fig. 5. Waveforms of the proposed PWM dimmer with the EMI filter for AC
240V ac
V ac LED lamp. (a) Typical waveforms. (b) Expanded waveforms. (c) Under the
[200V/div] voltage flicker with lower voltage of 200 Vac. (d) Under the voltage flicker
with higher voltage of 240Vac.
Vo
[200V/div]

Iac
[1A/div]

[5ms/div]
(c)
Fig. 4. Waveforms of the phase-controlled dimmer with the bulky
inductor for AC LED lamp. (a) Typical waveforms. (b) Under the
voltage flicker with lower voltage of 200 Vac. (c) Under the voltage
flicker with higher voltage of 240 Vac. (a)

220V ac
V ac
[200V/div]

Vo
[200V/div]

Iac
[1A/div]

[5ms/div]
(a) (b)

V ac 220V ac
[200V/div]

Vo
[200V/div]

[1A/div] Iac

[5us/div]
(c)
(b)

2875

(d)
Fig. 6 Waveforms of the proposed PWM dimmer with the EMI filter for
Incandescent lamp. (a) Typical waveforms, (b) Detailed waveforms, (c)
Under the voltage flicker (lower voltage, 200Vac), (d) Under the voltage
flicker (higher voltage, 240Vac).
(a)
Technology 37 (1), 2005, pp. 21-40.
[3] J. Smith, J. Speakes, and M. H. Rashid, "An overview of the modern
light dimmer: design, operation, and application," IEEE Power
Symposium, Proceedings of the 37th Annual North American, Oct. 2005,
pp. 299-303.
[4] Seoul semiconductor co.ltd., April 2010. [Online], http://www.arcriche.
com/en/product/prd/acriche.asp
[5] C. S. Wang, "Flicker-insensitive light dimmer for incandescent lamps"
IEEE Trans. Indus. Elec., vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 767-772, Feb. 2008.
[6] S. Datta, "Power pollution caused by lighting control system," in Rec.
IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, 1991, pp. 1842-1852.
[7] C. S. Wang and M. J. Devaney, "Incandescent lamp flicker mitigation
and measurement," IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 1028-
1034, Aug. 2004.
[8] S. Datta, "Power pollution caused by lighting control system," in Conf.
Rec. IEEE IAS Annu. Meeting, 1991, vol. 3, pp. 1842-1852.
[9] R. M. Burkhart and D. L. Ostrodka, "Reverse phase-controlled dimmer
for incandescent lighting," IEEE Trans. Indus. Appl., vol. IA-15, no. 5,
pp. 579-581, Sept./Oct. 1979.
[10] Power Line Harmonic Problems – Causes and Cures, Dranets
Technologies, December 1994.
[11] S. M. Halpin, R. Bergeron, T. M. Blooming, R. F. Burch, L. E. Conrad,
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1097, Jul. 2003.
[12] D. Rand, B. Lehman, and A. shteynberg, “Issues, models and solutions
for triac modulated phase dimming of LED lamps,” Power Electronics
Specialists Conference, 2007, pp. 1398-1404.

(b)
Fig. 7. Photographs of the phase-controlled and PWM dimmer. (a) The
phase-controlled dimmer. (b) The PWM dimmer.

V. CONCLUSION
This paper presents a dimmer using a MOSFET for AC
driven lamps. Compared with the previous phase-controlled
dimmer, the proposed PWM dimmer can generate correct
sine-wave and reduce 3rd harmonic current. Moreover, it is
controlled by the input voltage independently and does not
amplify the light flicker during dimming. Furthermore,
because the MOSFET is free from latching & holding current,
the proposed dimmer using a MOSFET has wide dimming
range. Therefore, the proposed novel dimmer can be used in
various AC driven lamps such as AC LED and incandescent
lamp. Experimental results showed that instead of the
previous phase-controlled dimmer, the proposed PWM
dimmer can be used for the residential and commercial
lighting dimmer models.

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Lighting Controls Assoc., Sept. 2004: www.aboutlightingcontrols.org
/education / papers/personalcontrol.shtml,
[2] R. Leslie, R. Raghavan, O. Howlett, and C. Eaton, “The potential of
simplified concepts for daylight harvesting,” Lighting Research and

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