Chapter # 2

Review of Switching Concepts and Power

Semiconductor Devices
Outlines
The need for switching in Power Electronic Circuits
Switching Characteristics
The ideal switch
The practical switch
Switching functions and Matrix representation
Types of Switches
Available Semiconductor Switching Devices
Bipolar and Unipolar Devices
Thyristor-Based Devices
Comparison of Switching Devices
Future Trends in Power Devices
Introduction
Unipolar and bipolar type devices:
Bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
Metal Oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET)
Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
Thyristor-based devices
Silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCR)
Gate turn-off (GTO) thyristor
Triac
Static Induction transistor and thyristor
MOS-controlled thyristor (MCT)
The emphasis will be on the device terminal i-v switching
characteristics and their current, voltage, and switching limits.
Power semiconductor devices represent the
heart of modern power electronics,with two
major desirable characteristics guiding their
development:

Switching speed (turn-on and turn-off times)
Power-handling capabilities (voltage-blocking
and current-carrying capabilities)
The Need For Switching In
Power Electronic Circuits
The need for semiconductor devices to perform conversion functions is
related to the converter efficiency
A low-efficiency power system means that large amounts of power are
being dissipated in the form of heat, with one or more of the following
implications:
The cost of energy increases due to increased consumption
Additional design complications might be imposed, especially
regarding the design of device heat sinks
Additional components such as heat sinks increase the cost, size,
and weight of the system, resulting in low power density
High power dissipation forces the switch to operate at low
switching frequencies, resulting in limited bandwidth and slow
response, and the size and weight of magnetic components
Component and device reliability is reduced
Example 2.1
The purpose of this example is to investigate the efficiency of four different
power electronic circuits whose function is to take power from a 24 V dc
source and deliver a 12 V dc output to a 6 O resistive load. In other words, the
task of these circuits is to serve as dc transformers with a ratio of 2:1. The four
circuits are shown in Fig. 2.1(a), (b), (c), and (d ), representing a voltage
divider circuit, zener regulator, transistor linear regulator, and switching
circuit, respectively. The objective is to calculate the efficiency of these four
power electronic circuits.

Fig 2.1 (a) Voltage divider (b) Zener regulator (c)
Transistor regulator (d) Switching circuit
(c)
(a) (b)
(d)
Fig 2.1 (e) Zener diode i-v switching characteristics (f) Switching waveforms for circuits
(f)
(e)
Voltage divider dc regulator:
The first circuit is the simplest, forming a voltage divider with R = R
L
= 6 O and Vo = 12
V. The efficiency, defined as the ratio of the average load power, P
L
, to the average input
power, P
in
, is



The efficiency is simply Vo/Vin%. As the output voltage becomes smaller, the efficiency
decreases proportionally.
Zener dc regulator:
Since the desired output is 12 V, we select a zener diode with zener breakdown V
Z
= 12 V
is selected. Assume the zener diode has the i-v characteristic shown in Fig. 2.1(e). Since
R
L
= 6 O , the load current, I
L
, is 2 A. Calculate R for I
Z
= 0.2 A (10% of the load current),
results in R = 5.45 O. Since the input power is P
in
= 2.2 A x 24 V = 52.8 W and the output
power is P
out
= 24 W, the efficiency of the circuit is:
Solution for Example 2.1
q =
=
+
=
P
P
R
R R
L
in
L
L
%
% 50%
%
8 . 52
24
W
W
= q





= 45.5 %
Transistor dc regulator:
It is clear from Fig. 2.1(c) that for Vo = 12 V, the collector emitter voltage must be around
12 V. The control circuit must provide a base current, I
B
, to put the transistor in the active
mode with V
CE
~12 V. Since the load current is 2 A, the collector current is approximately
2 A (assume small I
B
). The total power dissipated in the transistor can be approximated by
the following equation:



The efficiency of the circuit is 50%.

Switching dc regulator:
Consider the switching circuit of Fig. 2.1(d) by assuming the switch is ideal and
periodically turns on and off, as shown in Fig. 2.1( f ). The output voltage waveform is
also shown in Fig. 2.1( f ). Even though the output voltage is not constant or pure dc, its
average value is given by



where D is the duty ratio, the ratio of the on-time to the switching period, T
s
. For V
o
,
ave
=
12 V, set D = 0.5, i.e., the switch has a duty cycle of 0.5 or 50%. In this case, the average
output power is 48 W and the average input power is also 48 W, resulting in 100%
efficiency
P V I V I
diss CE C BE B
= +
~ ~ = V I X watts
CE C
12 2 24
V
T
V dt V D
o ave in in
TD
,
= =
}
1
0
Switching Characteristics
The Ideal Switch
No limit on the amount of current (known as forward or reverse current) that
the device can carry when in the conduction state (on-state)
No limit on the amount of device voltage (known as forward or reverse
blocking voltage) when the device is in the nonconduction state (off-state)
Zero-on state voltage drop when in the conduction state
Infinite off-state resistance, i.e., zero leakage when in the non-conduction
state
No limit on the operating speed of the device when it changes state i.e., zero
rise and fall times
The Practical Switch
Limited power-handling capabilities, i.e., limited conduction current
when the switch is in the on state, and limited blocking voltage when
the switch is in the off-state.
Limited switching speed, caused by the finite turn-on and turn-off
times, which limits the maximum operating frequency of the device
Finite on-state and off-state resistances i.e., the existence of forward
voltage drop in the on state, and reverse current flow (leakage) in the
off-state
Because of characteristics 2 and 3, the practical switch experiences
power losses in the on and off states and during switching transitions
Fig 2.3 (a) Practical switch current, voltage, and waveforms
(a)
A useful plot that illustrates how switching takes place from on to off and
vice versa is called a switching trajectory, which is simply a plot of i
sw

versus v
sw
as shown here
Fig 2.3 (b) Switching trajectory
(b)
Example 2.2
Consider a linear approximation of Fig 2.3(a) as
shown in Fig 2.4(a) with D = 1 (this assumes that
T
s
is the on time)
Give a possible circuit implementation using a power
switch whose switching waveforms are as shown in Fig
2.4(a)
Derive the expressions for the instantaneous switching
and conduction power losses and sketch them
Determine the total average power dissipated in the
circuit during one switching period
Find the maximum power
Fig 2.4 (a) Linear approximation of typical current and voltage switching
waveforms (b) Circuit implementation (c) Instantaneous power waveforms
(a)
(b)
(c)
(b) The instantaneous current and voltage waveforms
( )
( )

s s +

s s
s s +
=
s OFF s OFF OFF ON
OFF
s
OFF s ON ON
ON OFF OFF ON
ON
sw
T t t T I I I
t
T t
t T t t I
t t I I I
t
t
t i
0
) (

( )
( )

s s +

s s
s s +

=
s OFF s ON OFF
OFF
ON OFF
OFF s ON ON
ON ON ON
ON
ON OFF
sw
T t t T V t Ts t
t
V V
t T t t V
t t V t t
t
V V
t v
) (
0
) (
It can be shown that if I
on
>>I
off
and V
off
>>V
on

( )
( )( )

s s
s s
s s
=
s OFF s s OFF
OFF
ON OFF
OFF s ON ON ON
ON ON
ON
ON OFF
T t t T T t t Ts t
t
I V
t T t t I V
t t t t t
t
I V
t p
) (
0
) (
2
2
Solution for Example 2.2:
(a) When the switch is off, the blocking voltage across the switch is V
OFF
, which can be
represented as a DC voltage source of value V
OFF
reflected somehow across the switch
during the off-state
(c) The total average dissipated power:
(
(

(
+

+ + = =
}
} } }

s
OFF s
OFF s
ON
ON s
T
t T
s OFF s
OFF
ON OFF
t T
t
ON ON
t
ON
ON
ON OFF
s
T
s
ave
dt T t t T t
t
I V
dt I V dt t t t
t
I V
T
dt t p
T
P
) ))( ( (
) (
1
) (
1
2
0
2
0
The evaluation of the above integral gives

) (
6
ON OFF s
s
ON ON OFF ON
s
ON OFF
ave
t t T
T
I V t t
T
I V
P + |
.
|

\
| +
=
(d) The maximum power occurs when,

0
) (
max
=
=t t
dt
t dp
Solving for the maximum power, to give;

4
max
on off
I V
P =
Switching Functions and Matrix
Representation
The system below has n inputs and m outputs that can be either
voltages or currents. There are n x m switches
Examples of power electronic circuits (a) Single-phase
(a)
Example 2.3
Given that v
s
(t) is a triangular waveform, assume the switch is ideal
and initially off. Control works in such a way that it toggles every
time v
s
(t ) crosses zero. Use V
p
= 12 V, R = 10O and T = 1 ms.
a) Sketch the waveforms for i
s
and v
o
b) Calculate the average and rms values for the output voltage
c) Calculate the average input power, average output power, and
efficiency
d) Repeat parts (a)-(c) by assuming T = 1 s
e) Repeat parts (a)-(d) by assuming the switch has 1 V voltage drop
was closed
Solution for Example 2.2
The output voltage and the source current waveform are shown in Fig.
2.7(b)
Fig 2.7 (b)
(b) The average output voltage;
V
V
V
T
T
dt t v
T
V
P
P
T
3
4
)
2 2
1
(
1
) (
1
0
0 0
= = = =
}
The rms is:
V
V
V
p
rms
9 . 4
6
, 0
~ =
The average input power is calculated from,

W dt t v t i
T
P
T
s s in
4 . 2 ) ( ) (
1
0
= =
}
}
= =
T
out
W dt t v t i
T
P
0
0 0
4 . 2 ) ( ) (
1
% 100 = =
in out
P P q
The average output power,

Efficiency:



(d) Same as above (because the results are independent of T)
(e) The average output voltage can be approximated by the following integration,

V V
dt V t
T
V
dt V t
T
V
T
dt t V
T
V
p
T
T
T
T
p
p
p
p
T
ave
5 . 2 ) 2 (
4
1
1 3
4
1
4
1
) (
1
2 /
4 /
4 / 3
2 / 0
0 , 0
= =
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

+
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
} } }
And the rms voltage is

V dt t V
T
V
T
o rms
3 . 4 ) (
1
0
2
, 0
= =
}
It can be shown that the average input power is,

W
V
R
dt t v t i
T
P
p
s
T
s in
375 . 2 1
3
2
4
1
) ( ) (
1
2
0
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
}
and the average output power,

( ) ( ) W V
RV
dt t v t i
T
P
p
p
o
T
o out
85 . 1 1 1
6
1
) ( ) (
1
3
0
~ + =
=
}
Resulting in efficiency of
% 9 . 77 % 100 *
375 . 2
85 . 1
% 100 * ~ = =
in
out
P
P
q
.
Types of Switches
Table 2.1 Types of Semiconductor Switches, their Controllability
Features, and their Possible Switch Implementations.
Available Semiconductor Switching
Devices
Bipolar and Unipolar Devices
Power diodes
Bipolar junction transistors
Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
Thyristor-Based Devices
Silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs)
Gate turn-off (GTO) thyristors
Triode ac switches (triacs)
Static induction transistors (SITs) and thyristors (SITHs)
MOS-controlled thyristors (MCTs)
Bipolar and Unipolar Devices
The Power Diode
Power diodes have important features:
Power-handling capabilites
Including forward current carrying and reverse voltage blocking
Reverse recovery time (t
rr
) at turn-off
Fig 2.8 Symbol and Practical and Ideal i-v characteristic curves
(a) (b)
(c)
Reverse recovery current I
RR
Delay t
1
and t
2
is due to the minority carriers in the
depletion region
Delay t
2
and t
3
is caused by the charge stored in the bulk of
the semi-conductor material
Reverse recovery charge Q
rr
Ratio between (t
3
-t
2
) and t
rr
is a diode snappiness
Fig 2.9 Typical diode switching characteristics (a) Switching circuit with
S closed at t = to (b) Diode current
(a) (b)
Example 2.4
Derive the expression for I
RR
and the peak
switch current in terms of the diode reverse
recovery time for Fig. 2.10.
Fig 2.10 Diode switching circuit with parasitic inductor
When the switch is closed at t=t0, the diode voltage remains zero and its current is
given by,
i
D
= I
0
-i
s
and i
s
for t > t
0
is given by,

i t
V
L
t t t t t
s
in
s
( ) ( ) = s <
0 0 2
At t = t
1
the diode current becomes zero and i
s
becomes I
0
. Hence the interval t
1
-t
0

is given by,

in
s o
V
L I
t t =
0 1
Since t
3
-t
2
~0, then t
2
-t
1
~t
rr
and I
RR
is given by,

rr
s
in
RR
t
L
V
I =
The peak switch current occurs at t = t
2
when i
D
= -I
RR
and is given by,

I
V
L
t I
s peak
in
s
rr ,
= +
0
Solution for Example 2.4:
The Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)
The schematic symbol and i-v characteristics for the
bipolar junction transistors (BJT) are shown in Fig.
2.11(a), (b), (c)
Fig 2.11 BJT switching characteristics (a) npn transistor (b) Ideal I-v
characteristics (c) Practical I-v characteristics
(a) (b) (c)
Fig 2.13 Switching characteristics
for the BJT (a) Circuit (b)
Switching waveforms
(a)
(b)
The Power MOSFET
Unlike the bipolar junction transistor,
MOSFET belongs to the unipolar device
family. Fig 2.15 shows available devices:
Fig 2.15 MOSFET device symbols
(a) n-channel enhancement-mode (b) p-channel enhancement-mode
(c) n-channel depletion-mode (d) p-channel depletion-mode
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Fig 2.16 (a) n-channel enhancement-mode MOSFET and (b) its iD vs.
vDS characteristics
(a) (b)
On-State Resistance
) (
2
, on DS D diss on
R I P =
Internal Body Diode

The modern power MOSFET has an internal diode called a body diode
connected between the source and the drain
Fig 2.18 (a) MOSFET internal body diode (b) Implementation of a fast body diode
(a) (b)
MOSFETS have on-state resistance, R
DS
(sw), that cause power
dissipation as:
Internal Capacitors
Parasitic capacitances between the devices three terminals
Gate-to-source (C
gs
)
Gate-to-drain (C
gd
)
Drain-to-source (C
ds
)
Devices data sheet parameters C
iss
, C
oss
, and C
rss
C
gd
= C
rss
C
gs
= C
iss
C
rss
C
ds
= C
oss
C
rss
where,
C
rss
= small-signal reverse transfer capacitance
C
iss
= small-signal input capacitance with the drain and source terminals shorted
C
oss
= small-signal output capacitance with the gate and source terminals shorted


Fig 2.19 (a) Equivalent MOSFET representation including junction capacitances (b)
Representation of this physical location
(a) (b)
Regions of Operation
For v
GS
> V
Th
, the device can be either in the triode region,
called "constant resistance" region, or in the saturation
region, depending on the value of v
DS
. For a given v
GS
,
with a small v
DS
(v
DS
< v
GS
- V
Th
) the device operates in
the triode region (saturation region in the BJT), and with a
large v
DS
(v
DS
> v
GS
- V
Th
), the device enters the saturation
region (active region in the BJT).
For v
GS
< V
Th
, the device turns off, with the drain current
almost equal to zero. Under both regions of operation, the
gate current is almost zero. MOSFET is known as a
voltage-driven device and, therefore, requires a simple gate
control circuit.
The drain current, i
D
, can be mathematically approximated as
follows:

|
.
|

\
|
=
=
=
L
W
C K
V v K i
v v V v K i
OX
n
Th GS D
DS DS Th GS D

2
1
2
2
. ) (
] ) ( 2 [
Triode Region

Saturation Region
where

n
: electron mobility
C
OX
: oxide capacitance per unit area
L : Length of the channel
W : Width of the channel
Fig 2.21 Large-signal equivalent circuit
model
MOSFET output resistance can be expressed as follows:

) (
1
0
Th GS
V v k
r

Fig 2.22 MOSFET characteristic curve including output resistance

Fig 2.24 Small-signal equivalent circuit including MOSFET output
resistance
Fig 2.23 Linearized iD vs. v
GS
curve with operating dc point (Q)
Input Capacitance
MOSFET has two limitations:
High input gate capacitances
Transient/delay due to carrier transport through the drift region
Using the Miller theorem, the total input capacitance, C
in
, between the
gate and source is,
Fig 2.25 (a) Small-signal equivalent circuit including parasitic
capacitances (b) Applying the Miller theorem
gd L m gs in
C R g C C ) 1 ( + + =
Safe Operation Area
The safe operation area (SOA) of a device provides the
current and voltage limits the device must handle to avoid
destructive failure
Fig 2.27 Safe operation area for a MOSFET
Thyristor-Based Devices
The Silicon-Controlled Rectifier
Symbol and i-v characteristics for the SCR
Fig 2.31 SCR switching characteristics. (a) Symbol. (b) i-v characteristics.
(c) Ideal switching characteristics.
The Gate Turn-off Thyristor (GTO)
The schematic symbol and the practical and ideal
switching i-v characteristics for the gate turn-off thyristor
(GTO) are shown:
Fig 2.36 GTO switching characteristics. (a) Symbol. (b) i-v characteristics.
(c) Ideal switching characteristics.
(a)
(b) (c)
The Triode AC Switch (Triac)
Triode ac
Like the GTO, the triode ac (triac) switching device was introduced
immediately after the SCR
The Diac
Is essentially a gateless triac constructed to break down at low forward
and reverse voltages

Fig 2.37 Triac switching characteristics. (a) Equivalent representation using two SCRs. (b)
Symbol. (c) i-v characteristics. (d) Ideal switching characteristics.
The Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistor (IGBT)
The simplified two-transistor circuit model, and the
schematic symbol for the insulated gate bipolar transistors
(IGBT) are shown below
Fig 2.30 (a) IGBT equivalent circuit, (b) simplified equivalent circuit, and
(c) symbol
(a) (b)
(c)
Static Induction Transistors and
Thyristors
Static induction transistor (SIT)
Static induction thyristor (SITH)
Fig 2.38 (a) SIT symbol. (b) SITH symbol.
(a) (b)
Two different types:
The MOS-Controlled Thyristor
Simplified equivalent circuit model and the schematic
symbol for a p-type MOS-controlled thyristor (MCT)
Fig 2.39 MCT switching characteristics. (a) Equivalent circuit. (b) p-MCT
symbol. (c) Ideal switching characteristics. (d) n-MCT symbol.
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Comparison of Power Devices
Fig 2.40 Frequency versus power rating ranges for various power devices.
Snubber Circuits
To relieve switches from overstress during switching, switching aid
circuits, known as snubber circuits
The objectives of snubber circuits are:
Reducing the switching power losses in the main power device in
the power electronic circuit
Avoiding second breakdowns
Controlling the devices dv/dt or di/dt
Fig 2.42 i
SW
versus v
SW
switching loci
Fig 2.41 Passive snubber circuits: (a)
turn-off and (b) turn-on snubber circuits.
(a)
(b)