Semiconductor

Devices for
Power
Elektronik
SCR and DIAC

TEA 335 – Elektronika Industri

Catherine Olivia Sereati
 • 1 Introduction
• 2 Silicon-Controlled Rectifi er (SCR)
• 3 Diode AC Switch (DIAC)
• 4 Triode AC Switch (TRIAC)
• 5 Uni-junction Transistor (UJT)
Contents • 6 Real-Life Applications
 Introduction (1)
• There are many applications where it is desired to control (or regulate) the
power fed to a load
• e.g. to change the speed of a fan or motor.
• Electrical methods do not permit a fine control over the flow of power in a
system.
• Moreover, there is a considerable wastage of power.
• Such semiconductor devices have been developed which can exercise fine
control over the flow of large blocks of power in a system.
• Such devices act as controlled switches and can perform the duties of
controlled rectification, inversion and regulation of power in a load.
• High-power semiconductor devices have better switching speed, they are
smaller in size and cost of production is also low.
 The important semiconductor switching
devices are :
• Silicon-Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
• Triode AC Switch (TRIAC)
Introduction • Diode AC Switch (DIAC)
(2) • Uni-junction Transistor (UJT)
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
(1)

• SCR is a semiconductor device that acts as a

true electronic switch
• Change alternating current into direct current
and at the same time can control the amount of
power fed to the load
• The SCR has appeared in the market under
different names such as thyristor, thyrode
transistor
 Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) (2)

• The SCR is a four-layer structure, either p–n–p–n or n–p–n–p, that

effectively blocks current through two terminals until it is turned ON by a
small-signal at a third terminal.
• The SCR has two states: a high-current low-impedance ON state and a
low-current high-impedance OFF state.
• The basic transistor action in a four-layer p–n–p–n structure is analysed
first with only two terminals,and then the third control input is
introduced.
 Silicon Controlled
Rectifier (SCR) (3)
• Three terminals are taken;
• one from the outer p-type material called
anode (A),
• second from the outer n-type material
called cathode (K)
• the third from the base of transistor
section and is called gate (G)
• In the normal operating conditions of SCR,
anode is held at high positive
potential w.r.t. cathode and gate at small
positive potential
Working of SCR : When gate “Open”

• When gate open, no voltage applied to the gate.

• Under this condition, junction J2 is reverse biased, junctions J1 and J3 are forward biased. Hence, the
situation in the junctions J1 and J3 is just as in a npn transistor with base open.
Consequently, no current flows through the load RL and the SCR is cut off.
• If the applied voltage is gradually increased, a stage is reached when reverse biased junction J2 breaks
down. The SCR now conducts ** heavily and is said to be in the ON state.
• The applied voltage at which SCR conducts heavily without gate voltage is called Breakover voltage.
 When gate is positive
• Once SCR starts conducting, the
gate loses all control.
• Even if gate voltage is removed, the
anode current
does not decrease at all.
• The only way to stop conduction
(i.e. bring SCR in off condition) is to
reduce
• the applied voltage to zero.

• The SCR can be made to conduct heavily at smaller

applied voltage by applying a small positive potential to the gate
• Junction J3 is forward biased and junction J2 is reverse biased. The electrons from n-type
material start moving across junction J3 towards left whereas holes from p-type towards the
right. Consequently, the electrons from junction J3 are attracted across junction J2 and gate
current starts flowing.
• As soon as the gate current flows, anode current increases. The increased anode current in
turn makes more electrons available at junction J2.
• This process continues and in an extremely small time, junction J2 breaks down and the SCR
starts conducting heavily.
SCR Important Terms (1)
• Breakover voltage.
• It is the minimum forward voltage, gate being open, at which SCR
starts conducting heavily i.e. turned on.
• Thus, if the breakover voltage of an SCR is 200 V, it means that it can block a forward voltage
(i.e. SCR remains open) as long as the supply voltage is less than 200 V.
• If the supply voltage is more than this value, then SCR will be turned on. In practice, the SCR
is operated with supply voltage less than breakover voltage and it is then turned on by means
of a small voltage applied to the gate. Commercially available SCRs have breakover voltages
from about 50 V to 500 V.
• (Peak reverse voltage (PRV).
• It is the maximum reverse voltage (cathode positive) that can be applied to an SCR without
conducting in the reverse direction.
• Peak reverse voltage (PRV) is an important consideration while connecting an SCR in an a.c.
circuit.
• During the negative half of a.c. supply, reverse voltage is applied across SCR.
• If PRV is exceeded, there may be avalanche breakdown and the SCR will be damaged if the
external circuit
does not limit the current. Commercially available SCRs have PRV ratings upto 2.5 kV.
SCR Important Terms (2)
• Holding currentIt is the maximum anode current, gate being open, at which SCR is
turned off from ON conditions.
As discussed earlier, when SCR is in the conducting state, it cannot be turned OFF even if gate
voltage is removed. The only way to turn off or open the SCR is to reduce the supply voltage to
almost zero at which point the internal transistor comes out of saturation and opens the SCR. The
anode current under this condition is very small (a few mA) and is called holding current. Thus, if
an SCR has a holding current of 5mA, it means that if anode current is made less than 5mA, then
SCR will be turned off.
• Forward current rating. It is the maximum anode current that an SCR is capable of
passing without destruction.
Every SCR has a safe value of forward current which it can conduct. If the value of current
exceeds this value, the SCR may be destroyed due to intensive heating at the junctions. For
example,
if an SCR has a forward current rating of 40A, it means that the SCR can safely carry only 40 A. Any
attempt to exceed this value will result in the destruction of the SCR. Commercially available SCRs
have forward current ratings from about 30A to 100A.
• Circuit fusing (I2t) rating. It is the product of square of forward surge current and the time
of duration of the surge
• ex :Circuit fusing rating = I2t
The circuit fusing rating indicates the maximum forward surge current capability of SCR. For
example, consider an SCR having circuit fusing rating of 90 A2s. If this rating is exceeded in the SCR
circuit, the device will be destroyed by excessive power dissipation.
Example problem of SCR
• An SCR has a breakover voltage of 400 V, a trigger current of 10 mA
and
holding current of 10 mA. What do you infer from it ? What will
happen if gate current is made
15 mA ?
Solution :
(i) Breakover voltage of 400 V. It means that if gate is open and the
supply voltage is 400 V, then SCR will start conducting heavily. However,
as long as the supply voltage is less than
400 V, the SCR stays open i.e. it does not conduct.
Example problem of SCR (2)
(ii) Trigger current of 10 mA.
It means that if the supply voltage is less than breakover voltage (i.e. 400 V)
and a minimum gate current of 10 mA is passed, the SCR will close i.e. starts
conducting heavily.
The SCR will not conduct if the gate current is less than 10 mA. It may be
emphasised that triggering is the normal way to close an SCR as the supply voltage
is normally much less than the breakover voltage.

(iii) Holding current of 10 mA.

When the SCR is conducting, it will not open (i.e. stop conducting) even if
triggering current is removed.
However, if supply voltage is reduced, the anode current also decreases.
When the anode current drops to 10 mA, the holding current, the SCR is turned off
SCR in Normal Operation

• The supply voltage is generally much less than breakover voltage.

• The SCR is turned on by passing an appropriate amount of gate current (a
few mA) and not by breakover voltage.
• When SCR is operated from a.c. supply, the peak reverse voltage which
comes during negative half-cycle should not exceed the reverse breakdown
voltage.
• When SCR is to be turned OFF from the ON state, anode current should be
reduced to holding current.
• If gate current is increased above the required value, the SCR will close at
much reduced
supply voltage.
SCR Switching : SCR turn-on methods
1. DC triggerred
• In order to turn on the SCR, the gate voltage VG is
increased upto
a minimum value to initiate triggering. This minimum
value of gate voltage at which SCR is turned ON is called
gate triggering voltage VGT.
• When the switch is closed, the gate receives sufficient
positive voltage (= VGT) to turn
the SCR on. The resistance R 1 connected in the circuit
provides noise suppression and improves the
turn-on time.
• The turn-on time primarily depends upon the
magnitude of the gate current. The higher
the gate-triggered current, the shorter the turn-on
time.
SCR Switching : SCR turn-on methods
2. ac triggerred

SCR can also be turned on with positive cycle of a.c. gate current.
Fig. 20.9 (ii) shows such a circuit. During the positive half-cycle of the
gate current,
at some point IG= IGT, the device is turned on
 SCR turn-off methods

• Anode current interruption. When the anode current is reduced below a minimum value
called holding current, the SCR turns off. The simple way to turn off the SCR is to open the line
switch S
• Forced commutation.
• The method of discharging a capacitor in parallel with an SCR to
turn off the SCR is called forced commutation capacitor C performs the commutation.
• Assuming the SCRs are switches with SCR1 ON and
SCR2 OFF, current flows through the load and C
• When SCR2 is triggered on, C is effectively paralleled across SCR1.
• The charge on C is then opposite to SCR1’s forward voltage,
SCR1 is thus turned off and the current is transferred to R–SCR2 path.
SCR Application
• 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.
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.
 DIAC Operation

• When a positive or negative voltage is applied across

the terminals of a DIAC, only a
small leakage current IBO will flow through the device.
• As the applied voltage is increased, the leakage current
will continue to flow until the voltage reaches the
breakover voltage VBO.
• At this point, breakdown of the reverse-biased junction
occurs and the device exhibits negative
resistance
• current through the device increases with the
decreasing values of applied voltage. The voltage across
the device then drops to ‘breakback’ voltage VW.
 Application DIAC : Lamp Dimmer

• The basic control is by an RC variable gate voltage arrangement.

• The series R4 – C1 circuit across the triac is designed to
limit the rate of voltage rise across the device during switch off.
• As the input voltage increases positively or negatively, C1 and C2
charge at a rate determined primarily by R2.
• When the voltage across C3 exceeds the breakover voltage of the diac, the diac is fired into the conducting state.
• The capacitor C3 discharges through the conducting diac into the gate of the triac.
• Hence, the triac is turned on to pass the a.c. power to the lamp.
• By adjusting the value of R2, the rate of charge of capacitors and hence the point at which triac will trigger on the
positive or negative half-cycle of input voltage can be controlled