Power Transistors
Features
• Have controlled turn-on and turn-off characteristics.
• Used as switching elements, operated in the saturation region,
resulting in a low on-state voltage drop.
• The switching speed is much higher than that of thyristors
• Extensively employed in dc–dc and dc–ac converters, with inverse
parallel-connected diodes to provide bidirectional current flow.
• voltage and current ratings are lower than those of thyristors
• normally used in low- to medium-power applications.
Classification
• 1. Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
• 2. COOLMOS
• 3. Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
• 4. Insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
• 5. Static induction transistors (SITs)
Material Properties of Silicon and WBG
Semiconductor Materials
Contd…
Power MOSFETS
• voltage-controlled device
• requires only a small input current.
• The switching speed is very high and the switching times are of the
order of nanoseconds.
• used in low-power high-frequency converters.
• do not have the problems of second breakdown phenomena as do
BJTs.
• have the problems of electrostatic discharge and require special care
in handling.
• relatively difficult to protect under short-circuited fault conditions.
Depletion Type MOSFETS
Enhancement Type MOSFETs
V type MOSFET
• reduce the on-state resistance
by having a larger current
conducting area
• When the gate has a sufficiently
positive voltage with respect to
the source, electric field pulls
electrons from the n+ layer into
the p layer opening a channel
closest to the gate
Steady-State Characteristics
• The transconductance, (gm) which
is the ratio of drain current to gate
voltage, defines the transfer
characteristics and is a very
important parameter.
• (1) cutoff region
• (2) pinch-off or saturation region,
• (3) linear region,
Silicon Carbide MOSFETs
Cross section of COOLMOS.
COOLMOS
• new technology for high voltage
power MOSFETs,
• implements a compensation
structure in the vertical drift
region of a MOSFET to improve
the on-state resistance.
Junction Field-Effect Transistors (JFETs)
• SiC JFETs feature a positive temperature coefficient
• extremely fast switching
• low on-state resistance RDS(on), typically 50 mΩ for a 650-V device.
• low gate charge and
• low intrinsic capacitance.
Schematic & Symbol
Transfer & Output Characteristics
Bipolar Junction Transistors
• common-emitter configuration is generally used in switching applications
• three operating regions: cutoff, active, and saturation
• SiC BJT is a bipolar normally-off device
• low on-state voltage drop (0.32 V at 100 A/cm2)
• quite fast-switching
• SiC BJT is a current driven device,
• substantial continuous base current is required as long as it conducts a collector
current.
• very attractive for power switching applications due to their potential for very
low specific on-resistances and
• high-temperature operation with high power densities
The transconductance,
gm, of a BJT is defined as the ratio of ΔIC
to ΔVBE.
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBTs)
• combines the advantages of BJTs and MOSFETs
• has high input impedance like MOSFETs
• and low on-state conduction losses like BJTs
• there is no second breakdown problem as with BJTs.
• By chip design and structure, the equivalent drain-to-source
resistance RDS is controlled to behave like that of a BJT
Cross section, symbol and circuit
Output and transfer characteristics of IGBTs
Static Induction Transistors (SITs)
• high-power, high-frequency device
• suitable for high-speed
• gate electrodes are buried within the drain and source n-epi layers
• identical to a JFET except for vertical and buried gate construction, which gives
• lower channel resistance, causing
• a lower drop
• has a short channel length, low gate series resistance, low gate–source capacitance, and
small thermal resistance
• low noise, low distortion, and high audiofrequency power capability
• The turn-on and turn-off times are very small, typically 0.25 μs
• The on-state drop is high hence limits its applications for general power conversions.
Cross section & symbol
Typical characteristics of SITs
di/dt and dv/dt Limitations
• Transistors require certain turn-on and turn-off times. Neglecting
the delay time td and the storage time ts, the typical voltage and
current waveforms of a transistor switch are shown in Figure
Protection circuits are normally required to keep the operating di/dt and
dv/dt within the allowable limits of the transistor.
Snubber Circuits
• The RC network across the transistor is known as the snubber
circuit, or snubber, and limits the dv/dt. The inductor Ls, which
limits the di/dt, is sometimes called a series snubber.