Power Semiconductor Devices: EE 3036 D
Module 2
Presented by
Dr. V. Karthikeyan
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Calicut
DIAC
A DIAC is a diode that conducts electrical current only after its break over voltage
(VBO) has been reached. DIAC stands for “Diode for Alternating Current”.
A DIAC is a device which has two electrodes, and it is a member of the thyristor
family. DIACs are used in the triggering of thyristor.
The advantage of a DIAC is that it can be turned on or off simply by reducing the
voltage level below its avalanche breakdown voltage. DIACs are also known as a
transistor without a base. It should also be noted that a DIAC can be either turned
on or off for both polarities of voltage (i.e. positive or negative voltage). They
also still works when avalanche breakdown occurs.
Application of DIAC
The main application of a DIAC is its use in a TRIAC triggering circuit. The DIAC is connected to the
gate terminal of the TRIAC. When the voltage across the gate decreases below a predetermined value,
the gate voltage will be zero and hence the TRIAC will be turned off.
It can be used in the lamp dimmer circuit
It is used in a heat control circuit
It is used in the speed control of a universal motor
DIAC
It is a device which consists of four layers and two terminals. The construction is
almost the same as that of the transistor. But there are certain points which deviate
from the construction from the transistor. The differentiating points are
There is no base terminal in the DIAC
The three regions have almost the same level of doping
It gives symmetrical switching characteristics for either polarity of voltages
DIAC has two p-type material and three n-type materials. Also, it does not have any gate terminal in it.
The DIAC can be turned on for both the polarity of voltages.
When A2 is more positive with respect to A1 then the current does not flows through the corresponding
N-layer but flows from P2-N2-P1-N1.
When A1 is more positive A2 then the current flows through P1-N2-P2-N3 and the construction resembles
the diode connected in series.
When the applied voltage is small in either polarity, a very small current flows which is known as
leakage current because of the drift of electrons and holes in the depletion region. Although a small
current flows, it is not sufficient to produce avalanche breakdown, hence the device remains in the non-
conducting state.
DIAC
The DIAC is an important device in the thyristor family.
The main advantage of using this device is,
It does not switch sharply to a low voltage condition
at a low current level as done by SCR or TRIAC.
It has low on state voltage drop until its current falls
below the holding current level.
Voltage drop decreases with the increase in current.
TRIAC
• Thyristor is a half wave device like a diode and that will supply only half power. A
TRIAC device comprises of two Thyristors that are connected in opposite direction but in
parallel but, it is controlled by the same gate.
• TRIAC is a 2-dimensional Thyristor which is activated on both halves of the i/p AC cycle
using + Ve or -Ve gate pulses. The three terminals of the TRIAC are MT1; MT2 & gate
terminal (G).
• Generating pulses are applied between MT1 and gate terminals. The ‘G’ current to switch
100A from TRIAC is not more than 50mA or so.
• The TRIAC of maximum rating of 16 kW is available in the market.
5
TRIAC
Two SCRs are connected in inverse parallel with gate terminal as common.
Gate terminals is connected to both the N and P regions due to which gate
signal may be applied which is irrespective of the polarity of the signal.
Here, we do not have anode and cathode since it works for both the polarities
which means that device is bilateral.
It consists of three terminals namely, main terminal 1(MT1), main terminal
2(MT2), and gate terminal G.
There are four different modes of operations, they are-
MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1.
MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1.
MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1.
MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1.
TRIAC
1. MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1
When the terminal MT2 is positive with
respect to the Terminal MT1 the current will
be flowing in the path of P1-N1-P2-N2.
During this operation, the junction between
the layers P1-N1 and P2-N2 are forward
biased whereas the Junction between N1-P2
is reverse biased.
When the positive signal is applied to the gate
the junction between P2-N2 is forward biased
and breakdown occurs.
Then the left SCR of the TRIAC triggers
TRIAC
2. MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1
When the MT2 is positive and the gate pulse
is negative, the current flow will be in the
same path as the first mode which is P1-N1-
P2-N2, but here the junction between the P2-
N2 is forward biased and the current carriers
are injected into the P2 layer.
3. MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1
When the terminal MT2 is negative and negative
pulse is provided to the gate terminal the current
will be flowing in the path of P2-N1-P2-N2.
During the operation the junction between the
layers P2-N1 and P1-N4 are forward biased
whereas the junction between the layers N1-P1 is
reverse biased, hence the TRIAC is said to operate
in the negatively biased region.
Then the right SCR of TRIAC conducts.
TRIAC
4. MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1
When the terminal MT2 is negative and the
gate is triggered with a positive pulse the
junction between P2-N2 is forward biased and
the current carriers are injected, hence the
TRIAC is turned on.
The TRIAC doesn’t usually operate in mode 4
because it carries a disadvantage that it should not
be used for circuits with high di/dt.
The sensitivity of triggering of TRIAC with mode
2 and 3 is high and negative gate pulse is used in
case of a marginal triggering capability.
The triggering of mode 1 is even more sensitive
than mode 2 and 3 triggering but it requires a
positive gate pulse for triggering.
In most of the cases, the triggering mode 2 and 3
are preferred.