EE309 Power Devices - PT 1

4/9/2013
1
Prof. Ramesh Oruganti
School of Computing and Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi
EE309 Power Electronics
Power Semiconductor Devices Part 1
RECOMMENDED READING
Chapters 2, 20, 22, 23, 25 - Power Electronics by Mohan et al
Note: In this course, we will study the devices from the view point of understanding their basic
operation, characteristics and application. We will not study the device physics aspects in detail.
Please keep this in mind when reading the device related chapters in the text book.
Common Power Devices
Power Diodes including Schottky
Barrier type
Thyristors - converter & inverter
grades, light-activated thyristors, triacs
and Gate turn-off Thyristors (GTO)
Power Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
Not much used anymore
Power MOS controlled Field Effect
Transistors (MOSFET)
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
Power Diodes are uncontrolled whereas the rest of the switches are controlled through the
application of a control voltage or current.
There are many more types of power devices and modules and this is a very active area of
research.
EE309 Power Devices
Power Devices and Applicable Ranges
February 2013 Prof. Ramesh Oruganti, School of Computing and Electrical Engineering, IIT Mandi 2
What do you think should be the characteristics of an ideal power
semiconductor switch?
?
No power device matches the ideal.
However, performance of modern power devices are so good that
a) efficient and high performance power processing in very small
package sizes has become possible and
b) analyses of converters based on ideal device approximation still
yield meaningful results.
EE309 Power Devices
Ideal Power Device Requirements
Any power device must be kept within these absolute maximum ratings at all times.
1. Voltage Rating:
If this is exceeded, the device breakdown can occur due to increased leakage current
(avalanche effect).
2. Forward Current Rating:
This can be based on the maximum allowable junction temperature, or on the current
handling capability of the internal leads or contacts.
3. Junction Temperature Rating:
This rating, which must not be exceeded, depends on the quality of materials, type of
junction etc. It is traded off against the reduced reliability that arises from deterioration
and accelerated service life. (Rule of thumb: Reliability of a power device doubles if its
junction temperature is reduced by 10 ~ 15C.)
4. Power rating:
The power dissipated in the device is converted into thermal energy which raises the
temperature. A power device is almost always used with an appropriate metal heatsink.
EE309 Power Devices
Maximum Power Ratings of Devices
4/9/2013
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Power Diode
Typical Power Switch
Operation
Thyristor
Power Semiconductor
Devices
Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistor
Power MOSFET
Other Power Devices
K A
p n
i
D + + + + V
D

K A
The leakage current is quite small and is
usually not an issue.
The large R
ON
voltage masks the exponential
nature of the I_V characteristic in the forward
region.
The forward voltage drop during conduction
causes conduction power loss.
Unlike signal level diodes, the power diodes,
will have a low-concentration n-region
adjacent to the junction to achieve the large
blocking voltage required of them. (Read Sec.
20.2 of Power Electronics by Mohan et.al.)
This results in the diode requiring a certain
finite time to switch from off-state to on-state
and vice versa.
EE309 Power Devices / Power Diodes
Power Diodes I-V Characteristics
A higher voltage drop exists initially due to
the resistance of the lightly doped n-region
and also due to the devices internal
inductance.
As the concentration of the injected minority
carriers increases, the n-region becomes
conductively modulated and the forward
voltage drop decreases.
Usually, in most applications, this forward
recovery effect will not be very significant.
This is phenomenon becomes significant only
in very high frequency converters.
Turn-on of Power Diodes
Excess stored charges in the device (mainly holes in
the n-region) must first be removed through
recombination and by negative diode current,
before the device recovers its reverse voltage
blocking ability.
The inductance L in many cases would be parasitic
loop inductance in the circuit.
Generally, in high frequency converters fast
recovery diodes are used. These have low I
rr
, t
rr
,
and Q
rr
values at the expense of higher conduction
voltage drops.
t
rr
= reverse recovery time
Q
rr
= reverse recovery charge
I
rr
= peak reverse recovery current
V
rr
= peak reverse recovery voltage.
Turn-off of Power Diodes
4/9/2013
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Hence, soft recovery diodes, with
lower current gradient magnitude
during recovery is preferred.
The ratio t
a
/t
b
is sometimes known
as softness factor. A smaller value is
preferred.
t
a
t
b
When the reverse current ceases,
a large voltage can be induced in
the inductor resulting in high V
rr
.
This will require a snubber circuit
(R-C network shown here) to
protect the diode.
Abrupt and Soft Recovery Diodes
P
diode
= P
cond
+ P
rr
Diode Power Loss Estimation
If the current waveform can not be
approximated to a rectangular pulse, then
the conduction loss can be estimated by
approximating the forward characteristics as
shown in the figure below.
How will you do it?
Conduction Loss Estimation:
Graphs as shown below will be provided by the
manufacturer for estimating conduction loss.
Diode Power Loss Estimation (Contd.)
Reverse Recovery Loss Estimation:
There will be additional losses in the diode,
which will be significant at higher frequencies,
due to the reverse recovery of the diode.
This loss is harder to estimate.
One way to estimate this loss is to assume abrupt
recovery of the diode.
Under this condition, it can be shown that the
loss in the diode due to reverse recovery is given
by
Show the above equation.
S R rr d
f V Q P =
Metal Semiconductor Junction; has
low conduction voltage drop
Majority Carrier Device; fast, no
reverse recovery
Used in low voltage rectification
The limitations of Si Schottky are
Large leakage current
Low reverse breakdown voltage
Large device capacitance
Figure 20.12 from Power Electronics by Mohan et al.
Silicon Schottky Diode
4/9/2013
4
This more recently introduced device has
several advantages.
As a majority carrier device, it is fast
with no reverse recovery
High voltage devices (1200 V) possible
Current due to device capacitance is
not high
High temperature operation possible
(provided the packaging supports it)
Can be used in high voltage fast
switching applications (say in boost
converter based power factor
correction circuit)
Source: Infineon
Silicon Carbide Diode
Power Diode
Operation
Thyristor
Power Semiconductor
Devices
Transistor
Power MOSFET
Other Power Devices
EE309 Power Devices / Typical Power Switch Operation
Operation with Resistive Load
The device conduction loss
S ON m ON cond
f T I V P =
Show that the device switching
loss is given by
S off m d on m d
sw
f t I V t I V
off P on P P
)
`
+ =
+ =
6
1
6
1
) ( ) (
The device conduction loss is,
of course, the same.
Assuming the same t
on
and t
off
values, the switching loss is
three times that of the resistive
load case!
The switch operation in most
(hard-switched) DC-DC
converters is of the inductive
load variety.
Operation with Inductive Load
S off m d on m d sw
f t I V t I V off P on P P
)
`
+ = + =
2
1
2
1
) ( ) (
Show that the device switching loss in this case is given by
4/9/2013
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Effect of Diode Recovery on Turn-on Switching
The diode reverse recovery current flows
through the switch during switch turn-on.
This can increase the turn-on switching
loss significantly.
Switch Energy Loss during Turn-on
Without reverse recovery:
With reverse recovery:
) (
2
) 1 (
fv ri
m d
on
t t
I V
E + =
rr
rr m
d on on
t
I I
V E E
2
) (
) 1 ( ) 2 (
+
+ =
This is a potential problem in boost type PFC (Power Factor Correction) circuits used
in Switch Mode Power Supplies. SiC diodes are often used here to avoid this problem.
Power Diode
Operation
Thyristor
Power Semiconductor
Devices
Transistor
Power MOSFET
Other Power Devices
This is the most commonly used switch
device in high frequency DC-DC
converters.
Can be operated even in the MHz
range.
Control is convenient through gate
voltage.
R
ds
(on) has a +ve temperature
coefficient; hence device paralleling is
easy and effective.
Vertical MOSFET Structure
Figure 22.1 from Power Electronics by Mohan et al.
EE309 Power Devices / Power MOSFET
Power MOSFET Structure
Advanced MOSFET Structures
For a given device area, in a conventional vertical MOSFET,
This had limited the realization of high voltage MOSFETs beyond about 500 V.
New MOSFET technologies have extended the MOSFET usage to 1000 V by
reducing at such high voltages.
However, the technology is considered more complex.
Likewise, low voltage devices with very low values have also
become possible. They are useful in low voltage DC-DC power converters.
2
) (
dss ds
BV on R
) (on R
ds
) (on R
ds
4/9/2013
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region Ohmic - ) ( ) (
region Active - ) ( ) (
off Cut - ) (
th V V and th V V
th V V but th V V
th V V
GS GD GS GS
GS GD GS GS
GS GS
> >
< >
< Figure 22.4 from Power Electronics
by Mohan et al.
Power MOSFET Characteristics
Three regions:
The first is due to the maximum drain
current, which is generally by the
connecting wires from the chip to the
case or by the thin filmmetallizations.
The second region is due to the
maximum power dissipation and the
consequent maximum junction
temperature limit, T
J, max
.
The last one is due to the drain-source
(body diode) breakdown voltage, BV
dss
.
Unlike in the earlier power BJT there is
no second breakdown limit.
For pulsed operation, snubber
requirement is also low.
Safe Operating Area of a Power MOSFET
Power Semiconductor Devices / Power MOSFET
MOSFET Capacitances
C
gs
is almost a constant valued capacitance.
The capacitance C
gd
critically affects the device
switching performance.
The non-linear C
gd
is often approximated as follows:
C
gd
= C
gd1
(= a lowvalue) when MOSFET is ON, and
= C
gd2
(= a high value) when MOSFET is OFF.
The device capacitances, C
gd
, C
gs
and C
ds
, essentially determine
the MOSFET switching performance.
C
ds
does not affect the switching much, except at very high
switching frequencies, say above 500 kHz. At these frequencies,
the power loss due to the discharge of C
ds
into the MOSFET
channel during turn-on
can become high.
|
\
|
=
s ds ds
f V C
2
2
1
Explain the turn-on process.
Plot the MOSFET turn-off
waveforms also similarly.
MOSFET Turn-on
4/9/2013
7
MOSFET gate charge
information given can be
conveniently used to design the
drive circuit and to estimate turn-
on and turn-off waveform times.
MOSFET Gate Charge Characteristics
Though MOSFET is voltage driven, high
currents (> 1 A) are still needed to charge /
discharge the input capacitor during turn-on
and off.
Figure shows a simple circuit to turn-on/turn-
off a MOSFET. If fast turn off is needed, the
collector of the bottom transistor can be
returned to a ve DC voltage.
R
G
should be small so that the turn-on / turn-
off can be fast. However, the driver circuit
must be capable of supplying the needed
current.
If the device is turned off too fast, however,
parasitic oscillations may occur. EMI noise
will also be more.
Gate Drive for a MOSFET
A problem often faced is how to drive
the top MOSFET (Q1 here) in a totem
pole arrangement. The problem will
occur also in the Buck converter,
which we have studied.
Possible schemes to realize a high
side driver include
1) Pulse transformer
2) Opto-isolator with auxiliary high
side supply
A popular option is to use a so-called
high side driver circuit. Here, the
bootstrapping principle is used for
generating the high side power
supply needed.
Explain the basic operation of the
high side driver.
Driving the High Side MOSFET
This circuit is convenient and works quite fine.
Dedicated ICs are available based on this idea.
Care must be taken in the wiring to ensure
proper operation of the driver.

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4/9/2013

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