EE-316: POWER ELECTRONICS

Engr. Obaid Sabir

Power semiconductor diodes:
Introduction:
-

Diodes act as a switch to perform various functions

Power diodes can be assumed as ideal switches for most applications but
practical diodes differ from the ideal characteristics and have certain
limitation.
Power diodes are similar to pn junction signal diodes. But the power diodes
have larger power, voltage and current handling capabilities than ordinary
signal diodes.
The frequency response, i.e. its switching speed is low compared to signal
diodes.
Threshold voltage is approximately equal to 1V of the power diode.

Diode characteristics:
- Power diode is a two terminal pn-junction device and the pn junction is
formed in a similar manner to that of a normal signal diode.
- When the anode potential is positive with respect to the cathode, the
diode is said to be forward biased, and the diode conducts. A conducting
diode had a relatively small forward voltage drop across it.
- When the cathode potential is positive with respect to the anode, the
diode is said to be reversed biased. Under this condition, a small reverse
current flows. This is called the leakage current. It increases in magnitude
with reverse voltage until avalanche voltage is reached.
- Schockley diode equation expresses the v-i characteristics of the diode.

I D =I S e

VD
nV T

ID: current through diode, A

VD: diode voltage with anode +ve with respect to cathode, V
Is: leakage current, in the range of 10-6 to 10-15 A
n: empirical constant called emission co-efficient or ideal factor (12)
-

The emission co-efficient n depends on the material and the physical

construction of the diode.
For germanium diodes, n=1. For silicon diode, n=2 [1.1-1.8]
VT is a constant called thermal voltage:

VT=

kT
q

K: Boltzmanns constant 1.3806 X 10

q: electron charge 1.602 X 10-19 C
T: absolute temperature K
-

-23

J/K

At a specific temperature, the leakage current I S is constant for a given

diode.

The diode characteristic can be divided into three regions:

Forward biased region
Reverse biased region
Breakdown region

VD > 0
VD < 0
VD < -VZK

Forward biased region: VD > 0

Diode voltage is large than the threshold voltage, i.e. the voltage required
for the diode to turn on. The voltage at which the diode fully conducts.
Diode current ID >> leakage current IS.

Therefore,

Reverse biased region: VD < 0

Diode voltage VD is ve
Lesser than the threshold voltage.
Only leakage current flows.

Therefore,

Breakdown region: reverse voltage is very high

Reaches a value called breakdown voltage VBR
Reverse current changes rapidly with small changes in reverse voltages
beyond VBR.
This is destructive for the diode.

ID

VD
nV T

=I ( e )
S

I D =I S

Reverse Recovery Characteristics:

-

Current in forward biased junction diode conducts due to the net effect of
majority and minority carriers
Once a diode is in forward conduction mode and then the forward current
is reduced to zero, the diode still carries on conducting due to minority
carriers, which remain stored in the p-n junction.
The minority carriers require a certain time to neutralize. This time is
called reverse recovery time of the diode.
Soft recovery time is more common
Reverse recovery time trr
Measured from the initial zero crossing of the diode to 25% of the
maximum reverse recovery current.
trr consists of two components: ta and tb
ta = due to stored charge in depletion region of the junction and
represents the time between the zero crossing till the maximum peak
reverse current IRR
tb = due to the stored charge in the bulk semiconductor.
Softness factor (SF)= tb/ta. Also called snappiness or softness of the diode.
S 1 indicates slow recovery. S<<1 leads to rapid recovery.
Trr = ta + tb

Peak reverse current:

I RR=t a

di
dt

Trr depends on junction temperature, rate of fall of forward current and

forward current before commutation
Reverse recovery charge Q RR: the amount of charge carriers that flow
across the diode in the reverse direction due to the change over from
forward conduction to reverse blocking condition. Its value is determined
from the area enclosed n the path of reverse recovery current

1
QRR I RR t rr
2

or

2Q RR
t rr

Placing the value of IRR in this equation and assuming that t b is negligible
compared to ta, we get:

I RR

I RR= 2 Q RR

di
dt

IRR, QRR, SF are all parameters present in the data sheets.

Example 2-2

Power Diode Types:

-

Depending on the recovery characteristics and manufacturing techniques,

power diodes are classified into three categories:
i)
Standard or general purpose diodes
ii)
Fast recovery diodes
iii)
Schottky diodes
General purpose diode:
Relatively high reverse recovery time, about 25 s.
Used in low speed applications where recovery time is not critical
Diode rectifiers and converters with low input freq up to 1KHz applications
Current ratings: less than 1A to several thousands of A
Voltage rating: 50V to 5KV
Manufactured by diffusion
Fast recovery diode:
Have low recovery time, less than 5 s
Used in dc-dc and dc-ac converter circuits, where speed of recovery is
critical.
Current rating from less than 1A to hundreds of A
Voltage rating: 50V to around 3 KV
For voltage rating above 400V, these diodes are generally made by
diffusion
For voltage rating below 400V, epitaxial diodes provide faster switching.
Schottky Diodes:
Stored charge problem of p-n junction can be eliminated in Schottky diode
It consists of a metal-semiconductor junction.
Junction is between a metal layer and n-type silicon.
Only majority carriers, no minority carriers, so the reverse recovery time
minimized.
Has low forward voltage drop
Leakage current is higher than that of a pn junction diode.
Low the conduction voltage, higher the leakage current. So, max voltage
allowable: 100V

Current rating : 1A to 300A

Ideal for high current and low voltage dc power supplies
Also used in low current power supplies for increased efficiency.
Freewheeling diode: to be used with inductor. Diode placed in parallel to
the inductor. It is used to dissipate all the energy stored in the inductor
after circuit operation is over.

Series connected diodes:

- Diodes are connected in series to increase the reverse blocking
capabilities to meet the required voltage ratings.
- Two diodes connected in series in reverse biased condition should carry
the same reverse leakage current, according to Kirchhoff rule.
- Differences in device characteristics will lead to uneven voltage sharing of
the reverse voltage, to a point where one of the diodes may fail.
- VD1 is very close to breakdown.
- Balancing resistors may be used to share the reverse voltage more equally
among a chain of series connected diodes.
- This forces voltage to be equal. Due to equal voltage, leakage current will
be different
- Total leakage current should be shared by a diode and its resistor, so

I S = ( I S 1 + I R 1) = ( I S 2 + I R 2 )

I R 1=

The relationship between R1 and R2 for equal voltage sharing is:

(
-

I S1+

V D1
VD1
= I S2+
R1
R2

)(

If we were to keep the two resistances equal, i.e., R = R 1 = R2, then the
values of VD1 and VD2 can be determined by:

(
-

VD1
V
V
; I R 2= D 2 = D1
R1
R2
R2

I S1+

V D1
V
= I S2+ D 2
R
R

)(

In this case the total voltage is:

V S =V D 1+V D 2

Parallel Connected Diodes:

- Used in high power applications
- Increases current carrying capability to meet desired current requirements
- Here we require current sharing in forward voltage.
- According to Kirchhoffs law, the diodes must have the same voltage drop
across each of them
- But diode characteristics are never identical, even if they are of the same
type.

Parallel operation may lead to different currents in each diode

May lead to failure of diode D1
Solution: connect resistors in series to the diodes.

Heat dissipation can be a problem in this circuit

Forward characteristics of diode are dependent on temperature
All diodes to be mounted on common heat sink to ensure uniform
temperature