Bipolar Junction Transistors.

Capability to block large currents in the off state and high current carrying capability in the on
state are the main features of power bipolar junction transistors and the structure of the BJT can
be modified in such a way that the desired i-r characteristics and switching behavior will be
achievable.
Figure 1: circuit diagram
Drive circuit:
By applying a positive on the base terminal a power BJT can be turned on. It is basic principal
that used in all the types of drive circuits mentioned below.
1. DC- coupled drive circuit with unipolar output.
Figure 2:28.1
A very simple base drive circuit applicable for convertors with a single switch topology is shown
in figure (2). In order to turn on the power BJT, firstly the
pnp d
river transistor must be turned on
by saturating one of the internal transistors in the comparator. Eventually it supplies a base
current for the main BJT that required for turning on. The necessary base current and proper
terminal voltages that lead to an optimum operation of the BJT can be collected from its BJT.
When selecting resistance values, the lesser base resistance

R
2
will allow a faster starting. Yet it
will cause for larger power dissipation in the drive circuit. Finally the operation of the Drive
circuit can be mention as follows,
When control voltage of comparator is higher than its reference voltage, T
B
will be on. Hence,
BJT will be turned on and vice versa.
2. DC- coupled drive circuits with bipolar output.
Figure 28.4
The BJT base driven circuit is shown above.
Both a positive and negative voltage supply w.r.t. to emitter are used to provide fast turn off. In
order to turn on the BJT, the in-built transistor of the comparator must be turned off, i.e. when
control voltage of the comparators is higher than its reference voltage, comparator output will be
high. Then T
B
+
will be turned on eventually power BJT will also be on.
To turn off the BJT, in-built transistors of the comparator must be turned on. Then the pnp
transistors pnp transistor T
B
_
will be turned on and this will cause for turning power BJT off. For
a fast turn off, external resistances should be connected in series with T
B
_
.
3. Opto coupler isolated Drive circuit
Figure 28.10
The required drive circuit is shown in above figure .Since this drive circuit has a bipolar output
,faster turned on and faster turned off of the BJT can be obtained. The suitable DC voltage to the
base of the power BJT that required for turning on and off is governed by an npn pnp totem-
pole circuit.
4-Transformer - isolated Drive circuit.
Figure 28.12
The application of transformer into the drive cct provides a great flexibility to the design of the
circuit.
In this drive circuit when the drive transistor T
1
is on, the power BJT is off and the current

When T
1
is off, this will result a positive base current to the BJT and cause to be BJT on. Then
the base current

and

.
Open emitter BJT Drive circuit is another form of BJT Drive circuits.
Over current protection.
Figure 28.23
The given circuit given above is suitable for the over current protection in BJTs, MOSFETs,
IGBTs even JFETs. In this circuit, the over current protection is obtained by monitoring the
instantaneous output voltage of the device and disconnecting the device (turning off) at the
occurrence of over current. For an example, in the BJT the collector emitter on-state voltage
can be used as the over current parameter. Since the over current protection is also considered in
the design criteria of the drive circuit, it must limit the maximum instantaneous current the drive.
Furthermore, at the occurrence of the over current, the over current protection system must act as
quickly as possible typically in few micro second to turn off the BJT. If not BJT will be
destroyed.



Power MOSFETs.
Due to appreciable on state current carrying capability and off state blocking voltage
capability, metal oxide-semi conductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) have been applied in
power electronic applications for a long period of time. The power MOSFETs highly utilized in
applications where high switching frequencies are available that cannot be controlled by BJTs.
Figure 22
Drive circuits.
1. DC coupled drive circuit with unipolar output.
Figure 28.2
A simple MOSFET gate drive circuit is shown above figure. In the circuit a switch controls the
gate current whilst the output transistor of a comparator governs the MOSFET. When the out
transistor is off, the MOSFET is on and vice versa. Due to the inherited characteristics like larger
R
,
this drive circuit is only applicable for low switching speed applications.
This circuit can be modeled to overcome its limitations as shown in figure 28.3 .In the modified
circuit ,two switches are used in a totem-pole arrangement with the comparator controlled the
npn-pnp totem-pole stack. Here in order to turn on the MOSFET, the comparator must turn off.
So turning the npn BJT . will provide a positive gate voltage to the MOSFET. The gate is
shorted to the source through R
G
and the pnp transistor to turn off the MOSFET.
2. DC- coupled Drive circuit with bipolar output
Figure 28.6
The drive circuit shown figure 28.6 provides positive gate voltages to turn on the MOSFET and
the negative gate voltages to turn off it with the use of a split power supply with respect to the
MOSFET source.
Device protection
Over current protection is provided to the MOSFET by current feedback controlling methods. If
the protection system observes a continuous BJT current hence over current through the power
MOSFET, the MOSFET will be turned off automatically hence over current protection.
Moreover, in order to provide a better overall protection to power MOSFET, snubber circuit and
heat sinks can be included into drive circuit.