The diode is the simplest but most important of the power semiconductor devices. Figure 2.

3(a) shows the V-I characteristics of a diode. In the forward direction, the device conducts with a small voltage drop (typically 1.0 V), whereas in the reverse direction, it blocks voltage with a small leakage current. With a high enough reverse voltage, it goes through avalanche breakdown and is destroyed. The switching characteristics (turn-off) of the diode are shown in Figure 2.3(b). As reverse voltage is applied in the forward conduction, the current decreases linearly (due to leakage inductance), reverses, and then turns off with a snap.

High di/dt at turn-off causes a reverse voltage (Vrrm) that is higher than the applied voltage (VR). The recovery charge Qrr and the corresponding recovery time trr are important diode parameters. Diodes are classified as slow-recovery diodes, fast-recovery diodes, and Schottky diodes. The former two types have P-I-N geometry, whereas the last type has a metal semiconductor junction. Slow-recovery diodes are used in 50/60-Hz power rectification. Fast-recovery types are used in feedback/freewheeling of converters and snubbers, and Schottky diodes, which provide very fast switching, are used in high-frequency converters.

A thyristor is basically a three-junction PNPN device that can be represented by PNP and NPN component transistors connected in regenerative feedback mode. The device blocks voltage in both the forward and reverse directions. When the anode is positive, the device can be triggered into conduction by a short positive gate current pulse, but once the device is conducting, the gate control is lost. A thyristor can also be turned on by means of excessive anode voltage, a rise in junction temperature, or light shining on the junctions. The V-I characteristics are shown in Figure. With gate current IG = 0 , the device blocks voltage in the forward direction. With IG=IG3, the entire forward blocking voltage is removed, and the device acts as a diode. The latching current is the minimum anode current required to turn on the device successfully, and holding current is the minimum on-current required to keep the device on without which the device will go to the forward blocking mode

Functionally, a triac can be considered as an integration of a pair of phase-control thyristors connected in inverse-parallel manner. The circuit symbol for a triac and its V-I characteristics are given above. In I+ mode, the terminal T2 is positive and the device is switched on by a positive gate current pulse. In III mode, the terminal T1 is positive and the device is turned on by a negative gate pulse. For ac power control, a triac is more economical than an inverse-parallel thyristor combination, but it has a few drawbacks. The gate current sensitivity is somewhat lower and turnoff time is slower than for a thyristor. Besides, it is difficult to operate with an inductive load. Triacs are commonly used in incandescent lamp dimming and heating control, where the load is resistive. Figure shows the popular triac light dimmer circuit. The gate of the triac is supplied from an R-C circuit through a diac. A diac is a symmetric voltage-blocking device. The variable resistance R1 controls the dimming level of the lamp, which is connected in series. When the capacitor voltage VC in either polarity exceeds the threshold voltage VS of the diac, a pulse of current triggers the triac at a firing angle (af ), giving phase-controlled, fullwave current to the lamp. When the triac is on, the R-C circuit is shorted and the line voltage is impressed across the lamp. At the end of every half-cycle, the triac turns off and the next half-cycle begins. An R-C snubber as shown is important to a triac circuit to reduce reapplied dv/dt.

The Converters
A converter basically consists of an array of On-Off electronic switches that use power semiconductor devices. If the switches are considered ideal or lossless (zero conduction drop, zero leakage current, and instantaneous turn-on and turn-off times), the instantaneous and average power will balance at input and output of the converter. Switching mode operation makes the converter nonlinear, thus generating source and load harmonics and also EMI problems. The discrete time switching characteristics cause a delay in signal propagation, (of course, a high switching frequency reduces the propagation delay). A converter can be single stage, or multiple conversions may be involved in a cascaded converter system. Several types of commutation (transferring current from the outgoing device to the incoming device) can be used. ACtoDC: RECTIFIER DIODE THYRISTOR PHASE-CONTROLLED PWM (VOLTAGE-FED OR CURRENT-FED) DCtoDC PWM (BUCK, BOOST, OR BUCK/BOOST) RESONANT LINK QUASI-RESONANT LINK DCtoAC: INVERTER THYRISTOR PHASE-CONTROLLED PWM (VOLTAGE-FED OR CURRENT-FED) ACtoAC: AC CONTROLLER (SAME FREQUENCY) CYCLOCONVERTER (FREQUENCY CHANGER) THYRISTOR PHASE-CONTROLLED DC LINK (VOLTAGE-FED OR CURRENT-FED) HIGH-FREQUENCY LINK (VOLTAGE-FED OR CURRENT-FED) MATRIX The figure summarizes different classes of converters. Power rectification is not only possible by traditional diode and thyristor converters, but also by pulse width modulation (PWM) converters that use self-commutated devices and are based on voltage-fed or current-fed principles. Most of the rectifier topologies (except those with diodes) can be used for inversion also. The dc-to-dc converters can be classified as the buck, boost, buck/boost, flyback, or forward type. The traditional PWM dc-to-dc converters are defined as choppers. PWM converters are usually based on hard switching, but soft switching with resonant (with ac link) or quasi-resonant principles can also be used to reduce the switching loss. An ac-to-ac converter can be in the same frequency (voltage controller) or at different frequency (cycloconverter). A cycloconverter can utilize direct frequency conversion (phase-controlled cycloconverter or matrix converter), or it can accomplish conversion via the dc or high-frequency link.

Diode rectifiers are the simplest type of uncontrolled power conversion circuits. Because the device conducts current in one direction, it can be used for power rectification only. The figure shows the principal single-phase and polyphase diode rectifiers. The supply is usually 50/60 Hz, and the load can be R, RL, RC, or RL (such as a dc motor). The slow-recovery P-I-N diode is normally used. The recovery current can create a large voltage transient at turnoff, which can be limited by snubber. In designing a diode rectifier, the average current, peak current, and peak reverse voltage of the device are to be limited. Also, adequate heat sink or cooling is required to limit TJ (junction temperature). Often a transformer is used between the supply and rectifier for voltage level conversion, isolation, or tapping. A single-phase half-wave circuit is the simplest. For inductive loads, an FWD in parallel increases the dc output voltage by clamping the negative voltage segment. Single-phase full-wave circuits (two-pulse) can be with the transformer or bridge type. However, the latter type is very common. The half-wave circuits for three-phase (three-pulse) and six phase (six-pulse) rectifiers have poor duty cycles. Three-phase bridge rectifier (six-pulse) use is common. Diode rectifier applications include battery chargers, electrochemical processes, SMPS power supplies, and ac motor drives. More complex 12-pulse and 24-pulse rectifiers can be used in high-power applications.

The diode bridge rectifier shown in the figure is extremely important for generation of unregulated dc, which can be used in dc-dc converters to generate regulated dc supply, or in dc-ac converters for ac motor drives. The resistance R can be considered as equivalent load for the output circuit. Without the filter capacitance CF, the load voltage wave (vd) is full-wave rectified with the diode pairs D1D2 and D3D4 conducting alternately for 180.The CF filters the vd wave, tending for it to be pure dc. Figure 3.4(b) shows the voltage and current waves at finite values of CF. The vd wave is wavy but the mean dc voltage Vd is shown by the dashed horizontal line. The capacitor will charge with a pulse current every half-cycle near the peak supply voltage Vm when vd < vs, which will be limited by the line leakage inductance Lc (also called commutating inductance). The current id will increase during q1 and q2 angles and then go to zero at q3. During the conduction interval, vd will increase as shown. Then, the capacitor will discharge exponentially with the load time constant CFR. The load current iR is always proportional to capacitor voltage. The discontinuous pulse current id will cause the pulsating line current shown in the figure, and its fundamental component is 1 is indicated by the dashed curve.