A Practical Primer On Motor Drives (Part 8): Power Semiconductors
by Ken Johnson, Teledyne LeCroy, Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., How2Power Today, Sep 15 2016
Focus:
This section on power semiconductor device physics will be a review for most power electronics
engineers. However, for those new to the motor drive field, this section lays the groundwork
for a discussion of the power conversion topologies and circuits discussed in subsequent parts
of this series. The article begins by reviewing the different classes of power converter types
(ac-ac, ac-dc, dc-dc, etc.) to provide some perspective on the drives category, then explains
the basic operation of MOSFETs and IGBTs as power switches, describes n-channel versus p-
channel devices, gives some background on silicon and wide-bandgap materials, describes some
differences between the different power semiconductor devices used in motor drives, and then
provides further details on power MOSFETs; IGBTs; and IGCTs, GTOs, And SCRs.
What you’ll learn:
- How to understand what types of power semiconductor devices are used in motor drives, how they work and how they differ
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