Tag: Thyristors
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Thyristor Power Converters: Function, Applications, Advantages & Disadvantages
Thyristors are semiconductor devices that tend to stay ‘ON’ once turned ON, and tend to stay ‘OFF’ once turned OFF. A momentary event is able to flip these devices into either ON or OFF states, where they will remain that way on their own, even after the cause of the state change is taken away.…
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The Shockley Diode Features & Operation
The Shockey diode is a four layer sandwich of PNPN semiconductor material very similar to the SCR but without a gate as illustrated in the Figure 1.0 below: The Operation of Shockley Diode A Shockley diode can be turned ON by applying enough voltage between anode and cathode. This voltage will cause one of the…
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The Diac Features & Applications
Features of a Diac The diac is a two-terminal, semiconductor, bi-directional switching device. It can conduct in both directions. The diac closely resembles a PNP transistor without an external base terminal. Operation of a Diac The diac does not conduct except for a small leakage current) until the breakover voltage VS is reached, typically 20…