Power semiconductor device

Power semiconductor are semiconductor devices which are designed in the power electronics for the control and switching of high electrical currents and voltages (more than 1 ampere and voltages greater than about 24 volts). The upper limit of the size of each of several thousand amperes and volts.

These customized variants of normal semiconductor devices are needed because high currents and voltage would destroy them. Are used mainly the following components:

• Power diodes are switching elements that allow the current to flow in principle in one direction only, or above a certain voltage value. They are often used in the rectifier circuits.
• Thyristors are switching elements that can set the switching point by a controllable voltage to a control electrode of arbitrary and flexible. They, in addition to the rectifier, the typical components of power electronics. You have the most diverse applications for switching and controlling.
• Triacs are two thyristor in one component, which are connected in parallel in opposite directions and are commonly controlled. With triacs especially alternating currents are controlled and switched.
• Power MOSFETs and IGBTs are transistors with specific switching and performance characteristics, due to their atomic semiconductor structure.

Practical applications of power semiconductors are the control of electrical drives in traffic engineering and mechanical engineering as well as the conversion or adjustment of voltage, current and frequency of a power system to another or to other size values ​​.

• Power Electronics