In the last few years, the use of triacs hasspread to all areas of electronics, includingdomestic appliances and industrial applications.The use of triacs has been traditionally limited bytheir switching behavior in applications wherethere is a risk of spontaneous firing afterconduction. In order to obtain the requiredreliability in todays equipment, the designermust take a certain number of precautions: overdimensioning of the device, switching aidnetworks (snubber), significant margin of securityof the junction temperature,etc. This generallyinvolves additional costs.After a brief discussion of commutation problemwhen a triac is turned off, this article willdescribe the progress made in this area and thenewest possibilities now offered to triac userthanks to the new series Logic Level andSNUBBERLESS triac.

The commutation problem of the triacIn its electrical representation the triac can becompared to two thyristors mounted inanti-parallel and coupled with a control devicewhich allows activation of this AC switch withonly one gate (fig. 1a).In considering the structure of a triac (fig. 1b),one notices that the conduction zones,corresponding to these two thyristors and whichcontrol the current in one direction and then inthe other, narrowly overlap each other and thecontrol zone.

During the conduction time, a certain quantity ofcharges is injected into the structure. Thebiggest part of these charges disappears byrecombining during the fall of the current in thecircuit, while another part is extracted at themoment of blocking by the inverse recoverycurrent. Nonetheless an excess charge remains,particularly in the neighboring regions of thegate, which can provoke in certain cases thefiring of the other conduction zone at themoment when the supply voltage of the circuit isreapplied across the triac. This is the problem ofcommutation.For a given structure at a determined junctiontemperature, the switching behavior depends on:1/ The quantity of charges which remains at themoment when the current drops to zero. thisnumber of charges is linked to the value of thecurrent which was circulating in the triacapproximately 100 microseconds before thecut-off. (This time corresponds to two or threetimes the life time of the minority carriers). Thus,the parameter to consider here will be the slopeof the decreasing current which is called thecommutating di/dt, or (di/dt)c. (fig. 2)2/ The speed at which the reapplied voltageincreases at the moment when the triac turns off,which is called the commutating dv/dt, or(dv/dt)c. (fig. 2)A capacitive current, proportional to the (dv/dt)c,flows into the structure, and therefore injectedcharges are added to those coming from theprevious conduction.

APPLICATION NOTE

AN439/0592

IMPROVEMENT IN THE TRIAC COMMUTATION

P. RAULT

Figure 1 : (A) Simplified equivalent schematic of triac circuit.(B) Example of a triac structure.

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CharacterizationIn order to characterize the switching behavior ofa triac when it turns off, we consider a circuit inwhich we can vary the slope of the decrease incurrent (di/dt)c. In addition, we control the slopeof the reapplied voltage by using, for example, acircuit of resistors and capacitors connectedacross triac to be measured. For a determined(dv/dt)c, we progressively increase the (di/dt)cuntil a certain level which provokes thespontaneous firing of the triac. This the critical(di/dt)c value.Therefore, for different (dv/dt)c values, we notethe critical (di/dt)c value for each sample. Thismakes possible to trace the curve of thecommutation behavior of the triac underconsideration.Figure 3 represents the results obtained with astandard 12 Amp triac (IGT 50mA) and asensitive gate, 6 Amp triac (IGT 10mA). Forstandard triacs the critical (di/dt)c is sightlymodified when we vary the (dv/dt)c. For sensitivegate triacs, this parameter noticeably decreaseswhen the slope of the reapplied voltage isincreased.

Figure 2 : Triac voltage and current atcommutation.

Figure 3 : Critical (di/dt)c versus (dv/dt)c (below the curve the triac turns on spontaneously.)A1 and A2 : The rate of re-application of the off-state voltage of these points corresponds to the mains

(sinusoidal wave form) at zero crossing.B1 and B2 : The (dv/dt)c is limited by a snubber at the values generally specified in the data sheets

(5V/s or 10V/s).C1 and C2 : These points are obtained without snubber.

APPLICATION NOTE

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In practice, the current wave form, and thus the(di/dt)c, is imposed by the circuit. Generally wecannot change it.So, in triacs applications it is always necessaryto know the (di/dt)c of the circuit in order tochoose a triac with a suitable critical (di/dt)c.This is the most important parameter.Suppose a circuit in which the (di/dt)c reaches15 A/ms. The triac N1 characterized by theupper curve in figure 3 is not suitable in such acircuit even if the (dv/dt)c is reduced nearly tozero by connecting a huge snubber networkacross it.

Applications in basic circuitsWhen considering the constraints incommutation at the turn off of a triac, we candistinguish two cases:

1/ The use of a triac on resistive load (fig. 4)In this case the current and the voltage are inphase. When the triac switches off (i.e. when thecurrent drops to zero), the supply voltage isnullified at this instant and will increase acrossthe triac according to the sinusoidal law :

V = Vm sint

Figure 4 : Current and voltage ware forms for resistive loads(A) Case On / Off switching(B) Case of phase control

APPLICATION NOTE

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Example :

For the European mains of Vrms = 220 volts at50Hz, the slope will be:

(dv/dt)c = Vm = Vrms 2 = 0.1VSThis relatively low (dv/dt)c corresponds to pointsA1 and A2 on the curves in figure 3. As far asthe (di/dt)c is concerned in the circuit, it dependson the load. For a resistance of loads R andunder a Vrms voltage, we will have:

(di/dt)c =Im = ( Vrms 2 R )

2/ The use of a triac on inductive loadIn this case there is a phase lag between thecurrent and the supply voltage (fig. 5).When the currents drops to zero the triac turnsoff and the voltage is abruptly pushed to itsterminals. To limit the speed of the increasingvoltage, we generally use a resistive/capacitivenetwork mounted in parallel with the triac. Thissnubber is calculated to limit the (dv/dt)c to 5or 10 volts/S according to the specified value inthe data sheet. This case corresponds to pointsB1 and B2 in figure 3.The (di/dt)c is alsodetermined in this case by load impedance (z)and the supply voltage.

Figure 5 : Current and voltage ware forms for inductance loads(A) Case On / Off switching(B) Case of phase control

APPLICATION NOTE

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The use of a triac without a snubbernetworkThe triac can thus be considered as a switchwhich turns off at the moment when the currentis cut off in the dampened oscillating circuitconstituted by the loads L and R and the internalcapacity of the triac Ct (fig. 6). In the case of apure inductive load, the maximum reapplied(dv/dt) is:

(dv/dt)c = 2 Vrms Irms Ct

A progress: THE NEW TECHNOLOGYTo make significant progress in the triac area isto essentially improve the commutating behaviorat the turn off of the triac. In other words thecritical (di/dt)c has to be improved.In order to reach this goal, a new structure hasbeen developed. In this structure, the differentactive zones have been de-coupled to the

For example, the internal capacitance of a 12Amp triac is about 70pF. Therefore, on inductiveload, the maximum (dv/dt)c without snubber willbe limited to 50 or 100 V/S according to thecharacteristics of the load.It is interesting to know the behavior of the triac,in particular the critical (di/dt)c value, in theseconditions. This characterization corresponds tothe points C1 and C2 of the curve fig 3.

maximum in such a way as to separate theelementary thyristors and the gate area. This ismade possible by sacrificing the gate triggeringin the fourth quadrant. In practice this does notpose a problem because the gate drive circuitsof a triac generally use two of the third firstquadrants. (fig. 7)

Figure 7 : Basic gale drive circuits (the fourth quadrant is not used)

Figure 6 : Triac commutation on an inductance load without a snubber network

APPLICATION NOTE

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For a given technology, the commutatingbehavior of triacs depends on the sensitivity ofthe gate. The correlation between the critical(di/dt)c and the gate current for 12 Amp triacs isrepresented in figure 8. In the same chart, wecan see the results obtained with conventionaltriacs versus the new technology triacs. As canbe seen, the progress that has been made atthis level is significant.

1/ The performances and specifications

The new technology has been put into placewith the manufacturing of the two new series,Logic Level and SNUBBERLESS Triacs. In thedata sheets of these new triacs a critical (di/dt)climit is specified at the maximum junctiontemperature (Tj max).a- Logic Level triacsIn this category we consider sensitive triacs inwhich the maximum gate current (IGT) is 5mAfor the TW type and 10mA for the SW one.

In the data sheets of the Logic Level triacs aminimum (di/dt)c is specified for the followingcases:

* Resistive load with a (dv/dt)c of 01.V/s.* Inductive load with a (dv/dt)c of 20 V/s

For example the 6 Amp triac is specified asfollows:

Figure 8 : Correlation between commutating behavior and sensitivity.(Measurements performed on several lots of 12 A triacs)

Symbol Test conditions Quadrant Suffix UnitTW SW

tgt VD = VDRM IG = 90 mAdIG/dt = 0.8 A/ms

Tj = 25C I - II - III TYP 2 2 s

(dI/dt)c * dV/dt = 0.1 V/s Tj = 110C MIN 3.5 4.5 A/msdV/dt = 20 V/s MIN 1.8 3.5

* For either polarity of electrode A2 voltage with reference to electrode A1.

APPLICATION NOTE

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b- SNUBBERLESS TRIACS

This series of triacs presently covers the range 6to 25 Amps with gate currents of 35mA (CWtype) and 50mA (BW type) according to the typerequired.This series has been specially designedso that the triacs switches from the on state tothe off state without the use of an externalsnubber circuit.Whatever the nature of the load, there isabsolutely no risk of spurious firing at the turn offof the triac as long as it is functioning under thespecified (di/dt)c value.

2/ The advantages and Applicationsa - Logic LevelThe goal of these triacs is to be controlleddirectly by logic circuits and microcontrolers likethe ST6 series:Outputs of ST6 can sink currents up to 20mAper I/o line, and therefore drive TW and SW.These triacs are ideal interface for powercomponents supplied by 110 or 220 volts, suchas valves, heating resistances, and smallmotors.

The SNUBBERLESS triacs are specified atcritical (di/dt)c values which are greater than thedecreasing slope of the nominal current in asinusoidal configuration. For example, the slopeof the current in a triac conducting 16 Amp whenthe current drops to zero is:

(di/dt)c = Irms x 2 x = 7A/mS at 50HzThe BTA/BTB16-600BW is specified at (di/dt)c =14A/ms.The following table summarizes thecharacteristics of the BW, CW SNUBBERLESStriacs which are presently available:

The specification of the critical (di/dt)c value onboth resistive and inductive loads allows one1/ to know the margin of security of the circuit inrelation to the risk of the spurious firing, whichresults in improved reliability, and2/ to optimize the performance of the triac to beused, which results in a cost reduction.

WITHOUT SNUBBERTYPE CURRENT / VOLTAGE SUFFIX IGT

MAX(mA)

STATIC dV/dtMIN

(V/s)

(dI/dt)cMIN

(A/ms)BTA / BTB 06A 200 to 800V

BTA / BTB 08A 200 to 800V

BTA / BTB 10A 200 to 800V

BTA / BTB 12A 200 to 800V

BTA / BTB 16A 200 to 800V

BTA / BTB 20A 200 to 800V

BTB 24A 200 to 800V

BTA 26A 200 to 800V

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

BWCW

5035

5035

5035

5035

5035

5035

5035

5035

500250

500250

500250

500250

500250

500250

500250

500250

53.5

74.5

95.5

126.5

148.5

1811

2213

2213

APPLICATION NOTE

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b - SNUBBERLESS TriacsThe commutation of SNUBBERLESS triacs isspecified without a limitation (dv/dt)c. With thesuppression of the snubber in the circuit, there isa noticeable cost reduction.Each SNUBBERLESS triac series is specifiedwith a critical (di/dt)c value and the static (dv/dt)at the highest possible level, taking intoconsideration the gate sensitivity (Igt). Theminimum specified levels for these twoparameters allows the use of these products incircuits where there is a need for high safetyfactor, such as:1. Static relays in which the load is not welldefined. With conventional triacs it is difficult to

adapt the snubber to all possible cases.SNUBBERLESS triacs resolve this problem. (fig.10).

Figure 9 : Light dimmer circuit with ST6210.

VDD

1

RESET

PB015

PB114

4 3OSCINOSCOUT

PA0

PA1

PB2

PB3

PB4

PB5

19

18

11

10

13

12

ST6210

NMI

TEST

VSS

5

6

20

3 x 4.7M

220k

100k

100k

220k

220k

22k

LINE

FUSE

820

1/2W

220n

400V

BZW55C5V6

1N4148

100u6.3V

100

MODE

8MHz

10p10pPOTENTIOMETER

PUSH BUTTON

TOUCH SENSOR

7

0V

0V 0V 0V 0V

0V

0V

0V

+5V

+5V

+5V

+5V

BTA 08-400SW

A1

A2

G

1/4W unless otherwise specified

All resistors

06PHR385

NEUTRAL

Figure 10 : Solid state relay diagram

APPLICATION NOTE

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2. Motor drive circuits. Figure 11 shows aninversion circuit of an asynchronous motor wherespurious firing of the triac, normally assumed tobe in off- state, must be absolutely be avoided.The critical (di/dt)c of SNUBBERLESS triacs isgreater than the slope of the nominal current ofthe specific type under consideration. This isimportant for several applications, including :Circuits in which the (di/dt)c in a transient stateis greater than in the steady state. This is thecase for universal motors controlled by ACphase control circuit. The table in figure 12shows how to the use of a SNUBBERLESS triaccan optimize the efficiency of the circuit.

Circuits which generate wave forms with a veryhigh (di/dt)c, such as inductive load supplied bya diode bridge (fig. 13). It is only limited by theparasitic inductance of the AC circuit.

Figure 11 : Motor control circuit usingSNUBBERLESS triacs

(Ls + r = network for series protection)

POWER SUPPLYVOLTAGE

NOMINALCURRENT

MAX CURRENTTO CONTROL

TRIACRANGE

(dI/dt)cMAX (1)

STANDARDSTRIAC

SNUBBERLESSTRIAC

600 W 220V/50Hz110V/60Hz

3 ARMS6 ARMS

3.5 A7 A

6 A10 A

A A/ms7 A/ms

BTA10-600BBTA16-400B

(2)

BTA06-600BWBTA10-400BW

1200 W 220V/50Hz110V/60Hz

6 ARMS12 ARMS

7 A14 A

10 A16 A

7 A/ms15 A/ms

BTA16-600BBTB24-400B

BTA10-600BWBTA20-600BW

(1) Maximum transient (dI/dt)c. This parameter depends very much on the type of the motor.(2) This type specified at 7 A/ms munumum can be too small certain applications could need 25 Astandard triac.

Figure 12 : Universal motor control : Triac choise must comply with maximum (dI/dt)cFor example, a SNUBBERLESS 10 A triac is sufficient to controla 110 V AC 600 W moytor

Figure 13 : Example of a circuit with high (di/dt)c

APPLICATION NOTE

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CONCLUSIONThanks to the recent progress made in triactechnology, the designer now has at disposaldevices with a commutating behavior which iscompatible with all applications in the 50 or 60Hzrange. This includes phase control and staticcommutation for loads going from a few watts toseveral kilowatts.The capability of this new generation of triacsallows :1/ To increase the reliability of circuits,particularly where there is a risk of spontaneousfiring even in the most difficult configurations.

2/ To reduce the cost by using sensitive gate,LOGIC LEVEL triacs without the need for aninterface between the gate and the logic circuit,or utilizing SNUBBERLESS triacs which arespecified without a resistive/capacitive network.Additionally, the limit of the (di/dt)c parameter isnow listed in SGS-Thomson Microelectronicsdata sheets.This permits the optimization of the circuit byspecifying stricter guidelines in the choice of thecomponent.

Information furnished is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics assumes no responsability forthe consequences of use of such information nor for any infringement of patents or other rights of third parties which may result from itsuse. No license is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent or patent rights of SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics.Specifications mentioned in this publication are subject to change without notice. This publication supersedes and replaces all informationpreviously supplied.SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics products are not authorized for use as critical components in life support devices or systems withoutexpress written approval of SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics.

1995 SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics - Printed in Italy - All rights reserved.SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics GROUP OF COMPANIES

Australia - Brazil - France - Germany - Hong Kong - Italy - Japan - Korea - Malaysia - Malta - Morocco -The Netherlands Singapore - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Taiwan - Thailand - United Kingdom - U.S.A.

APPLICATION NOTE

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