Editing Power electronics (section)

== History ==
Power electronics started with the development of the mercury arc rectifier. Invented by [[Peter Cooper Hewitt]] in 1902, it was used to convert alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC). From the 1920s on, research continued on applying [[thyratron]]s and grid-controlled mercury arc valves to power transmission. [[Uno Lamm]] developed a mercury valve with grading electrodes making them suitable for [[high voltage direct current]] power transmission. In 1933 selenium rectifiers were invented.<ref name=Thompson>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=M.T.|title=Notes 01|url=http://www.thompsonrd.com/NOTES%2001%20INTRODUCTION%20TO%20POWER%20ELECTRONICS.pdf|work=Introduction to Power Electronics|publisher=Thompson Consulting, Inc.}}</ref>

[[Julius Edgar Lilienfeld]] proposed the concept of a [[field-effect transistor]] in 1926, but it was not possible to actually construct a working device at that time.<ref>{{cite web |title=1926 – Field Effect Semiconductor Device Concepts Patented |website=Computer History Museum |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/field-effect-semiconductor-device-concepts-patented/ |access-date=March 25, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322023120/http://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/field-effect-semiconductor-device-concepts-patented/ |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 1947, the bipolar [[point-contact transistor]] was invented by [[Walter H. Brattain]] and [[John Bardeen]] under the direction of [[William Shockley]] at [[Bell Labs]]. In 1948 Shockley's invention of the [[bipolar junction transistor]] (BJT) improved the stability and performance of [[transistors]], and reduced costs. By the 1950s, higher power semiconductor [[diode]]s became available and started replacing [[vacuum tube]]s. In 1956, the [[silicon controlled rectifier]] (SCR) was introduced by [[General Electric]], greatly increasing the range of power electronics applications.<ref name=Kharagpur>{{cite web|last=Kharagpur|title=Power Semiconductor Devices|url=http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT%20Kharagpur/Power%20Electronics/PDF/L-1(SSG)(PE)%20((EE)NPTEL).pdf|work=EE IIT|access-date=25 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920222959/http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT%20Kharagpur/Power%20Electronics/PDF/L-1(SSG)(PE)%20((EE)NPTEL).pdf|archive-date=20 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 1960s, the improved switching speed of bipolar junction transistors had allowed for high frequency DC/DC converters.

[[R. D. Middlebrook]] made important contributions to power electronics. In 1970, he founded the [[Power Electronics Group]] at [[Caltech]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dr. R. David Middlebrook 1929 - 2010 |url=https://www.powerelectronics.com/content/dr-r-david-middlebrook-1929-2010 |website=Power Electronics |access-date=29 October 2019 |ref=May 1, 2010 |language=en |date=1 May 2010}}</ref> He developed the state-space averaging method of analysis and other tools crucial to modern power electronics design.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ieee-pels.org/pels-news/220-professor-r-d-middlebrook-passed-away |title = IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification - IEEE Power Electronics Society| date=October 2024 }}</ref>

=== Power MOSFET ===
{{Main|Power MOSFET}}
{{See also|MOSFET|VMOS|LDMOS|Insulated-gate bipolar transistor}}

In 1957, Frosch and Derick were able to manufacture the first silicon dioxide field effect transistors at Bell Labs, the first transistors in which drain and source were adjacent at the surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frosch |first1=C. J. |last2=Derick |first2=L |date=1957 |title=Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.2428650 |journal=Journal of the Electrochemical Society |language=en |volume=104 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.1149/1.2428650|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Subsequently, [[Dawon Kahng]] led a paper demonstrating a working [[MOSFET]] with their Bell Labs team in 1960. Their team included E. E. LaBate and E. I. Povilonis who fabricated the device; M. O. Thurston, L. A. D’Asaro, and J. R. Ligenza who developed the diffusion processes, and H. K. Gummel and R. Lindner who characterized the device.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAHNG |first=D. |date=1961 |title=Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device |url=https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |journal=Technical Memorandum of Bell Laboratories |pages=583–596 |doi=10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |isbn=978-981-02-0209-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lojek |first=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34258-8 |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=321}}</ref>

In 1969, [[Hitachi]] introduced the first vertical power MOSFET,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oxner |first1=E. S. |title=Fet Technology and Application |date=1988 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=9780824780500 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AE-0e-sAnsC&pg=PA18}}</ref> which would later be known as the [[VMOS]] (V-groove MOSFET).<ref name="powerelectronics">{{cite journal |title=Advances in Discrete Semiconductors March On |url=https://www.powerelectronics.com/content/advances-discrete-semiconductors-march |journal=Power Electronics Technology |publisher=[[Informa]] |pages=52–6 |access-date=31 July 2019 |date=September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322222716/http://powerelectronics.com/mag/509PET26.pdf |archive-date=22 March 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> From 1974, [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]], [[JVC]], [[Pioneer Corporation]], [[Sony]] and [[Toshiba]] began manufacturing [[audio amplifier]]s with power MOSFETs.<ref name="Duncan177">{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Ben |title=High Performance Audio Power Amplifiers |date=1996 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |isbn=9780080508047 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/highperfomanceau0000dunc/page/177 177-8, 406] |url=https://archive.org/details/highperfomanceau0000dunc/page/177 }}</ref> [[International Rectifier]] introduced a 25&nbsp;A, 400&nbsp;V power MOSFET in 1978.<ref name="DEP">Jacques Arnould, Pierre Merle ''Dispositifs de l'électronique de puissance'', Éditions Hermès, {{ISBN|2-86601-306-9}} (in French)</ref> This device allows operation at higher frequencies than a bipolar transistor, but is limited to low voltage applications.

The power MOSFET is the most common [[power device]] in the world, due to its low gate drive power, fast switching speed,<ref name="aosmd">{{cite web |title=Power MOSFET Basics |url=http://www.aosmd.com/res/application_notes/mosfets/Power_MOSFET_Basics.pdf |website=Alpha & Omega Semiconductor |access-date=29 July 2019}}</ref> easy advanced paralleling capability,<ref name="aosmd"/><ref name="Duncan178">{{cite book |last1=Duncan |first1=Ben |title=High Performance Audio Power Amplifiers |date=1996 |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |isbn=9780080508047 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/highperfomanceau0000dunc/page/178 178-81] |url=https://archive.org/details/highperfomanceau0000dunc/page/178 }}</ref> wide [[bandwidth (signal processing)|bandwidth]], ruggedness, easy drive, simple biasing, ease of application, and ease of repair.<ref name="Duncan178"/> It has a wide range of power electronic applications, such as portable [[information appliances]], power integrated circuits, [[cell phones]], [[notebook computers]], and the [[communications infrastructure]] that enables the [[Internet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whiteley |first1=Carol |last2=McLaughlin |first2=John Robert |title=Technology, Entrepreneurs, and Silicon Valley |date=2002 |publisher=Institute for the History of Technology |isbn=9780964921719 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9koAQAAIAAJ |quote=These active electronic components, or power semiconductor products, from [[Siliconix]] are used to switch and convert power in a wide range of systems, from portable information appliances to the communications infrastructure that enables the Internet. The company's power MOSFETs — tiny solid-state switches, or metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors — and power integrated circuits are widely used in cell phones and notebook computers to manage battery power efficiently}}</ref>

In 1982, the [[insulated-gate bipolar transistor]] (IGBT) was introduced. It became widely available in the 1990s. This component has the power handling capability of the bipolar transistor and the advantages of the isolated gate drive of the power MOSFET.