VIN Technologies › Labs › Electronic Devices Lab

SCR (thyristor) latching

Electronic Devices Lab · free online experiment, runs in your browser with no install or sign-up.

Open this experiment in the circuit simulator

Objective

Trigger an SCR with a short gate pulse and see it stay on after the gate returns to zero.

Procedure

  1. Run and compare the gate pulse with the load current.
  2. Reduce the supply to 1 V: the SCR cannot latch.

Theory

Once the anode current exceeds the latching/holding current, the SCR stays conducting until the anode current drops below the holding current. A 1 ms pulse at t = 3 ms switches on 120 mA of load current for the rest of the run.

Questions to answer

  1. How is a SCR turned off in a DC circuit?

Components used

2N5064 SCR, Battery / DC source, Function generator (square), Oscilloscope (2-channel), 2 × Resistor 220 ohm 1/4W

About the model

Ideal wires; component models as listed in the catalogue (no parasitics, no temperature drift). Built without a breadboard so the schematic stays readable.

Open this experiment in the circuit simulator

More Electronic Devices Lab experiments