Power semiconductor devices are semiconductor device

Semiconductor device

Semiconductor devices are electronic components that exploit the electronic properties of semiconductor materials, principally silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, as well as organic semiconductors. Semiconductor devices have replaced thermionic devices in most applications...

s used as switches or rectifiers in power electronic

Power electronics

Power electronics is the application of solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of electric power.-Introduction:Power electronic converters can be found wherever there is a need to modify a form of electrical energy...

 circuits

Electrical network

An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage sources, current sources and switches. An electrical circuit is a special type of network, one that has a closed loop giving a return path for the current...

 (switch mode power supplies for example). They are also called power devices or when used in integrated circuits, called power ICs.

Most power semiconductor devices are only used in commutation mode (i.e. they are either on or off), and are therefore optimized for this. Most of them should not be used in linear operation.
Power semiconductor devices first appeared in 1952 with the introduction of the power diode

Diode

In electronics, a diode is a type of two-terminal electronic component with a nonlinear current–voltage characteristic. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals...

 by R.N. Hall

Robert N. Hall

Robert N. Hall is an American engineer and applied physicist. He demonstrated the first semiconductor laser, and invented a type of magnetron commonly used in microwave ovens. He also contributed to the development of rectifiers for power transmission.-Biography:Hall was born in New Haven,...

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