Basics of Power Conversion: Power Semiconductors

Figure 1: The basic building blocks of power
conversion circuits are the power MOSFET and
the IGBT; shown are (left) an N-channel
enhancement-mode MOSFET and (right)
a P-channel (minority carrier) IGBT

There are a multitude of circumstances that make power conversion a necessity. Power conversion, of course, is the converting of electric power from one form to another, from one voltage to another, or one frequency to another; it also encompasses any/all combinations of these.