Fundamentals of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering
Department of Electronics and Communication
PDPM-IIITDM, Jabalpur
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Semiconductor Diodes
◼ Semiconductors (Silicon or Germanium)
◼ At very low temperatures these have the properties of
insulators
◼ Thermal vibration results in some bonds being broken
generating free electrons which can move.
◼ These leave behind holes which accept electrons from
adjacent atoms and therefore can also move around.
◼ Electrons are negative charge carriers.
◼ Holes are positive charge carriers.
2
Semiconductor Diodes
◼ Doping
◼ The addition of small amounts of impurities drastically
affects the properties of pure semiconductors.
◼ Some materials with an excess of electrons produce the
n-type semiconductor.
◼ Some materials with an excess of holes produce the
p-type semiconductor.
◼ Both n-type and p-type materials have much greater
conductivity than pure semiconductors.
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Semiconductors
Doping (n type)
◼ Pure Si can be doped with other elements to change its
electrical properties.
◼ For example, if Si is doped with P (phosphorous), then it
has more electrons, or becomes type n (electron).
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Semiconductors
Doping (p type)
◼ If Si is doped with B (boron), then it has
more holes, or becomes type p.
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Semiconductors
◼ The dominant charge carriers in a doped semiconductor
(e.g. electrons in n-type material) are called majority
charge carriers. Other type are minority charge
carriers.
◼ The overall doped material is electrically neutral.
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PN Junction (Diode)
◼ When n-type and p-type dopants are introduced
side-by-side in a semiconductor, a PN junction or
a diode is formed.
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PN Junction (Diode)
◼ As free electrons and holes diffuse across the
junction, a region of fixed ions is left behind.
This region is known as the “depletion region.”
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PN Junction (Diode)
◼ The diffusion of
positive charge in
one direction and
negative charge in
the other produces a
charge imbalance
◼ This results in a
potential barrier
across the junction
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
potential barrier
Forward bias
◼ p-type side is made positive with respect to the n-type side
◼ When the junction is forward biased, the holes in the p-region are
repelled by the positive terminal of the battery and are forced to move
towards the junction
◼ similarly, the electrons in the N-region are repelled by the negative
terminal of the battery and are forced to move towards the-junction
◼ This reduces the width of the depletion layer and barrier potential
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
potential barrier
Forward bias
◼ If the applied voltage is greater than the potential barrier, the majority
carriers namely holes in P-region and electrons in N-region, cross the
barrier
◼ During crossing, some of the charges get neutralized and the
remaining charges after crossing, reach the other side and constitute
current in the forward direction
◼ The PN junction offers very low resistance under forward biased
condition
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
potential barrier
Forward bias
◼ Since the barrier potential is very small (nearly 0.7 V for silicon and
0.3 V for Germanium junction), a small forward voltage is enough to
completely eliminate the barrier.
◼ Once the potential barrier is eliminated by the forward voltage, a
large current start flowing through the PN junction
◼ The applied potential is opposite to barrier potential.
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
Reverse bias
potential barrier
◼ p-type side is made negative with
respect to the n-type side.
◼ When the junction is reverse biased,
the holes in the P-region are
attracted by the negative terminal
of the battery
◼ Similarly, the electrons in the N-
region are attracted by the positive
terminal of the external battery
◼ This increases the width of the
depletion layer and potential barrier
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
Reverse bias
potential barrier
◼ The increased barrier potential. So, it
is very difficult for the majority
carriers to diffuse across the junction.
Thus, there is no current due to
majority carriers in a reverse biased
PN junction.
◼ The PN junction offers very high
resistance under reverse biased
condition
◼ In a reverse biased PN junction, a
small amount of current (in µA) flows
through the junction because of
minority carriers( electrons in the P-
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region and holes in the N region).
Working of PN Junction (Diode)
V-l characteristics of PN-Junction Diode
◼ A graph between the voltage
applied across the PN junction
and the current flowing through
the junction is called the V-I
characteristics of PN junction
diode.
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Working of PN Junction (Diode)
V-l characteristics of PN-Junction Diode
Forward Characteristics
• The forward voltage at which the current
through the PN junction starts increasing
rapidly is called by knee voltage.
• The slow rise in current in this region is because the external applied voltage is
used to overcome the barrier potential (0.7 V for Si; 0.3V for Ge ) of the PN
junction
• once the potential barrier is eliminated and the external supply voltage is
increased further, the current flowing through the PN junction diode increases
rapidly (region AB) 16
Working of PN Junction (Diode)
V-l characteristics of PN-Junction Diode
Reverse Characteristics
• Under this condition the potential barrier at
the junction is increased. Therefore, the
junction resistance becomes very high and
practically no. current flows through the
circuit.
• However, in actual practice, a very small current (of the order of µA) flows in the
circuit. This current is called reverse current and is due to minority carriers
• It is also called as reverse saturation current
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Problem1: An a.c. voltage of peak value 20 V is connected in series with a silicon diode and a
resistance of 500 Ω. If the forward resistance of diode is 10 Ω, find:
(i) peak [Link] diode (ii) peak output voltage
Solution:
Problem2: Find the current through the diode in the circuit shown
Problem3: Determine current through each diode in the circuit shown
Problem3: Determine the currents I1, I2 and I3 for the network shown
Solution:
In loop ABCDA
Diode Rectifiers
Half-wave rectifier
It consists of a single diode in series with a
load resistor. The input to half wave rectifier
is supplied from the 50 Hz a.c supply
Positive half cycle:
• During the positive half cycle of the input
signal, the anode of the diode becomes
positive with respect to the cathode and
hence the diode D conducts.
• So the whole-input voltage will appear
across load resistance RL
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Diode Rectifiers
Half-wave rectifier
Negative half cycle:
• During negative half cycle of the input
signal, the anode of the diode becomes
negative with respective to the cathode
and hence the diode D does not conduct
• Hence, the voltage drop across RL, is zero
and the whole input voltage appears
across the diode D
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Diode Rectifiers
Half-wave rectifier
Analysis:
1. Average value
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Diode Rectifiers
Half-wave rectifier
2. RMS value
3. Rectification Efficiency 4. Ripple factor
5. Form factor
6. Peak factor
7. Pick Inverse Voltage
Peak inverse voltage is defined as the maximum voltage that is applied across the Diode
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when the diode is reverse biased
Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave rectifier
1. Center Tap Full wave rectifier
Positive half cycle:
• During the positive input half cycle,
D1 is forward biased and D2 is
reverse biased. So, the diode D1
conducts whereas the diode D2 is off.
• The output voltage will be equal to
the input voltage.
Negative half cycle:
• During the negative input half cycle,
D2 is forward biased and D1 is
reverse biased. So, the diode D2
conducts whereas the diode D1 is off.
• The output voltage will be equal to
the input voltage. 26
Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave rectifier
1. Center Tap Full wave rectifier
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Diode Rectifiers
Center tap full-wave rectifier
Analysis:
1. Average value
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Diode Rectifiers
Center tap full-wave rectifier
2. RMS value
3. Rectification Efficiency 4. Ripple factor
5. Pick Inverse Voltage
Peak inverse voltage is defined as the maximum voltage that is applied across the Diode
when the diode is reverse biased
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Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave rectifier
2. Full wave Bridge Rectifier
• This type of single-phase rectifier uses
four individual rectifying diodes
connected in a closed loop "bridge"
configuration to produce the desired
output.
• The main advantage of this bridge circuit
is that it does not require a special
center tapped transformer, thereby
reducing its size and cost.
• The single secondary winding is
connected to one side of the diode
bridge network and the load to the other
side 30
Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave rectifier
2. Full wave Bridge Rectifier
Positive half cycle:
• During the positive half cycle of the
supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in
• series while diodes D3 and D4 are
reverse biased
Negative half cycle:
• During the negative half cycle of the
supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in
series, but diodes D1 and D2 switch
of as they are now reverse biased
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Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave rectifier Waveform
2. Full wave Bridge Rectifier
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Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave Bridge rectifier
Analysis:
1. Average value
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Diode Rectifiers
Full-wave Bridge rectifier
2. RMS value
3. Rectification Efficiency 4. Ripple factor
5. Pick Inverse Voltage
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Problem4: An a.c. supply of 230 V is applied to a half-wave rectifier circuit
through a transformer of turn ratio 10 : 1. Find the output d.c. voltage
Solution:
Solution:
Problem6:
A full-wave rectifier uses two diodes, the internal resistance of each diode is
20 Ω. The transformer r.m.s. secondary voltage from centre tap to each end
of secondary is 50 V and load resistance is 980 Ω. Find:
(i) the mean load current (ii) the r.m.s. value of load current
Solution:
Problem7: In the bridge type circuit shown in Fig., the diodes are assumed to be
ideal Find
(i) d.c. output voltage (ii) peak inverse voltage (iii) output frequency.
Assume primary to secondary turns to be 4.
Solution:
Problem7: In the bridge type circuit shown in Fig., the diodes are assumed to be
ideal Find
(i) d.c. output voltage (ii) peak inverse voltage (iii) output frequency.
Assume primary to secondary turns to be 4.
Solution:
Problem8:
The centre-tap and bridge type circuits having the same load resistance and
transformer turn ratio. The primary of each is connected to 230 V, 50 Hz supply.
i) Find the d.c. voltage in each case
ii) PIV for each case for the same d.c. output.
Solution:
Problem8:
The centre-tap and bridge type circuits having the same load resistance and
transformer turn ratio. The primary of each is connected to 230 V, 50 Hz supply.
i) Find the d.c. voltage in each case
ii) PIV for each case for the same d.c. output.
Solution:
Problem8:
The centre-tap and bridge type circuits having the same load resistance and
transformer turn ratio. The primary of each is connected to 230 V, 50 Hz supply.
i) Find the d.c. voltage in each case
ii) PIV for each case for the same d.c. output.
Solution: