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Capacitance Effects in Diodes Explained

Electronic devices are sensitive to high frequencies, where shunt capacitive effects become significant. In p-n semiconductor diodes, the transition capacitance in reverse-bias and diffusion capacitance in forward-bias dominate their respective regions. The capacitance is influenced by the applied reverse-bias potential and current levels, affecting the time constant critical for high-speed applications.

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6 views4 pages

Capacitance Effects in Diodes Explained

Electronic devices are sensitive to high frequencies, where shunt capacitive effects become significant. In p-n semiconductor diodes, the transition capacitance in reverse-bias and diffusion capacitance in forward-bias dominate their respective regions. The capacitance is influenced by the applied reverse-bias potential and current levels, affecting the time constant critical for high-speed applications.

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infinitymohit9188
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Electronic devices are inherently sensitive to very high frequencies.

Most shunt capacitive effects that can be ignored at lower frequencies because the reactance XC 1/2fC
is very large (open-circuit equivalent). This, however, cannot be ignored at very high frequencies. XC will
become sufficiently small due to the high value of f to introduce a low-reactance “shorting” path. In the
p-n semiconductor diode, there are two capacitive effects to be considered. Both types of capacitance
are present in the forward- and reverse-bias regions, but one so outweighs the other in each region that
we consider the effects of only one in each region. In the reverse-bias region we have the transition- or
depletion-region capacitance (CT), while in the forward-bias region we have the diffusion (CD) or storage
capacitance. Recall that the basic equation for the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is defined by
C A/d, where is the permittivity of the dielectric (insulator) between the plates of area A separated by a
distance d. In the reverse-bias region there is a depletion region (free of carriers) that behaves
essentially like an insulator between the layers of opposite charge. Since the depletion width (d) will
increase with increased reverse-bias potential, the resulting transition capacitance will decrease, as
shown in Fig. 1.37. The fact that the capacitance is dependent on the applied reverse-bias potential has
application in a number of electronic systems. In fact, in Chapter 20 a diode will be introduced whose
operation is wholly dependent on this phenomenon. Although the effect described above will also be
present in the forward-bias region, it is overshadowed by a capacitance effect directly dependent on the
rate at which charge is injected into the regions just outside the depletion region. The result is that
increased levels of current will result in increased levels of diffusion capacitance. However, increased
levels of current result in reduced levels of associated resistance (to be demonstrated shortly), and the
resulting time constant ( RC), which is very important in high-speed applications, does not become
excessive.
V Id d pt. to pt. 1 0 0 .8 m V A 0 0 .7 m V A 1 0 0 .1 m V A 10 as obtained for Fig. 1.30. Simplified
Equivalent Circuit For most applications, the resistance rav is sufficiently small to be ignored in
comparison to the other elements of the network. The removal of rav from the equivalent Figure 1.32
Components of the piecewise-linear equivalent circuit. VD ID + – av r VT 0.7 V 10 Ω VD Ideal diode + – ID
Figure 1.31 Defining the piec

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