2

Introduction

• The semiconductor diode is created by simply

joining an n -type and a p -type material together. Fig. 1: p–n junction with no
• At the instant the two materials are “joined” the external bias
electrons and the holes in the region of the junction
will combine, resulting in a lack of free carriers in
the region near the junction, as shown in Fig.1.
• Diode Symbol with the defined polarity and the
current direction is shown in fig.2.
• In the absence of an applied bias across a
semiconductor diode, the net flow of charge in one
direction is zero.

Fig. 2: Diode Symbol

 3

Operation

• A forward-bias or “on” condition is established by applying the

positive potential to the p -type material and the negative potential
to the n -type material as shown in Fig.3.
• The application of a forward-bias potential reduces the width of Fig. 3: Forward-biased p–n
the depletion region junction

• Under reverse bias, external potential is applied across the p – n

junction such that the positive terminal is connected to the n -type
material and the negative terminal is connected to the p -type
material as shown in fig.4.
• The current that exists under reverse-bias conditions is called the
reverse saturation current and is represented by IS .
• Depletion region widens in reverse bias operation.
Fig.4: Reverse-biased p–n
junction
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Diode Equation

• The general characteristics of a semiconductor diode can be defined by the following equation, referred
to as Shockley’s equation, for the forward- and reverse-bias regions.
Where,
IS is the reverse saturation current
VD is the applied forward-bias voltage across the diode
ղ is an ideality factor, ( Value:1to2)
VT is called the thermal voltage

• The thermal Voltage is given as

Where,
k is Boltzmann’s constant 1.38 10 23 J/K
TK is the absolute temperature in kelvins = 273 + the temperature in °C
q is the magnitude of electronic charge 1.6 x 10 -19 C
 5

Example1: At a temperature of 27°C, determine the thermal voltage VT.

Solution:
Example 2: A diode operates in forward bias region. How much change in voltage is
required to increase the current by a factor of 10.

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 7

V-I Characteristics of Diode

• For negative values of VD ,

• ID = -IS
• At VD = 0V,
• ID = IS(e0 - 1) = IS(1 - 1)= 0 mA
• At VD > 0V,
• ID increases exponentially
• The actual reverse saturation current of a
commercially available diode will normally
be measurably larger than that appearing as
the reverse saturation current in Shockley’s
equation.
 8

• Knee Voltage (VK): The voltage

above which the current increases
considerably
• VK and Is both are different for
different materials
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Breakdown Region

• In V-I characteristics of diode, there is a point

where the application of too negative a voltage
with the reverse polarity will result in a sharp
change in the characteristics, as shown in Fig. 5.
• The reverse-bias potential that results in this
dramatic change in characteristics is called the
breakdown potential and is given the label VBV .
• The current increases at a very rapid rate in a
direction opposite to that of the positive voltage
region.
• The two break-down mechanism in diode are:
• Avalanche Breakdown
• Zener Breakdown

Fig. 5: Breakdown region.

 10

Summary of previous class

 11

Diode Resistance

• As the operating point of a diode moves from one region to another the resistance of the diode
will also change due to the nonlinear shape of the characteristic curve.
• DC or Static Resistance
• The application of a dc voltage to a circuit containing a semiconductor diode will result in
an operating point on the characteristic curve that will not change with time.
• The resistance of the diode at the operating point can be
found by the following equation.
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• AC or Dynamic Resistance
• The dc resistance of a diode is independent of the shape of the
characteristic in the region surrounding the point of interest.
• A straight-line drawn tangent to the curve through the Q -point as shown in
Fig. 6.
• It will define a particular change in voltage and current that can be used to
determine the ac or dynamic resistance for this region of the diode
characteristics

Where, ∆ signifies a finite

change in the quantity.

Fig.6: Determining the

ac resistance at a
• The lower the Q-point of operation (smaller current or lower voltage), the Q-point.
higher is the ac resistance.
AC or Dynamic Resistance (Another method)

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Problems for practice

Q.1 Determine the thermal voltage for a diode at a temperature of [Link], find the diode current
if IS = 40 nA, n =2 and the applied bias voltage is 0.5 V.
Q.2 Given a diode current of 8 mA and n = 1, find IS if the applied voltage is 0.5 V and the
temperature is room temperature (25°C).
Q.3 Given a diode current of 6 mA, VT = 26 mV, n =1, and IS=1 nA, find the applied voltage VD.
Q.4 Determine the ac and dc resistance of the commercially available diode of Fig. at a forward
current of 4 mA.
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Diode Equivalent Models

• An equivalent circuit/model is a combination of elements properly chosen to best

represent the actual terminal characteristics of a device or system in a particular operating
region.
• Once the equivalent circuit is defined, the device symbol can be removed from a
schematic and the equivalent circuit inserted in its place.
• The various models used to represent diode are:
• Ideal Equivalent Circuit
• Simplified Equivalent Circuit
• Piece Wise Equivalent Circuit
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Why Equivalent Model/Circuit

17
 18

Ideal Equivalent Circuit

• In this case the equivalent circuit will be reduced to

that of an ideal diode as shown in Fig. 10 with its
characteristics.

Fig.10: Ideal diode and its characteristics.

 19

Examples:
Find I and V in the circuit shown (Assume diode to be ideal)
 20

Examples:
Find I and V in the circuit shown (Assume diode to be ideal)
 21

Simplified Equivalent Circuit

• For most applications, the resistance r av is

sufficiently small to be ignored in
comparison to the other elements of the
network.
• The reduced equivalent circuit appears in
the shown in fig.9.
• It states that a forward biased silicon diode
in an electronic system under dc conditions
has a drop of 0.7V.
Fig.9: Simplified equivalent circuit
for the silicon semiconductor diode.
 22

Piece Wise Linear Model

Fig.7: Components of the piecewise-linear

• In this technique , the ideal diode is included to equivalent circuit.
establish that there is only one direction of
conduction through the device.
• A reverse-bias condition will result in the
open-circuit state for the device.
• It can be obvious from Fig.7 that the straight-
line segments do not result in an exact
duplication of the actual characteristics
especially in the knee region.

Fig. 8: Defining the piecewise-linear equivalent

circuit using straight-line segments
• Table 1 : Diode
Equivalent Circuits
(Models)

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 24

Example

Q. For the series diode configuration of Fig. 11 , determine VD , VR , and ID using the
following models: (Given rAV = 10Ω)
(a) Ideal Diode Model
(b) Constant Voltage drop Model
(c) Piece wise linear Model

Fig.11
(a) Ideal Diode Model

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(b) Constant Voltage drop Model

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(c) Piece wise linear Model

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 28

Problems for practice

Q.1 Determine I, V1, V2, and Vo for the series dc configuration

Ans. I = 2.07 mA,

V1=9.73 V and V2=4.55 V,
Vo=-0.45 V

Q.2 Determine ID, VD2, and Vo for the circuit:

Ans. ID = 0, VD2=20 V and Vo=0

Q.3 Determine Vo and I for the network

Ans. Vo = 0.3 V, I = 0.3 mA