(Experiment 1)

Electronics Lab
Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab Course II
Spring 2006

PN Junction Diodes

Instructor: H. Elgala, Dr. D. Knipp

The experiment has been carried out by

Date:

Group number:

Ta

http://www.faculty.iu-bremen.de/course/c300221a/EE_module_2
 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

Lab Guidelines

Safety
Read the safety instructions before attending the lab.
Attendance
Absence of a group member will be accepted only after providing a medical
certificate.
Preparations
Each group has to be prepared before attending the lab. All group members have
to be familiar with the subject, the objectives of the experiment and have to be
able to answer questions related to the experiment handout and prelab.
If a member of the group or the whole group is not prepared, the student or the
group will be excluded from the lab for this specific experiment.
The prelab has to be prepared in a written form by the group and has to be
presented in before attending the Lab.
Supplies
All equipment, cabling and component you need should be in your work area. If
you can’t find it, ask your lab instructor or teaching assistant, don’t take it from
another group. Before leaving the lab, put everything back, where you found it!
Please bring your notebook so that you can readout the oscilloscope via the
RS232 interface.
Prelab and Lab Report
A lab report has to be prepared after each lab. The lab report has to be written in
such a form that the instructors and the teaching assistants can follow it. The lab
report includes the experimental data taken during the lab, the analysis of the
data, a discussion of the results and answer of all questions. You should also
include your PSpice netlists/schematics and all required plots, sketches and
hardcopies. All group members are in charge of preparing and finalizing the Lab
report. Please divide the workload amongst the group members.
The lab report and the prelab have be submitted one week after the experiment.
This is a hard deadline. If you miss the deadline, the experiment will be
downgraded by 10% (1 point) each day (excluding the weekends).
Grading
Each experiment will count for 10% of the overall grade. All members of a group
will get the same grade for an experiment (prelab + lab report).
The final exam will count for 30% of the overall grade. The final exam will be
graded on an individual bases. You have to get at least 50% in the final exam in
order to pass the lab course.

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

3rd edition (February 2006)

The handout “PN Junction Diode” is part of the Electronics Lab, Advanced
Electrical Engineering Lab Course II. The lab course is mandatory for all 2nd year
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students at the International
University Bremen.

Do not hesitate to contact the instructors of the course to make suggestions and
provide feedback on how the experiment can be improved.

Bremen, February 2006

H. Elgala and D. Knipp

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

Objectives of the Experiment

The objective of experiment 1 of the Electronics Lab (Advanced Electrical
Engineering Lab Course II) is to become familiar with semiconductor diodes and
their application. The handout introduces the properties and the device behavior
of different diodes like rectifier diodes and Zener diodes.
Throughout the experiment, several applications like rectifiers, voltage regulators,
clampers and clippers will be examined.
Introduction
A diode is one of the simplest electronic devices, which has the characteristic of
passing current in only one direction. However, unlike a resistor, a diode does not
behave linearly with respect to applied voltages (the diode has an exponential I-V
relationship) and hence is not simply described by an equation such as Ohm's
law for resistors.
The diode is considered a passive element; we do not expect it to amplify power.
There are two operating regions for the diode, reverse biased region, and forward
biased region.
The diode is a semiconductor pn junction. In addition to being applied as a diode,
the pn junction is the basic element of bipolar-junction transistors (BJTs) and
field-effect transistors (FETs). Thus, an understanding of the physical operation of
pn junctions is important to understand the operation of diodes, BJTs and FETs.
Theoretical Background
Diode Structure
The semiconductor diode is a pn junction as shown in Fig. 1.1. As indicated, the
pn junction consists of p-type semiconductor material in contact with n-type
semiconductor material.

n-type p-type
region region
Cathode Anode
Metal
Metal
PN junction contact
contact
Fig. 1.1 pn junction diode structure

A variety of semiconductor materials can be used to form pn junctions like silicon,

germanium, or gallium arsenide…etc. However, we will concentrate on silicon, as
this is the most widely used material in microelectronics.
In actual practice, both the p and n regions are part of the same silicon crystal.
The pn junction is formed by creating regions of different doping (p and n regions)
within a single peace of silicon. The material is doped by bringing in additional
atoms (impurities). The impurities can be either donors or acceptors atoms.

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

The words acceptor and donor can be associated with donating and accepting
electrons. In the case of donor atoms, the material gets n-type doped, whereas in
the case of acceptor atoms the material gets p-type. External wire connections to
the p and n regions (diode terminals) are made through metal (e.g. aluminum)
contacts.
pn Junction
To understand how a pn junction is formed we will start by imagining two separate
pieces of semiconductor, one n-type and the other p-type as shown in Fig.1.2.
Now we bring the two pieces together to make one piece of semiconductor. This
results in the formation of a pn junction (Fig.1.3).

n-type p-type

CB
CB
Band gap
Band gap VB

VB

Fig. 1.2 Separate pieces Fig. 1.3 One crystal

Where, free electrons donor atoms free holes acceptor atoms

The periodic structure of the semiconductor (in our case silicon) leads to the
formation of energy levels. Only two of these energy levels are of interest to us:
the conduction and the valence band. These energy levels can be now occupied
or unoccupied. The conduction band in a semiconductor (the semiconductor is
assumed to be undoped) is typically empty, whereas the valence band is
completely filled with electrons.
By introducing donors or acceptors, the situation can be changed. Introducing
donors leads to an increase of the concentration of electrons in the conduction
band. Electrons are free to move in the conduction band up on an electric field.
Introducing acceptors leads to a decrease of the electrons concentration in the
valence band, the missing electrons in the valence band are the holes, which are
now free to move in the valence band.
Free electrons on the n-side and free holes on the p-side can initially diffuse
across the junction because of the presence of a concentration difference at the
boundary. Holes will diffuse from p-side to n-side leaving uncompensated bound
negative acceptor ions behind. Thus, the region directly to the right of the
boundary will be negatively charged. Similarly, a positively charged layer in the
n-side of the boundary will be built up from the donor ions.
When a free electron meets a free hole recombination occurs (Fig. 1.4), this
means the hole and electron cancel each other. As a result, the free electrons
near the junction tend to cancel each other, producing a region depleted of any
moving charges. This creates what is called the depletion region (Fig. 1.5).

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

Depletion region

CB
CB

Band gap Band gap

VB
VB

Fig. 1.4 Electrons-holes recombination Fig. 1.5 Depletion region

The charges on both sides of the depletion region cause an electric field to be
established across the region; hence a potential difference results across the
depletion region, with n-side at positive voltage relative to p-side (Fig. 1.6).
Thus, the resulting electric field opposes the diffusion of holes into the n-region
and electrons into the p-region. In fact, the voltage drop across the depletion
region act as a barrier that has to be overcome for holes to diffuse into the
n-region and electrons to diffuse into the p-region, blocking any charge flow
(current) across the barrier. The larger the barrier voltage the smaller the number
of carrier that will be able to overcome the barrier, and hence the lower the
magnitude of diffusion current. We represent this barrier by bending the
conduction and valence bands as they cross the depletion region (Fig. 1.7).

E
Emax n-type p-type
Y
X
+ −
+ −
Barrier
+ −
+ − Energy
+ −

Fig. 1.6 Generated electric field Fig. 1.7 Bending of the energy bands

A free charge now requires some extra energy to overcome the barrier to be able
to cross the depletion region. A suitable positive voltage (forward bias) applied
between the two ends of the pn junction diode can supply free electrons and
holes with the energy required. However, applying a negative voltage (reverse
bias) results in pulling the free charges away from the junction.

Forward/Reverse Bias Characteristics

If a negative voltage is applied to the pn junction, the diode is reverse biased. In
response, free holes and electrons are pulled towards the end of the crystal and
away from the junction. The result is that all available carriers are attracted away
from the junction, and the depletion region is extended. There is no current flow
through under such conditions. We are here considering an ideal diode. In real

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

life, the diode cannot be perfect, and some current (reverse current) does flow.
This is known as reverse bias applied to the semiconductor diode (Fig.1.8).

Depletion region Depletion region

_ _
+ +

Fig. 1.8 Reverse bias Fig. 1.9 Forward bias

If the applied voltage is positive, the diode operates in forward bias. This has the
effect of shrinking the depletion region. As the applied voltage supplies enough
energy to the free charge to overcome the barrier, carriers of both types can cross
the junction into the opposite ends of the crystal. Now, electrons in the p-type end
are attracted to the positive applied voltage, while holes in the n-type end are
attracted to the negative applied voltage. This is the condition of forward bias
(Fig. 1.9).
Because of this behavior, an electrical current can flow through the junction in the
forward direction, but not in the reverse direction. This is the basic nature of an
ordinary semiconductor diode.
Diode Characteristics
Figure 1.10 shows the diode I-V characteristics.
Where,
Vf Forward voltage If Forward current
Vr Reverse voltage Ir Reverse current
Vcut-in Cut-in voltage VB Breakdown Voltage
IS Saturation current

When forward-biased, a cut-in voltage Vcut-in has to be overcome for the diode to
start conduction. In silicon, this voltage is about 0.7 volts. When reverse-biased,
the current is limited to IS. For higher reverse voltages Vr, the junction breaks
down.

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

If

VB Is Vf

Vr Vcut-in

Ir

Fig. 1.10 I-V Characteristics of a diode

Diode Equation
The diode equation gives a reasonably good approximated representation of the
diode I-V characteristics.
Forward Bias Condition
In the forward bias condition current through a diode varies exponentially with the
applied voltage and the I-V relationship is closely approximated by
 V

I = I S exp − 1
 nVT
(1.1)
 
 
Where IS is the saturation current, which is constant for a given diode at a given
temperature. The voltage VT is called the thermal voltage, given by
KT
VT = (1.2)
q
-23
K = Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38 x 10 joules/Kelvin
T = the absolute temperature in Kelvin
-19
q = the magnitude of electronic charge = 1.602 x 10 As.
At room temperature (300K), the value of VT is taken to be 26mV.
In the diode equation, the constant n varies between 1 and 2, depending on the
material, the temperature and the physical structure of the diode.
Note that this equation characterizes the basic features of the diode I-V curve,
but leaves out some details like reverse breakdown (the equation says nothing
about the possibility of reverse bias breakdown), junction capacitance…etc.
For V » VT in equation 1.1, the exponential relationship can be approximated by

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

I ≅ I S exp nVT
(1.3)
Reverse Bias Condition
Using equation 1.1 we can predict that the diode current is approximated by
I ≅ −I S for V«0 (1.4)
Where V is negative and a few times larger than VT (26 mV) in magnitude so the
exponential term becomes negligibly small compared to unity.
Breakdown Region
The breakdown region is entered when the magnitude of the reverse voltage
exceeds a threshold value specific to the particular diode and called the
breakdown voltage. As we can see from Fig. 1.10, in the breakdown region the
reverse current increases rapidly. For a general-purpose diode, we should avoid
reaching the breakdown region. If the power dissipated exceeds the diode’s
power rating, immediate destruction of the diode can result.
While for the general-purpose diode it is very important to operate below this
voltage, special diodes are manufactured to operate in the breakdown region and
are called Zener diodes. The Zener diodes can handle breakdown without failing
completely as in the case of general-purpose diodes.
Zener Diode
The Zener diode is like a general-purpose diodes consisting of a silicon pn
junction. When forward-biased it behaves like general-purpose diodes. In case of
reverse-biased, if the reverse voltage is increased the saturation current remains
essentially constant until the breakdown voltage is reached where the current
increases dramatically. This breakdown voltage is the Zener voltage for Zener
diodes. When reverse voltages greater than the breakdown voltage are applied
the voltage drop across the junction (Zener diode) remains almost constant over a
wide range of currents.
From the I-V characteristics in Fig.1.11 after the breakdown voltage the I-V curve
is almost a straight line providing almost constant voltage as its current changes.
The fact that in the breakdown region the voltage across the diode is almost
constant turns out to be an important application of diodes that is the voltage
regulator. Basically, the function of the regulator is to provide constant output
voltage to a load connected in parallel in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage
and the variation in the load current.

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

Fig. 1.11 Zener diode

Diode Equivalent Circuit

A small signal equivalent model for forward biased diode is shown in Fig.1.12.

Fig. 1.12 Equivalent model Fig. 1.13 Accurate model

The resistor rd models the change in the diode voltage Vd that occurs when Id
changes.
Differentiating equation 1.1 we get
Vd
VT
1 dI d exp Id
= = IS = (1.5)
rd dVd VT VT
The capacitor Cd is called the diffusion capacitance. This capacitive effect is
present when the junction is forward biased. It is called diffusion capacitance to
account for the time delay in moving charges across the junction by diffusion
process. It varies directly with the magnitude of forward current.
The capacitor Cj is called the junction capacitance. A reverse-biased pn junction
can be compared to a charged capacitor. The p and n regions act as the plates of

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

the capacitor while the depleted region as the insulating dielectric. The value of
the capacitance depends on the width of the space charge region. Thus, it
depends on reverse voltage. As the reverse voltage increases, the space charge
region becomes wider, effectively increasing the plate separation and decreasing
the capacitance.
For more accurate modeling of the diode, it is necessary to add a series
resistance due to the bulk (p-and n-type semiconductors material of which the
diode is made of) and the metal contacts. In addition, a shunt resistance is added
due to parasitic effects in the material. The shunt resistance of crystalline silicon
diodes is typically very high. The Equivalent circuit of the accurate model is
shown in Fig. 1.13.
Where,
V = voltage across the entire real diode in forward bias
I = current through the entire real diode in forward bias
Vd = voltage across the ideal diode (due to the drop across the pn-junction)
Id = current through the ideal diode
Diode Application
A diode can be used in several applications as follows:
A. Rectifier Circuit
A diode rectifies an ac voltage, so that it can be smoothed and converted into a
dc voltage. The basic half wave rectifier is shown in Fig. 1.14. The diode
eliminates the negative cycles of the input voltage. The capacitor acts as a
smoothing filter so that the output is nearly a dc voltage. As filtering is not perfect,
there will be a remaining voltage fluctuation known as ripple, on the output
voltage.
In case of half wave rectifier, an approximate expression for the peak-to-peak
ripple voltage is
Vp
Vr = , where Vp is the peak value of the input sinusoidal voltage, RL is the
fCR L
load resistance and f is the frequency of the input voltage.
The amount of ripple can be reduced by a factor of two by using the full wave
rectifier shown in Fig. 1.15. Here, four diodes are connected as a bridge, to invert
the negative cycles and make them positive. See reference [1] for more
information on how to derive the ripple voltage equation.

Fig. 1.14 Half wave rectifier Fig. 1.15 Full wave rectifier

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B. Voltage Regulator Circuit

A voltage regulator is designed to keep the output voltage of a circuit at a
constant value, independent of the input voltage and also independent of the
load current. A Zener diode connected in parallel to the load is the simplest form
of such a voltage regulator circuit as shown in Fig. 1.16.

Fig. 1.16 Voltage regulator

If the voltage across the load tries to rise then the Zener takes more current.
The increase in current through the resistor R causes an increase in voltage
dropped across the resistor R and causes the voltage across the load to remain
at its correct value. Similarly, if the voltage across the load tries to fall, then the
Zener takes less current. The current through the resistor R and the voltage
across the resistor both fall. The voltage across the load remains at its correct
value.
C. Clipper Circuit
These circuits clip off portions of signal voltages above or below certain limits, i.e.
the circuits limit the range of the output signal. The level at which the signal is
clipped can be adjusted by adding a dc bias voltage in series with the diode as
shown in Fig. 1.17.
D. Clamper Circuit
There are circuits used to add a dc voltage level to a signal. A positive clamper
circuit (Fig. 1.18) adds positive dc voltage level (the output waveform will be
identical to that of the input but the lowest peak clamped to zero) while negative
clamper circuit adds negative dc voltage level. A dc bias voltage can be added to
raised or lowered the signal to a reference voltage. The clamper circuits can be
used to restore dc levels in communication circuits that have passed different
filters.

Fig. 1.17 Biased clipper Fig. 1.18 positive Clamper

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 Electronics Lab, Advanced Electrical Engineering Lab course II, Spring 2006, International University Bremen

Practical Background
Diode Identification
Many diodes are identified as 1Nxxxx. The cathode terminal of a diode is
identified with a dark line on its package as indicated in Fig. 1.19.

_
+

Fig. 1.19 Standard diode symbol

Safety Precautions
The following is a list of some of the special safety precautions that should be
taken into consideration when working with diodes:
1. Never remove or insert a diode into a circuit with voltage applied.
2. When testing a diode, ensure that the test voltage does not exceed the
diode's maximum allowable voltage.
3. Ensure a replacement diode into a circuit is in the correct direction.
Meter Check of Diode
Using the multimeter as an ohmmeter, place the positive lead of the multimeter on
the anode of the diode and the negative lead of the multimeter on the cathode of
the diode. Record the resistance value you measure, the meter should show a
very low resistance (forward resistance). Be sure to have the multimeter on the
most sensitive scale the meter will allow. Then reverse the leads. Record the
resistance value you measure, the meter should show a very high resistance
(reverse resistance).
Two high-value resistance measurements indicate that the diode is open or has a
high forward resistance. Two low-value resistance measurements indicate that
the diode is shorted or has a low reverse resistance. A normal set of
measurements will show a high resistance in the reverse direction and a low
resistance in the forward direction.
The function diode test of the multimeter tests the semiconductor junction by
sending a current through the junction, then measuring the junction’s voltage
drop. A good silicon junction drops between 0.5 V and 0.8 V.
References
1. Adel S. Sedra, Kennth C. Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, Saunders College
Publishing, 3rd ed., ISBN:0-03-051648-X, 1991.
2. David J. Comer, Donald T. Comer, Fundamentals of Electronic Circuit Design,
John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.; ISBN: 0471410160,2002

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Prelab
Problem 1
Using PSpice, implement the circuits in Fig. 1.20 using a 1N4002 diode and a
1KΩ resistor.

Fig. 1.20 Simple diode circuit

Perform a DC sweep analysis in linear variation to,

1. Display a plot for the diode current id vs. the diode voltage vd using a linear
scale.
2. Display a plot for the diode current id vs. the diode voltage vd using a semi log
scale ( log10 (id) vs. vd).
3. From the graph of log10 (id) vs. vd , show how can you extract the values of the
constant n and the saturation current Is in the diode equation (equ. 1.3). Take
VT=26mV at 25 oC and log10 (e) = 0.43.
Problem 2
Using PSpice, implement the circuits in Fig. 1.21 and Fig. 1.22 using 1N4002
diodes, R1 a 3KΩ resistor, RL a 40KΩ resistor and a 1µF capacitor. The input is
sinusoidal source of frequency 100Hz and 10V peak.

Fig. 1.21 Half wave rectifier

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Fig. 1.22 Full wave rectifier

Perform a transient analysis for about 5 cycles of the sinusoidal input and display
the voltage across the load resistor for both circuits under the following cases:
1. Simulate the output signal of the half wave and the full wave rectifier with out
R1 and C1. The load resistance RL is connected to the rectifier.
2. Add now the capacitor C1 to the circuit and simulate again the output voltage.
3. Now add the resistor R1 to the circuit and simulate again the output voltage.
Problem 3
Using PSpice, implement the Zener regulator circuit in Fig. 1.23 using a D1N750
Zener diode and R=RL=500Ω. The input voltage is the dc source (20V) and a
sinusoidal signal using the sinusoidal source (5V peak, 60Hz) is superimposed on
the dc value and considered to be the ripple voltage Vr.

Fig. 1.23 Voltage regulator

1. Perform a transient analysis for about 5 cycles of the sinusoidal input and plot
the input voltage (dc voltage + ac voltage) and the output voltage across the
load resistor RL.
2. What is the change in the regulated voltage for the change in the input
voltage?

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