SEMICONDUCTOR

DIODE

Asst. Prof. Sanjivan Satyal

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 Overview
 Introduction
 Energy band diagram of conductors and semiconductors
 P and N type semiconductors
 Diode and its Characteristic
 Forward Bias & Reverse Bias
 Simple Diode Circuit, Load Line Calculations
 Clipper Circuit and Clamper Circuits
 Half Wave and Full Wave Rectifier
 Breakdown Phenomenon
 Different Types of Diodes
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 Introduction
 Energy Band In Solid
 Valance Band
 The electrons of the outermost orbit of an atoms are called
valance electrons
 In solid. These valence electrons form a band of energy and
this band is called valence band.

 Conduction Band
 The conduction Band is the band of electron orbital's that
electrons can jump up into from the valance band when
exited

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  Band Gap : The energy difference between the highest
occupied energy state of the valance band and the lowest
unoccupied state of the conduction band
 Eg= Ec- Ev

 Forbidden Band : The energy band between valance band and

conduction band where electrons cannot be occupied

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 Energy band Diagram

Metals/Conductor : E.g. Copper, Aluminum

Insulators : Wood, Glass
Semiconductor : Diode, Transistor
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 Semiconductor
 Material which show the electrical properties in between
conductor and insulators are called semiconductors (Band
Gap usually 1ev)

Why Semiconductors
•compact size
•Low cost
•Light weight
•Rugged construction/resistive to shock and
vibrations
•Low operating voltage and instantaneous
operation
•Long life
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 Types of semiconductor
1. Intrinsic Semiconductor
 A semiconductor is an extremely pure
form
 In an intrinsic s/c, At room temperature,
hole-electron pairs are created
 When electric field is applied across an
intrinsic s/c, the current take place by two
process
 a. Free electron
 b. Holes
Eg. Si = 14 = 2,8,4
Ge = 32 = 2,8,18, 4

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  Extrinsic s/c
 To get the proper conduction in semiconductor other elements
are added to them. The added elements are called impurities in
the s/c.
Doping : The process of adding impurities to s/c is called doping
-The elements used for doping are either pentavalent (5valence
electrons) or trivalent( 3 valence electrons)
 Depending upon the type of impurity added, entrinsic s/c are
classified into
 a. N-type s/c : If penta-valent impurity having 5 electron is added to
pure s/c
 b. P-type s/c : If trivalent impurity having 3 electron is added.

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 N-type ( Impurity atom : P(2 8 5), As ,Sb , Bi)

•Due to the presence of 5 free electrons in outer

orbit (among which 4 makes covalent band and
one is free for conduction)
•The majority of this material is electrons

•In N-type majority is Electrons

minority is holes

Fig: phosphorus impurity in N-type material

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 P-type (Impurity atom Al, In,B(2 ,3),Ga

•Due to the presence of only 3 electrons in

outer orbit, It needs one more electron for
bonding with si
•Thus appears the positively charged
vacant holes.
•When an electric filed is applied across p-
type s/c the current conductors is primarily
due to the holes
•The holes are thus majority carriers in p-
Fig: Boron impurity in p-type material type

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 Diodes
 Electronic devices created by bringing together a p-type and n-type
region within the same semiconductor lattice. Used for rectifiers, LED
etc
 Majority carriers i.e. holes from p-type and electrons from N-type
diffuses to opposite sides; forming the junction know as PN junction
 The device thus made is called PN-junction diode or junction diode

Symbol
Fig : semiconductor Diode

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 Characteristics of Diode
 Diode always conducts in one direction.
 Diodes always conduct current when “Forward Biased” (
Zero resistance)
 Diodes do not conduct when Reverse Biased
(Infinite resistance)

Three Possibilities
a. NO bias (VD = 0V)
b. Forward bias (VD > 0V)
c. Reverse bias (VD <0V)

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 a. No Biasing Condition

ID – Diffusion current : Due to the majority holes diffuse across the junction from
the p side to the n-side

IS- Drift Current : Minority carrier drift exists across the junction

Note : Heavily doped PNJ diode has thinner depletion layer and
Lightly doped PNJ diode has relatively thicker depletion layer

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 Forward Bias and Reverse Bias
 Forward Bias (VD > 0) : positive terminal of battery is
connected to P-type material

 Reverse Bias ( VD < 0) : Negative terminal of battery is

connected to N-type material.

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 b. Forward Bias

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 c. Reverse Bias

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 I-V Characteristics of a Diode
(Non Linear Device)

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 Effect of temperature on I-V
characteristics curve
The reverse saturation current
doubles for every 10 degree
Celcius rise in temperature
IS2 = IS1 * 2n

Where
n = (T2-T1)/10

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 1.Forward Bias Region  Shockley Diode law

Where, ID = Diode Current

IS = reverse saturation current
n = 1 for Ge and 2 for S
VT = thermal voltage = KT/q ; K = Boltzman
constant =1.38 *1023 joule/kelvin
q= quantity of electrical charge of an electron

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 For appreciable current ID in the forward direction the
diode equation can be written as
I = IS e V/nVT

Let I1 be the current flowing through the Diode when voltage across its terminal is V1
and I2 be the current flowing through the diode when voltage across its terminal is V2 .
Then above equation can be written as :

V2 = V1 +2.3 n VT log(I2/I1)

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 Modelling of a Diode

The representation of any device with equivalent circuit elements

such as resistors, Voltage source,capacitor etc. without loss of its
exact functional behaviour.

a. Large Signal Model (DC model)

1. Ideal diode
2. Piecewise Model
3. Exponential model
4. Current voltage drop model
b. Small Signal Model (AC model)

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 Simple Diode Circuit
Representation :

DC Quantities: VD, ID, RD( Large

Signal Quantities )

AC Quantities: vd, id, rd ( Small

Signal Quantities )

Total Quantities (AC + DC ) = vD, iD, rD

vD = VD + vd
iD = ID + id

DC resistance : RD = VD/ID (From ohm’s law) also called static resistance

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 AC or dynamic Resistance:

-If a sinusoidal rather than dc input is applied; the varying input will more the instantaneous
Operating point up and down a region of the characteristic and thus defines a specific change
in current and voltage as shown in fig :

Hence

Steeper the slope Less value of Δ Vd = rd(decrease)

If Id (less) rd(more)
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 1. Ideal Diode

I-V characteristics of Ideal diode

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 2. Piece wise Linear model of a diode

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 1. ID = 0, VD <VD0
2. Slope = (I2-I1)/ (V2-V1)\

= ΔI/ ΔV = 1/rd(Dynamic resistance)

3. ID = (VD -VD0)/rd , VD>VD0

VD = VD0+ IDrd Forward Biased

Reversed Biased : Open ckt

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 3. Exponential Model
The exponential model or diode load line calculation using graphical method

Load line : A load line is a straight line constructed on the characteristic curve of a
given nonlinear circuit.
-It is constructed by joint two extreme points

Let us assume, Vs is greater than 0.5

So ID>>IS

Using Kirchhoff's law

Vs = IDR+VD

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 ID = (VS- VD) /R

Now
When ID = 0

VD = VS
And
When VD = 0
ID = V S / R

Such straight line is load line and point of intersection gives

operating point Q
- Q point or the operating point of a device, also known as a
bias point, or quiescent point is the steady-state DC voltage
or current at a specified terminal of an active device such as
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a diode or transistor with no input signal applied.
 4. Constant Voltage drop Model
See yourself

Slope : ΔI/ ΔV = ΔI/ 0 = infinite

Thus 1/V = infinite means V = 0

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 b. Small Signal Model
The concept behind the small-signal operation is that the time varying signal
with the small amplitude rides on a DC value that may or may not be Large

The analysis of the circuit is divided into two parts

1. DC “Biased”
2. AC “signal” of small amplitude

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 Clipper Circuit
The Diode Clipper, also known as a Diode Limiter, is a wave shaping
circuit that takes an input waveform and clips or cuts off its top half,
bottom half or both halves together.

Application
-Used in rectification process i.e. to convert ac to dc
-Used in wave shaping (In TV and FM receivers)
clipper
1.Diode Clipping Circuit
a. Positive Diode Clipping Circuit
b. Negative Diode Clipping Circuit
c. Clipping of Both Half Cycles
2. Biased Diode Clipping Circuits
a. Positive Bias Diode Clipping
b. Negative Bias Diode Clipping
c. Diode Clipping of Different Bias Levels
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 1.Diode Clipping Circuit
a. Positive Diode Clipping Circuit

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 b. Negative Diode Clipping Circuit

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 c. Clipping of Both Half Cycles

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 2. Biased Diode Clipping Circuits

a. Positive Biased Diode Clipping Circuits

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 b. Negative Biased Diode Clipping Circuits

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 c. Diode Clipping of Different Bias Levels

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 Clamper circuits
A Clamper circuit can be defined as the circuit that consists of a diode, a resistor
and a capacitor that shifts the waveform to a desired DC level without changing
the actual appearance of the applied signal.

Types
1. Positive Clamper
2. Negative Clamper
A Positive Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and a
capacitor and that shifts the output signal to the positive portion of the input
signal.

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 2 . Negative Clamper
A Negative Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and a
capacitor and that shifts the output signal to the negative portion of the input
signal. The figure below explains the construction of a negative clamper
circuit.

τ=RC where R is resistance and C is capacitance

τ must be greater than the half the time period .
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It means Sanjivan Satyal
discharging time of the capacitor is slow
 1st Positive half cycle
0 to T/2

Vi = +V Diode forward Biased

i.e. short circuit as in figure
S0, Vo = 0

In this process, capacitor is charged

to its value and voltage across
capacitor is Vc
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SinceSanjivan
there Satyal
is no resistance , so resistance is zero and so as tau(T) = 0
 Using Kirchhoff's voltage law

+Vi – Vc = 0
Vc= Vi = +V
From T/2 to T diode is off so circuit is like

+Vi + Vo + Vc = 0
+V + Vo + V = 0

So , Vo = -2V

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 Rectification
 Converting ac to dc is accomplished by the process of
rectification.
 Two processes are used:
 Half-wave rectification;
 Full-wave rectification.
Diode (PN junction) as a rectifier

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 Rectifier

 The Process of converting ac voltage into dc voltage is called

rectification
 Rectifier : It is a circuit which employs one to more diodes to
convert AC voltage into pulsating DC Voltage
Half wave rectifier
 Rectifier

Full wave rectifier

a. Centre-tap full wave rectifier
b. Full-Wave Bridge rectifier

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 Half Wave Rectifier

Consider an ideal Diode condition

For Positive half cycle

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 For the Negative half cycle

So continuous sinusoidal wave gives

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 Performance parameters of Half wave Rectifier
1.Average or DC Current (IDC)

Where Im is equal to the peak instantaneous current across the load (Imax).
Hence the output DC current (IDC) obtained across the load is:

2. Average o/p Voltage or o/p DC Voltage :

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 3. Root Mean Square(RMS) value of current

4. RMS value of voltage

5. Peak Inverse Voltage of Half Wave Rectifier

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) is the maximum voltage that the diode
can withstand during reverse bias condition. If a voltage is applied
more than the PIV, the diode will be destroyed. PIV = Vm
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 6. Rectification Efficiency :

= (Im/π)2×RL/ (Im/2)2×RL
= 4/π2
= 0.406
= 40.6 %

7. Form Factor
It is defined as the ratio of rms load voltage and average load voltage

F.F = Vrms / Vdc

= (Vm/2) / ( Vm/ π)
= π/2
= 1.57

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7. Ripple Factor
‘Ripple’ is the unwanted AC component remaining when converting the AC
voltage waveform into a DC waveform. Even though we try out best to remove
all AC components, there is still some small amount left on the output side which
pulsates the DC waveform. This undesirable AC component is called ‘ripple’.

The formula for ripple is :

= 1.21

The ripple factor for the Half Wave rectifier is :

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 Full-wave rectification(Center Tap)

 -

+
-

D1 D2 D1 D2
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 Full Wave Rectifications (bridge)

Contains four diodes D1,D2, D3 and D4 connected as a bridge

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 During +ve half cycle

D2 and D4 is Forward biased i.e. on

D1 and D3 is Reverse biased i.e. off

Current flow through RL i.e. +ve to –ve

During -ve half cycle

D1 and D3 is Forward biased i.e. on

D2 and D4 is Reverse biased i.e. off

Current flow through RL i.e. +ve to –ve

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 Similarly

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 Efficiency Full wave rectifier
 Efficiency, n is the ratio of dc output power to ac input power
= (2Im/π)2×RL/ (Im/√2)2×RL
= 8/π2
= 0.81125
= 81.2 %
Form Factor:
F.F = Vrms/ Vdc or Irms / Idc
= (Vm/√2) /( 2Vm/π)
= π/(2 √2)
= 1.11
Ripple Factor:
R.F =

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 Zener diode
A zener diode is a p-n junction semiconductor device designed to operate in
the reverse breakdown region.
Zener diodes acts like normal p-n junction diodes under forward biased
condition. When forward biased voltage is applied to the zener diode it
allows large amount of electric current and blocks only a small amount of
electric current.
Zener diode is heavily doped than the normal p-n junction diode. Hence, it
has very thin depletion region Therefore, zener diodes allow more electric
current than the normal p-n junction diodes.

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 The Zener Diode is used in its “reverse bias” or reverse breakdown mode, i.e. the
diodes anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics curve
above, we can see that the zener diode has a region in its reverse bias
characteristics of almost a constant negative voltage regardless of the value of the
current flowing through the diode.
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 Zener and Avalanche Breakdown

• When reverse bias voltage is

sufficiently high at junction, it may
exert a strong force on bound
electrons to tear them apart from
covalent bond. Thus large amount of
electron hole pair is generated
through the rupture of Covalent
bond.
• This results in large reverse current
to at the breakdown voltage
Avalanche breakdown
• Occurs due to electrons gaining kinetic energy due to large reverse voltage (electric
field)..
and fast moving electrons dislodging other atoms.
• occurs at higher breakdown voltage than Zener breakdown
• Conditions: Highly doped pn-junction , Wide depletion region is required

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 • Zener Breakdown
• When reverse bias voltage is sufficiently high at junction, it may exert a strong force
on bound electrons to tear them apart from covalent bond. Thus large amount of
electron hole pair is generated through the rupture of Covalent bond.

• This results in large reverse current to at the breakdown voltage

• Conditions : Heavily doped pn-junction diode, narrow depletion region
reverse voltage VZ <5V generally

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 Zener diode as a Voltage Regulator

Even the supply voltage VS or

Load resistance RL varies ; Load
voltage VLis always same equal to
the zener voltage
Regulator concept:

V = E – IR
Where output voltage is always
constant, where as E can increase or
Analysis of the circuit : decrease
IS = (VS-VZ) / RS To adjust the value to the constant,
Ideally VL = VZ value of current should be changed
IL = VL/RL 100 = 250 – 15×10
So IS= IZ+ IL 100 = 150 - 5×10
100 = 350 - 25×10
63or IZ = by
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Asst.Prof.
L Sanjivan Satyal
 Assignments

Write short notes on

 Light Emitting diode
 Photodiode
 Varactor Diode
 Tunnel diode

Note : Construction , Working and Application

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