Module 1

Introduction to Basic
Electronic system
Contents:
Semiconductor Diode - Ideal versus Practical, Characteristics and
Parameters, Diode Approximations, Diode Equivalent Circuits, Load
Line Analysis;
Diode as a Switch, Diode as a Rectifier,
Half Wave and Full Wave Rectifiers with and without Filters;
Diode as clipper and clampers;
Zener diode- Operation and Applications;
Opto-Electronic Devices – LEDs, Photo Diode and Applications.
Semiconductor Diode:

• The semiconductor diode is formed by bringing both n- and p-type materials

together (constructed from the same base—Ge or Si)

• At the instant the two materials are “joined” the electrons and holes in the region of
the junction will combine, resulting in a lack of carriers in the region near the
junction.

In an n-type material the electron is called the majority carrier and the
hole the minority carrier.

In a p-type material the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the
minority carrier.
Semiconductor Diode: A diode is a two-terminal electronic component
that conducts electricity primarily in one direction.
Drift current and Diffusion
current
• If voltage is above specified range, electrons in N region drift through the
junction and migrates to the P region and holes in P region drift through the
junction and migrates to N region. The current flows across the circuit and this
current is called drift current.

• Drift current is the electric current due to the movement of charge carriers
under the impact of an outer electric field.

• Diffusion current is the electric current due to the distribution of carriers,

pointing to a change in carrier collection.
Characteristics of Diode

• Forward-biased
• Reverse-biased
• Zero-biased
Forward-Bias Condition (VD > 0 V)
• 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
• The application of a forward-bias
potential VD will “pressure”
electrons in the n-type material and
holes in the p-type material to
recombine with the ions near the
boundary and reduce the width of
the depletion region.
Forward-biased diode

• For silicon diodes, the forward

voltage is 690mV and

• for germanium, 300mV is the

forward voltage.
 Reverse-Bias Condition (VD < 0 V)

The number of uncovered positive ions in the depletion region of the n-type
material will increase due to the large number of “free” electrons drawn to the
positive potential of the applied voltage.
 Reverse-Bias Condition (VD < 0 V)

• For similar reasons, the number of uncovered negative ions will increase in the p-
type material. The net effect, therefore, is a widening of the depletion region.
• Results in increase of depletion region

• The current that exists under reverse-bias conditions is called the reverse
saturation current and is represented by Is.

• The term saturation comes from the fact that it reaches its maximum level
quickly and does not change significantly with increases in the reverse-bias
potential

https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=OyC02DWq3mI
• If battery voltage is above particular limit (reverse bias breakdown
voltage), electrons and holes breakdown through PN junction and
cross resulting in the current to flow through the circuit.
• This breakdown is called Avalanche breakdown.
• In this process, current flowing through PN junction is very high &
ultimately the PN junction gets damaged due to overheating caused
by the excess flow of current.
Zero-Bias Condition (VD = 0 V)
In the absence of an applied bias across a semiconductor diode, the net flow of
charge in one direction is zero.
 Ideal vs Practical Diode
Ideal diodes Practical diodes
Ideal diodes act as perfect conductor and Practical diodes cannot act as perfect
perfect insulator. conductor and perfect insulator.
Ideal diode draws no current when reverse Practical diode draws very low current
biased. when reverse biased.
Ideal diode offers infinite resistance when Practical diode offers very high resistance
reverse biased. when reverse biased.
It cannot be manufactured. It can be manufactured.
It has zero cut-in voltage. It has very low cut-in voltage.
Ideal diode has zero voltage drops across its It has very low voltage drop across it, when
junction when forward biased. forward biased.
Ideal diode acts as perfect conductor and Practical diode act as perfect conductor
perfect insulator. and perfect insulator.
VI characteristics of diode
Is reverse saturation current
k = 11,600/ with 1 for Ge and 2 for Si
TK = TC + 273°
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
• n is an ideality factor, which is a function of the operating conditions and
physical construction; it has a range between 1 and 2 depending on a wide
variety of factors
• voltage VT is called the thermal voltage and is determined by
LOAD-LINE ANALYSIS

If we set VD = 0 V,

If we set ID = 0 A
 A Load line defined by the network and a
characteristic curve defined by the device. The point of
intersection between the two is the point of operation
for this circuit.
The point of operation is called the quiescent point
“Q-pt.”

The Q-point of a diode is the operating point at which the diode's voltage
and current are compatible with the circuit conditions. It's also known as
the bias point, quiescent point, or operating point.
For the series diode configuration of employing the diode characteristics
determine:
(a) VDQ and IDQ.
(b) VR.
Q. At a temperature of 27°C (common temperature for components in
an enclosed operating system), determine the thermal voltage VT.
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.
ac or dynamic resistance
A straight line drawn tangent to the curve through the
Q-point 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

The derivative of a function at a point is equal to the slope of the

tangent line drawn at that point.
Differentiating & substituting, 𝐼𝑠 ∗ 𝑒 VD/nVT = 𝐼𝑠 + 𝐼𝐷
Average ac resistance
• If the input signal is sufficiently large to produce a broad swing the
resistance associated with the device for this region is called the
average ac resistance.
• The average ac resistance is, by definition, the resistance determined
by a straight line drawn between the two intersections established by
the maximum and minimum values of input voltage. In equation form
Determining the average ac resistance between indicated limits.
 Q. For the characteristics

a. Determine the ac resistance at ID = 2 mA.

b. Determine the ac resistance at ID = 25 mA.
c. Compare the results of parts (a) and (b) to the
dc resistances at each current level.
For ID =2 mA, the tangent line at ID =2 mA was drawn and a
swing of 2 mA above and below the specified diode current
was chosen.
At ID =4 mA, VD = 0.76 V, and
at ID =0 mA, VD =0.65 V.
DIODE EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
• An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements properly chosen
to best represent the actual terminal characteristics of a device,
system, or such in a particular operating region.
• Ideal Equivalent Circuit
Simplified Equivalent Circuit
Piecewise-Linear Equivalent Circuit
• One technique for obtaining an equivalent circuit for a diode is to
approximate the characteristics of the device by straight-line
segments.
• The resulting equivalent circuit is called the piecewise-linear
equivalent circuit
DIODE APPROXIMATIONS
Diode Applications:
• HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER:
The process of removing one-half the input signal to establish a dc level
is aptly called half-wave rectification.
During the interval t: 0 → T/2
Nonconduction region (T/2 → T).
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/g1AwhpS15ir-half-wave-rectifier-by-using-diode
FULL-WAVE RECTIFICATION
• The dc level obtained from a sinusoidal input can be improved 100%
using a process called full-wave rectification.
Vdc = 2 * (0.318Vm)
Vdc = 0.636Vm
If silicon rather than ideal diodes are employed, an application of Kirchhoff’s voltage
law around the conduction path would result in

The peak value of the output voltage vo is therefore

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Full-wave Rectification with filter

• The pulsating DC output

obtained across the load
resistor RL contains small
ripples.
• To reduce these ripples,
we use a filter at the
output.
• The filter normally used in the bridge rectifier is a capacitor filter.
• The DC output produced by the bridge rectifier is not a pure DC but a
pulsating DC. This pulsating DC contains both AC and DC components.
• The AC components fluctuate with respect to time while the DC
components remain constant with respect to time. So the AC
components present in the pulsating DC is an unwanted signal.
• The capacitor filter present at the output removes the unwanted AC
components. Thus, a pure DC is obtained at the load resistor RL.
Pi filter

• The need of filters in electronics is to eliminate ripple contents found in the rectifier’s
output.
• It consists of one inductor and two capacitors connected across each end. The three
components are arranged in the shape of the Greek letter Pi. It is also called a capacitor
input Pi filter.
• The input capacitor C1 is selected to offer very low reactance to the repel frequency
hence major parts of filtering are done by C1.
• Most of the remaining repels are removed by the combining action of L and C2. This
circuit gives a much better filter than the LC filter.
• However, C1 is still directly connected across the supply and would need a high pulse of
current if the load current is large. This filter is used for low-current equipment.