Chapter 3

Diodes, Problem Solutions

3.1 Problem 3.13
A square wave of 10 V peak-to-peak amplitude and zero average is applied to a circuit
resembling that in Figure (3.1) and employing a 100 resistor. Assuming an ideal diode
what is the peak output voltage that results? What is the peak diode current? What is the
average diode current? What is the maximum reverse voltage across the diode?
vI R
vI
t
vo
t
-5
+5 +5
vo
Figure 3.1:
Solution
The peak output voltage v
o
is:
v
o
= 5 V
2 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
However v
o
(t) is given by:
v
o
(t) = 5 0 t T/2
v
o
(t) = 0 T/2 < t T
Let the period of the input voltage be T, then the average out output voltage v
oavg
:
v
oavg
=
1
T
_
T
o
v(t) dt
=
1
T
_
_
T/2
0
v
o
(t) dt +
_
T
T/2
v
o
(t) dt
_
=
1
T
_
_
T/2
0
5 dt +
_
T
T/2
0 dt
_
=
5
T
_
T/2
0
dt
=
5
T

T
2
= 2.5 V
The peak and average currents

i and i
avg
are given by:

i =
v
o
R
=
5
100
= 50 mA
i
avg
=
v
oavg
R
=
2.5
100
= 25 mA
Maximum reverse voltage is 5 V.
3.2. PROBLEM 3.27 3
3.2 Problem 3.27
The circuit shown in Figure (3.2) uses identical diodes for which I
D
= 1 mA at V
D
= 0.7 V
with n = 1. At 20

C, voltage V is measured by a very high resistance meter to be 0.1 V. By

what factor does the reverse leakage current of these diodes exceed I
s
? Estimate the value
of V when the temperature is raised by 50

C.
+10 V
D1
D2
V
Figure 3.2:
Solution
The diode reverse leakage current I
D
= 1 mA is dened by:
I
D
= I
s
e
V
D
/V
T
10
3
= I
s
e
0.7/0.025
I
s
= 10
3
e
0.7/0.025
= 10
3
e
28
= 6.91 10
16
A
4 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
At V = 0.1 V, I
D
is:
I
D
= I
s
e
0.1/0.025
= I
s
e
4
= I
s
54.6
I
D
I
s
= 54.6
The reverse leakage current doubles for every 10

C rise, so for a 50

C rise the current

increases by a factor of 2
5
. I
S
doubles for every 5

C rise, so for a 50

C rise I
s
increases by
a factor of 2
10
. we then have:
I
D
= I
s
e
V/V
T
2
5
I
D
= 2
10
I
s
e
V/V
T
V = V
T
ln
_
2
5
I
D
2
10
I
s
_
= 0.025 ln
_
54.6
2
5
_
= 0.025 ln(1.706)
= 13.4 mV
3.3. PROBLEM 3.44 5
3.3 Problem 3.44
Calculate the built-in voltage of a junction in which the p and n regions are doped equally
with 10
16
atoms/cm
3
. Assume the free electron concentration in intrinsic silicon n
i

10
5
/cm
3
. With no external voltage applied, what is the width of the depletion region,
and how far does it extend into the p and n regions? If the the cross sectional area of the
junction is 100 m
2
, nd the magnitude of the charge stored on either side of the junction,
and calculate the junction capacitance C
j
.
Solution
The built-in voltage of a p n junction is given by:
V

= V
T
ln
_
N
A
N
D
n
2
i
_
= 0.025 ln
_
10
16
10
16
(10
5
)
2
_
= 0.025 50.66
= 1.27 V
Let W, x
n
, x
p
and
s
be the total width, the width in the n region, the width in the p region
of the depletion region, and the electric permittivity of silicon respectively. W is given by:
W = x
n
+ x
p
=

2
s
q
_
1
N
A
+
1
N
D
_
V

2 11.7 8.85 10
14
1.6 10
19
_
1
10
16
+
1
10
16
_
1.27
= 0.57 m
Where
s
=

, = 11.7 is the dielectric constant of silicon and

= 8.85 10
14
F/cm is
the permittivity of free space.
The ratio of the widths of the depletion region in the n and p regions is given by:
x
n
x
p
=
N
A
N
D
6 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
Since N
A
= N
D
, then x
n
= x
p
= W/2 = 0.28 m. Let A = 100 m
2
be the area of the
junction, then the charge on the junction C
j
= C
p
= C
n
is given by:
q
j
= q
N
A
N
D
N
A
+ N
D
A W
= 1.6 10
19

10
16
10
16
10
16
+ 10
16
100 10
6
0.57 10
6
= 4.56 10
14
C
The capacitance C
j
of the depletion region is given by:
C
j
=

s
A
W
=
11.7 8.85 10
16
100 10
6
0.57 10
6
= 1.82 10
12
F
= 1.82 pF
3.4. PROBLEM 3.65 7
3.4 Problem 3.65
For the circuit shown in Figure (3.3), utilize the constant-voltage-drop model (0.7 V) for
each conduction diode and show that the transfer characteristic can be described by:
for -4.65 v
I
4.65 V v
o
= v
I
for v
I
+4.65 V v
o
= +4.65 V
for v
I
-4.65 V v
o
= -4.65 V
v

o
-10 V
vI
10 k
10 k
10 k
+10 V
D1 D2
D3
D4
A
B

L
i
i1
i2
i
D1
i
D4
i
D2
Figure 3.3:
Solution
When V
I
is small ( close to zero) all four diodes conduct,
v
A
= v
I
+ v
D1
8 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
and
v
o
= v
A
v
D2
= (v
I
+ v
D1
) v
D2
Since all diodes are identical, and v
D1
= v
D2
= v
D3
= v
D4
= 0.7 V , then
v
o
= v
I
we also have:
v
B
= v
I
v
D3
The currents i
1
, and i
L
can be calculated as:
i
1
=
10 v
A
10 k
=
10 v
I
0.7
10 k
=
9.3 v
I
10
mA (3.1)
i
L
=
v
o
10 k
=
v
I
10
mA (3.2)
The current i
1
splits at A into i
D1
and i
D2
, so i
D1
< i
1
, similarly i
D2
splits into i
L
and i
D4
,
so i
L
< i
D2
. So, if D
1
, D
2
, and D
3
conducting, the following inequality must be satised:
v

o
-10 V
vI
10 k
10 k
10 k
+10 V
D2
D3
D4
A
B

L
i
i1
i2
i
D2
Figure 3.4:
i
L
< i
D2
< i
1
Now, as v
I
increases in the positive direction i
1
de-
creases and i
L
increases, this means that there will be
a valu for v
I
at which the above inequality is not sat-
ised. Under this condition D
1
and D
4
will cut o,
i
D1
= i
D4
= 0 and i
L
= i
D2
= i
1
. Using Equation (3.1)
and Equation (3.2) we can nd the value of v
I
that
makes the three current equal.
v
I
10
=
9.3 v
I
10
v
I
= 9.3 v
I
=
9.3
2
= 4.65 V
3.4. PROBLEM 3.65 9
v

o
-10 V
vI
10 k
10 k
10 k
+10 V
D1
D4
A
B
i2
Figure 3.5:
At v
I
= 4.65 V D
1
and D
4
are cut o while D
3
and D
2
conduct. This situation will continue
when v
I
4.65 V and v
o
remains constant at +4.65 V as the circuit behave like the one
shown in Figure (3.4).
The symmetery of the circuit indicates that a similar limiting value occurs at negative values
of v
I
spcically when v
I
4.65 V when D
1
and D
4
conduct and D
2
and D
3
cut o and
the circuit reduces to that shown in Figure (3.5).
In conclusion the circuit provides:
for -4.65 v
I
4.65 V v
o
= v
I
for v
I
+4.65 V v
o
= +4.65 V
for v
I
-4.65 V v
o
= -4.65 V
10 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
3.5 Problem 3.70
In the circuit shown in Figure (3.6), I is a dc current and v
s
is a sinusoidal signal. Capacitor
C is very large; its function is to couple the signal to the diode but block the dc current
from owing into the signal source. Use the diode small-signal model to show that the signal
component of the output voltage is:
v
o
= v
s
nV
T
nV
T
+ IR
s
If v
s
= 10 mV , nd v
o
for I = 1 mA, and 1 A. Let R
s
= 1 k and n = 2. At what value of
I does v
o
become one-half of v
s
? Note that this circuit function as a signal attenuator with
the attenuation factor controlled by the value of the dc current I.
vs
vo
Rs C
I
Figure 3.6:
Solution
A large capacitor has a very small reactance to AC signals. The equivalent circuit is shown
Figure (3.7), where r
d
is the diode resistance. The two resistors in the equivalent circuit
3.5. PROBLEM 3.70 11
vs
vo
Rs
rd
Figure 3.7:
form a voltage divider for the input signal voltage v
s
. The output voltage v
o
is then given
by:
v
o
= v
s
r
d
R
s
+ r
d
since:
r
d
=
nV
T
I
then v
o
becomes:
v
o
= v
s
nV
T
I
R
s
+
nV
T
I
= v
s
nV
T
IR
s
+ nV
T
For v
s
= 10 mV , R
s
= 1k , n = 2 and V
T
= 25 mV ,
v
o
= 10
2 0.025
I + 2 0.025
mV
= 10
0.05
I + 0.05
mV
= 0.5 mV for I = 1 mA
= 9.8 mV for I = 1 A
where the current I is in mA.
v
o
v
s
=
0.05
I + 0.05
0.5 =
0.05
I + 0.05
I = 0.05 mA
= 50 A
12 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
3.6 Problem 3.91
The circuit in Figure (3.8) implements a complementary-output rectier. Sketch and clearly
label the waveforms of v
+
o
and v

o
. Assume a 0.7 V drop across each conducting diode. If
the magnitude of the average of each output is to be 15 V, nd the required amplitude of
the sine wave across the entire secondary winding. What is the PIV of each diode?
110 V(rms
60 Hz
vs
vs
+
-
+
-
D4
D2
D3
D1
v
+
o
v
-
o
R
R
Figure 3.8:
Solution
The voltage at the positive output terminal v
+
o
is given by:
v
+
o
= v
s
sin(t) 0.7 for t
= 0 otherwise
where is given by:
= sin
1
0.7
v
s
The dependence of v
+
o
on t is shown in Figure (3.9) for = 10

and v
s
= 15 V . The
3.6. PROBLEM 3.91 13
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
wt
v
o
Figure 3.9:
dependence of the voltage of negative output terminal v

o
on t is exactly the same as that
of v
+
o
(shown in Figure (3.9)) except that v

o
is always negative.
The average of v
+
o
, is:
v
o
=
1

(v
s
sin 0.7)d
=
1

_
v
s
_

sin d 0.7
_

d
_
=
1

_
v
s
[cos ]

0.7 []

_
=
1

{v
s
[cos( ) + cos()] 0.7 [ ]}
=
1

{2v
s
cos 0.7 1.4}
If v
s
0.7, then 1, cos 1 and 1.4 1 and v
s
becomes:
v
o
=
2

v
s
0.7
14 CHAPTER 3. DIODES, PROBLEM SOLUTIONS
We can also have:
v
s
=

2
(v
o
+ 0.7)
for v
o
= 15 V , then v
s
= 24.66 V . The required amplitude across the entire secondary
windings is 49.32 V .
The maximum reverse bias across each diode is 2v
s
0.7 = 48.6 V . To be in the safe side
one then need to use diodes with PIV of say 1.5 48.6 = 73 V .