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Diode Characteristics

Formal Report for Laboratory 3


ECE 332 Electronics I

Submitted by
Andrew Huddleston
10065351

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering


The University of Alabama

11 October 2005

Abstract
This report presents several observations of voltage-current characteristic curves for
three diodes: a Silicon power diode, a Germanium small-signal diode, and a Zener diode.
The first set of characteristic curves was observed directly using a transistor curve-tracer.
The second set was generated by plotting data obtained from a Digital Multimeter by
connecting the diodes in a circuit and varying the voltage across them. The last set of
curves was generated using the PSpice software to simulate a circuit containing two of the
three diodes. The forward and reverse-bias curves were observed. It is concluded that
using the PSpice software is the most precise method to produce characteristic curves.

Equipment:

Type 426A Silicon Diffused Junction Diode. Maximum forward current = 1 A dc.
Maximum reverse voltage = 200 V dc (PIV).
Type 425G Zener Diode. Silicon Diffused Junction Regulator rated 6.8 V, 1 W.
Type 1N126A Germanium Small Signal Diode. Peak reverse voltage = 75 V.
Maximum forward current = 25 mA dc.
Decade resistor box.
Transistor curve tracers.
Digital Multimeter. (DMM)

Table of Contents
Page
INTRODUCTION

CURVE-TRACER METHOD
MULTIMETER (DMM) METHOD
Ohmmeter Test of Diodes

PSPICE SIMULATION METHOD

CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
APPENDICES

List of Figures
Figure

Page

Forward-Bias Germanium (SS) Diode

Forward-Bias Silicon Diode

Forward-Bias Zener Diode

Reverse-Bias Zener Diode

Diode Circuit

Germanium Diode Forward-Bias

Germanium Diode Reverse-Bias

Silicon Diode Forward-Bias

Silicon Diode Reverse-Bias

10

Zener Diode Forward-Bias

11

Zener Diode Reverse-Bias

12

PSpice Netlisting

13

PSpice Small-Signal Characteristic

14

PSpice Zener Characteristic

15

Voltage-Limiting Diode Circuit

16

Series Zener Currents

17

Parallel Resistor Voltage

INTRODUCTION
When analyzing electronic circuits containing diodes there is some key information one must
know to be able to conclude anything useful. Without this information, designing or repairing an
electronic device containing a diode would be next to impossible. One piece of this information is
the diode cut-in voltage, that is, the voltage at which a given diode begins to conduct electricity.
One way to observe this cut-in voltage is to plot the current through a diode in relation to the
voltage across it while making the voltage the independent, controlled variable. This relation is
given by the function:

I d I s (e

VD
VT

1) [2].

where Id is the current through the diode, Vd is the voltage across the diode, Is is the saturation
current, and VT is the thermal voltage for the diode. The graph produced is called the
characteristic curve of a diode and should show exponential growth. In this report, the
characteristic curves of a diode will be referred to as curves, characteristics, or characteristic
curves.
The objectives of this laboratory were to observe the characteristic curves of three diodes
using three different methods. The three diodes used were a Silicon power diode, a Germanium
small-signal diode, and a Zener diode. The first method was to use a curve-tracer to directly
obtain the curves. The second method was to connect the diodes into a circuit and vary the
voltage applied across it, calculate the current by using a multimeter, and then graph the results.
The third was to use PSpice to simulate three circuits and obtain the graph based on the computer
simulation. All the procedures for this laboratory are detailed in [1].

CURVE-TRACER METHOD
A curve-tracer was used to display the characteristic curves of the power, small-signal, and
Zener diodes. After setting the Dissipation Limiting Resistor to the maximum value and the Peak
Volts to a minimum, the connections were made from the two terminals of the separate diodes to
the corresponding connectors on the curve-tracer. These connections were reversed to find the
reverse-bias characteristic curves. The curve-tracer showed a curve as soon as the connections
were made. The scale had to be calculated from tracing the curves and taking values at a couple
key points. A cut-in voltage of about 0,6 was found for the Germanium, small-signal diode. This
is lower than would be expected, but not low enough to cause alarm. A cut-in voltage of about
0,7 was found for the Silicon, power diode. This was the expected value for the Silicon diode.
The forward-bias power and small-signal (SS) characteristics are shown below in Figures 1 and 2.
Both graphs show what was expected from the diodes. The reverse-bias current for these two
diodes were so small that no graph was made by the curve tracer.

Forward-Bias Germanium (SS) Diode


Figure 1.

.
Forward-Bias Silicon Diode
Figure 2.
Figure 3 and 4 show the forward and reverse-bias characteristics for the Zener diode. The
reverse Zener voltage resembles the forward because of the limitations of the curve tracer. The
voltage will actually appear rotated and flipped and attached to the front of the forward-bias
curve.

Forward-Bias Zener Diode


Figure 3.

.
Reverse-Bias Zener Diode
Figure 4.
MULTIMETER (DMM) METHOD
Each of the diodes were connected in a circuit like Figure 5 [1]. A variable resistor was
used so that the resistance could be changed easily to maximize the resistors voltage. The
voltage across the diode was measured as the voltage source was increased at regular increments
from 0V to 20V. The voltage across the resistor was also measured so that the current through
the circuit could be measured using Ohms Law, I = V/R. For reverse-bias, the connections to the
power supply were reversed. The data obtained is appended to this report.

Diode Circuit
Figure 5.

The graphs showing the characteristics for these diodes are shown below in Figure 6 - 11.
As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the small-signal diode performed as expected. Furthermore, the cutin voltage for forward-bias might not have been completely reached; one should expect the curve
(Figure 6) to be much steeper after reaching the cut-in voltage. The reverse-bias behaved just as
it should; the graph shows no acknowledgeable current through the diode. A current scale of
0,005 nA had to be used to obtain the reverse-bias characteristic.

Germanium Diode Forward Bias


Figure 6.

Germanium Diode Reverse-Bias


Figure 7.

The power diodes characteristic calculated in this method closely resembled what one
would expect. The cut-in voltage was obviously reached, seen in Figure 8, and the reverse-bias
current was practically nonexistent as seen in Figure 9.

Silicon Diode Forward-Bias


Figure 8.

Silicon Diode Reverse-Bias


Figure 9.
The Zener diode also behaved as expected. These graphs, Figures 10 and 11, are misleading
because one is in reverse-bias; the actual look of the graph would be the forward-bias curve with
the reverse-bias curve flipped, rotated, and appended on it at V = 0. This graph is attained from
the PSpice simulation and shown in Figure 13.

Zener Diode Forward-Bias


Figure 10.

Zener Diode Reverse-Bias


Figure 11.
Ohmmeter Test of Diodes
After the circuit from Figure 5 was disassembled, an ohmmeter was used to measure the
forward and reverse resistances of the diodes [1]. By calculating the ratio of reverse-to-forward
resistances, the condition of the diodes can be determined: if this ratio is less than 10, the diode
was not in working condition [1]. The forward resistance of the power diode was 0,32 M and
the reverse resistance was 8,53 k, making a reverse-to-forward ratio of about 38. It was
concluded that the power diode was in working condition. The reverse resistance of the smallsignal diode was too high to be measured by the ohmmeter; the forward resistance was 2,12 M.

The assumption was made that the small-signal diode was in working condition because of such a
high value for its reverse resistance. The forward resistance for the Zener diode was 1,54 M
and the reverse was 5,68 M, making a reverse-to-forward ratio of approximately 3,7. This
should not be alarming because of the nature of the Zener diode.
PSPICE SIMULATION METHOD
PSpice was used to simulate a circuit with a variable voltage source and a small-signal
diode in parallel (forward-biased). The net-listing is shown in Figure 12. The trace curve
obtained from this circuit follows the exact behavior expected for a Germanium small-signal
diode, with the cut-in voltage clearly visible at near 0,7 V. It agrees with the curves obtained from
the first two methods as was seen in Figures 1 and 6.
* source 332
Vd
1
0
D1
1
0 D1N4002
.DC Vd
0
1
.01
.Probe
.end

PSpice Netlisting
Figure 12.
1.0A

0.5A

0A
0V

0.2V

0.4V

0.6V

0.8V

1.0V

I(D1)
Vd

PSpice Small-Signal Characteristic


Figure 13.
A circuit with a variable voltage source and a Zener diode in parallel was simulated using
PSpice. The net-listing is similar to the small-signal diode circuit, but with a different diode model

(D1N750) and a voltage range from -6 V to 2 V. The trace curves obtained were consistent with
expectations. The forward-bias curve shows a cut-in voltage close to what was observed using
the curve-tracer and the DMM as seen in Figures 3 and 10.

1.0A

0A

-1.0A
-6.0V
-5.0V
I(D1)

-4.0V

-3.0V

-2.0V

-1.0V

-0.0V

1.0V

2.0V

Vd

PSpice Zener Characteristic


Figure 14.
A circuit like that in Figure 12 was simulated using PSpice. The schematic capture function
of PSpice was used to simulate this circuit. Figure 16 shows the currents through both the diodes
and Figure 17 shows the voltage across the 1k resistor. The diodes act as voltage limiters to the
resistor; notice the capped values of voltage. The currents through both the diodes are the same
but shown as opposite polarities because of the orientation of the diodes in the circuit.

Voltage-Limiting Diode Circuit


Figure 15. [1]

100mA

0A

-100mA
0s
I(D2)

10ms
I(D1)

20ms

30ms

40ms

50ms

Time

Series Zener Currents


Figure 16
10V

0V

-10V
0s

10ms

20ms

30ms

V(R1:2)
Time

Parallel Resistor Voltage


Figure 17.

10

40ms

50ms

CONCLUSION
Characteristic curves serve an integral part in the analysis of electronic circuits with diodes.
The objective of this laboratory was to obtain the characteristic curves for three models of diodes
using three different methods. The first method was to use a curve-tracer to directly obtain the
characteristic curves. The second method required data collection and analysis using a DMM and
the use of a graphical utility to obtain the curves. The third method relied on a circuit simulation
program, PSpice, to model and observe the diodes responses. Of the three methods the easiest
and most effective was the PSpice circuit simulation method. The top two methods depended on
more equipment to be functioning correctly; this allowed more possible causes of error. However,
they also used an actual diode to obtain the characteristics, instead of trusting a computer to
model a diode realistically. All the objectives were met and the results were detailed in this report.

11

REFERENCES
[1] L. A. Morley, ECE 332 Electronics-I Laboratory / Project 3W, University of
Alabama Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2005, unpublished, pp. 14.
[2] D.A. Neamen, Electronic Circuit Analysis and Design 2nd Edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2001, pp. 17.

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APPENDICES
1N126A
Germanium

Germanium

WE426A
Silicon

Silicon

WE425G
Zener

Forward
Id (A)
0.00074
0.0017
0.00269
0.00368
0.0046
0.00762
0.0096
0.01454
0.01963
Revers
e
Id (nA)
390
480
580
740
850
1090
1370
Forward
Id (A)
0.00160
8
0.00917
6
0.01682
4
0.02851
0.03631
4
0.05568
6
0.07529
4
Revers
e
Id (nA)
2.04
3.3
4.08
5.5
6.3
8.2
10.1
Forward
Id (mA)
1.56
9.24
17.08

Vd

Vr
0.26
0.3
0.31
0.35
0.36
0.38
0.4
0.42
0.47

Vd

0.74
1.7
2.69
3.68
4.6
7.62
9.6
14.54
19.63

Vs
1
2
3
4.03
4.96
8
10
14.96
20.1

R ()
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000

0.39
0.48
0.58
0.74
0.85
1.09
1.37

Vs
1.02
3
5
8.01
10
15
20

R ()
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000

Vs

R ()

Vr

0.63
2.52
4.42
7.27
9.15
13.91
18.63
Vd

Vr
0.59

0.41

255

0.67

2.34

3.01

255

0.7
0.74

4.29
7.27

4.99
8.01

255
255

0.76

9.26

10.02

255

0.8

14.2

15

255

0.8

19.2

20

255

Vd
0.99796
2.9967
4.99592
7.9945
9.9937
14.9918
19.9899

Vr
0.00204
0.0033
0.00408
0.0055
0.0063
0.0082
0.0101

Vs
1
3
5
8
10
15
20

R ()
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000
1000000

Vd

Vr

Vs
1
3
5.02

R ()
250
250
250

0.61
0.69
0.75

0.39
2.31
4.27

13

Zener

29.08
37.12
56.8
76.88
Revers
e
Id (mA)
0.00012
0.0046
0.0844
6.96
14.88
34.68
54.6

0.73
0.72
0.8
0.78

7.27
9.28
14.2
19.22

Vd
0.99997
2.99885
4.9789
6.26
6.28
6.33
6.35

Vr
0.00003
0.00115
0.0211
1.74
3.72
8.67
13.65

8
10
15
20

250
250
250
250

1
3
5
8
10
15
20

R ()
250
250
250
250
250
250
250

Vs

14

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