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characteristics
applications
structure
Heavily doped n type substrate - cathode
Over n type is lightly doped n- layer Heavily doped p region anode
VI Characteristics
VI Characteristics
FB : I grows linearly, not exponentially Ohmic drops mask exponential VI characteristics RB : Small leakage current flows till breakdown is reached Reverse I can be limited only by external circuit Large V & I damage of the device
Breakdown V Considerations
Non Punch through diodes 2. Punch through diodes
1.
contact with n+ Layer Punch through. After punch through, increase in reverse voltage will not widen the depletion layer This is because, doping density of n+ layer is very high So, electric field profile flattens.
Inference
Large breakdown voltages require lightly doped
ON State losses
ON State losses
At large current levels, dissipation of drift region
should be accounted Losses in drift region limit the power capability of the device Resistance of drift region in ON state is much less than the apparent ohmic value on the basis of geometric size Care should be taken in calculating resistance & power dissipation
Conductivity modulation
During on state, R of drift region
because large amount of excessive charge carriers are injected into drift layer So, resistance of drift layer .(conductivity modulation) Low injection level : n- layer neutralizes the holes High injection level : e- are attracted from n+ region Double injection
Conductivity modulation
If diffusion length > Wd , distribution of excess charges
are flat n- < na (1014 /cm3 ),the condition is called high level injection Thus, conductivity of the region is enhanced Total V = Vj + Vd Factors affecting Vd are
Excess carrier density Life time of excess carriers Mobility of excess carriers
low power dissipation Low on state loss due to large stored charge affects switching time For large Vbd Vd should be large Vd Wd 2
Switching Characteristics
not present in
signal diodes
Sharpness of fall of reverse current during turn off
Switching Characteristics
Transition time & Shape depends on
Intrinsic properties of diode Circuit in which diode is connected
Turn on transient
Turn on time = t1 + t2
During turn on, Space charge stored in depletion region is removed by the growth of forward current When depletion layer is completely discharged, junction becomes forward biased At t1 , excess carriers are injected into the drift layer
p+ n- & n- n+ junctions
Turn on transient
Initially, there is no conductivity modulation so
voltage drop is high. As the forward current grows, due to injection of large no. of carriers, voltage drops down. Inductance adds additional V drop if di/dt is high Vd reduces as drift layer is shorted due to injection of large amount of carriers When Vd falls from peak to steady state value, excess charge distribution in drift layer gets completed
Turn on transient
Growth of excess charge carriers depends on Intrinsic properties of diode External circuit to which it is connected
Faster turn on by reducing life time s increases on
state loss
Switching time : t1 hundreds of ns
t2 - s
junctions become RB
At t5, diode current stops growing & becomes zero
Schottky diode
Schottky diode