Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ID
+
VA
_
Figure 1
Figure 2
Si Si Si
+4 +4 +4
Si Si Si
+4 +4 +4
Si Si Si
+4 +4 +4
Figure 3
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
We will start by looking at diodes
and semiconductors
Then progress to diode theory
Later we will look at more detailed
aspects of circuit design
DIODE
Is an electronic device that allows
the passage of current in only one
direction.
It is a specialized electronic
component with two electrodes
called the Anode and the Cathode.
DIODE SYMBOL
N P
Cathode Anode
_ _
+ +
IDEAL DIODE
The characteristics of an ideal
diode are those of a switch that can
conduct current in only one
direction.
The term IDEAL refers to any device
or system that has ideal
characteristics that is perfect in
every way.
IDEAL DIODE
What Are Diodes Made Out Of?
Silicon (Si) and
Germanium Si
+4
Si
+4
Si
+4
single elements
that are used to Si
+4
Si
+4
Si
+4
make Diodes.
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL
Are all matters whose
characteristics lie between a
conductor and insulator.
Ideally it has only 4 valence
electrons.
Ex. Silicon, Germanium, Gallium
Arsenide, Gallium Phosphide
CONDUCTOR MATERIAL
Are substances or material which
have more than one but less than
four valence electrons.
Ideally it has only one valence
electrons in the outer most shell.
Ex. Silver, Copper, Gold
INSULATOR MATERIAL
Material which has more than four
valence electrons but with less then
8 valence electrons.
Ideally it has 8 valence electrons in
the outer most shell
Ex. Glass, mica, Hard rubber
Two types of Semiconductor
1. Intrinsic Semiconductor
-- its is a pure semiconductor
-- every atom in the crystal is a
silicon atom
+4 +4 +4
Extrinsic semiconductor
b. P-type
--produced when trivalent
atoms are added to the silicon crystal
producing an excess of holes
P-Type Material
Majority carrier
is Hole.
+4 +4 +4
Excess of hole
+4 +3 +4
+4 +4 +4
Recombination
-- is the merging of free electron
and a hole inside the silicon crystal.
Hole
-- is the term used to refer to the
vacancy left by the free electrons
Valence electrons
-- are electrons in the outer most
shell of an atom.
THE PN JUNCTION
When a P-type Semiconductor is
joined together with an N-type
Semiconductor a PN junction is
formed. And it is also known as a
Semiconductor Diode.
Ionized donors
Junction
P N
- - + +
- - + +
- - + +
- - + +
Space charge region
(OR)
Depletion region
P N
- +
- +
- +
- +
Forward bias
VF
Reverse bias
-- When negative terminal of the
battery is connected to the P-type &
positive terminal is to the N-type of
the PN-junction diode
P Open circuit PN -junction N
- - + +
- - + +
- - + +
- - + +
Space charge region
P N
- - - + + +
- - - + + +
- - - + + +
- - - + + +
Reverse bias
VR
Diode Characteristic Curve
ID (mA) • VD = Bias Voltage
• ID = Current through
Diode. ID is Negative
for Reverse Bias and
Positive for Forward
IS Bias
VBR • IS = Saturation
Current
~V VD
• VBR = Breakdown
Voltage
• V = Barrier Potential
Voltage
(nA)
The characteristic curve on the previous slide is
characterized by the following equation:
ID = IS(eVD/nVT – 1)
Where: ID=diode current
Is=reverse saturation current
VD=forward voltage across diode
n =is the emission coefficient for the
diode. It is determined by the way the diode is
constructed. It somewhat varies with diode
current. For a silicon diode n is around 2 for low
currents and goes down to about 1 at higher
currents
•VT is the thermal equivalent voltage and is
approximately 26 mV at room temperature.
The equation to find VT at various
temperatures is:
VT = kT
q
k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K
T = temperature in Kelvin (ºK = ºC + 273)
q = 1.6 x 10-19 C
Example 1
Determine the diode current at
20ºC for a silicon diode with Is=50nA
and an applied voltage of 0.6V.
Example 2
Determine the diode current at
27ºC for a germanium diode with
Is=0.1μA at -10V applied voltage.
Diode Circuit Model
RS = 50
a) With VA > 0 the diode is in
forward bias and is acting like a
ID perfect conductor so:
+ ID = VA/RS = 5 V / 50 = 100 mA
VA
_
b) With VA < 0 the diode is in
reverse bias and is acting like a
perfect insulator, therefore no
current can flow and ID = 0.
The Ideal Diode with Barrier
Potential
+
+
V RF
This model is the most accurate of the three. It
includes a linear forward resistance that is
calculated from the slope of the linear portion
of the transconductance curve. However, this
is usually not necessary since the RF (forward
resistance) value is pretty constant. For low-
power germanium and silicon diodes the RF
value is usually in the 2 to 5 ohms range, while
higher power diodes have a RF value closer to 1
ohm.
Example: Assume the diode is a low-power diode
with a forward resistance value of 5 ohms. The
barrier potential voltage is still: V = 0.3 volts
(typical for a germanium diode) Determine the
value of ID if VA = 5 volts.
RS = 50
Ideal Diode
Ideal Diode
Model with
Model with
Ideal Diode Barrier
Barrier
Model Potential and
Potential
Linear Forward
Voltage
Resistance
ID 100 mA 94 mA 85.5 mA
8
Q Point: The intersection of the load
line and the
6 transconductance curve.
5.3
4.6
4
VD (Volts)
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
Example:
1. For the series diode
configuration below determine
a. VDQ and IDQ
b. VR
si
Example:
2. repeat problem 1 for R=2000
ohms
a. VDQ and IDQ
b. VR
CONFIGURATIONS OF
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
1.Series Diode Configuration with DC
inputs
Conditions:
the positive terminal of the diode is
connected to positive terminal of
battery
Vs must be greater than VD
current arrow head coincides with
diode arrow head