Diode Circuits Perspective

Dr. Rajan Pandey

Associate Professor, SENSE
Diode Characteristics Analysis
Diode Operating Conditions

• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0 V

• No current is flowing: ID = 0 A
• Only a modest depletion region exists

Post junction formation,

diffusion force on majority
carriers and drift force on
minority carriers establishes
the equilibrium.
 Diode Operating Conditions
Reverse Bias Forward Bias
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in
the opposite polarity of the p- and n-type materials. the same polarity as the p- and n-type materials.

• The reverse voltage causes the depletion region to widen. • The forward voltage causes the depletion region
• The electrons in the n-type material are attracted toward to narrow.
the positive terminal of the voltage source. • The electrons and holes are pushed toward the
• The holes in the p-type material are attracted toward the p-n junction.
negative terminal of the voltage source. • The electrons and holes have sufficient energy
to cross the p-n junction.
Actual Diode Characteristics
⁄ Diode
Equation

Is - the reverse saturation current,

ID – the diode current,
VD - the applied forward-bias voltage across diode,
n - 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,
VT in the above is called the thermal voltage and is Silicon semiconductor
determined by diode characteristics.

𝑘𝑇
𝑉 =
𝑞

k is Boltzmann’s constant, TK is the absolute temperature In real diode the doping may not be uniform.
in kelvins, q is the magnitude of electronic charge. The junction may not be abrupt.
 Actual Diode Characteristics
• The exponential curve increases very rapidly
with increasing values of x.
• At x = 0, e0 = 1, whereas at x = 5, it jumps to
greater than 148. If we continued to x = 10, the
curve jumps to greater than 22,000.
• Therefore, as the value of x increases, the
curve becomes almost vertical.

• The ideal situation is for Is to be 0 A in the

reverse-bias region.
• The fact that it is typically in the range of 0.01
pA to 10 pA today as compared to 0.1 mA to 1
mA a few decades ago is a credit to the
manufacturing industry.
• Comparing the common value of 1 nA to the 1-
mA level of years past shows an improvement Plot of ex.
factor of 100,000.
 Zener Region

VZ
Zener breakdown voltage:
a few V to less than 10 V

Avalanche breakdown voltage:

10s of V to up to 100s of V VZ

The Zener region is in the diode’s reverse-bias region. At some

point the reverse bias voltage is so large the diode breaks down
and the reverse current increases dramatically.

• The maximum reverse voltage that won’t take a diode into the Why the zener breakdown
Zener region is called the peak inverse voltage (PIV)or peak reverse voltage is much lower than the
voltage (PRV). avalanche breakdown voltage?
• The voltage that causes a diode to enter the Zener region of
operation is called the Zener voltage (VZ). Due to high doping!
 Forward Bias Voltage
• The point at which the diode changes from no-
bias condition to forward-bias condition
occurs when the electrons and holes are given
sufficient energy to cross the p-n junction.
• This energy comes from the external voltage
applied across the diode.

The forward bias voltage required for a:

• Gallium arsenide diode ≅ 1.2 V
• Silicon diode ≅ 0.7 V
• Germanium diode ≅ 0.3 V

Why the turn on voltage and

breakdown voltage are smaller
for Ge than Si and GaAs?
Due to much lower band gap in Ge, Eg = 0.7 eV
than Si, Eg = 1.1 eV and GaAs, Eg = 1.4 eV;

Why the reverse current is larger for Ge than Si and GaAs?

 Temperature Effects
As temperature increases: silicon diode shift to the
• It reduces the required forward bias voltage for left at a rate of 2.5 mV
forward bias conduction. per degree centigrade
• It increases the amount of reverse current in the increase in temperature.
reverse bias condition.
• It increases maximum reverse bias avalanche voltage.
Why the breakdown voltage of diode increases with
increase in temperature?
• Due to increase in temperature, the lattice vibration
increases. This reduces the mean free path of electrons.
Therefore the avalanche breakdown voltage increases
with increase in temperature.
• Avalanche breakdown has positive temperature
reverse current of a
coefficient, whereas zener breakdown has negative
silicon diode doubles
temperature coefficient. for every 10°C rise in
• Why diode turns on early? temperature.
• Due to increase in the intrinsic carrier concentration.
The reverse breakdown voltage of a semiconductor diode will increase or decrease with temperature
depending on whether it has an avalanche (impact ionization)or zener breakdown (tunneling) mechanism.
 Ideal versus Practical Diode
A diode may be defined as a near-unidirectional conductor whose state of conductivity is
determined by the polarity of its terminal voltage.

The triangular head denotes the

allowable direction of current The ideal diode is a perfect two-state
flow and the vertical bar device that exhibits zero impedance when
representing the blocking forward-biased and infinite impedance
behavior for currents in the when reverse-biased.
opposite direction.

THE IDEAL DIODE

Infinite impedance Zero impedance

In forward bias, the ideal diode can be replaced with a short circuit. In reverse
bias, the diode can be replaced with an open circuit,
 Ideal versus Practical Diode
When a switch is closed the resistance between the
contacts is assumed to be 0 V. At the plot point chosen
on the vertical axis the diode current is 10 mA and the
voltage across the diode is 0 V. Substituting into Ohm’s
law results in

RF = VD/ID = 0 V/10 mA = 0 Ω (short-circuit equivalent)

At any current level on the vertical line, the voltage across the ideal diode is 0 V and
the resistance is 0 Ω.

For the horizontal section, if we again apply Ohm’s law, we find

RR = VD/ID = 20 V/0 mA = ∞ Ω (open-circuit equivalent)

Again: Because the current is 0 mA anywhere on the horizontal line, the resistance is
considered to be infinite ohms (an open-circuit) at any point on the axis.

Why are we discussing the ideal diode?

The ideal diode is applied in the analysis of power supply systems where larger voltages are encountered
 Resistance Levels

Diodes react differently to DC and AC currents.

There are three types of resistances:

• DC (static) resistance
• AC (dynamic) resistance
• Average AC resistance
 DC (Static) Resistance

For a specific applied DC voltage

VD, the diode has a specific current
ID, and a specific resistance RD.

𝑫
𝑫
𝑫

• In general, therefore, the higher the current through a diode, the lower is the dc
resistance level.
• Typically, the dc resistance of a diode in the active (most utilized) region will range
from about 10 Ω to 80 Ω.
Example: Determine the dc resistance levels for the diode of figure below at
a. ID = 2 mA (low level)
b. ID = 20 mA (high level)
c. VD = -10 V (reverse-biased)

a. At ID = 2 mA, VD = 0.5 V (from the curve) and

𝑫
𝑫
𝑫
b. At ID = 20 mA, VD = 0.8 V (from the curve) and

𝑫
𝑫
𝑫
𝑫
c. At VD = -10 V, ID = -Is = -1 μA (from the curve) and 𝑫
𝑫
 AC (Dynamic) Resistance
• If a sinusoidal input is applied, the varying input will
move the instantaneous operating point up and down
a region of the characteristics.

• With no applied varying signal, the point of operation

would be the Q-point, determined by the applied dc
levels. The designation Q-point is derived from the
word quiescent, which means “still or unvarying.”

• 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.

In general, therefore, the lower the Q-point of operation (smaller current or lower voltage), the
higher is the ac resistance.
Example: For the characteristics of figure below:
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.
a. For ID = 2 mA, the tangent line at ID = 2 mA is drawn and a
swing of 2 mA above and below the specified diode current is
chosen. At ID = 4 mA, VD = 0.76 V, and at ID = 0 mA, VD = 0.65
V. The resulting changes in current and voltage are,
respectively,
ΔId = 4 mA - 0 mA = 4 mA

ΔVd = 0.76 V - 0.65 V = 0.11 V

and the ac resistance is

Δ𝑉 0.11 𝑉
𝑟 = = = 27.5 Ω
Δ𝐼 4 𝑚𝐴
Example Contd.
b. For ID = 25 mA, the tangent line at ID = 25 mA is drawn and a swing of 5 mA above and below the
specified diode current is chosen. At ID = 30 mA, VD = 0.8 V, and at ID = 20 mA, VD = 0.78 V. The resulting
changes in current and voltage are, respectively,

ΔId = 30 mA - 20 mA = 10 mA,

and ΔVd = 0.8 V - 0.78 V = 0.02 V

and the ac resistance is Δ𝑉 0.02 𝑉

𝑟 = = =2Ω
Δ𝐼 10 𝑚𝐴

c. For ID = 2 mA, VD = 0.7 V, 𝑉 0.7 𝑉

𝑅 = = = 350 𝛺 which far exceeds the rd of 27.5 Ω.
𝐼 2 𝑚𝐴

𝑉 0.79 𝑉
For ID = 25 mA, VD = 0.79, 𝑅 = = = 31.62 𝛺 which far exceeds the rd of 2 Ω.
𝐼 25 𝑚𝐴
 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.

pt. to pt.

For the situation indicated by Figure,

ΔId = 17 mA - 2 mA = 15 mA
and ΔVd = 0.725 V - 0.65 V = 0.075 V
As with the dc and ac resistance levels,
the lower the level of currents used to
determine the average resistance, the
higher is the resistance level.
Summary: Diode Resistance