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Lab 1

The document summarizes the characteristics of a silicon diode and the process of conducting an experiment to measure its I-V curve in forward and reverse bias. In forward bias, current only starts to flow above 0.6-0.7V as carriers must overcome the depletion region barrier. In reverse bias, a small leakage current flows due to minority carriers. The experiment involves assembling a circuit to apply varying voltages to a diode and measuring the current, then plotting the I-V curve to compare forward and reverse characteristics.

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80 views6 pages

Lab 1

The document summarizes the characteristics of a silicon diode and the process of conducting an experiment to measure its I-V curve in forward and reverse bias. In forward bias, current only starts to flow above 0.6-0.7V as carriers must overcome the depletion region barrier. In reverse bias, a small leakage current flows due to minority carriers. The experiment involves assembling a circuit to apply varying voltages to a diode and measuring the current, then plotting the I-V curve to compare forward and reverse characteristics.

Uploaded by

mohanad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Experiments of

analogue electronics
laboratory
Lab(1)
Characteristic of a silicon diode
1. Aim of the experiment :

Displaying the characteristic of a silicon diode and studying the


relationship between the current and voltage in the biasing state (forward and
reverse).

2. Theory:

A diode is the simplest sort of semiconductor device. Broadly speaking,


a semiconductor is a material with a varying ability to conduct electrical
current. Most semiconductors are made of a poor conductor that has had
impurities (atoms of another material) added to it. The process of adding
impurities is called doping. Semiconductor diode theory is at the very center of
much of today's electronics industry. In fact semiconductor technology is
present in almost every area of modern day technology and as such
semiconductor theory is a very important element of electronics. One of the
fundamental structures within semiconductor technology is the PN junction. It
is the fundamental building block of semiconductor diodes and transistors and a
number of other electronic components. The semiconductor diode has the
valuable property that electrons only flow in one direction across it and as a
result it acts as a rectifier. As it has two electrodes it receives its name - diode.
In view of this, it is one of the most fundamental structures in semiconductor
technology. Vast numbers of diodes are manufactured each year, and of course
the semiconductor diode is the basis of many other devices apart from diodes.
The bipolar junction transistor, junction FET and many more all rely on the PN
junction for their operation. This makes the semiconductor PN junction diode
one of the key enablers in today's electronics technology.
PN junction characteristics

The PN junction is not an ideal rectifier diode having infinite resistance in the
reverse direction and no resistance in the forward direction.
Referring to figure (1) , in the forward direction (forward biased) it can be seen
that very little current flows until a certain voltage has been reached. This
represents the work that is required to enable the charge carriers to cross the
depletion layer. This voltage varies from one type of semiconductor to another.
For germanium it is around 0.2 or 0.3 volts and for silicon it is about 0.6-0.7
volts. In fact it is possible to measure a voltage of about 0.6-0.7 volts across
most small current diodes when they are forward biased. Power rectifier diodes
normally have a larger voltage across them but this is partly due to the fact that
there is some resistance in the silicon, and partly due to the fact that higher
currents are flowing and they are operating further up the curve.
From the diagram it can be seen that a small amount of current flows in the
reverse direction (reverse biased). It has been exaggerated to show it on the
diagram, and in normal circumstances it is very much smaller than the forward
current. Typically it may be a pico amps or micro amps at the most. However it
is worse at higher temperatures and it is also found that germanium is not as
good as silicon.
This reverse current results from what are called minority carriers. These are a
very small number of electrons found in a P type region or holes in an N type
region. Early semiconductors Power has relatively high levels of minority
carriers, but now that the manufacture of semiconductor materials is very much
better the number of minority carriers is much reduced as are the levels of
reverse currents.
3. practical part:

a. Assemble the circuit as follow:

A
R=470Ω

CRO

Vi=10V DC In4007

R=1KΩ

b. Set the voltage on the power supply unit to 0 volt.

c. Switch on and slowly increase the voltage using variable resistance(1kΩ)


and record the current values as follow:
V(volt) 0 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7
I(mAmp)

d. Reverse the diode or the power supply voltage and record the current as the
table below:
V(volt) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I(mAmp
)

e. Draw the relationship between current and voltage in the state (forward and
reverse ) biasing.

4. Discuss the difference in the current in the state of forward and reverse
biasing.

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