EE 321 Lab 4 Fall 2002

EE321 – Lab 4
Diodes, Part 1 — The I-V Characteristics of Diodes

The purpose of this lab is to investigate the i-v (current-voltage) characteristics of rectifier and
zener diodes.

Rectifier Diodes

1. Use the circuit in Figure 1 to display the i-v characteristic of the 1N4001 rectifier diode on
your scope using its X-Y capability. This is very similar to the method we used to measure the
transfer function in Lab 1. Note that in Figure 1 the ground of the oscilloscope is not the same
as the ground of the circuit. Many instruments receive their ground reference through the
power cord, including our scope, power supply, and signal generator, to prevent potentially
dangerous shocks. By using the isolation transformer between the function generator and the
wall power you may break this reference and set a new reference by the output connections.
Ch 1

Floating
Function 1N4001
Generator

Scope Ground
100 Ω

Ch 2

Figure 1.

Check the 1N4001 datasheet. What is the maximum forward current and maximum reverse
voltage the diode can handle? Can your function generate exceed these values?
Change your scope inputs/settings to obtain a ‘normal-looking’ i-v characteristic (e.g. Sedra
and Smith p. 132). Vary the amplitude of the signal generator and observe the X-Y trace.
At what voltage (within 0.1 V) does the diode appear to ‘turn on’ (current starts to flow)?
2. Sketch the i-v curve. Be sure your amplitude is large enough so the current reaches at
least 20 mA. Label axes and add voltage and current scales. Determine the forward voltage
when the current is 1 mA and 10 mA (use the time mode and cursors). Does the forward
characteristic remain exponential up to the maximum forward current? (Can you tell?)
3. Remove the diode from the circuit and use the diode setting of your multi-meter to check the
diode. In this setting the multi-meter puts 1 mA into your diode and measures the voltage.
How does this compare to your result from Part 3?

Zener Diodes

4. Using the setup of Figure 1 display and sketch the i-v characteristics for the 1N5229 and
1N5237 zener diodes. For each diode, measure the zener voltage at a reverse current of
20 mA and compare with the specification values from the datasheet. Which diode has the
steeper slope in the breakdown region? Which would make a better voltage regulator?

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EE 321 Lab 4 Fall 2002

About
1N4001
+10V

Figure 2.

5. Each of the zener diodes has a 500 mW power rating. What maximum steady zener current
does this imply?

Diode Forward Characteristics

6. Compute the parameters n and IS which govern the forward diode characteristic by measuring
ID and VD at two points in the forward bias region of your 1N4001 diode. Use the circuit
shown in Figure 2 (do not use the function generator or scope this time). Make measurements
using a 1 KΩ (to give ID = 10 mA) and then a 10 KΩ (to give ID = 1 mA) current limiting
resistor. Adjust the 15 V power until the voltage accross the resistor is 10 V, and measure the
diode voltage. (Do this accurately using a digital multi-meter to measure the voltage across
the current-limiting resistor.) Sketch circuit and show calculations for n and IS (Ref: Sedra
and Smith p. 132-134).
Compare the 1 mA voltages of parts 2, 3 and 6. If the difference is more than 20% repeat
and carefully check each measurements.

7. Measure the incremental resistance rd of the above diode at DC bias current ID = 1 mA (see
figure 3.25 in Sedra and Smith). Use the circuit in Figure 3 and your oscilloscope. (The
floating signal generator provides a ”small signal” vd , id around the bias point set by the dc
power supply. Observe the small signals using AC coupling on the scope.) The incremental
resistance is given by rd = vd /id . Compare your measurements with the theoretical value for
rd (Eq 3.53 in Sedra and Smith).

Floating
Function
Ch 2 Generator

Ch 1
10k Ω

About 1N4001
+10V

Scope Ground

Figure 3.

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EE 321 Lab 4 Fall 2002

Pre-Lab

1. Use the diode equation (eq 3.1 in Sedra and Smith) to find the expected iD for vD = 0.1, 0.2,
0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 V (let IS = 30 × 10−8 A and n = 2).

2. If you had measured the diode current iD = 1 mA at vD = 0.6 V and iD = 10 mA at