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PHY307: Lab III

Saif Ar Rasul
20111003

Spring 2023 Semester

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1 Theory

1.1 Diode

A diode is a device that is made by sandwiching two pieces of semiconductor, one of n-type and one of
p-type. Joining them produces a circuit component that allows current to pass in the p to n direction
but not in the reverse direction.

Figure 1: circuit symbol for a diode

1.2 Circuit Connection of a Diode

A diode can be connected in one of two ways, forward-biased and reverse-biased configuration.

The forward-biased configuration is achieved by having the potential at the p-side higher that
on the n-side, such that from p to n we have a positive potential difference. The diode starts letting
current through when the voltage across it, VD , exceeds Vt , the cut-in voltage or threshold voltage.
For a silicon-based diode Vt = 0.5 V . Above this voltage the diode acts like a switch that is turned
on.

The reverse-biased configuration is achieved by having the potential at the p-side lower that on the
n-side, such that from p to n we have a negative potential difference. A negligible amount of current
flows from n to p, called the leakage current. For practical purposes it can be assumed that the
diode acts like an switch in the turned off state.

Figure 2: An ideal diode in the forward- and reverse-biased configuration can be modelled as a switch.

Summarily,
If VD < 0, the diode is off
If 0 < VD < Vt , the diode is off

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 If VD > Vt , the diode is on

If the reverse-biased voltage becomes too highly negative, we can reach VS , the breakdown
voltage, and then the diode breaks down and lets a large amount of current to flow through in the
reverse direction. This current is called the avalanche current. In most cases this damages the
diode.

1.3 Current-Voltage (IV) Characteristics

The description above can be visualised with a Current vs./ voltage graph, called the IV characteristics.
For comparison, the ideal model of a diode is also shown.

Figure 3: The IV characteristic of a diode in the ideal model vs. the IV characteristics of a real diode

2 Apparatus

Breadboard, 1 kΩ Resistor, Zener Diode, DC Power Supply.

3 Procedure

1. We set up a circuit on the breadboard as given by the Figure 4.

2. We measured the actual resistance of the ideally 1kΩ resistor and noted it down.

3. We varied the voltage of the DC power supply, VDC , from 0.1 V to 1.0 V in increments of 0.1 V
and then 2.0 V to 15.0 V in increments of 1.0 V and measured the potential difference across
the resistor, VR , and the potential difference across the diode, VD .
VR
4. We calculated ID , the current through this series circuit, using the formula ID = R by applying
Ohm’s law on the resistor.

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 Figure 4: The circuit constructed in this experiment

5. We plotted a graph of ID vs. VD .

6. We calculated the static resistances for ID = 4, 8 and 12 mA.

4 Table and Graph

Figure 5: IV characteristics of the diode used in the experiment.

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 VDC (V) VR (V) VD (V) ID (mA)
0.1 0.00 0.035 0.00
0.2 0.00 0.0815 0.00
0.3 0.000100 0.209 0.000100
0.4 0.00140 0.299 0.00140
0.5 0.0194 0.403 0.0197
0.6 0.0729 0.440 0.0739
0.7 0.148 0.475 0.150
0.8 0.202 0.497 0.205
0.9 0.274 0.507 0.278
1.0 0.407 0.531 0.412
2.0 1.37 0.535 1.39
3.0 2.30 0.591 2.33
4.0 3.30 0.620 3.34
5.0 4.30 0.640 4.36
6.0 5.25 0.620 5.32
7.0 6.24 0.640 6.32
8.0 7.24 0.640 7.34
9.0 8.26 0.640 8.37
10.0 9.22 0.660 9.34
11.0 10.9 0.650 11.0
12.0 11.2 0.670 11.4
13.0 12.2 0.680 12.4
14.0 13.2 0.680 13.4
15.0 14.2 0.680 14.4

Table 1: The data obtained from the experiment

5 Calculation

Our resistor had an actual resistance of 0.987 kΩ, measured using a multimeter.

The formula for the best fit curve shown in Figure 5 is given the following equation (rounded to 3
s.f.)
ID = 1.12 × 10−6 mA · exp (24.3VD ) (1)
( )
1 ID
=⇒ VD = −1
ln (2)
24.3 V 1.12 × 10−6 mA

Calculating the static resistances at the required values,

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 For ID = 4 mA, ( )
1 4 mA
VD = ln = 0.621 V
24.3 V −1 1.12 × 10−6 mA
VD 0.621 V
∴ rD = = = 155.25Ω
ID 4 × 103 A

For ID = 8 mA, ( )
1 4 mA
VD = ln = 0.649 V
24.3 V −1 1.12 × 10−6 mA
VD 0.649 V
∴ rD = = = 81.125Ω
ID 4 × 103 A

For ID = 12 mA, ( )
1 4 mA
VD = ln = 0.666 V
24.3 V −1 1.12 × 10−6 mA
VD 0.666 V
∴ rD = = = 55.5Ω
ID 4 × 103 A

6 Results and Discussion

The results follow the exponential best-fit line quite well, as predicted by the theory by Figure 3. The
percentage deviation of the results from the best-fit line is given by Figure 6. The point (0.535, 169.8)

Figure 6: The percentage error in the value of ID to the value predicted by the best-fit line given by
% Deviation = |ID − Ibest-fit |/|Ibest-fit | × 100%

seems to have an anomalously high percentage deviation, however the rest of the points seem to have
overall decreasing percentage deviation. This is likely due to the fact the at the DC power supply
produces an unstable output at very low voltages.

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 In addition to this, it is noteworthy that even though the lab manual requested us to measure VR
only, we measured VD and VR separately. The lab manual assumed that the internal resistance of the
DC power supply and the wires is negligible, however it was not the case with our experimental setup.

We find that the resistance rD of the diode is dependent on the voltage VD across it in the forward-
biased configuration. In fact, rD decreases as VD increases. The current is dependent on the number
of charge carriers flowing across the p-n junction that can cross the potential barrier. As voltage
increases, the number of charge carriers with enough energy to cross the potential barrier, and thus
the current ID increases exponentially, and so the static resistance rD = VIDD decreases exponentially.

no mention of reverse characteristics.