3/20/2016

Diode Models and Circuits

Ideal Diode
PN Junction as a Diode
Applications of Diodes

EEMB 205 – Electronics I

Dicle University, EEE Department
Mehmet Siraç ÖZERDEM, PhD

After we have studied in detail the physics of a diode, it is

time to study its behavior as a circuit element and its many
applications.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Diode’s Action in The Black Box (Ideal Diode)

Diode’s Action in The Black Box (Ideal Diode)

The diode behaves as a short circuit during the positive

half cycle (voltage across it tends to exceed zero), and an
open circuit during the negative half cycle (voltage across it
is less than zero).
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Ideal Diode

• In an ideal diode, if the voltage across it tends to exceed zero,

current flows.
• It is analogous to a water pipe that allows water to flow in
only one direction.

Diodes in Series
Diodes cannot be connected in
series randomly.

For the circuits above, only a)

can conduct current from A to C.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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I/V Characteristics of an Ideal Diode

Diode : open Diode : short

Anti-Parallel Ideal Diodes

D1 D2
VA > 0 ON OFF
VA < 0 OFF ON

If two diodes are connected in anti-parallel, it acts as a

short for all voltages.
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Diode-Resistor Combination
If VA > 0 then IA=VA/R1 If VA < 0 then IA=0

The IV characteristic of this diode-resistor combination is

zero for negative voltages and Ohm’s law for positive
voltages.

Diode Implementation of OR Gate

• The circuit above shows an example of diode-implemented

OR gate.
• Vout can only be either VA or VB, not both.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Input/Output Characteristics

• When Vin is less than zero, the diode opens, so Vout = Vin
• When Vin is greater than zero, the diode shorts, so Vout = 0

Diode’s Application: Rectifier

complete
rectifier

•A rectifier is a device that passes positive-half cycle of a sinusoid and

blocks the negative half-cycle or vice versa.
•When Vin is greater than 0, diode shorts, so Vout = Vin ; however, when Vin
is less than 0, diode opens, no current flows thru R1, Vout = I×R1 = 0.

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Signal Strength Indicator (Average or DC value)

To compute the average, we obtain the area under Vout and

normalize the result to the period:

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Diode’s applications
Shifted to the right

Rectifier

Limiter

• The purpose of a limiter is to force the output to remain below

certain value.

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Limiter: When Battery Varies

• An interesting case occurs when VB (battery) varies.

• Rectification fails if VB is greater than the input amplitude.

Terminal Characteristics of Junction Diodes

Three distinct regions
1. vD > 0
2. vZK < vD < 0
3. vD < vZK
Forward Bias

IS Saturation current (proportional to surface area of pn junction)

VT =kT/q Thermal voltage
k Boltzmann’s constant=1.38 × 10-23 joules/Kelvin
T The absolute temperature in kelvins =273+C
q the magnitude of electronic charge = 1.60 × 10-19 coulomb

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Temperature Dependence of
the Diode Forward Characteristics

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Different Models for Diode

the ideal model the exponential
of diode, model of diode,

the constant
model of diode,

Thus far, Diode models include the ideal model of diode,

the exponential, and constant voltage models.

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Input/Output Characteristics with Ideal and

Constant-Voltage Models

The circuit above shows the difference between the ideal and
constant-voltage model; the two models yield two different
break points of slope

Example - Exponential Model

D1 and D2 have different cross section areas but are
otherwise identical

Determine the current flowing through each diode.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Example
Input/Output Characteristics with a Constant- Voltage Model

Example
Input/Output Characteristics with a
Constant- Voltage Model

illustration for
very negative
inputs

Diode circuit

equivalent circuit
When D1 is off
input/output characteristic

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Example
Input/Output Characteristics with a Constant- Voltage Model

Large-Signal and Small-Signal Operation

• Our treatment of diodes thus far has allowed arbitrarily
large voltage and current changes, thereby requiring a
“general” model such as the exponential I/V
characteristic. We call this regime “large signal
operation”.
• However, as seen in previous examples, this model often
complicates the analysis, making it difficult to develop an
intuitive understanding of the circuit’s operation.
• Furthermore, as the number of nonlinear devices in the
circuit increases, “manual” analysis eventually becomes
impractical.

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Example (Cell Phone Adapter)

a) Determine the reverse saturation current IS1 so that Vout=2.4V
b) Compute Vout if the adaptor voltage is in fact 3.1 V

Io=0 (Neglect)

• Vout = 3 VD,on is used to charge cell phones.

• However, if Ix changes, iterative method is often needed to
obtain a solution, thus motivating a simpler technique.

Example (Cell Phone Adapter)

a)

b) If Vad increases to 3.1V, we expect that Vout increases only slightly.

First suppose Vout remains constant and equal 2.4V
VR1=0.7V then Ix =7mA

we conclude that
Vad=3V then Vout=2.4V
Vad=3.1V then Vout=2.411V
Very small difference
The constant-voltage diode model would not be useful in this case.

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Small-Signal Analysis

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Small-Signal Analysis

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Example
A diode is biased at a current of 1 mA.
(a) Determine the current change if VD changes by 1mV.
(b) Determine the voltage change if ID changes by 10%.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Small-Signal Incremental Resistance

Since there’s a linear relationship between the small signal

current and voltage of a diode, the diode can be viewed as
a linear resistor when only small changes are of interest

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Example (Cell Phone Adapter)

Repeat part (b)

VD =

Example (Cell Phone Adapter)

Now suppose that the load pulls a current of 0.5 mA,
determine Vout.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Applications of Diode

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Half-Wave Rectifier

• A very common application of diodes is half-wave rectification,

where either the positive or negative half of the input is blocked.
• But, how do we generate a constant output?

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Diode-Capacitor Circuit: Constant Voltage Model

If the resistor in half-wave rectifier is replaced by a

capacitor, a fixed voltage output is obtained since the
capacitor (assumed ideal) has no path to discharge.

Diode-Capacitor Circuit: Ideal Model

Input and output waveforms of

the circuit with an ideal diode

Vin, only shifted down

The voltage across the diode.

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Diode-Capacitor with Load Resistor

A path is available for capacitor to discharge.

Therefore, Vout will not be constant and a ripple exists.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Behavior for Different Capacitor Values

For large C1, Vout has small ripple.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Peak to Peak amplitude of Ripple

t1=0

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Peak to Peak amplitude of Ripple

To ensure a small ripple RLC1 must be much greater than t3-t1;

thus, noting that

Ripple voltage
VR

• Ripple voltage becomes a problem if it goes above 5 to 10% of

the output voltage.

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Peak to Peak amplitude of Ripple

t4

t1
∆T

Tin

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Example
• A laptop computer consumes an average power of 25 W with
a supply voltage of 3.3 V. Determine the average current
drawn from the batteries or the adapter.

• If the laptop is modeled by a resistor, RL

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Example
• A transformer converts the 110-V, 60-Hz line voltage to a
peak-to-peak swing of 9 V. A halfwave rectifier follows the
transformer to supply the power to the laptop computer.
Determine the minimum value of the filter capacitor that
maintains the ripple below 0.1 V (VD,on = 0.8V)

This is a very large value

Full-Wave Rectifier

• A full-wave rectifier passes both the negative and positive half

cycles of the input, while inverting the negative half of the input.

• As proved later, a full-wave rectifier reduces the ripple by a factor

of two.
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Full-Wave Rectifier: Bridge Rectifier

The figure above shows a full-wave rectifier, where D1 and D2

pass/invert the negative half cycle of input and D3 and D4 pass the
positive half cycle.

Input/Output Characteristics of a Full-Wave Rectifier

(Constant-Voltage Model)

The dead-zone around Vin arises because Vin must exceed 2 VD,ON to
turn on the bridge.

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Complete Full-Wave Rectifier

Example
• Design a full-wave rectifier to deliver an average power of 2W
to a cellphone with a voltage of 3.6 V (Vout,p) and a ripple (VR)
of 0.2V (VD,on = 0.8V).

Vin,p=Vp and Vout,p=Vp - 2VD,on

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Summary of Half and Full-Wave Rectifiers

Full-wave rectifier is more suited to adapter and charger

applications.
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Voltage Regulator

• The ripple created by the rectifier can be unacceptable to

sensitive load; therefore, a regulator is required to obtain a very
stable output.
• Three diodes operate as a primitive regulator.

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Regulation With Zener Diode

• Voltage regulation can be accomplished with Zener diode.

• Since rd is small, large change in the input will not be
reflected at the output.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Line Regulation VS. Load Regulation

Our brief study of regulators thus far reveals two important aspects
of their design:

The stability of the output with respect to input variations

“line regulation”

The stability of the output with respect to load current variations

“load regulation”

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Example: Line Regulation VS. Load Regulation

Line regulation

Load regulation

Evolution of AC-DC Converter

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Limiting Circuits

• The motivation of having limiting circuits is to keep the

signal below a threshold so it will not saturate the entire
circuitry.
• When a receiver is close to a base station, signals are
large and limiting circuits may be required.
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

Input/Output Characteristics

• Note the clipping of the output voltage

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Limiting Circuit Using a Diode:

Positive Cycle Clipping

As was studied in the past, the combination of resistor - diode

creates limiting effect.

Limiting Circuit Using a Diode:

Negative Cycle Clipping

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Limiting Circuit Using a Diode:

Positive and Negative Cycle Clipping

General Voltage Limiting Circuit

Two batteries in series with

the anti-parallel diodes
control the limiting voltages.

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Non-idealities in Limiting Circuits

The clipping region is not exactly flat since as Vin increases, the
currents through diodes change, and so does the voltage drop.

Capacitive Divider

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Waveform Shifter: Peak at -2Vp

• As Vin increases, D1 turns on and Vout is zero.

• As Vin decreases, D1 turns off, and Vout drops with Vin from zero.

Waveform Shifter: Peak at 2Vp

Similarly, when the terminals of the diode are switched, a voltage

doubler with peak value at 2Vp can be conceived.
Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Voltage Doubler

The output increases by Vp, Vp/2, Vp/4, etc in each input cycle,
eventually settling to 2 Vp.

Current thru D1 in Voltage Doubler

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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Another Application: Voltage Shifter

Voltage Shifter (2VD,ON)

Dr. MS ÖZERDEM

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