ECE 2221L EXPERIMENT 1: DIODE CHARACTERISTICS

OBJECTIVES: At the end of the experiment, the student should be able to:
- Connect a circuit based on a circuit diagram
- Measure the voltage and current on a circuit
- Graph the output based on the measured data

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:
Semiconductors, like Silicon or Germanium, are elements having resistivity that in intermediate between a
conductor and an insulator. They inherently have four electrons in the valence band which helps them to form
covalent bonds with four neighboring silicon atoms. At room temperature, few of these electrons absorb enough
energy to break away from the nucleus and serve as conduction electrons. The conduction properties can also be
easily changed by changing the doping (adding different elements to) the semiconductor. Addition of a
pentavalent impurity such as Phosphorus, N – type dopant, gives an additional electron after the four silicon
bonds are satisfied. Similarly, a trivalent impurity such as Boron, a P‐type dopant, creates an absence of
electron, a hole. The entire semiconductor material is a single crystal, with one region doped to be P ‐type, with
excess holes, and the adjacent region to be N‐type, with excess electrons. This creates a metallurgical junction
between the p and n regions. The contact to the p region is called the anode and that of the n region is called
cathode.

Forward Biased P‐N junction :

Application of a positive voltage to the p region and negative voltage to the n region creates an additional
electric field in the space charge region. But this time the field opposes the space – charge E ‐field. This disturbs
the balance between diffusion and E‐field force. Hence majority carriers from the p region diffuse over to the n
side and electrons from n side move over to the p side of the junction. This process continues as long as the
voltage is applied. Thus, in the forward bias mode, the diode carries a large current.

Reverse Biased P‐N junction :

A voltage source with its positive terminal connected to the n region and negative terminal connected to the p
region reverse biases the P‐N junction. This increased electric filed holds back the holes in the p region and
electrons in the n region and hence, there is no current flow. The electric field and the width of the space ‐charge
region increases. There is also a decrease in junction capacitance associated due to increase in the width. Thus,
the reverse bias region is characterized by negligible current (due to minority carriers) even on the application
of a very high voltage across the terminals, the limit being decided by reverse breakdown voltage of the diode

Figure 1: PN Junction, Forward and Reverse Bias

MATERIALS:
- Diode 1N4001
- Resistor 10k ohm
- DC power supply
- Connecting wires
- Breadboard
- Volt-Ohm Meter
- Ammeter

PROCEDURE:
1. Connect the diode in the forward bias mode in Figure 2.
2. Connect a current limiting resistor in series with the diode.

Figure 2: Forward Bias Circuit

3. Slowly increase the voltage applied and measure the current (I) through the diode and the voltage across
the diode (VD). Take more than 10 readings.
4. Plot the graph of VD vs ID.
5. Connect the circuit in Figure 3 and repeat steps 2 to 4.

Figure 3: Reverse Bias Circuit

6. Write all your data in Table 1 and 2 and plot the combined graph of forward and reverse bias for VD and
ID.
7. Let VD be x-axis and ID as y-axis.
DATA AND RESULTS:

Table 1: Forward Bias

DC Supply Voltage VD VR ID
0.1 99.503mV 497.18µV 49.718nA
0.3 276.23mV 23.769mV 2.3769µA
0.5 359.93mV 140.07mV 14.007µA
0.7 396.47mV 303.53mV 30.353µA
0.9 418.30mV 481.70mV 48.170µA
1.2 439.87mV 760.13mV 76.013µA
1.5 454.93mV 1.0451V 104.51µA
2.0 472.88mV 1.5271V 152.71µA
4.0 512.03mV 3.4880V 348.80µA
7.0 541.33mV 6.4587V 645.87µA
10.0 559.45mV 9.4405V 944.05µA

Table 2: Reverse Bias

DC Supply Voltage VD VR ID
1.0 999.93mV 68.923µV 6.8923nA
2.0 1.9999V 68.933µV 6.8933nA
3.0 2.9999V 68.943µV 6.8943nA
4.0 3.9999V 68.953µV 6.8953nA
5.0 4.9999V 68.963µV 6.8963nA
6.0 5.9999V 68.973µV 6.8973nA
7.0 6.9999V 68.983µV 6.8983nA
8.0 7.9999V 68.993µV 6.8993nA
9.0 8.9999V 69.003µV 6.9003nA
10.0 9.9999V 69.013µV 6.9013nA

Graph of VD vs ID
QUESTIONS:
1. What are semiconductors? Give the types and examples.

A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such
as metallic copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave the
opposite.
Diode.
Schottky Diode.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
DIAC.

2. Explain the reaction of the depletion region in a PN junction during forward and reverse bias.

-forward bias can supply free electrons and holes with the extra energy they requires to cross the junction as
the width of the depletion layer around the PN junction is decreased.
 - Reverse bias increases a diode's resistance, and forward bias decreases a diode's resistance. A reverse bias
does not permit the current to flow, whereas it flows effortlessly in forward bias through the diode.

3. Describe the result of the graph formed using your data collected.

Base from the graph formed I can notice that the results from the forward bias is that as the voltage
increases the current also goes higher with its corresponding values. As for the reverse bias, it just gives
the same effect that current is directly proportional to the voltage. But as we can see from the data
gathered, reversing the positive and negative poles of the source will give much higher values in the volt
and current readings.

CONCLUSION:

I therefore conclude that changing or reversing the position of the positive and negative side of the dc circuit
power source will have a huge effect on the overall system output of the circuit, specifically on increasing and
decreasing the electrical field. The entire semiconductor material, with one region doped to be P-type, with
excess holes, and the adjacent region with excess electrons to be N-type.. This establishes a metallurgical
intersection between the regions p and n. The interaction with the region of p is called the anode and the
cathode is called that of the region of n.
Forward Bias

Reverse Bias