Lecturer: Dr.

Ali Osman ARSLAN 1

Mail: [email protected]

10/14/2022
 The learning objectives of this chapter are as follows
 To understand the diode characteristics and its models
 To learn the types of diodes
 To learn the series and parallel operation of diodes
 To study the effects of a unidirectional device like a diode on RLC circuits
 To study the applications of diodes in freewheeling and stored-energy recovery

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 Semiconductors are materials which are able to easily conduct electricity at a level
about midway between conductors and insulators. Silicon is currently main
material used for the semiconductor components which are essential to electrical
circuits.

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 If talking just in terms of ease of electrical conductance, metal would be clearly
superior to semiconductors.
But what is interesting about semiconductors, is that they can conduct current or
not conduct current depending on conditions. Metal cannot be made to not
conduct electricity, however semiconductors by their nature can rectify and control
this conduction.
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 A silicon atom has 14 electrons around the nucleus, and
of these, there are 4 valence electrons on the outermost
orbital. When this is made into a single crystal, it can be
used as a material for semiconductor products.

When it crystalizes, the nuclei share electrons and they

bond with 8 electrons around each nucleus. Electricity for
the most part does not conduct in this pure
monocrystalline silicon state.
Doping silicon with other impurities changes it so it is
conductive. The semiconductor is categorized as a p-type
or n-type depending on the type of impurities that are
doped. Junctions based on the p-types and n-types are
integrated into one chip in order to use it as an electronic
component. 10/14/2022 5
 If pure silicon is doped with a small amount of phosphorus (or arsenic or
antimony)(Group V elements) each atom of dopant forms a covalent bont within
silicon, leaving a loose electron.
 These loose electrons greatly increase the conductivity of the material.
 Some of the silicon atoms are replaced with P (phosphorus).

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 When the silicon is lightly doped with an impurity such as phosphorus, the doping
is denoted as n-doping and resultant material is referred to as n-type
semiconductor.
 When it is heavily doped, it is denoted as n+ doping and the material is referred to
as n+ - type semiconductor

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 If pure silicon is doped with a small amount of boron (or gallium or indium)(Group
III elements) a vacant location called as hole is introduced into silicon.
 These holes greatly increase the conductivity of the material.
 Some of the silicon atoms are replaced with B (boron).

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 When the silicon is lightly doped with an impurity such as boron, the doping is
denoted as p-doping and resultant material is referred to as p-type
semiconductor.
 When it is heavily doped, it is denoted as p+ doping and the material is referred to
as p+ - type semiconductor

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 Electrons move toward the plus pole. At this time, current flows in the opposite
direction of the electrons’ movement.

• n-type semiconductor

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 Electrons are what is actually moving, but the holes appear to be moving toward
the direction of the minus pole.

• p-type semiconductor

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 As a result, both p-type and n-type semiconductors can have current flow, but they
are not as conductive as metal. Therefore, there is no need to use semiconductors if
the only purpose is for current flow or conductivity.
 The advantages or characteristics of a semiconductor are its ability to allow or
stop current flow based on certain conditions.
 The basic principle behind a semiconductor is its rectification behavior using a p-n
junction.

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When voltage is applied to the p-n junction so that p
becomes plus, the holes and the electrons can be moved
toward the interface.
When holes and electrons meet at the interface (junction),
the electrons jump into holes and both are eliminated.
After those electrons are eliminated, more electrons flow
into the n-layer, and electrons flow out from the p-layer,
creating new holes. This is repeated, enabling the current
to continue to flow.
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 Voltage is applied to the p-n junction so that n becomes plus.
Since the holes and electrons move away from one another,
they do not meet at the interface and the current cannot flow.
A region forms close to the interface, called the depletion
layer, which does not have any holes and electrons, and this
produces voltage-withstanding.
As a result, we know that there is rectification behavior in the
p-n junction.
Here is the region that does not have any holes and 10/14/2022 14
electrons…called the depletion layer
 A diode acts as a switch to perform various functions such as
 As switches in rectifiers
 Freewheeling in switching regulators
 Charge reversal of capacitor
 Energy transfer between components
 Voltage isolation
 Energy feedback from the load to the power source
 Trapped energy recovery

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 A power diode is two terminal pn-junction
device.
 When the anode potential is positive with
respect to the cathode, the diode is said to be
forward biased and diode conducts.
 A conducting diode has a relatively small
forward voltage drop across it.

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 A power diode is two terminal pn-junction
device.
 When the cathode potential is positive with
respect to the anode, the diode is said to be
reverse biased.
 Under reverse biased conditions a small
reverse current (leakage current) in the
range of micro- or milliampere, flows.

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 This leakage current increases slowly in magnitude
with reverse voltage until the avalanche or zener
voltage is reached.

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 For most of practical purpose, a diode can be regarded as an ideal switch.

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 i-v characteristics of a diode can be expressed by an
equation known as Schockley Diode Equation under dc
steady-state operation
VD

I D  I S (e nVT
 1)
 I D  current through the diode, A
 VD  diode voltage, V
15
 IS  leakage (reverse saturation) current(10 6
to 10 )
 n  emission coefficient or ideality factor values varies
from 1 to 2.

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 Emission coefficient depends on the material and the physical construction of the
diode
 For germanium diodes, n is considered as 1
 For silicon diodes, n is predicted as 2.
 For most practical silicon diodes the values of n falls in the range 1.1 to 1.8.

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 VT is constant called thermal voltage and it is given by

kT
VT 
q
 Where
 q  1.6022 x1019 C electron charge
 T  absolute temprature in Kelvin ( K=273 + C )
23
 k  1.3806 x10 J / K Boltzmann’s constant
 At a junction temp of 25 C kT 1.3806 x1023 x(273  25)
VT   19
 25.7mV
q 1.6022 x10 10/14/2022 22
 At specified temprature, the leakage current is a constant for given diode.
 The diode characteristic can be divided into three regions:

 Forward-biased region, where VD  0

 Reverse-biased region, where VD  0 VD  VBR VD  0 VD  0

 Breakdown region, where VD  VBR

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 In the forward-biased region, VD  0
 The diode current I D is very small if the diode voltage VD is less than specified value VTD
 The diode conducts fully if diode voltage is higher than VTD typically 0.7V
 which is referred as threshold voltage, cut-in voltage
 or turn-on voltage. VD  0

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Example: Let us consider;
VD  0.1V n 1 VT  25.7mV
Find the corresponding diode current in terms of Is

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 VD

I D  I S (e nVT
 1)
0.1
I D  I S (e 1 x 0.0257
 1)  I S (48.96  1)  47.96 I S

 which can be approximated to

VD

ID  IS e nVT
 48.96 I S with an error of 2.1%
VD VD

As VD increases, the error decreases rapidly. I D  I S (e nVT

 1)  I S e nVT

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 VD  0
 In the reverse-biased region,
 If VD is negative and VD  VT which occurs for VD  0.1V
the term becomes negligibly small compared with unity
and diode current becomes
VD  0
VD

I D  I S (e nVT
 1)   I S
which indicates that the diode current in the reverse direction is
constant and eqauls to Is

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 In the breakdown region, the reverse voltage is high (usually greater than 1000V)
 The reverse current increases rapidly by incrasing voltage at this region
 The reverse current in the breakdown region should be limited in the range of permisible
value which is depend on power dissipation capacity.

 If the reverse voltage exceeds the breakdown

voltage, the diode may be damaged.

VD  VBR

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For a power diode, the diode voltage is 1.2V, diode current is 300A, n=2; and thermal
voltage is 25.7mV. Find the reverse saturation current.

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For a power diode, the diode voltage is 1.2V, diode current is 300A, n=2; and thermal
voltage is 25.7mV. Find the reverse saturation current.

VD VD

I D  I S (e nVT
 1)  I S e nVT

1.2
300  I S (e 2 x 0.0257
 1)
I S  2.17746 x108 A

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 The current in a forward-biased junction diode is due to the net effect of majority
and minority carriers

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 Once a diode is in a forward conduction mode and then its forward current is
reduced to zero (due to the natural behavior of the diode circuit or application of a
reverse voltage), the diode continues to conduct due to minority carriers that
remain stored in the pn-junction and the bulk semiconductor material.
 The minority carriers re-quire a certain time to recombine with opposite charges
and to be neutralized. This time is called the reverse recovery time of diode.

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10/14/2022 33
10/14/2022 34
Heavy metal is diffused or an electron beam is
irradiated onto the diode with a p-n junction to
create a carrier trap in order to catch holes while
they are going back. The trr is improved by 2 to 3
digits, but the VF becomes larger as a result
10/14/2022 35
  Figure 2.3 shows two reverse recovery characteristics of junction diodes

 The soft-recovery type is more common.

 The reverse recovery time is denoted as trr , and is measured from the initial zero crossing of the diode
current to 25% of maximum (or peak) reverse current Igg.
 ta, is due to charge storage in the depletion region of the junction.

 The tb, is .due to charge storage in the bulk semiconductor material trr  ta  tb

tb
 softness factor
ta 10/14/2022 36
 The peak reverse current can be expressed as

di
I RR  ta
dt
 Variable trr, is dependent on the junction temperature, rate of fall of forward current, and forward
current prior to commutation, IF

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 Reverse recovery charge QRR, is the amount of charge carriers that flows across the diode
in the reverse direction due to changeover from forward conduction to reverse blocking
condition. Its value is determined from the area enclosed by the path of the reverse
recovery current.

1 1 1 2QRR di
trr  ta
QRR  I RR ta  I RR tb  I RR trr I RR  I RR  ta
2 2 2 trr dt
ı
2QRR
trr 
di / dt
di
I RR  2QRR
dt
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 The reverse recovery time of a diode is 3us and the rate of fall of the diode
current is 30A/us when trr is equal to ta. Determine

 A) storage charge
 B) peak reverse current

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 1 di 2 30
QRR  trr  0.5 x 6 x(3x106 ) 2  135uC
2 dt 10

di
I RR  2QRR  2 x135 x106 x30 x106  90 A
dt

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 During the reverse recovery time, the diode behaves effectively as a short circuit
and not capable of blocking reverse voltage, allowing reverse currnet flow and
suddenly distruping the current.
 Reverse recovery parameter is important for switching applications.

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Depending on the recovery characteristics and manufacturing techniques,
The power diodes can be classified into the following three categories:
 1. Standard or general-purpose diodes
 trr = 25 us
 Low speed applications upto 1 kHz
 Cost effective
 Ratings (6kV, 4.5kA)

 2. Fast-recovery diodes
 0.1us < trr < 5us
 High frequency swtiching of power converters
 expensive
 Ratings (6kV, 1.1kA)

 3. Schottky diodes
 trr in nano seconds
 Low forward voltage drop
 High current low voltage dc power supply
 Ratings (300V, 400A)

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 SiC is a new material for power electronic. Its physical properities outperform Si
and GaAs by far.

 No reverse recovery time

 Ultra switching behaviour
 No temprature influence on the switching behaviour
 Storage charge is about 20nC
 Ultralow power loss
 High reliability

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 Diodes are connected in series to increase the reverse blocking capabilities for high
power applications.
 In forward-biased condition, ID1 = ID2 and VD1 = VD2
 In reverse-blocking condition, VD1 != VD2

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 A simple solution to this problem is to force eqaul voltage sharing by connectiong
resistor across each diode.
 Due to equal voltage sharing, leakage current of each diode would be different
 IS = IS1 + IR1 = IS2 + IR2
 IR1 = VD1 / R1 and IR2 = VD2 / R2
 IS1 + VD1 / R1 = IS2 + VD2 / R2
 If the resistances are eqaul;
 IS1 + VD1 / R = IS2 + VD2 / R
 VD1 + VD2 = VS

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 When diodes of same type are connected in series they do not share the same
reverse voltage due to mismatches in theris v-i characteristics.

 Voltage sharing networks are needed to equilze the voltage sharing

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 In high power applications; diodes are connected in
parallel to increase the current carrying capability to meet
the desired current requirements.
 The current sharings of diodes would be in Accord with
their forward voltage drops.
 Uniform current sharing can be achieved by providing
equal inductance for dynamic conditions
 or by connecting current sharing resistors for steady
state conditions

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 When diodes of the same type are connected in parallel, they do not share the
same on-state current due to mismatch in their forward v-i characteristcis.

 Current sharing networks are needed to equalize the current sharing.

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 t
1
vs  VD  vR  vC  VD  Ri   idt  vC (t  0)
C t0

VS  VD  t / RC
i (t )  e
R
t
1
vC (t )   i (t )dt (VS  VD )(1  e  t / RC )
C0

dvC (t ) (VS  VD )  t / RC dvC (t ) (VS  VD )

 e 
dt RC dt RC 10/14/2022 49
 di
vs  VD  vR  vL  VD  Ri  L
dt

VS  VD
i (t )  (1  e  tR / L )
R

diL (t ) (VS  VD )  tR / L diL (t ) (VS  VD )

 e 
dt L dt L
di
vL (t )  L  (VS  VD )e  tR / L
dt 10/14/2022 50
 If t >> L/R; the voltage across the inductor tends to be zero and its current reaches
a steady-state value of Is=(Vs-Vd)/R.
 When switch open; the energy stored in inductor (0.5Li’2) will be transformed in to
a high reverse voltage across the switch and diode. This energy dissipates in the
form sparks across the switch and diode is likely to be damaged in this process.
 To overcome this situations, a diode commonly known as a freewheeling diode is
connected across an inductive load.

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 If S1 is closed for time t1; a current established through the load, and then if the
switch is opened, a path must be provided for current in the inductive load.
 Otherwise the inductive energy induces a very high voltage and this energy
dissipated as heats across the switch as sparks.
 This is normally done by connecting a diode Dm.

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 This operation can be divided in two modes.
 Mode 1 begins when the switch is closed at t=0;
 Mode 2 begins when the switch is then opened.
 The equivalent circuits for modes are shown in Figures.

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 During this mode; the diode current i1 is

VS
i1 (t )  (1  e  tR / L )
R
When the switch is opened at t=t1, the current at that time becomes

VS
I1  i1 (t  t1 )  (1  e  tR / L )
R
If the time t1 is sufficiently long, the current practically reaches a steady-state
current flows through the load.

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 This mode begins when the switch is opened and load current starts to through the
freewheeling diode Dm.
 The current through the freewheeling diode is found from
di2
0L  Ri 2
dt
 With initial condition i2(t=0)= I1 The solution of equation gives
the freewheelling current if = i2 as

i2 (t )  I1e  tR / L
 At t=t2, the current decays exponentially to practically zero provided that t2 >> L/R

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 The source voltage is 220V, the load inductance is 220uH and the resistance is
negligible.
 A) Draw the waveform for the load current if the switch is closed for a time 1=100us
and the is opened.

 B) Determine the final energy stored in the load inductor.

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 Circuit becomes as shown below.

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 di VS
VS  L di  dt
dt L
VS
i1 (t )  t  220*100 / 220  100 A
L

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 di VS
VS  L di  dt
dt L
VS
i1 (t )  t  220*100 / 220  100 A
L

10/14/2022 59
 When switch is opened at a time t=t1, the load current starts to flow through diode
Dm. Becaouse there is no resistive element in the circuit, the load current remains
constant at I=100A and the energy stored in the inductor is

1
E  LI 0 2  0.5 x 220 x106 x1002  1.1J
2

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10/14/2022 61
 The characterictics of practical diodes differ from those of ideal diodes.
 The reverse recovery time plays a significant role, especially at high speed
switching applications.
 Diodes can be classified into three types
 Genral purpose diodes
 Fast-Recovery diodes
 Schotthy diodes

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 To increase blocking voltage capability, diodes are connected in series and
voltage sharing networks are needed.
 To increase current carriying ability, diodes are connected in parallel and current
sharing networks are also needed.
 If the diode is inductive, an antiparallel diode known as the freewheeling diode
must be connected across the load to provide a path for inductive current to flow.
Otherwise, energy may be trapped into an inductive load.

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