Electrical Sciences (EEE F111)
Lecture No – 28
PN-Junction Diode
Dr. Manish Gupta
EEE
PN-Junction Diode
• Schematic view of a pn-diode
(Va )
(Vn )
p-side n-side
If the metal (or ohmic) contacts to a pn-junction, the resulting
in a circuit element is known as pn-diode or junction diode
• Depending on the applied bias, pn-diode operates in two
modes
• Forward bias mode (Va > Vn)
• Reverse bias mode (Va < Vn)
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PN-Junction Diode
Current-Voltage characteristics of a pn-diode
𝑉
i = Is (𝑒 ɳ𝑉𝑇 − 1)
V: Applied voltage , Is : Reverse saturation current
VT : Volt equivalent of temperature = kT/q = T/11600
k= Boltzmann constant, q = electronic charge, T = temperature in K
ɳ (eta): Emission coefficient ; for Si ɳ = 2 and for Ge ɳ = 1
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Impact of Applied Voltage (Bias)
on Depletion Width
Forward Bias Mode (Va > Vn)
• Electric field across the depletion layer reduces, which
leads to flow of current in a diode.
• The current flows due to majority carriers
Reverse Bias Mode (Va < Vn)
• Electric field across the depletion layer increases,
which restricts the flow of the electrons (or current).
• The current flows due to minority carriers
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Diodes : Si and Ge
Ge Si
Current-Voltage characteristics of Silicon (Si) and Germanium
(Ge) diode.
• VT,Ge < VT,Si
• IGe > Isi
• The higher current and lower built in voltage in Ge diode is
due to the lower bandgap of Ge material
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Diode: Impact of Temperature
• In the forward-bias region
the characteristics of a
silicon diode shift to the left
at a rate of 2.5 mV per
centigrade degree increase
in temperature.
• In the reverse-bias region
the reverse current of a
silicon diode doubles for
every 10°C rise in
temperature.
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Impact of Temperature
If Is (Ta) is the saturation current at temperature Ta, then the
saturation current at temperature Tb is evaluated using
above equation.
• The increase in current is due to the increase in electron-
hole pairs at higher temperature.
• By decreasing the voltage appropriately, it is possible to
compensate for increase in temperature
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Ideal vs Practical Diodes
Diode as a switch
Forward Bias Reverse Bias
The semiconductor diode behaves similar like a mechanical
switch. It can control whether current will flow between its
two terminals.
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Ideal vs Practical Diodes
Ideal diode
• During forward bias, the voltage across the diode is 0 V (Short circuit)
• During reverse bias, the current flows through the diode is 0 A (O
circuit)
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Ideal vs Practical Diodes
Practical diode
• Practical diode offers finite resistance, when forward or
reverse biased.
• Significant current flows when the applied voltage > built in
voltage
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Diode Circuits
1. Find VD, VR, and ID (assume Si
diode with Vbi = 0.7 V)
Answer:
2. Repeat the problem with reversed direction of diode
Answer: ID = 0 A, VD = 8 V, and VR = 0 V
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Diode Circuits
3. For the given series connection, find
VD, VR, and ID
Answer: ID = 0 A, VD = 0.5 V, and VR = 0 V
4. For the given connection, find ID, VD2,
and Vo
Sol.:
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Diode Circuits
If Vbi is assumed to be 0.7 V, VD2 = 20 - 0.7 V = 19.3 V
5. For the given connection, find I, V1 ,
V2, and Vo
Sol.:
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Diode Circuits
6. For the given connection, find I1,
ID1, ID2, and Vo
Sol.:
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Thank you
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