Robot

Electronics
Content
 1. Semiconductor Basics
 2. PN Junction Theory
 3. PN Junction Diode
 4. The Signal Diode
 5. Power Diodes and Rectifiers
 6. Full Wave Rectifier
 7. The Zener Diode
 8. The Light Emitting Diode
 9. Bypass Diodes in Solar Panels
 10. Diode Clipping Circuits
 11. The Schottky Diode

1. Semiconductor Basics

If resistors are the most basic passive component in electrical or electronic circuits, then we have
to consider the Signal Diode as being the most basic active component.

However, unlike a resistor, a diode does not behave linearly with respect to the
applied voltage as it has an exponential I-V relationship and therefore can not be
described simply by using Ohm’s law as we do for resistors.
Diodes are basic unidirectional semiconductor devices that will only allow current to
flow through them in one direction only, acting more like a one way electrical valve,
(Forward Biased Condition). But, before we have a look at how signal or power
diodes work we first need to understand the semiconductors basic construction and
concept.
Diodes are made from a single piece of Semiconductor material which has a positive
“P-region” at one end and a negative “N-region” at the other, and which has a
resistivity value somewhere between that of a conductor and an insulator. But what is
a “Semiconductor” material?, firstly let’s look at what makes something either
a Conductor or an Insulator.

Resistivity
The electrical Resistance of an electrical or electronic component or device is
generally defined as being the ratio of the voltage difference across it to the current
flowing through it, basic Ohm´s Law principals. The problem with using resistance as
a measurement is that it depends very much on the physical size of the material being
measured as well as the material out of which it is made. For example, if we were to
increase the length of the material (making it longer) its resistance would also increase
proportionally.
Likewise, if we increased its diameter or size (making it thicker) its resistance value
would decrease. So we want to be able to define the material in such a way as to
indicate its ability to either conduct or oppose the flow of electrical current through it
no matter what its size or shape happens to be.
The quantity that is used to indicate this specific resistance is called Resistivity and is
given the Greek symbol of ρ, (Rho). Resistivity is measured in Ohm - metres, (Ω.m ).
Resistivity is the inverse to conductivity.
If the resistivity of various materials is compared, they can be classified into three
main groups, Conductors, Insulators and Semi-conductors as shown below.
Resistivity Chart

Notice that there is a very small

margin between the resistivity of the
conductors such as silver and gold,
compared to a much larger margin for
the resistivity of the insulators
between glass and quartz.
This difference in resistivity is due in
part to their ambient temperature as
metals are much better conductors of
heat than are insulators.

Conductors
From above we now know that Conductors are materials that have very low values of
resistivity, usually in the micro-ohms per metre. This low value allows them to easily
pass an electrical current due to there being plenty of free electrons floating about
within their basic atom structure. But these electrons will only flow through a
conductor if there is something to spur their movement, and that something is an
electrical voltage.
When a positive voltage potential is applied to the material these “free electrons”
leave their parent atom and travel together through the material forming an electron
drift, more commonly known as a current. How “freely” these electrons can move
through a conductor depends on how easily they can break free from their constituent
atoms when a voltage is applied. Then the amount of electrons that flow depends on
the amount of resistivity the conductor has.
Examples of good conductors are generally metals such as Copper, Aluminium, Silver
or nonmetals such as Carbon because these materials have very few electrons in their
outer “Valence Shell” or ring, resulting in them being easily knocked out of the
atom’s orbit.

An Electrical Cable
uses Conductors
and Insulators
This allows them to flow freely through the material until they join up with other
atoms, producing a “Domino Effect” through the material thereby creating an
electrical current. Copper and Aluminium is the main conductor used in electrical
cables as shown.
Generally speaking, most metals are good conductors of electricity, as they have very
small resistance values, usually in the region of micro-ohms per metre, (μΩ.m).
While metals such as copper and aluminium are very good conducts of electricity,
they still have some resistance to the flow of electrons and consequently do not
conduct perfectly.
The energy which is lost in the process of passing an electrical current, appears in the
form of heat which is why conductors and especially resistors become hot as the
resistivity of conductors increases with ambient temperature.

Insulators
Insulators on the other hand are the exact opposite of conductors. They are made of
materials, generally non-metals, that have very few or no “free electrons” floating
about within their basic atom structure because the electrons in the outer valence shell
are strongly attracted by the positively charged inner nucleus.
In other words, the electrons are stuck to the parent atom and can not move around
freely so if a potential voltage is applied to the material no current will flow as there
are no “free electrons” available to move and which gives these materials their
insulating properties.
Insulators also have very high resistances, millions of ohms per metre, and are
generally not affected by normal temperature changes (although at very high
temperatures wood becomes charcoal and changes from an insulator to a conductor).
Examples of good insulators are marble, fused quartz, PVC plastics, rubber etc.
Insulators play a very important role within electrical and electronic circuits, because
without them electrical circuits would short together and not work. For example,
insulators made of glass or porcelain are used for insulating and supporting overhead
transmission cables while epoxy-glass resin materials are used to make printed circuit
boards, PCB’s etc. while PVC is used to insulate electrical cables as shown.

Semiconductor Basics
Semiconductors materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge) and gallium arsenide
(GaAs), have electrical properties somewhere in the middle, between those of a
“conductor” and an “insulator”. They are not good conductors nor good insulators
(hence their name “semi”-conductors). They have very few “free electrons” because
their atoms are closely grouped together in a crystalline pattern called a “crystal
lattice” but electrons are still able to flow, but only under special conditions.
The ability of semiconductors to conduct electricity can be greatly improved by
replacing or adding certain donor or acceptor atoms to this crystalline structure
thereby, producing more free electrons than holes or vice versa. That is by adding a
small percentage of another element to the base material, either silicon or germanium.
On their own Silicon and Germanium are classed as intrinsic semiconductors, that is
they are chemically pure, containing nothing but semi-conductive material. But by
controlling the amount of impurities added to this intrinsic semiconductor material it
is possible to control its conductivity. Various impurities called donors or acceptors
can be added to this intrinsic material to produce free electrons or holes respectively.
This process of adding donor or acceptor atoms to semiconductor atoms (the order of
1 impurity atom per 10 million (or more) atoms of the semiconductor) is
called Doping. The as the doped silicon is no longer pure, these donor and acceptor
atoms are collectively referred to as “impurities”, and by doping these silicon material
with a sufficient number of impurities, we can turn it into an N-type or P-type semi-
conductor material.
The most commonly used semiconductor basics material by far is silicon. Silicon has
four valence electrons in its outermost shell which it shares with its neighbouring
silicon atoms to form full orbital’s of eight electrons. The structure of the bond
between the two silicon atoms is such that each atom shares one electron with its
neighbour making the bond very stable.
As there are very few free electrons available to move around the silicon crystal,
crystals of pure silicon (or germanium) are therefore good insulators, or at the very
least very high value resistors.
Silicon atoms are arranged in a definite symmetrical pattern making them a crystalline
solid structure. A crystal of pure silica (silicon dioxide or glass) is generally said to be
an intrinsic crystal (it has no impurities) and therefore has no free electrons.
But simply connecting a silicon crystal to a battery supply is not enough to extract an
electric current from it. To do that we need to create a “positive” and a “negative”
pole within the silicon allowing electrons and therefore electric current to flow out of
the silicon. These poles are created by doping the silicon with certain impurities.

A Silicon Atom Structure

The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of a ‘normal’ pure crystal of
Silicon.

N-type Semiconductor Basics

In order for our silicon crystal to conduct electricity, we need to introduce an impurity
atom such as Arsenic, Antimony or Phosphorus into the crystalline structure making it
extrinsic (impurities are added). These atoms have five outer electrons in their
outermost orbital to share with neighbouring atoms and are commonly called
“Pentavalent” impurities.
This allows four out of the five orbital electrons to bond with its neighbouring silicon
atoms leaving one “free electron” to become mobile when an electrical voltage is
applied (electron flow). As each impurity atom “donates” one electron, pentavalent
atoms are generally known as “donors”.
Antimony (symbol Sb) as well as Phosphorus (symbol P), are frequently used as a
pentavalent additive to silicon. Antimony has 51 electrons arranged in five shells
around its nucleus with the outermost orbital having five electrons. The resulting
semiconductor basics material has an excess of current-carrying electrons, each with a
negative charge, and is therefore referred to as an N-type material with the electrons
called “Majority Carriers” while the resulting holes are called “Minority Carriers”.
When stimulated by an external power source, the electrons freed from the silicon
atoms by this stimulation are quickly replaced by the free electrons available from the
doped Antimony atoms. But this action still leaves an extra electron (the freed
electron) floating around the doped crystal making it negatively charged.
Then a semiconductor material is classed as N-type when its donor density is greater
than its acceptor density, in other words, it has more electrons than holes thereby
creating a negative pole as shown.

Antimony Atom and Doping

The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of the donor impurity atom
Antimony.

P-Type Semiconductor Basics

If we go the other way, and introduce a “Trivalent” (3-electron) impurity into the
crystalline structure, such as Aluminium, Boron or Indium, which have only three
valence electrons available in their outermost orbital, the fourth closed bond cannot be
formed. Therefore, a complete connection is not possible, giving the semiconductor
material an abundance of positively charged carriers known as holes in the structure
of the crystal where electrons are effectively missing.
As there is now a hole in the silicon crystal, a neighbouring electron is attracted to it
and will try to move into the hole to fill it. However, the electron filling the hole
leaves another hole behind it as it moves. This in turn attracts another electron which
in turn creates another hole behind it, and so forth giving the appearance that the holes
are moving as a positive charge through the crystal structure (conventional current
flow).
This movement of holes results in a shortage of electrons in the silicon turning the
entire doped crystal into a positive pole. As each impurity atom generates a hole,
trivalent impurities are generally known as “Acceptors” as they are continually
“accepting” extra or free electrons.
Boron (symbol B) is commonly used as a trivalent additive as it has only five
electrons arranged in three shells around its nucleus with the outermost orbital having
only three electrons. The doping of Boron atoms causes conduction to consist mainly
of positive charge carriers resulting in a P-type material with the positive holes being
called “Majority Carriers” while the free electrons are called “Minority Carriers”.
Then a semiconductor basics material is classed as P-type when its acceptor density is
greater than its donor density. Therefore, a P-type semiconductor has more holes than
electrons.

Boron Atom and Doping

The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of the acceptor impurity atom
Boron.

Semiconductor Basics Summary

N-type (e.g. doped with Antimony)

 These are materials which have Pentavalent impurity atoms (Donors) added and
conduct by “electron” movement and are therefore called, N-type Semiconductors.
In N-type semiconductors there are:
 1. The Donors are positively charged.
 2. There are a large number of free electrons.
 3. A small number of holes in relation to the number of free electrons.
 4. Doping gives:
o  positively charged donors.
o  negatively charged free electrons.
 5. Supply of energy gives:
o  negatively charged free electrons.
o  positively charged holes.

P-type (e.g. doped with Boron)

These are materials which have Trivalent impurity atoms (Acceptors) added and
conduct by “hole” movement and are therefore called, P-type Semiconductors.
In these types of materials are:
 1. The Acceptors are negatively charged.
 2. There are a large number of holes.
 3. A small number of free electrons in relation to the number of holes.
 4. Doping gives:
o  negatively charged acceptors.
o  positively charged holes.
 5. Supply of energy gives:
o  positively charged holes.
o  negatively charged free electrons.
and both P and N-types as a whole, are electrically neutral on their own.
Antimony (Sb) and Boron (B) are two of the most commonly used doping agents as
they are more feely available compared to other types of materials. They are also
classed as “metalloids”. However, the periodic table groups together a number of
other different chemical elements all with either three, or five electrons in their
outermost orbital shell making them suitable as a doping material.
These other chemical elements can also be used as doping agents to a base material of
either Silicon (Si) or Germanium (Ge) to produce different types of basic
semiconductor materials for use in electronic semiconductor components,
microprocessor and solar cell applications. These additional semiconductor materials
are given below.

Periodic Table of Semiconductors

Elements Group 13 Elements Group 14 Elements Group 15

3-Electrons in Outer Shell 4-Electrons in Outer Shell 5-Electrons in Outer Shell

(Positively Charged) (Neutrally Charged) (Negatively Charged)

(5) (6)
Carbon  ( C )
Boron  ( B )

(13) (14) (15)

Aluminium  ( Al ) Silicon  ( Si ) Phosphorus  ( P )

(31) (32) (33)

Gallium  ( Ga ) Germanium  ( Ge ) Arsenic  ( As )

(51)
Antimony  ( Sb )

In the next tutorial about semiconductors and diodes, we will look at joining the two
semiconductor basics materials, the P-type and the N-type materials to form a PN
Junction which can be used to produce diodes.

2. PN Junction Theory
A PN-junction is formed when an N-type material is fused together with a P-type material
creating a semiconductor diode

In the previous tutorial we saw how to make an N-type semiconductor material by

doping a silicon atom with small amounts of Antimony and also how to make a P-type
semiconductor material by doping another silicon atom with Boron.
This is all well and good, but these newly doped N-type and P-type semiconductor
materials do very little on their own as they are electrically neutral. However, if we
join (or fuse) these two semiconductor materials together they behave in a very
different way merging together and producing what is generally known as a “PN
Junction“.
When the N-type semiconductor and P-type semiconductor materials are first joined
together a very large density gradient exists between both sides of the PN junction.
The result is that some of the free electrons from the donor impurity atoms begin to
migrate across this newly formed junction to fill up the holes in the P-type material
producing negative ions.
However, because the electrons have moved across the PN junction from the N-type
silicon to the P-type silicon, they leave behind positively charged donor ions ( ND ) on
the negative side and now the holes from the acceptor impurity migrate across the
junction in the opposite direction into the region where there are large numbers of free
electrons.
As a result, the charge density of the P-type along the junction is filled with negatively
charged acceptor ions ( NA ), and the charge density of the N-type along the junction
becomes positive. This charge transfer of electrons and holes across the PN junction is
known as diffusion. The width of these P and N layers depends on how heavily each
side is doped with acceptor density NA, and donor density ND, respectively.
This process continues back and forth until the number of electrons which have
crossed the junction have a large enough electrical charge to repel or prevent any
more charge carriers from crossing over the junction. Eventually a state of equilibrium
(electrically neutral situation) will occur producing a “potential barrier” zone around
the area of the junction as the donor atoms repel the holes and the acceptor atoms
repel the electrons.
Since no free charge carriers can rest in a position where there is a potential barrier,
the regions on either sides of the junction now become completely depleted of any
more free carriers in comparison to the N and P type materials further away from the
junction. This area around the PN Junction is now called the Depletion Layer.

The PN junction

The total charge on each side of a PN Junction must be equal and opposite to maintain
a neutral charge condition around the junction. If the depletion layer region has a
distance D, it therefore must therefore penetrate into the silicon by a distance
of Dp for the positive side, and a distance of Dn for the negative side giving a
relationship between the two of:  Dp*NA = Dn*ND  in order to maintain charge
neutrality also called equilibrium.

PN Junction Distance

As the N-type material has lost electrons and the P-type has lost holes, the N-type
material has become positive with respect to the P-type. Then the presence of impurity
ions on both sides of the junction cause an electric field to be established across this
region with the N-side at a positive voltage relative to the P-side. The problem now is
that a free charge requires some extra energy to overcome the barrier that now exists
for it to be able to cross the depletion region junction.
This electric field created by the diffusion process has created a “built-in potential
difference” across the junction with an open-circuit (zero bias) potential of:

Where: Eo is the zero bias junction voltage, VT the thermal voltage of 26mV at room
temperature, ND and NA are the impurity concentrations and ni is the intrinsic
concentration.
A suitable positive voltage (forward bias) applied between the two ends of the PN
junction can supply the free electrons and holes with the extra energy. The external
voltage required to overcome this potential barrier that now exists is very much
dependent upon the type of semiconductor material used and its actual temperature.
Typically at room temperature the voltage across the depletion layer for silicon is
about 0.6 – 0.7 volts and for germanium is about 0.3 – 0.35 volts. This potential
barrier will always exist even if the device is not connected to any external power
source, as seen in diodes.
The significance of this built-in potential across the junction, is that it opposes both
the flow of holes and electrons across the junction and is why it is called the potential
barrier. In practice, a PN junction is formed within a single crystal of material rather
than just simply joining or fusing together two separate pieces.
The result of this process is that the PN junction has rectifying current–voltage (IV or
I–V) characteristics. Electrical contacts are fused onto either side of the
semiconductor to enable an electrical connection to be made to an external circuit.
The resulting electronic device that has been made is commonly called a PN junction
Diode or simply Signal Diode.
Then we have seen here that a PN junction can be made by joining or diffusing
together differently doped semiconductor materials to produce an electronic device
called a diode which can be used as the basic semiconductor structure of rectifiers, all
types of transistors, LED’s, solar cells, and many more such solid state devices.
In the next tutorial about the PN junction, we will look at one of the most interesting
applications of the PN junction is its use in circuits as a diode. By adding connections
to each end of the P-type and the N-type materials we can produce a two terminal
device called a PN Junction Diode which can be biased by an external voltage to
either block or allow the flow of current through it

3. PN Junction Diode

A PN-junction diode is formed when a p-type semiconductor is fused to an n-type semiconductor

creating a potential barrier voltage across the diode junction

The effect described in the previous tutorial is achieved without any external voltage
being applied to the actual PN junction resulting in the junction being in a state of
equilibrium.
However, if we were to make electrical connections at the ends of both the N-type and
the P-type materials and then connect them to a battery source, an additional energy
source now exists to overcome the potential barrier.
The effect of adding this additional energy source results in the free electrons being
able to cross the depletion region from one side to the other. The behaviour of the PN
junction with regards to the potential barrier’s width produces an asymmetrical
conducting two terminal device, better known as the PN Junction Diode.
A PN Junction Diode is one of the simplest semiconductor devices around, and which
has the characteristic of passing current in only one direction only. However, unlike a
resistor, a diode does not behave linearly with respect to the applied voltage as the
diode has an exponential current-voltage ( I-V ) relationship and therefore we can not
described its operation by simply using an equation such as Ohm’s law.
If a suitable positive voltage (forward bias) is applied between the two ends of the PN
junction, it can supply free electrons and holes with the extra energy they require to
cross the junction as the width of the depletion layer around the PN junction is
decreased.
By applying a negative voltage (reverse bias) results in the free charges being pulled
away from the junction resulting in the depletion layer width being increased. This has
the effect of increasing or decreasing the effective resistance of the junction itself
allowing or blocking the flow of current through the diodes pn-junction.
Then the depletion layer widens with an increase in the application of a reverse
voltage and narrows with an increase in the application of a forward voltage. This is
due to the differences in the electrical properties on the two sides of the PN junction
resulting in physical changes taking place. One of the results produces rectification as
seen in the PN junction diodes static I-V (current-voltage) characteristics.
Rectification is shown by an asymmetrical current flow when the polarity of bias
voltage is altered as shown below.

Junction Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics

 But before we can use the PN junction as a practical device or as a rectifying device
we need to firstly bias the junction, that is connect a voltage potential across it. On the
voltage axis above, “Reverse Bias” refers to an external voltage potential which
increases the potential barrier. An external voltage which decreases the potential
barrier is said to act in the “Forward Bias” direction.
There are two operating regions and three possible “biasing” conditions for the
standard Junction Diode and these are:
 1. Zero Bias – No external voltage potential is applied to the PN junction diode.
 2. Reverse Bias – The voltage potential is connected negative, (-ve) to the P-
type material and positive, (+ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the
effect of Increasing the PN junction diode’s width.
 3. Forward Bias – The voltage potential is connected positive, (+ve) to the P-
type material and negative, (-ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the
effect of Decreasing the PN junction diodes width.

Zero Biased Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Zero Bias condition, no external potential energy is
applied to the PN junction. However if the diodes terminals are shorted together, a
few holes (majority carriers) in the P-type material with enough energy to overcome
the potential barrier will move across the junction against this barrier potential. This is
known as the “Forward Current” and is referenced as IF
Likewise, holes generated in the N-type material (minority carriers), find this situation
favourable and move across the junction in the opposite direction. This is known as
the “Reverse Current” and is referenced as IR. This transfer of electrons and holes
back and forth across the PN junction is known as diffusion, as shown below.

Zero Biased PN Junction Diode

The potential barrier that now exists discourages the diffusion of any more majority
carriers across the junction. However, the potential barrier helps minority carriers
(few free electrons in the P-region and few holes in the N-region) to drift across the
junction.
Then an “Equilibrium” or balance will be established when the majority carriers are
equal and both moving in opposite directions, so that the net result is zero current
flowing in the circuit. When this occurs the junction is said to be in a state of
“Dynamic Equilibrium“.
The minority carriers are constantly generated due to thermal energy so this state of
equilibrium can be broken by raising the temperature of the PN junction causing an
increase in the generation of minority carriers, thereby resulting in an increase in
leakage current but an electric current cannot flow since no circuit has been connected
to the PN junction.

Reverse Biased PN Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Reverse Bias condition, a positive voltage is applied
to the N-type material and a negative voltage is applied to the P-type material.
The positive voltage applied to the N-type material attracts electrons towards the
positive electrode and away from the junction, while the holes in the P-type end are
also attracted away from the junction towards the negative electrode.
The net result is that the depletion layer grows wider due to a lack of electrons and
holes and presents a high impedance path, almost an insulator and a high potential
barrier is created across the junction thus preventing current from flowing through the
semiconductor material.

Increase in the Depletion Layer due to Reverse Bias

This condition represents a high resistance value to the PN junction and practically
zero current flows through the junction diode with an increase in bias voltage.
However, a very small reverse leakage current does flow through the junction which
can normally be measured in micro-amperes, ( μA ).
One final point, if the reverse bias voltage Vr applied to the diode is increased to a
sufficiently high enough value, it will cause the diode’s PN junction to overheat and
fail due to the avalanche effect around the junction. This may cause the diode to
become shorted and will result in the flow of maximum circuit current, and this shown
as a step downward slope in the reverse static characteristics curve below.

Reverse Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

Sometimes this avalanche effect has practical applications in voltage stabilising
circuits where a series limiting resistor is used with the diode to limit this reverse
breakdown current to a preset maximum value thereby producing a fixed voltage
output across the diode. These types of diodes are commonly known as Zener Diodes
and are discussed in a later tutorial.

Forward Biased PN Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Forward Bias condition, a negative voltage is applied
to the N-type material and a positive voltage is applied to the P-type material. If this
external voltage becomes greater than the value of the potential barrier, approx. 0.7
volts for silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium, the potential barriers opposition will be
overcome and current will start to flow.
This is because the negative voltage pushes or repels electrons towards the junction
giving them the energy to cross over and combine with the holes being pushed in the
opposite direction towards the junction by the positive voltage. This results in a
characteristics curve of zero current flowing up to this voltage point, called the “knee”
on the static curves and then a high current flow through the diode with little increase
in the external voltage as shown below.

Forward Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

The application of a forward biasing voltage on the junction diode results in the
depletion layer becoming very thin and narrow which represents a low impedance
path through the junction thereby allowing high currents to flow. The point at which
this sudden increase in current takes place is represented on the static I-V
characteristics curve above as the “knee” point.

Reduction in the Depletion Layer due to Forward Bias

This condition represents the low resistance path through the PN junction allowing
very large currents to flow through the diode with only a small increase in bias
voltage. The actual potential difference across the junction or diode is kept constant
by the action of the depletion layer at approximately 0.3v for germanium and
approximately 0.7v for silicon junction diodes.
Since the diode can conduct “infinite” current above this knee point as it effectively
becomes a short circuit, therefore resistors are used in series with the diode to limit its
current flow. Exceeding its maximum forward current specification causes the device
 to dissipate more power in the form of heat than it was designed for resulting in a very
quick failure of the device.

Junction Diode Summary

The PN junction region of a Junction Diode has the following important
characteristics:
 Semiconductors contain two types of mobile charge carriers, “Holes” and
“Electrons”.
 The holes are positively charged while the electrons negatively charged.
 A semiconductor may be doped with donor impurities such as Antimony (N-type
doping), so that it contains mobile charges which are primarily electrons.
 A semiconductor may be doped with acceptor impurities such as Boron (P-type
doping), so that it contains mobile charges which are mainly holes.
 The junction region itself has no charge carriers and is known as the depletion
region.
 The junction (depletion) region has a physical thickness that varies with the
applied voltage.
 When a diode is Zero Biased no external energy source is applied and a
natural Potential Barrier is developed across a depletion layer which is approximately
0.5 to 0.7v for silicon diodes and approximately 0.3 of a volt for germanium diodes.
 When a junction diode is Forward Biased the thickness of the depletion region
reduces and the diode acts like a short circuit allowing full circuit current to flow.
 When a junction diode is Reverse Biased the thickness of the depletion region
increases and the diode acts like an open circuit blocking any current flow, (only a very
small leakage current will flow).
We have also seen above that the diode is two terminal non-linear device whose I-V
characteristic are polarity dependent as depending upon the polarity of the applied
voltage, VD the diode is either Forward Biased, VD > 0 or Reverse Biased, VD < 0.
Either way we can model these current-voltage characteristics for both an ideal diode
and for a real silicon diode as shown:

Junction Diode Ideal and Real Characteristics

In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at the small signal diode sometimes
called a switching diode which is used in general electronic circuits. As its name
implies, the signal diode is designed for low-voltage or high frequency signal
applications such as in radio or digital switching circuits.
Signal diodes, such as the 1N4148 only pass very small electrical currents as opposed
to the high-current mains rectification diodes in which silicon diodes are usually used.
Also in the next tutorial we will examine the Signal Diode static current-voltage
characteristics curve and parameters.

4. The Signal Diode

Signal Diodes are small two-terminal which conducts current when forward biased and blocks
current flow when reverse biased

The semiconductor Signal Diode is a small non-linear semiconductor devices

generally used in electronic circuits, where small currents or high frequencies are
involved such as in radio, television and digital logic circuits.
 Signal diodes in the form of the Point Contact Diode or the Glass Passivated Diode,
are physically very small in size compared to their larger Power Diode cousins.
Generally, the PN junction of a small signal diode is encapsulated in glass to protect
the PN junction, and usually have a red or black band at one end of their body to help
identify which end is the cathode terminal. The most widely used of all the glass
encapsulated signal diodes is the very common 1N4148 and its
equivalent 1N914 signal diode.
Small signal and switching diodes have much lower power and current ratings, around
150mA, 500mW maximum compared to rectifier diodes, but they can function better
in high frequency applications or in clipping and switching applications that deal with
short-duration pulse waveforms.
The characteristics of a signal point contact diode are different for both germanium
and silicon types and are given as:
 1. Germanium Signal Diodes – These have a low reverse resistance value
giving a lower forward volt drop across the junction, typically only about 0.2 to 0.3v,
but have a higher forward resistance value because of their small junction area.
 2. Silicon Signal Diodes – These have a very high value of reverse resistance
and give a forward volt drop of about 0.6 to 0.7v across the junction. They have fairly
low values of forward resistance giving them high peak values of forward current and
reverse voltage.
The electronic symbol given for any type of diode is that of an arrow with a bar or line
at its end and this is illustrated below along with the Steady State V-I Characteristics
Curve.

Silicon Diode V-I Characteristic Curve

The arrow always points in the direction of conventional current flow through the
diode meaning that the diode will only conduct if a positive supply is connected to
the Anode, ( a ) terminal and a negative supply is connected to the Cathode ( k )
terminal thus only allowing current to flow through it in one direction only, acting
more like a one way electrical valve, ( Forward Biased Condition ).
However, we know from the previous tutorial that if we connect the external energy
source in the other direction the diode will block any current flowing through it and
instead will act like an open switch, ( Reversed Biased Condition ) as shown below.

Forward and Reversed Biased Diode

Then we can say that an ideal small signal diode conducts current in one direction
( forward-conducting ) and blocks current in the other direction ( reverse-blocking ).
Signal Diodes are used in a wide variety of applications such as a switch in rectifiers,
current limiters, voltage snubbers or in wave-shaping circuits.

Signal Diode Parameters

Signal Diodes are manufactured in a range of voltage and current ratings and care
must be taken when choosing a diode for a certain application. There are a
bewildering array of static characteristics associated with the humble signal diode but
the more important ones are.

1. Maximum Forward Current

The Maximum Forward Current ( IF(max) ) is as its name implies the maximum
forward current allowed to flow through the device. When the diode is conducting in
the forward bias condition, it has a very small “ON” resistance across the PN junction
and therefore, power is dissipated across this junction ( Ohm´s Law ) in the form of
heat.
Then, exceeding its ( IF(max) ) value will cause more heat to be generated across the
junction and the diode will fail due to thermal overload, usually with destructive
consequences. When operating diodes around their maximum current ratings it is
always best to provide additional cooling to dissipate the heat produced by the diode.
For example, our small 1N4148 signal diode has a maximum current rating of about
150mA with a power dissipation of 500mW at 25oC. Then a resistor must be used in
series with the diode to limit the forward current, ( IF(max) ) through it to below this
value.

2. Peak Inverse Voltage

The Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) or Maximum Reverse Voltage ( VR(max) ), is the
maximum allowable Reverse operating voltage that can be applied across the diode
without reverse breakdown and damage occurring to the device. This rating therefore,
is usually less than the “avalanche breakdown” level on the reverse bias characteristic
curve. Typical values of VR(max) range from a few volts to thousands of volts and must
be considered when replacing a diode.
The peak inverse voltage is an important parameter and is mainly used for rectifying
diodes in AC rectifier circuits with reference to the amplitude of the voltage were the
sinusoidal waveform changes from a positive to a negative value on each and every
cycle.

3. Total Power Dissipation

Signal diodes have a Total Power Dissipation, ( PD(max) ) rating. This rating is the
maximum possible power dissipation of the diode when it is forward biased
(conducting). When current flows through the signal diode the biasing of the PN
junction is not perfect and offers some resistance to the flow of current resulting in
power being dissipated (lost) in the diode in the form of heat.
As small signal diodes are non-linear devices the resistance of the PN junction is not
constant, it is a dynamic property then we cannot use Ohms Law to define the power
in terms of current and resistance or voltage and resistance as we can for resistors.
Then to find the power that will be dissipated by the diode we must multiply the
voltage drop across it times the current flowing through it: PD = V*I

4. Maximum Operating Temperature

The Maximum Operating Temperature actually relates to the Junction
Temperature ( TJ ) of the diode and is related to maximum power dissipation. It is the
maximum temperature allowable before the structure of the diode deteriorates and is
expressed in units of degrees centigrade per Watt, ( oC/W ).
This value is linked closely to the maximum forward current of the device so that at
this value the temperature of the junction is not exceeded. However, the maximum
forward current will also depend upon the ambient temperature in which the device is
operating so the maximum forward current is usually quoted for two or more ambient
temperature values such as 25oC or 70oC.
 Then there are three main parameters that must be considered when either selecting or
replacing a signal diode and these are:
 The Reverse Voltage Rating
 The Forward Current Rating
 The Forward Power Dissipation Rating

Signal Diode Arrays

When space is limited, or matching pairs of switching signal diodes are required,
diode arrays can be very useful. They generally consist of low capacitance high speed
silicon diodes such as the 1N4148 connected together in multiple diode packages
called an array for use in switching and clamping in digital circuits. They are encased
in single inline packages (SIP) containing 4 or more diodes connected internally to
give either an individual isolated array, common cathode, (CC), or a common anode,
(CA) configuration as shown.

Signal Diode Arrays

Signal diode arrays can also be used in digital and computer circuits to protect high
speed data lines or other input/output parallel ports against electrostatic discharge,
(ESD) and voltage transients.
By connecting two diodes in series across the supply rails with the data line connected
to their junction as shown, any unwanted transients are quickly dissipated and as the
signal diodes are available in 8-fold arrays they can protect eight data lines in a single
package.

CPU Data Line Protection

Signal diode arrays can also be used to connect together diodes in either series or
parallel combinations to form voltage regulator or voltage reducing type circuits or
even to produce a known fixed reference voltage.
We know that the forward volt drop across a silicon diode is about 0.7v and by
connecting together a number of diodes in series the total voltage drop will be the sum
of the individual voltage drops of each diode.
However, when signal diodes are connected together in series, the current will be the
same for each diode so the maximum forward current must not be exceeded.

Connecting Signal Diodes in Series

Another application for the small signal diode is to create a regulated voltage supply.
Diodes are connected together in series to provide a constant DC voltage across the
diode combination. The output voltage across the diodes remains constant in spite of
changes in the load current drawn from the series combination or changes in the DC
power supply voltage that feeds them. Consider the circuit below.

Signal Diodes in Series

As the forward voltage drop across a silicon diode is almost constant at about 0.7v,
while the current through it varies by relatively large amounts, a forward-biased signal
diode can make a simple voltage regulating circuit. The individual voltage drops
across each diode are subtracted from the supply voltage to leave a certain voltage
potential across the load resistor, and in our simple example above this is given
as 10v – ( 3*0.7V ) = 7.9V.
This is because each diode has a junction resistance relating to the small signal current
flowing through it and the three signal diodes in series will have three times the value
of this resistance, along with the load resistance R, forms a voltage divider across the
supply.
By adding more diodes in series a greater voltage reduction will occur. Also series
connected diodes can be placed in parallel with the load resistor to act as a voltage
regulating circuit. Here the voltage applied to the load resistor will be 3*0.7v = 2.1V.
We can of course produce the same constant voltage source using a single Zener
Diode. Resistor, RD is used to prevent excessive current flowing through the diodes if
the load is removed.

Freewheel Diodes
Signal diodes can also be used in a variety of clamping, protection and wave shaping
circuits with the most common form of clamping diode circuit being one which uses a
diode connected in parallel with a coil or inductive load to prevent damage to the
delicate switching circuit by suppressing the voltage spikes and/or transients that are
generated when the load is suddenly turned “OFF”. This type of diode is generally
known as a “Free Wheeling Diode”, “Flywheel Diode” or simply Freewheel diode as
it is more commonly called.
The Freewheel diode is used to protect solid state switches such as power transistors
and MOSFET’s from damage by reverse battery protection as well as protection from
highly inductive loads such as relay coils or motors, and an example of its connection
is shown below.

Use of the Freewheel Diode

Modern fast switching, power semiconductor devices require fast switching diodes
such as free wheeling diodes to protect them form inductive loads such as motor coils
or relay windings. Every time the switching device above is turned “ON”, the
freewheel diode changes from a conducting state to a blocking state as it becomes
reversed biased.
However, when the device rapidly turns “OFF”, the diode becomes forward biased
and the collapse of the energy stored in the coil causes a current to flow through the
freewheel diode. Without the protection of the freewheel diode high di/dt currents
would occur causing a high voltage spike or transient to flow around the circuit
possibly damaging the switching device.
Previously, the operating speed of the semiconductor switching device, either
transistor, MOSFET, IGBT or digital has been impaired by the addition of a freewheel
diode across the inductive load with Schottky and Zener diodes being used instead in
some applications. But during the past few years however, freewheel diodes had
regained importance due mainly to their improved reverse-recovery characteristics
and the use of super fast semiconductor materials capable at operating at high
switching frequencies.
Other types of specialized diodes not included here are Photo-Diodes, PIN Diodes,
Tunnel Diodes and Schottky Barrier Diodes. By adding more PN junctions to the
basic two layer diode structure other types of semiconductor devices can be made.
For example a three layer semiconductor device becomes a Transistor, a four layer
semiconductor device becomes a Thyristor or Silicon Controlled Rectifier and five
layer devices known as Triac’s are also available.
In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at the large signal diode sometimes
called the Power Diode. Power diodes are silicon diodes designed for use in high-
voltage, high-current mains rectification circuits.

5. Power Diodes and Rectifiers

Power Diodes are semiconductor pn-junctions capable of passing large currents at high voltage
values for use in rectifier circuits

In the previous tutorials we saw that a semiconductor signal diode will only conduct
current in one direction from its anode to its cathode (forward direction), but not in the
reverse direction acting a bit like an electrical one way valve.
A widely used application of this feature and diodes in general is in the conversion of
an alternating voltage (AC) into a continuous voltage (DC). In other
words, Rectification.
But small signal diodes can also be used as rectifiers in low-power, low current (less
than 1-amp) rectifiers or applications, but where larger forward bias currents or higher
reverse bias blocking voltages are involved the PN junction of a small signal diode
would eventually overheat and melt so larger more robust Power Diodes are used
instead.
The power semiconductor diode, known simply as the Power Diode, has a much
larger PN junction area compared to its smaller signal diode cousin, resulting in a high
forward current capability of up to several hundred amps (KA) and a reverse blocking
voltage of up to several thousand volts (KV).
Since the power diode has a large PN junction, it is not suitable for high frequency
applications above 1MHz, but special and expensive high frequency, high current
diodes are available. For high frequency rectifier applications Schottky Diodes are
generally used because of their short reverse recovery time and low voltage drop in
their forward bias condition.
Power diodes provide uncontrolled rectification of power and are used in applications
such as battery charging and DC power supplies as well as AC rectifiers and inverters.
Due to their high current and voltage characteristics they can also be used as free-
wheeling diodes and snubber networks.
Power diodes are designed to have a forward “ON” resistance of fractions of an Ohm
while their reverse blocking resistance is in the mega-Ohms range. Some of the larger
value power diodes are designed to be “stud mounted” onto heatsinks reducing their
thermal resistance to between 0.1 to 1oC/Watt.
If an alternating voltage is applied across a power diode, during the positive half cycle
the diode will conduct passing current and during the negative half cycle the diode
will not conduct blocking the flow of current. Then conduction through the power
diode only occurs during the positive half cycle and is therefore unidirectional i.e. DC
as shown.

Power Diode Rectifier

Power diodes can be used individually as above or connected together to produce a

variety of rectifier circuits such as “Half-Wave”, “Full-Wave” or as “Bridge
Rectifiers”. Each type of rectifier circuit can be classed as either uncontrolled, half-
controlled or fully controlled where an uncontrolled rectifier uses only power diodes,
a fully controlled rectifier uses thyristors (SCRs) and a half controlled rectifier is a
mixture of both diodes and thyristors.
The most commonly used individual power diode for basic electronics applications is
the general purpose 1N400x Series Glass Passivated type rectifying diode with
standard ratings of continuous forward rectified current of about 1.0 ampere and
reverse blocking voltage ratings from 50v for the 1N4001 up to 1000v for the
1N4007, with the small 1N4007GP being the most popular for general purpose mains
voltage rectification.

Half Wave Rectification

A rectifier is a circuit which converts the Alternating Current (AC) input power into
a Direct Current (DC) output power. The input power supply may be either a single-
phase or a multi-phase supply with the simplest of all the rectifier circuits being that
of the Half Wave Rectifier.
The power diode in a half wave rectifier circuit passes just one half of each complete
sine wave of the AC supply in order to convert it into a DC supply. Then this type of
circuit is called a “half-wave” rectifier because it passes only half of the incoming AC
power supply as shown below.

Half Wave Rectifier Circuit

During each “positive” half cycle of the AC sine wave, the diode is forward biased as
the anode is positive with respect to the cathode resulting in current flowing through
the diode.
Since the DC load is resistive (resistor, R), the current flowing in the load resistor is
therefore proportional to the voltage (Ohm´s Law), and the voltage across the load
resistor will therefore be the same as the supply voltage, Vs (minus Vƒ), that is the
“DC” voltage across the load is sinusoidal for the first half cycle only so Vout = Vs.
During each “negative” half cycle of the AC sinusoidal input waveform, the diode
is reverse biased as the anode is negative with respect to the cathode. Therefore, NO
current flows through the diode or circuit. Then in the negative half cycle of the
supply, no current flows in the load resistor as no voltage appears across it so
therefore, Vout = 0.
The current on the DC side of the circuit flows in one direction only making the
circuit Unidirectional. As the load resistor receives from the diode a positive half of
the waveform, zero volts, a positive half of the waveform, zero volts, etc, the value of
this irregular voltage would be equal in value to an equivalent DC voltage of
0.318*Vmax of the input sinusoidal waveform or 0.45*Vrms of the input sinusoidal
waveform.
Then the equivalent DC voltage, VDC across the load resistor is calculated as follows.
Where VMAX is the maximum or peak voltage value of the AC sinusoidal supply, and
VRMS is the RMS (Root Mean Squared) value of the supply voltage.

Power Diode Example No1

Calculate the voltage drop VDC and current IDC flowing through a 100Ω resistor
connected to a 240 Vrms single phase half-wave rectifier as shown above. Also
calculate the average DC power consumed by the load.

During the rectification process the resultant output DC voltage and current are
therefore both “ON” and “OFF” during every cycle. As the voltage across the load
resistor is only present during the positive half of the cycle (50% of the input
waveform), this results in a low average DC value being supplied to the load.
The variation of the rectified output waveform between this “ON” and “OFF”
condition produces a waveform which has large amounts of “ripple” which is an
undesirable feature. The resultant DC ripple has a frequency that is equal to that of the
AC supply frequency.
Very often when rectifying an alternating voltage we wish to produce a “steady” and
continuous DC voltage free from any voltage variations or ripple. One way of doing
this is to connect a large value Capacitor across the output voltage terminals in
parallel with the load resistor as shown below. This type of capacitor is known
commonly as a “Reservoir” or Smoothing Capacitor.

Half-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor

When rectification is used to provide a direct voltage (DC) power supply from an
alternating (AC) source, the amount of ripple voltage can be further reduced by using
larger value capacitors but there are limits both on cost and size to the types of
smoothing capacitors used.
For a given capacitor value, a greater load current (smaller load resistance) will
discharge the capacitor more quickly ( RC Time Constant ) and so increases the ripple
obtained. Then for single phase, half-wave rectifier circuit using a power diode it is
not very practical to try and reduce the ripple voltage by capacitor smoothing alone. In
this instance it would be more practical to use “Full-wave Rectification” instead.
In practice, the half-wave rectifier is used most often in low-power applications
because of their major disadvantages being. The output amplitude is less than the
input amplitude, there is no output during the negative half cycle so half the power is
wasted and the output is pulsed DC resulting in excessive ripple.
To overcome these disadvantages a number of Power Diode are connected together to
produce a Full Wave Rectifier as discussed in the next tutorial.
6. Full Wave Rectifier

Power Diodes can be connected together to form a full wave rectifier that convert AC voltage
into pulsating DC voltage for use in power supplies

In the previous Power Diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing the ripple or
voltage variations on a direct DC voltage by connecting smoothing capacitors across
the load resistance.
While this method may be suitable for low power applications it is unsuitable to
applications which need a “steady and smooth” DC supply voltage. One method to
improve on this is to use every half-cycle of the input voltage instead of every other
half-cycle. The circuit which allows us to do this is called a Full Wave Rectifier.
Like the half wave circuit, a full wave rectifier circuit produces an output voltage or
current which is purely DC or has some specified DC component. Full wave rectifiers
have some fundamental advantages over their half wave rectifier counterparts. The
average (DC) output voltage is higher than for half wave, the output of the full wave
rectifier has much less ripple than that of the half wave rectifier producing a smoother
output waveform.
In a Full Wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each half of the cycle.
A multiple winding transformer is used whose secondary winding is split equally into
two halves with a common centre tapped connection, (C). This configuration results in
each diode conducting in turn when its anode terminal is positive with respect to the
transformer centre point C producing an output during both half-cycles, twice that for
the half wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.
Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load
resistance (RL) with each diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When
point A of the transformer is positive with respect to point C, diode D1 conducts in the
forward direction as indicated by the arrows.
When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C,
diode D2 conducts in the forward direction and the current flowing through
resistor R is in the same direction for both half-cycles. As the output voltage across
the resistor R is the phasor sum of the two waveforms combined, this type of full
wave rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-phase” circuit.
We can see this affect quite clearly if we run the circuit in the Partsim Simulator
Circuit with the smoothing capacitor removed.
Partsim Simulation Waveform

As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being filled in
by the other diode the average DC output voltage across the load resistor is now
double that of the single half-wave rectifier circuit and is about  0.637Vmax  of the peak
voltage, assuming no losses.

Where: VMAX is the maximum peak value in one half of the secondary winding
and VRMS is the rms value.
The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-wave
rectifier provided each half of the transformer windings have the same rms voltage
value. To obtain a different DC voltage output different transformer ratios can be
used.
The main disadvantage of this type of full wave rectifier circuit is that a larger
transformer for a given power output is required with two separate but identical
secondary windings making this type of full wave rectifying circuit costly compared
to the “Full Wave Bridge Rectifier” circuit equivalent.

The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full wave
rectifier circuit above, is that of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier. This type of single
phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying diodes connected in a closed loop
“bridge” configuration to produce the desired output.
The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre
tapped transformer, thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding
is connected to one side of the diode bridge network and the load to the other side as
shown below.

The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only two diodes
conducting current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the
supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse
biased and the current flows through the load as shown below.

The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but
diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing
through the load is the same direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed
across the load is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave
rectifier, therefore the average DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax.

Typical Bridge Rectifier

However in reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes
instead of just one so the amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops
( 2*0.7 = 1.4V ) less than the input VMAX amplitude. The ripple frequency is now twice
the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply or 120Hz for a 60Hz supply.)
Although we can use four individual power diodes to make a full wave bridge
rectifier, pre-made bridge rectifier components are available “off-the-shelf” in a range
of different voltage and current sizes that can be soldered directly into a PCB circuit
board or be connected by spade connectors.
The image to the right shows a typical single phase bridge rectifier with one corner
cut off. This cut-off corner indicates that the terminal nearest to the corner is the
positive or +ve output terminal or lead with the opposite (diagonal) lead being the
negative or -ve output lead. The other two connecting leads are for the input
alternating voltage from a transformer secondary winding.

The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier produces an
output wave every half cycle and that it was not practical to use this type of circuit to
produce a steady DC supply. The full-wave bridge rectifier however, gives us a
greater mean DC value (0.637 Vmax) with less superimposed ripple while the output
waveform is twice that of the frequency of the input supply frequency.
We can improve the average DC output of the rectifier while at the same time
reducing the AC variation of the rectified output by using smoothing capacitors to
filter the output waveform. Smoothing or reservoir capacitors connected in parallel
with the load across the output of the full wave bridge rectifier circuit increases the
average DC output level even higher as the capacitor acts like a storage device as
shown below.

Full-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor

The smoothing capacitor converts the full-wave rippled output of the rectifier into a
more smooth DC output voltage. If we now run the Partsim Simulator Circuit with
different values of smoothing capacitor installed, we can see the effect it has on the
rectified output waveform as shown.
5uF Smoothing Capacitor

The blue plot on the waveform shows the result of using a 5.0uF smoothing capacitor
across the rectifiers output. Previously the load voltage followed the rectified output
waveform down to zero volts. Here the 5uF capacitor is charged to the peak voltage of
the output DC pulse, but when it drops from its peak voltage back down to zero volts,
the capacitor can not discharge as quickly due to the RC time constant of the circuit.
This results in the capacitor discharging down to about 3.6 volts, in this example,
maintaining the voltage across the load resistor until the capacitor re-charges once
again on the next positive slope of the DC pulse. In other words, the capacitor only
has time to discharge briefly before the next DC pulse recharges it back up to the peak
value. Thus, the DC voltage applied to the load resistor drops only by a small amount.
But we can improve this still by increasing the value of the smoothing capacitor as
shown.
50uF Smoothing Capacitor

Here we have increased the value of the smoothing capacitor ten-fold from 5uF to
50uF which has reduced the ripple increasing the minimum discharge voltage from
the previous 3.6 volts to 7.9 volts. However, using the Partsim Simulator Circuit we
have chosen a load of 1kΩ to obtain these values, but as the load impedance decreases
the load current increases causing the capacitor to discharge more rapidly between
charging pulses.
The effect of a supplying a heavy load with a single smoothing or reservoir capacitor
can be reduced by the use of a larger capacitor which stores more energy and
discharges less between charging pulses. Generally for DC power supply circuits the
smoothing capacitor is an Aluminium Electrolytic type that has a capacitance value of
100uF or more with repeated DC voltage pulses from the rectifier charging up the
capacitor to peak voltage.
However, there are two important parameters to consider when choosing a suitable
smoothing capacitor and these are its Working Voltage, which must be higher than the
no-load output value of the rectifier and its Capacitance Value, which determines the
amount of ripple that will appear superimposed on top of the DC voltage.
Too low a capacitance value and the capacitor has little effect on the output
waveform. But if the smoothing capacitor is sufficiently large enough (parallel
capacitors can be used) and the load current is not too large, the output voltage will be
almost as smooth as pure DC. As a general rule of thumb, we are looking to have a
ripple voltage of less than 100mV peak to peak.
The maximum ripple voltage present for a Full Wave Rectifier circuit is not only
determined by the value of the smoothing capacitor but by the frequency and load
current, and is calculated as:

Bridge Rectifier Ripple Voltage

Where: I is the DC load current in amps, ƒ is the frequency of the ripple or twice the
input frequency in Hertz, and C is the capacitance in Farads.
The main advantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier is that it has a smaller AC ripple
value for a given load and a smaller reservoir or smoothing capacitor than an
equivalent half-wave rectifier. Therefore, the fundamental frequency of the ripple
voltage is twice that of the AC supply frequency (100Hz) where for the half-wave
rectifier it is exactly equal to the supply frequency (50Hz).
The amount of ripple voltage that is superimposed on top of the DC supply voltage by
the diodes can be virtually eliminated by adding a much improved π-filter (pi-filter) to
the output terminals of the bridge rectifier. This type of low-pass filter consists of two
smoothing capacitors, usually of the same value and a choke or inductance across
them to introduce a high impedance path to the alternating ripple component
Another more practical and cheaper alternative is to use an off the shelf 3-terminal
voltage regulator IC, such as a LM78xx (where “xx” stands for the output voltage
rating) for a positive output voltage or its inverse equivalent the LM79xx for a
negative output voltage which can reduce the ripple by more than 70dB (Datasheet)
while delivering a constant output current of over 1 amp.
Why not test your knowledge about full wave rectifier circuits using the Partsim
Simulator Tool today. Try different values of smoothing capacitor and load
resistance in your circuit to see the effects on the output waveform.
In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at the Zener Diode which takes
advantage of its reverse breakdown voltage characteristic to produce a constant and
fixed output voltage across itself.
7. The Zener Diode

A Semiconductor Diode blocks current in the reverse direction, but will suffer from premature
breakdown or damage if the reverse voltage applied across becomes too high

However, the Zener Diode or “Breakdown Diode”, as they are sometimes referred

too, are basically the same as the standard PN junction diode but they are specially
designed to have a low and specified Reverse Breakdown Voltage which takes
advantage of any reverse voltage applied to it.
The Zener diode behaves just like a normal general-purpose diode consisting of a
silicon PN junction and when biased in the forward direction, that is Anode positive
with respect to its Cathode, it behaves just like a normal signal diode passing the rated
current.
However, unlike a conventional diode that blocks any flow of current through itself
when reverse biased, that is the Cathode becomes more positive than the Anode, as
soon as the reverse voltage reaches a pre-determined value, the zener diode begins to
conduct in the reverse direction.
This is because when the reverse voltage applied across the zener diode exceeds the
rated voltage of the device a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the
semiconductor depletion layer and a current starts to flow through the diode to limit
this increase in voltage.
The current now flowing through the zener diode increases dramatically to the
maximum circuit value (which is usually limited by a series resistor) and once
achieved, this reverse saturation current remains fairly constant over a wide range of
reverse voltages. The voltage point at which the voltage across the zener diode
becomes stable is called the “zener voltage”, ( Vz ) and for zener diodes this voltage
can range from less than one volt to a few hundred volts.
The point at which the zener voltage triggers the current to flow through the diode can
be very accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of the
diodes semiconductor construction giving the diode a specific zener breakdown
voltage, ( Vz ) for example, 4.3V or 7.5V. This zener breakdown voltage on the I-V
curve is almost a vertical straight line.
Zener Diode I-V Characteristics

The Zener Diode is used in its “reverse bias” or reverse breakdown mode, i.e. the
diodes anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics curve
above, we can see that the zener diode has a region in its reverse bias characteristics
of almost a constant negative voltage regardless of the value of the current flowing
through the diode.
This voltage remains almost constant even with large changes in current providing the
zener diodes current remains between the breakdown current IZ(min) and its maximum
current rating IZ(max).
This ability of the zener diode to control itself can be used to great effect to regulate
or stabilise a voltage source against supply or load variations. The fact that the voltage
across the diode in the breakdown region is almost constant turns out to be an
important characteristic of the zener diode as it can be used in the simplest types of
voltage regulator applications.
The function of a voltage regulator is to provide a constant output voltage to a load
connected in parallel with it in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage or variations
in the load current. A zener diode will continue to regulate its voltage until the diodes
holding current falls below the minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse breakdown region.
The Zener Diode Regulator
Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilised voltage output with low ripple
under varying load current conditions. By passing a small current through the diode
from a voltage source, via a suitable current limiting resistor (R S), the zener diode will
conduct sufficient current to maintain a voltage drop of Vout.
We remember from the previous tutorials that the DC output voltage from the half or
full-wave rectifiers contains ripple superimposed onto the DC voltage and that as the
load value changes so to does the average output voltage. By connecting a simple
zener stabiliser circuit as shown below across the output of the rectifier, a more stable
output voltage can be produced.
Zener Diode Regulator

Resistor, RS is connected in series with the zener diode to limit the current flow
through the diode with the voltage source, VS being connected across the combination.
The stabilised output voltage Vout is taken from across the zener diode.
The zener diode is connected with its cathode terminal connected to the positive rail
of the DC supply so it is reverse biased and will be operating in its breakdown
condition. Resistor RS is selected so to limit the maximum current flowing in the
circuit.
With no load connected to the circuit, the load current will be zero, ( IL = 0 ), and all
the circuit current passes through the zener diode which in turn dissipates its
maximum power. Also a small value of the series resistor RS will result in a greater
diode current when the load resistance RL is connected and large as this will increase
the power dissipation requirement of the diode so care must be taken when selecting
the appropriate value of series resistance so that the zener’s maximum power rating is
not exceeded under this no-load or high-impedance condition.
The load is connected in parallel with the zener diode, so the voltage across RL is
always the same as the zener voltage, ( VR = VZ ). There is a minimum zener current
for which the stabilisation of the voltage is effective and the zener current must stay
above this value operating under load within its breakdown region at all times. The
upper limit of current is of course dependant upon the power rating of the device. The
supply voltage VS must be greater than VZ.
One small problem with zener diode stabiliser circuits is that the diode can sometimes
generate electrical noise on top of the DC supply as it tries to stabilise the voltage.
Normally this is not a problem for most applications but the addition of a large value
decoupling capacitor across the zener’s output may be required to give additional
smoothing.
Then to summarise a little. A zener diode is always operated in its reverse biased
condition. As such a simple voltage regulator circuit can be designed using a zener
diode to maintain a constant DC output voltage across the load in spite of variations in
the input voltage or changes in the load current.
The zener voltage regulator consists of a current limiting resistor RS connected in
series with the input voltage VS with the zener diode connected in parallel with the
load RL in this reverse biased condition. The stabilised output voltage is always
selected to be the same as the breakdown voltage VZ of the diode.
Zener Diode Example No1
A 5.0V stabilised power supply is required to be produced from a 12V DC power
supply input source. The maximum power rating PZ of the zener diode is 2W. Using
the zener regulator circuit above calculate:
a). The maximum current flowing through the zener diode.

b). The minimum value of the series resistor, RS

c). The load current IL if a load resistor of 1kΩ is connected across the zener diode.

d). The zener current IZ at full load.

Zener Diode Voltages
As well as producing a single stabilised voltage output, zener diodes can also be
connected together in series along with normal silicon signal diodes to produce a
variety of different reference voltage output values as shown below.
Zener Diodes Connected in Series

The values of the individual Zener diodes can be chosen to suit the application while
the silicon diode will always drop about 0.6 – 0.7V in the forward bias condition. The
supply voltage, Vin must of course be higher than the largest output reference voltage
and in our example above this is 19v.
A typical zener diode for general electronic circuits is the 500mW, BZX55 series or
the larger 1.3W, BZX85 series were the zener voltage is given as, for
example, C7V5 for a 7.5V diode giving a diode reference number of BZX55C7V5.
The 500mW series of zener diodes are available from about 2.4 up to about 100 volts
and typically have the same sequence of values as used for the 5% (E24) resistor
series with the individual voltage ratings for these small but very useful diodes are
given in the table below.
Zener Diode Standard Zener Voltages

BZX55 Zener Diode Power Rating 500mW

2.4V 2.7V 3.0V 3.3V 3.6V 3.9V 4.3V 4.7V

5.1V 5.6V 6.2V 6.8V 7.5V 8.2V 9.1V 10V

11V 12V 13V 15V 16V 18V 20V 22V

24V 27V 30V 33V 36V 39V 43V 47V

BZX85 Zener Diode Power Rating 1.3W

3.3V 3.6V 3.9V 4.3V 4.7V 5.1V 5.6 6.2V

6.8V 7.5V 8.2V 9.1V 10V 11V 12V 13V

15V 16V 18V 20V 22V 24V 27V 30V

33V 36V 39V 43V 47V 51V 56V 62V

Zener Diode Clipping Circuits

Thus far we have looked at how a zener diode can be used to regulate a constant DC
source but what if the input signal was not steady state DC but an alternating AC
waveform how would the zener diode react to a constantly changing signal.
Diode clipping and clamping circuits are circuits that are used to shape or modify an
input AC waveform (or any sinusoid) producing a differently shape output waveform
depending on the circuit arrangement. Diode clipper circuits are also called limiters
because they limit or clip-off the positive (or negative) part of an input AC signal. As
zener clipper circuits limit or cut-off part of the waveform across them, they are
mainly used for circuit protection or in waveform shaping circuits.
For example, if we wanted to clip an output waveform at +7.5V, we would use a 7.5V
zener diode. If the output waveform tries to exceed the 7.5V limit, the zener diode will
“clip-off” the excess voltage from the input producing a waveform with a flat top still
keeping the output constant at +7.5V. Note that in the forward bias condition a zener
diode is still a diode and when the AC waveform output goes negative below -0.7V,
the zener diode turns “ON” like any normal silicon diode would and clips the output
at -0.7V as shown below.
Square Wave Signal

The back to back connected zener diodes can be used as an AC regulator producing
what is jokingly called a “poor man’s square wave generator”. Using this arrangement
we can clip the waveform between a positive value of +8.2V and a negative value of
-8.2V for a 7.5V zener diode.
So for example, if we wanted to clip an output waveform between two different
minimum and maximum values of say, +8V and -6V, we would simply use two
differently rated zener diodes. Note that the output will actually clip the AC waveform
between +8.7V and -6.7V due to the addition of the forward biasing diode voltage.
In other words a peak-to-peak voltage of 15.4 volts instead of expected 14 volts, as
the forward bias volt drop across the diode adds another 0.7 volts in each direction.
This type of clipper configuration is fairly common for protecting an electronic circuit
from over voltage. The two zener’s are generally placed across the power supply input
terminals and during normal operation, one of the zener diodes is “OFF” and the
diodes have little or no affect. However, if the input voltage waveform exceeds its
limit, then the zener’s turn “ON” and clip the input to protect the circuit.
In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at using the forward biased PN junction
of a diode to produce light. We know from the previous tutorials that when charge
carriers move across the junction, electrons combine with holes and energy is lost in
the form of heat, but also some of this energy is dissipated as photons but we can not
see them.
If we place a translucent lens around the junction, visible light will be produced and
the diode becomes a light source. This effect produces another type of diode known
commonly as the Light Emitting Diode which takes advantage of this light producing
characteristic to emit light (photons) in a variety of colours and wavelengths
8. The Light Emitting Diode

Light Emitting Diodes or simply LED´s, are among the most widely used of all the different
types of semiconductor diodes available today and are commonly used in TV’s and colour
displays.

They are the most visible type of diode, that emit a fairly narrow bandwidth of either
visible light at different coloured wavelengths, invisible infra-red light for remote
controls or laser type light when a forward current is passed through them.
The “Light Emitting Diode” or LED as it is more commonly called, is basically just
a specialised type of diode as they have very similar electrical characteristics to a PN
junction diode. This means that an LED will pass current in its forward direction but
block the flow of current in the reverse direction.
Light emitting diodes are made from a very thin layer of fairly heavily doped
semiconductor material and depending on the semiconductor material used and the
amount of doping, when forward biased an LED will emit a coloured light at a
particular spectral wavelength.
When the diode is forward biased, electrons from the semiconductors conduction band
recombine with holes from the valence band releasing sufficient energy to produce
photons which emit a monochromatic (single colour) of light. Because of this thin
layer a reasonable number of these photons can leave the junction and radiate away
producing a colored light output.
 LED Construction
Then we can say that when operated in a forward biased direction Light Emitting
Diodes are semiconductor devices that convert electrical energy into light energy.
The construction of a Light Emitting Diode is very different from that of a normal
signal diode. The PN junction of an LED is surrounded by a transparent, hard plastic
epoxy resin hemispherical shaped shell or body which protects the LED from both
vibration and shock.
Surprisingly, an LED junction does not actually emit that much light so the epoxy
resin body is constructed in such a way that the photons of light emitted by the
junction are reflected away from the surrounding substrate base to which the diode is
attached and are focused upwards through the domed top of the LED, which itself acts
like a lens concentrating the amount of light. This is why the emitted light appears to
be brightest at the top of the LED.
However, not all LEDs are made with a hemispherical shaped dome for their epoxy
shell. Some indication LEDs have a rectangular or cylindrical shaped construction that
has a flat surface on top or their body is shaped into a bar or arrow. Generally, all
LED’s are manufactured with two legs protruding from the bottom of the body.
Also, nearly all modern light emitting diodes have their cathode, ( – ) terminal
identified by either a notch or flat spot on the body or by the cathode lead being
shorter than the other as the anode ( + ) lead is longer than the cathode (k).
Unlike normal incandescent lamps and bulbs which generate large amounts of heat
when illuminated, the light emitting diode produces a “cold” generation of light which
leads to high efficiencies than the normal “light bulb” because most of the generated
energy radiates away within the visible spectrum. Because LEDs are solid-state
devices, they can be extremely small and durable and provide much longer lamp life
than normal light sources.

Light Emitting Diode Colours

So how does a light emitting diode get its colour. Unlike normal signal diodes which
are made for detection or power rectification, and which are made from either
Germanium or Silicon semiconductor materials, Light Emitting Diodes are made
from exotic semiconductor compounds such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium
Phosphide (GaP), Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP), Silicon Carbide (SiC) or
Gallium Indium Nitride (GaInN) all mixed together at different ratios to produce a
distinct wavelength of colour.
Different LED compounds emit light in specific regions of the visible light spectrum
and therefore produce different intensity levels. The exact choice of the
semiconductor material used will determine the overall wavelength of the photon light
emissions and therefore the resulting colour of the light emitted.
Light Emitting Diode Colours

Typical LED Characteristics

Semiconductor
Wavelength Colour VF @ 20mA
Material

GaAs 850-940nm Infra-Red 1.2v

GaAsP 630-660nm Red 1.8v

GaAsP 605-620nm Amber 2.0v

GaAsP:N 585-595nm Yellow 2.2v

AlGaP 550-570nm Green 3.5v

SiC 430-505nm Blue 3.6v

GaInN 450nm White 4.0v

Thus, the actual colour of a light emitting diode is determined by the wavelength of
the light emitted, which in turn is determined by the actual semiconductor compound
used in forming the PN junction during manufacture.
Therefore the colour of the light emitted by an LED is NOT determined by the
colouring of the LED’s plastic body although these are slightly coloured to both
enhance the light output and to indicate its colour when its not being illuminated by an
electrical supply.
Light emitting diodes are available in a wide range of colours with the most common
being RED, AMBER,  YELLOW  and GREEN and are thus widely used as visual
indicators and as moving light displays.
Recently developed blue and white coloured LEDs are also available but these tend to
be much more expensive than the normal standard colours due to the production costs
of mixing together two or more complementary colours at an exact ratio within the
semiconductor compound and also by injecting nitrogen atoms into the crystal
structure during the doping process.
From the table above we can see that the main P-type dopant used in the manufacture
of Light Emitting Diodes is Gallium (Ga, atomic number 31) and that the main N-
type dopant used is Arsenic (As, atomic number 33) giving the resulting compound of
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystalline structure.
The problem with using Gallium Arsenide on its own as the semiconductor compound
is that it radiates large amounts of low brightness infra-red radiation (850nm-940nm
approx.) from its junction when a forward current is flowing through it.
The amount of infra-red light it produces is okay for television remote controls but not
very useful if we want to use the LED as an indicating light. But by adding
Phosphorus (P, atomic number 15), as a third dopant the overall wavelength of the
emitted radiation is reduced to below 680nm giving visible red light to the human eye.
Further refinements in the doping process of the PN junction have resulted in a range
of colours spanning the spectrum of visible light as we have seen above as well as
infra-red and ultra-violet wavelengths.
By mixing together a variety of semiconductor, metal and gas compounds the
following list of LEDs can be produced.

Types of Light Emitting Diode

 Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) – infra-red
 Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP) – red to infra-red, orange
 Aluminium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (AlGaAsP) – high-brightness red,
orange-red, orange, and yellow
 Gallium Phosphide (GaP) – red, yellow and green
 Aluminium Gallium Phosphide (AlGaP) – green
 Gallium Nitride (GaN) – green, emerald green
 Gallium Indium Nitride (GaInN) – near ultraviolet, bluish-green and blue
 Silicon Carbide (SiC) – blue as a substrate
 Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) – blue
 Aluminium Gallium Nitride (AlGaN) – ultraviolet
Like conventional PN junction diodes, light emitting diodes are current-dependent
devices with its forward voltage drop VF, depending on the semiconductor compound
(its light colour) and on the forward biased LED current. Most common LED’s
require a forward operating voltage of between approximately 1.2 to 3.6 volts with a
forward current rating of about 10 to 30 mA, with 12 to 20 mA being the most
common range.
Both the forward operating voltage and forward current vary depending on the
semiconductor material used but the point where conduction begins and light is
produced is about 1.2V for a standard red LED to about 3.6V for a blue LED.
The exact voltage drop will of course depend on the manufacturer because of the
different dopant materials and wavelengths used. The voltage drop across the LED at
a particular current value, for example 20mA, will also depend on the initial
conduction VF point. As an LED is effectively a diode, its forward current to voltage
characteristics curves can be plotted for each diode colour as shown below.

Light Emitting Diodes I-V Characteristics.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) Schematic symbol and I-V Characteristics Curves
showing the different colours available.
Before a light emitting diode can “emit” any form of light it needs a current to flow
through it, as it is a current dependant device with their light output intensity being
directly proportional to the forward current flowing through the LED.
As the LED is to be connected in a forward bias condition across a power supply it
should be current limited using a series resistor to protect it from excessive current
flow. Never connect an LED directly to a battery or power supply as it will be
destroyed almost instantly because too much current will pass through and burn it out.
From the table above we can see that each LED has its own forward voltage drop
across the PN junction and this parameter which is determined by the semiconductor
material used, is the forward voltage drop for a specified amount of forward
conduction current, typically for a forward current of 20mA.
In most cases LEDs are operated from a low voltage DC supply, with a series
resistor, RS used to limit the forward current to a safe value from say 5mA for a simple
LED indicator to 30mA or more where a high brightness light output is needed.

LED Series Resistance.

The series resistor value RS is calculated by simply using Ohm´s Law, by knowing the
required forward current IF of the LED, the supply voltage VS across the combination
and the expected forward voltage drop of the LED, VF at the required current level, the
current limiting resistor is calculated as:

LED Series Resistor Circuit

Light Emitting Diode Example No1

An amber coloured LED with a forward volt drop of 2 volts is to be connected to a
5.0v stabilised DC power supply. Using the circuit above calculate the value of the
series resistor required to limit the forward current to less than 10mA. Also calculate
the current flowing through the diode if a 100Ω series resistor is used instead of the
calculated first.
1). series resistor required at 10mA.
2). with a 100Ω series resistor.

We remember from the Resistors tutorials, that resistors come in standard preferred
values. Our first calculation above shows that to limit the current flowing through the
LED to 10mA exactly, we would require a 300Ω resistor. In the E12 series of resistors
there is no 300Ω resistor so we would need to choose the next highest value, which
is 330Ω. A quick re-calculation shows the new forward current value is now 9.1mA,
and this is ok.

Connecting LEDs Together in Series

We can connect LED’s together in series to increase the number required or to
increase the light level when used in displays. As with series resistors, LED’s
connected in series all have the same forward current, IF flowing through them as just
one. As all the LEDs connected in series pass the same current it is generally best if
they are all of the same colour or type.

Connecting LED’s in Series

Although the LED series chain has the same current flowing through it, the series
voltage drop across them needs to be considered when calculating the required
resistance of the current limiting resistor, RS. If we assume that each LED has a
voltage drop across it when illuminated of 1.2 volts, then the voltage drop across all
three will be 3 x 1.2v = 3.6 volts.
If we also assume that the three LEDs are to be illuminated from the same 5 volt logic
device or supply with a forward current of about 10mA, the same as above. Then the
voltage drop across the resistor, RS and its resistance value will be calculated as:

Again, in the E12 (10% tolerance) series of resistors there is no 140Ω resistor so we

would need to choose the next highest value, which is 150Ω.

LED Driver Circuits

Now that we know what is an LED, we need some way of controlling it by switching
it “ON” and “OFF”. The output stages of both TTL and CMOS logic gates can both
source and sink useful amounts of current therefore can be used to drive an LED.
Normal integrated circuits (ICs) have an output drive current of up to 50mA in the
sink mode configuration, but have an internally limited output current of about 30mA
in the source mode configuration.
Either way the LED current must be limited to a safe value using a series resistor as
we have already seen. Below are some examples of driving light emitting diodes using
inverting ICs but the idea is the same for any type of integrated circuit output whether
combinational or sequential.

IC Driver Circuit
If more than one LED requires driving at the same time, such as in large LED arrays,
or the load current is to high for the integrated circuit or we may just want to use
discrete components instead of ICs, then an alternative way of driving the LEDs using
either bipolar NPN or PNP transistors as switches is given below. Again as before, a
series resistor, RS is required to limit the LED current.

Transistor Driver Circuit

The brightness of a light emitting diode cannot be controlled by simply varying the
current flowing through it. Allowing more current to flow through the LED will make
it glow brighter but will also cause it to dissipate more heat. LEDs are designed to
produce a set amount of light operating at a specific forward current ranging from
about 10 to 20mA.
In situations where power savings are important, less current may be possible.
However, reducing the current to below say 5mA may dim its light output too much
or even turn the LED “OFF” completely. A much better way to control the brightness
of LEDs is to use a control process known as “Pulse Width Modulation” or PWM, in
which the LED is repeatedly turned “ON” and “OFF” at varying frequencies
depending upon the required light intensity of the LED.
LED Light Intensity using PWM

When higher light outputs are required, a pulse width modulated current with a fairly
short duty cycle (“ON-OFF” Ratio) allows the diode current and therefore the output
light intensity to be increased significantly during the actual pulses, while still keeping
the LEDs “average current level” and power dissipation within safe limits.
This “ON-OFF” flashing condition does not affect what is seen by the human eye as it
“fills” in the gaps between the “ON” and “OFF” light pulses, providing the pulse
frequency is high enough, making it appear as a continuous light output. So pulses at a
frequency of 100Hz or more actually appear brighter to the eye than a continuous light
of the same average intensity.

Multi-coloured Light Emitting Diode

LEDs are available in a wide range of shapes, colours and various sizes with different
light output intensities available, with the most common (and cheapest to produce)
being the standard 5mm Red Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP) LED.
LED’s are also available in various “packages” arranged to produce both letters and
numbers with the most common being that of the “seven segment display”
arrangement.
Nowadays, full colour flat screen LED displays, hand held devices and TV’s are
available which use a vast number of multicoloured LED’s all been driven directly by
their own dedicated IC.
Most light emitting diodes produce just a single output of coloured light however,
multi-coloured LEDs are now available that can produce a range of different colours
from within a single device. Most of these are actually two or three LEDs fabricated
within a single package.
Bi-colour Light Emitting Diodes
A bi-colour light emitting diode has two LEDs chips connected together in “inverse
parallel” (one forwards, one backwards) combined in one single package. Bi-colour
LEDs can produce any one of three colours for example, a red colour is emitted when
the device is connected with current flowing in one direction and a green colour is
emitted when it is biased in the other direction.
This type of bi-directional arrangement is useful for giving polarity indication, for
example, the correct connection of batteries or power supplies etc. Also, a bi-
directional current produces both colours mixed together as the two LEDs would take
it in turn to illuminate if the device was connected (via a suitable resistor) to a low
voltage, low frequency AC supply.

A Bi-colour LED

Terminal A

LED
AC
Selected

+ –

LED 1 ON OFF ON

LED 2 OFF ON ON

Colour Green Red Yellow

Tricoloured Light Emitting Diode

The most popular type of tricolour light emitting diode comprises of a single Red and
a Green LED combined in one package with their cathode terminals connected
together producing a three terminal device. They are called tricolour LEDs because
they can give out a single red or a green colour by turning “ON” only one LED at a
time.
These tricoloured LED’s can also generate additional shades of their primary colours
(the third colour) such as Orange or Yellow by turning “ON” the two LEDs in
different ratios of forward current as shown in the table thereby generating four
different colours from just two diode junctions.

A Multi or Tricoloured LED

Output
Red Orange Yellow Green
Colour

LED 1
0 5mA 9.5mA 15mA
Current

LED 2
10mA 6.5mA 3.5mA 0
Current

LED Displays
As well as individual colour or multi-colour LEDs, several light emitting diodes can
be combined together within a single package to produce displays such as bargraphs,
strips, arrays and seven segment displays.
A 7-segment LED display provides a very convenient way when decoded properly of
displaying information or digital data in the form of numbers, letters or even alpha-
numerical characters and as their name suggests, they consist of seven individual
LEDs (the segments), within one single display package.
In order to produce the required numbers or characters
from 0 to 9 and A to F respectively, on the display the correct combination of LED
segments need to be illuminated. A standard seven segment LED display generally
has eight input connections, one for each LED segment and one that acts as a common
terminal or connection for all the internal segments.
 The Common Cathode Display (CCD) – In the common cathode display,
all the cathode connections of the LEDs are joined together and the individual
segments are illuminated by application of a HIGH, logic “1” signal.
 The Common Anode Display (CAD) – In the common anode display, all
the anode connections of the LEDs are joined together and the individual segments
are illuminated by connecting the terminals to a LOW, logic “0” signal.

A Typical Seven Segment LED Display

Opto-coupler
Finally, another useful application of light emitting diodes is in Opto-coupling. An
opto-coupler or opto-isolator as it is also called, is a single electronic device that
consists of a light emitting diode combined with either a photo-diode, photo-transistor
or photo-triac to provide an optical signal path between an input connection and an
output connection while maintaining electrical isolation between two circuits.
An opto-isolator consists of a light proof plastic body that has a typical breakdown
voltages between the input (photo-diode) and the output (photo-transistor) circuit of
up to 5000 volts. This electrical isolation is especially useful where the signal from a
low voltage circuit such as a battery powered circuit, computer or microcontroller, is
required to operate or control another external circuit operating at a potentially
dangerous mains voltage.
Photo-diode and Photo-transistor Opto-couplers

The two components used in an opto-isolator, an optical transmitter such as an infra-

red emitting Gallium Arsenide LED and an optical receiver such as a photo-transistor
are closely optically coupled and use light to send signals and/or information between
its input and output. This allows information to be transferred between circuits
without an electrical connection or common ground potential.
Opto-isolators are digital or switching devices, so they transfer either “ON-OFF”
control signals or digital data. Analogue signals can be transferred by means of
frequency or pulse-width modulation.
The Zener diode behaves just like a normal general-purpose diode consisting of a
silicon PN junction and when biased in the forward direction, that is Anode positive
with respect to its Cathode, it behaves just like a normal signal diode passing the rated
current.
However, unlike a conventional diode that blocks any flow of current through itself
when reverse biased, that is the Cathode becomes more positive than the Anode, as
soon as the reverse voltage reaches a pre-determined value, the zener diode begins to
conduct in the reverse direction.
This is because when the reverse voltage applied across the zener diode exceeds the
rated voltage of the device a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the
semiconductor depletion layer and a current starts to flow through the diode to limit
this increase in voltage.
The current now flowing through the zener diode increases dramatically to the
maximum circuit value (which is usually limited by a series resistor) and once
achieved, this reverse saturation current remains fairly constant over a wide range of
reverse voltages. The voltage point at which the voltage across the zener diode
becomes stable is called the “zener voltage”, ( Vz ) and for zener diodes this voltage
can range from less than one volt to a few hundred volts.
The point at which the zener voltage triggers the current to flow through the diode can
be very accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of the
diodes semiconductor construction giving the diode a specific zener breakdown
voltage, ( Vz ) for example, 4.3V or 7.5V. This zener breakdown voltage on the I-V
curve is almost a vertical straight line.

9. Bypass Diodes in Solar Panels

Bypass Diodesare wired in parallel with individual solar cells or panels, to provide a current path
around them in the event that a cell or panel becomes faulty or open-circuited.

This use of bypass diodes allows a series (called a string) of connected cells or panels
to continue supplying power at a reduced voltage rather than no power at all.
Bypass diodes are connected in reverse bias between a solar cells (or panel) positive
and negative output terminals and has no effect on its output. Ideally there would be
one bypass diode for each solar cell, but this can be rather expensive so generally one
diode is used per small group of series cells.
A “solar panel” is constructed using individual solar cells, and solar cells are made
from layers of silicon semiconductor materials. One layer of silicon is treated with a
substance to create an excess of electrons. This becomes the negative or N-type layer.
The other layer is treated to create a deficiency of electrons, and becomes the positive
or P-type layer similar to transistors and diodes.
When assembled together with conductors, this silicon arrangement becomes a light-
sensitive PN-junction semiconductor. In fact photovoltaic solar cells or PV’s as they
are more commonly called, are no more than big, flat photo sensitive diodes.
Photovoltaic solar cells convert the photon light around the PN-junction directly into
electricity without any moving or mechanical parts. PV cells produce energy from
sunlight, not from heat. In fact, they are most efficient when they are cold!.
When exposed to sunlight (or other intense light source), the voltage produced by a
single solar cell is about 0.58 volts DC, with the current flow (amps) being
proportional to the light energy (photons). In most photovoltaic cells, the voltage is
nearly constant, and the current is proportional to the size of the cell and the intensity
of the light.
The equivalent circuit of a PV, shown on the left, is that of a battery with a series
internal resistance, RINTERNAL, similar to any other conventional battery. However, due to
variations in internal resistance, the cell voltage and therefore available current will
vary between photovoltaic cells of equivalent size and structure, connected to the
same load, and under the same light source so this must be accounted for in the solar
panel assemblies you buy.
The silicon wafer of the photovoltaic solar cell that faces the sunlight consist of the
electrical contacts and is coated with an anti-reflective coating that helps absorb the
sunlight more efficiently. Electrical contacts provide the connection between the
semiconductor material and the external electrical load, such as a light bulb or battery.
When sunlight shines on a photovoltaic cell, photons of light strike the surface of the
semiconductor material and liberate electrons from their atomic bonds. During
manufacture certain doping chemicals are added to the semiconductors composition to
help to establish a path for the freed electrons. These paths creates a flow of electrons
forming an electrical current which starts to flow over the surface of the photovoltaic
solar cell.
Metallic strips are placed across the surface of a photovoltaic cell to collect the
electrons which form the positive (+) connection of the cell. The back of the cell, the
side away from the incoming sunlight consists of a layer of aluminium or
molybdenum metal which forms the negative (–) connection to the cell. Then a
photovoltaic solar cell has two electrical connections for conventional current flow,
one positive, and one negative, as shown.

Photovoltaic Solar Cell Construction

 
The type of solar power produced by a photovoltaic solar cell is DC the same as from
a battery. Most photovoltaic solar cells produce a “no load” open circuit voltage of
about 0.5 to 0.6 volts when there is no external circuit connected. This output voltage
( VOUT ) depends very much on the load current ( I ) demands of the PV cell.
For example on very cloudy or dull day the current demand would be low and so the
cell could provide the full output voltage, but at a reduced output current. But as the
current demand of the load increases a brighter light (solar radiation) is needed at the
junction to maintain a full output voltage, VOUT
However, there is a physical limit to the maximum current that a single photovoltaic
solar cell can provide no matter how intense or bright the suns radiation is. This is
called the maximum deliverable current and is symbolised as IMAX
The IMAX value of a single photovoltaic solar cell depends upon the size or surface area
of the cell (especially the PN-junction), the amount of direct sunlight hitting the cell,
its efficiency of converting this solar power into a current and of course the type of
semiconductor material that the cell is manufactured from either silicon, gallium
arsenide, cadmium sulphide or cadmium telluride etc.
So when selecting blocking diodes or bypass diodes to connect to solar cells or panels,
this maximum current value, IMAX needs to be taken into account.

Diodes in Photovoltaic Arrays

The PN-junction diode acts like solid state one way electrical valve that only allows
electrical current to flow through themselves in one direction only. The advantage of
this is that diodes can be used to block the flow of electric current from other parts of
an electrical solar circuit. When used with a photovoltaic solar panel, these types of
silicon diodes are generally referred to as Blocking Diodes.
Bypass Diodes are used in parallel with either a single or a number of photovoltaic
solar cells to prevent the current(s) flowing from good, well-exposed to sunlight solar
cells overheating and burning out weaker or partially shaded solar cells by providing a
current path around the bad cell. Blocking diodes are used differently than bypass
diodes.
Bypass diodes in solar panels are connected in “parallel” with a photovoltaic cell or
panel to shunt the current around it, whereas blocking diodes are connected in “series”
with the PV panels to prevent current flowing back into them. Blocking diodes are
therefore different than bypass diodes although in most cases the diode is physically
the same, but they are installed differently and serve a different purpose. Consider our
photovoltaic solar array below.

Bypass Diodes in Photovoltaic Arrays

 
As we said earlier, diodes are devices that allow current to flow in one direction only.
The diodes coloured green above are “bypass diodes”, one in parallel with each solar
panel to provide a low resistance path. Bypass diodes in solar panels and arrays need
to be able to safely carry this short circuit current.
The two diodes coloured red are referred to as the “blocking diodes”, one in series
with each series branch. Blocking diodes are different than bypass diodes, but in most
cases the two diodes are physically the same. However they are installed differently
and serves a different purpose.
These blocking diodes, also called a series diode or isolation diode, ensure that the
electrical current only flows in one direction “OUT” of the series array to the external
load, controller or batteries.
The reason for this is to prevent the current generated by the other parallel connected
PV panels in the same array flowing back through a weaker (shaded) network and also
to prevent the fully charged batteries from discharging or draining back through the
array at night. So when multiple solar panels are connected in parallel, blocking
diodes should be used in each parallel connected branch.
Generally speaking, blocking diodes are used in PV arrays when there are two or
more parallel branches or there is a possibility that some of the array will become
partially shaded during the day as the sun moves across the sky. The size and type of
blocking diode used depends upon the type of photovoltaic array.
Two types of diodes are available as bypass diodes in solar panels and arrays: the PN-
junction silicon diode and the Schottky barrier diode. Both are available with a wide
range of current ratings. The Schottky barrier diode has a much lower forward voltage
drop of about 0.4 volts as opposed to the PN diodes 0.7 volt drop for a silicon device.
This lower voltage drop allows a savings of one full PV cell in each series branch of
the solar array therefore, the array is more efficient since less power is dissipated in
the blocking diode. Most manufacturers include both blocking diodes and bypass
diodes in their solar panels simplifying the design.

10. Diode Clipping Circuits

The Diode Clipper, also known as a Diode Limiter, is a wave shaping circuit that takes an input
waveform and clips or cuts off its top half, bottom half or both halves together.

This clipping of the input signal produces an output waveform that resembles a
flattened version of the input. For example, the half-wave rectifier is a clipper circuit,
since all voltages below zero are eliminated.
But Diode Clipping Circuits can be used a variety of applications to modify an input
waveform using signal and Schottky diodes or to provide over-voltage protection
using zener diodes to ensure that the output voltage never exceeds a certain level
protecting the circuit from high voltage spikes. Then diode clipping circuits can be
used in voltage limiting applications.
We saw in the Signal Diodes tutorial that when a diode is forward biased it allows
current to pass through itself clamping the voltage. When the diode is reverse biased,
no current flows through it and the voltage across its terminals is unaffected, and this
is the basic operation of the diode clipping circuit.
Although the input voltage to diode clipping circuits can have any waveform shape,
we will assume here that the input voltage is sinusoidal. Consider the circuits below.

Positive Diode Clipping Circuits

In this diode clipping circuit, the diode is forward biased (anode more positive than
cathode) during the positive half cycle of the sinusoidal input waveform. For the diode
to become forward biased, it must have the input voltage magnitude greater than +0.7
volts (0.3 volts for a germanium diode).
When this happens the diodes begins to conduct and holds the voltage across itself
constant at 0.7V until the sinusoidal waveform falls below this value. Thus the output
voltage which is taken across the diode can never exceed 0.7 volts during the positive
half cycle.
During the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased (cathode more positive than
anode) blocking current flow through itself and as a result has no effect on the
negative half of the sinusoidal voltage which passes to the load unaltered. Thus the
diode limits the positive half of the input waveform and is known as a positive clipper
circuit.

Negative Diode Clipping Circuits

Here the reverse is true. The diode is forward biased during the negative half cycle of
the sinusoidal waveform and limits or clips it to –0.7 volts while allowing the positive
half cycle to pass unaltered when reverse biased. As the diode limits the negative half
cycle of the input voltage it is therefore called a negative clipper circuit.

Clipping of Both Half Cycles

If we connected two diodes in inverse parallel as shown, then both the positive and
negative half cycles would be clipped as diode D1 clips the positive half cycle of the
sinusoidal input waveform while diode D2 clips the negative half cycle. Then diode
clipping circuits can be used to clip the positive half cycle, the negative half cycle or
both.
For ideal diodes the output waveform above would be zero. However, due to the
forward bias voltage drop across the diodes the actual clipping point occurs at +0.7
volts and –0.7 volts respectively. But we can increase this ±0.7V threshold to any
value we want up to the maximum value, (VPEAK) of the sinusoidal waveform either by
connecting together more diodes in series creating multiples of 0.7 volts, or by adding
a voltage bias to the diodes.

Biased Diode Clipping Circuits

To produce diode clipping circuits for voltage waveforms at different levels, a bias
voltage, VBIAS is added in series with the diode to produce a combination clipper as
shown. The voltage across the series combination must be greater
than VBIAS + 0.7V before the diode becomes sufficiently forward biased to conduct. For
example, if the VBIAS level is set at 4.0 volts, then the sinusoidal voltage at the diode’s
anode terminal must be greater than 4.0 + 0.7 = 4.7 volts for it to become forward
biased. Any anode voltage levels above this bias point are clipped off.

Positive Bias Diode Clipping

Likewise, by reversing the diode and the battery bias voltage, when a diode conducts
the negative half cycle of the output waveform is held to a level –VBIAS – 0.7V as
shown.

Negative Bias Diode Clipping

A variable diode clipping or diode limiting level can be achieved by varying the bias
voltage of the diodes. If both the positive and the negative half cycles are to be
clipped, then two biased clipping diodes are used. But for both positive and negative
diode clipping, the bias voltage need not be the same. The positive bias voltage could
be at one level, for example 4 volts, and the negative bias voltage at another, for
example 6 volts as shown.

Diode Clipping of Different Bias levels

When the voltage of the positive half cycle reaches +4.7 V, diode D1 conducts and
limits the waveform at +4.7 V. Diode D2 does not conduct until the voltage reaches –
6.7 V. Therefore, all positive voltages above +4.7 V and negative voltages below –6.7
V are automatically clipped.
The advantage of biased diode clipping circuits is that it prevents the output signal
from exceeding preset voltage limits for both half cycles of the input waveform,
which could be an input from a noisy sensor or the positive and negative supply rails
of a power supply.
If the diode clipping levels are set too low or the input waveform is too great then the
elimination of both waveform peaks could end up with a square-wave shaped
waveform.

Zener Diode Clipping Circuits

The use of a bias voltage means that the amount of the voltage waveform that is
clipped off can be accurately controlled. But one of the main disadvantages of using
voltage biased diode clipping circuits, is that they need an additional emf battery
source which may or may not be a problem.
One easy way of creating biased diode clipping circuits without the need for an
additional emf supply is to use Zener Diodes.
As we know, the zener diode is a another type of diode that has been specially
manufactured to operate in its reverse biased breakdown region and as such can be
used for voltage regulation or zener diode clipping applications. In the forward region,
the zener acts just like an ordinary silicon diode with a forward voltage drop of 0.7V
(700mV) when conducting, the same as above.
However, in the reverse bias region, the voltage is blocked until the zener diodes
breakdown voltage is reached. At this point, the reverse current through the zener
increases sharply but the zener voltage, VZ across the device remains constant even if
the zener current, IZ varies.
Then we can put this zener action to good effect by using them for clipping a
waveform as shown.

Zener Diode Clipping

The zener diode is acting like a biased diode clipping circuit with the bias voltage
being equal to the zener breakdown voltage. In this circuit during the positive half of
the waveform the zener diode is reverse biased so the waveform is clipped at the zener
voltage, VZD . During the negative half cycle the zener acts like a normal diode with its
1

usual 0.7V junction value.

We can develop this idea further by using the zener diodes reverse-voltage
characteristics to clip both halves of a waveform using series connected back-to-back
zener diodes as shown.

Full-wave Zener Diode Clipping

The output waveform from full wave zener diode clipping circuits resembles that of
the previous voltage biased diode clipping circuit. The output waveform will be
clipped at the zener voltage plus the 0.7V forward volt drop of the other diode. So for
example, the positive half cycle will be clipped at the sum of zener diode, ZD1 plus
0.7V from ZD2 and vice versa for the negative half cycle.
Zener diodes are manufactured with a wide range of voltages and can be used to give
different voltage references on each half cycle, the same as above. Zener diodes are
available with zener breakdown voltages, VZ ranging from 2.4 to 33 volts, with a
typical tolerance of 1 or 5%. Note that once conducting in the reverse breakdown
region, full current will flow through the zener diode so a suitable current limiting
resistor, R1 must be chosen.

Diode Clipping Summary

As well as being used as rectifiers, diodes can also be used to clip the top, or bottom,
or both of a waveform at a particular dc level and pass it to the output without
distortion,. In or examples above we have assumed that the waveform is sinusoidal
but in theory any shaped input waveform can be used.
Diode Clipping Circuits are used to eliminate amplitude noise or voltage spikes,
voltage regulation or to produce new waveforms from an existing signal such as
squaring off the peaks of a sinusoidal waveform to obtain a rectangular waveform as
seen above.
The most common application of a “diode clipping” is as a flywheel or free-wheeling
diode connected in parallel across an inductive load to protect the switching transistor
form reverse voltage transients.

11. The Schottky Diode

A Schottky Diode is a metal-semiconductor diode with a low forward voltage drop and a very
fast switching speed

The Schottky Diode is another type of semiconductor diode but have the advantage that
their forward voltage drop is substantially less than that of the conventional silicon
pn-junction diode.
Schottky diodes have many useful applications from rectification, signal conditioning
and switching, through to TTL and CMOS logic gates due mainly to their low power
and fast switching speeds. TTL Schottky logic gates are identified by the letters LS
appearing somewhere in their logic gate circuit code, e.g. 74LS00.
PN-junction diodes are formed by joining together a p-type and an n-type
semiconductor material allowing it to be used as a rectifying device, and we have seen
that when Forward Biased the depletion region is greatly reduced allowing current to
flow through it in the forward direction, and when Reverse Biased the depletion
region is increased blocking current flow.
The action of biasing the pn-junction using an external voltage to either forward or
reverse bias it, decreases or increases respectively the resistance of the junction
barrier. Thus the voltage-current relationship (characteristic curve) of a typical pn-
junction diode is influenced by the resistance value of the junction. Remember that the
pn-junction diode is a nonlinear device so its DC resistance will vary with both the
biasing voltage and the current through it.
When forward biased, conduction through the junction does not start until the external
biasing voltage reaches the “knee voltage” at which point current increases rapidly
and for silicon diodes the voltage required for forward conduction to occur is around
0.65 to 0.7 volts as shown.
PN-junction Diode IV-Characteristics

For practical silicon junction diodes, this knee voltage can be anywhere between 0.6
and 0.9 volts depending upon how it was doped during manufacture, and whether the
device is a small signal diode or a much larger rectifying diode. The knee voltage for
a standard germanium diode is, however much lower at approximately 0.3 volts,
making it more suited to small signal applications.
But there is another type of rectifying diode which has a small knee voltage as well as
a fast switching speed called a Schottky Barrier Diode, or just simply “Schottky
Diode”. Schottky diodes can be used in many of the same applications as conventional
pn-junction diodes and have many different uses, especially in digital logic, renewable
energy and solar panel applications.

The Schottky Diode

Unlike a conventional pn-junction diode which is formed from a piece of P-type
material and a piece of N-type material, Schottky Diodes are constructed using a
metal electrode bonded to an N-type semiconductor. Since they are constructed using
a metal compound on one side of their junction and doped silicon on the other side,
the Schottky diode therefore has no depletion layer and are classed as unipolar devices
unlike typical pn-junction diodes which are bipolar devices.
The most common contact metal used for Schottky diode construction is “Silicide”
which is a highly conductive silicon and metal compound. This silicide metal-silicon
contact has a reasonably low ohmic resistance value allowing more current to flow
producing a smaller forward voltage drop of around Vƒ<0.4V when conducting.
Different metal compounds will produce different forward voltage drops, typically
between 0.3 to 0.5 volts.
Schottky Diode Construction and Symbol

Above shows the simplified construction and symbol of a Schottky diode in which a
lightly doped n-type silicon semiconductor is joined with a metal electrode to produce
what is called a “metal-semiconductor junction”. The width of the ms-junction will
depend on the type of metal and semiconductor material used, but when forward-
biased, electrons move from the n-type material to the metal electrode allowing
current to flow. Thus current through the Schottky diode is the result of the drift of
majority carriers.
Since there is no p-type semiconductor material and therefore no minority carriers
(holes), when reverse biased, the diodes conduction stops very quickly and changes to
blocking current flow, as for a conventional pn-junction diode. Thus for a Schottky
diode there is a very rapid response to changes in bias and demonstrating the
characteristics of a rectifying diode.
As discussed previously, the knee voltage at which a Schottky diode turns “ON” and
starts conducting is at a much lower voltage level than its pn-junction equivalent as
shown in the following I-V characteristics.
Schottky Diode IV-Characteristics

As we can see, the general shape of the metal-semiconductor Schottky diode I-V
characteristics is very similar to that of a standard pn-junction diode, except the corner
or knee voltage at which the ms-junction diode starts to conduct is much lower at
around 0.4 volts.
Due to this lower value, the forward current of a silicon Schottky diode can be many
times larger than that of a typical pn-junction diode, depending on the metal electrode
used. Remember that Ohms law tells us that power equals volts times amps, (P = V*I)
so a smaller forward voltage drop for a given diode current, ID will produce lower
forward power dissipation in the form of heat across the junction.
This lower power loss makes the Schottky diode a good choice in low-voltage and
high-current applications such as solar photovoltaic panels where the forward-voltage,
(VF) drop across a standard pn-junction diode would produce an excessive heating
effect. However, it must be noted that the reverse leakage current, (IR) for a Schottky
diode is generally much larger than for a pn-junction diode.
Note however that if the I-V characteristics curve shows a more linear non-rectifying
characteristic, then it is an Ohmic contact. Ohmic contacts are commonly used to
connect semiconductor wafers and chips with external connecting pins or circuitry of
a system. For example, connecting the semiconductor wafer of a typical logic gate to
the pins of its plastic dual-in-line (DIL) package.
Also due to the Schottky diode being fabricated with a metal-to-semiconductor
junction, it tends to be slightly more expensive than standard pn-junction silicon
diodes which have similar voltage and current specifications. For example, the 1.0
Ampere 1N58xx Schottky series compared to the general purpose 1N400x series.
Schottky Diodes in Logic Gates
The Schottky diode also has many uses in digital circuits and are extensively used in
Schottky transistor–transistor logic (TTL) digital logic gates and circuits due to their
higher frequency response, decreased switching times and lower power consumption.
Where high speed switching is required, Schottky based TTL is the obvious choice.
There are different versions of Schottky TTL all with differing speeds and power
consumption. The three main TTL logic series which use the Schottky diode in its
construction are given as:
 Schottky Diode Clamped TTL (S series) – Schottky “S” series TTL
(74SXX) is an improved version of the original diode-transistor DTL, and
transistor-transistor 74 series TTL logic gates and circuits. Schottky diodes are
placed across the base-collector junction of the switching transistors to prevent
them from saturating and creating propagation delays allowing for faster operation.
 Low-Power Schottky (LS series) – The transistor switching speed, stability
and power dissipation of the 74LSXX series TTL is better than the previous 74SXX
series. As well as a higher switching speed, the low-power Schottky TTL family
consumes less power making the 74LSXX TTL series a good choice for many
applications.
 Advanced Low-Power Schottky (ALS series) – Additional
improvements in the materials used to fabricate the ms-junctions of the diodes
means that the 74LSXX series has reduced propagation delay time and much lower
power dissipation compared to the 74ALSXX and the 74LS series. However, being
a newer technology and inherently more complex design internally than standard
TTL, the ALS series is slightly more expensive.

Schottky Clamped Transistor

All the previous Schottky TTL gates and circuits use a Schottky clamped transistor to
prevent them from being driven hard into saturation.
As shown, a Schottky clamped transistor is basically a standard bipolar junction
transistor with a Schottky diode connected in parallel across its base-collector
junction.
When the transistor conducts normally in the active region of its characteristics
curves, the base–collector junction is reverse biased and so the diode is reverse biased
allowing the transistor to operate as a normal npn transistor. However, when the
transistor starts to saturate, the Schottky diode becomes forward biased and clamps
the collector-base junction to its 0.4 volt knee value, keeping the transistor out of hard
saturation as any excess base current is shunted through the diode.
Preventing the logic circuits switching transistors from saturating decreases greatly
their propagation delay time making Schottky TTL circuits ideal for use in flip-flops,
oscillators and memory chips.

Schottky Diode Summary

We have seen here that the Schottky Diode also known as a Schottky Barrier Diode is a
solid-state semiconductor diode in which a metal electrode and an n-type
semiconductor form the diodes ms-junction giving it two major advantages over
traditional pn-junction diodes, a faster switching speed, and a low forward bias
voltage.
The metal–to-semiconductor or ms-junction provides a much lower knee voltage of
typically 0.3 to 0.4 volts compared against a value of 0.6 to 0.9 volts seen in a
standard silicon base pn-junction diode for the same value of forward current.
Variations in the metal and semiconductor materials used for their construction means
that silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes are able to turn “ON” with with a forward
voltage drop as little as 0.2 volts with the Schottky diode replacing the less used
germanium diode in many applications requiring a low knee voltage.
Schottky diodes are quickly becoming the preferred rectification device in low
voltage, high current applications for use in renewable energy and solar panel
applications. However, compared to pn-junction equivalents Schottky diode reverse
leakage currents are greater and their reverse breakdown voltage lower at around 50
volts.
A lower turn-on voltage, faster switching time and reduced power consumption makes
the Schottky diode extremely useful in many integrated-circuit applications with the
74LSXX TTL series of logic gates being the most common.
Metal–semiconductor junctions can also be made to operate as “Ohmic contacts” as
well as rectifying diodes by depositing the metal electrode onto heavily doped (and
thus low-resistivity) semiconductor regions. Ohmic contacts conduct current equally
in both directions allowing semiconductor wafers and circuits to connect an to
external terminals.