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Semiconductor Electronics devices and circuits >> Semiconductor diodes

diodes
>> Photodiode
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P-N Junction
Zero bias P-N
Photodiode
Junction
Introduction
Barrier
voltage A photodiode is a p-n junction or pin semiconductor
Depletion
device that consumes light energy to generate
region
electric current. It is also sometimes referred as
Width of
depletion photo-detector, photo-sensor, or light detector.

region
Photodiodes are specially designed to operate in
P-N junction
reverse bias condition. Reverse bias means that the
diode
Forward p-side of the photodiode is connected to the negative

biased diode terminal of the battery and n-side is connected to the

Reverse positive terminal of the battery.
biased diode
V-I Photodiode is very sensitive to light so when light or

characteristics photons falls on the photodiode it easily converts

of diode light into electric current. Solar cell is also known as
Depletion large area photodiode because it converts solar
region energy or light energy into electric energy. However,
breakdown
solar cell works only at bright light.
Ideal diode
Real diode The construction and working of photodiode is almost
Diode junction similar to the normal p-n junction diode. PIN (p-type,
capacitance
intrinsic and n-type) structure is mostly used for
Diode
constructing the photodiode instead of p-n (p-type
resistance
and n-type) junction structure because PIN structure
Zener diode
Avalanche provide fast response time. PIN photodiodes are
diode mostly used in high-speed applications.
Photodiode
In a normal p-n junction diode, voltage is used as the
Light Emitting
Diode energy source to generate electric current whereas in
Laser diode photodiodes, both voltage and light are used as
Tunnel diode energy source to generate electric current.
Schottky
diode Photodiode symbol
Varactor diode
P-n junction The symbol of photodiode is similar to the normal p-n
diode junction diode except that it contains arrows striking
applications the diode. The arrows striking the diode represent
Silicon light or photons.
Controlled
Rectifier

A photodiode has two terminals: a cathode and an

anode.

Objectives and limitations of photodiode

1. Photodiode should be always operated in

reverse bias condition.

2. Applied reverse bias voltage should be low.

3. Generate low noise

4. High gain

5. High response speed

6. High sensitivity to light

7. Low sensitivity to temperature

8. Low cost

9. Small size

10. Long lifetime

How photodiode works?

A normal p-n junction diode allows a small amount of

electric current under reverse bias condition. To
increase the electric current under reverse bias
condition, we need to generate more minority
carriers.

The external reverse voltage applied to the p-n

junction diode will supply energy to the minority
carriers but not increase the population of minority
carriers.

However, a small number of minority carriers are

generated due to external reverse bias voltage. The
minority carriers generated at n-side or p-side will
recombine in the same material before they cross the
junction. As a result, no electric current flows due to
these charge carriers. For example, the minority
carriers generated in the p-type material experience
a repulsive force from the external voltage and try to
move towards n-side. However, before crossing the
junction, the free electrons recombine with the holes
within the same material. As a result, no electric
current flows.

To overcome this problem, we need to apply external

energy directly to the depletion region to generate
more charge carriers.

A special type of diode called photodiode is designed

to generate more number of charge carriers in
depletion region. In photodiodes, we use light or
photons as the external energy to generate charge
carriers in depletion region.

Types of photodiodes

The working operation of all types of photodiodes is

same. Different types of photodiodes are developed
based on specific application. For example, PIN
photodiodes are developed to increase the response
speed. PIN photodiodes are used where high
response speed is needed.

The different types of photodiodes are

PN junction photodiode
PIN photodiode
Avalanche photodiode

Among all the three photodiodes, PN junction and

PIN photodiodes are most widely used.

PN junction photodiode

PN junction photodiodes are the first form of

photodiodes. They are the most widely used
photodiodes before the development of PIN
photodiodes. PN junction photodiode is also simply
referred as photodiode. Nowadays, PN junction
photodiodes are not widely used.

When external light energy is supplied to the p-n

junction photodiode, the valence electrons in the
depletion region gains energy.

If the light energy applied to the photodiode is greater

the band-gap of semiconductor material, the valence
electrons gain enough energy and break bonding
with the parent atom. The valence electron which
breaks bonding with the parent atom will become
free electron. Free electrons moves freely from one
place to another place by carrying the electric
current.

When the valence electron leave the valence shell an

empty space is created in the valence shell at which
valence electron left. This empty space in the
valence shell is called a hole. Thus, both free
electrons and holes are generated as pairs. The
mechanism of generating electron-hole pair by using
light energy is known as the inner photoelectric
effect.

The minority carriers in the depletion region

experience force due to the depletion region electric
field and the external electric field. For example, free
electrons in the depletion region experience repulsive
and attractive force from the negative and positive
ions present at the edge of depletion region at p-side
and n-side. As a result, free electrons move towards
the n region. When the free electrons reaches n
region, they are attracted towards the positive
terminals of the battery. In the similar way, holes
move in opposite direction.

The strong depletion region electric field and the

external electric field increase the drift velocity of the
free electrons. Because of this high drift velocity, the
minority carriers (free electrons and holes) generated
in the depletion region will cross the p-n junction
before they recombine with atoms. As a result, the
minority carrier current increases.

When no light is applied to the reverse bias

photodiode, it carries a small reverse current due to
external voltage. This small electric current under the
absence of light is called dark current. It is denoted
by I λ.

In a photodiode, reverse current is independent of

reverse bias voltage. Reverse current is mostly
depends on the light intensity.

In photodiodes, most of the electric current is carried

by the charge carriers generated in the depletion
region because the charge carriers in depletion
region has high drift velocity and low recombination
rate whereas the charge carriers in n-side or p-side
has low drift velocity and high recombination rate.
The electric current generated in the photodiode due
to the application of light is called photocurrent.

The total current through the photodiode is the sum

of the dark current and the photocurrent. The dark
current must be reduced to increase the sensitivity of
the device.

The electric current flowing through a photodiode is

directly proportional to the incident number of
photons.

PIN photodiode

PIN photodiodes are developed from the PN junction

photodiodes. The operation of PIN photodiode is
similar to the PN junction photodiode except that the
PIN photodiode is manufactured differently to
improve its performance.

The PIN photodiode is developed to increase the

minority carrier current and response speed.

PIN photodiodes generate more electric current than

the PN junction photodiodes with the same amount
of light energy.

Layers of PIN photodiode

A PN junction photodiode is made of two layers

namely p-type and n-type semiconductor whereas
PIN photodiode is made of three layers namely p-
type, n-type and intrinsic semiconductor.

In PIN photodiode, an addition layer called intrinsic

semiconductor is placed between the p-type and n-
type semiconductor to increase the minority carrier
current.

P-type semiconductor

If trivalent impurities are added to the intrinsic

semiconductor, a p-type semiconductor is formed.

In p-type semiconductors, the number of free

electrons in the conduction band is lesser than the
number of holes in the valence band. Therefore,
holes are the majority charge carriers and free
electrons are the minority charge carriers. In p-type
semiconductors, holes carry most of the electric
current.

N-type semiconductor

If pentavalent impurities are added to the intrinsic

semiconductor, an n-type semiconductor is formed.

In n-type semiconductors, the number of free

electrons in the conduction band is greater than the
number of holes in the valence band. Therefore, free
electrons are the majority charge carriers and holes
are the minority charge carriers. In n-type
semiconductors, free electrons carry most of the
electric current.

Intrinsic semiconductor

Intrinsic semiconductors are the pure form of

semiconductors. In intrinsic semiconductor, the
number of free electrons in the conduction band is
equal to the number of holes in the valence band.
Therefore, intrinsic semiconductor has no charge
carriers to conduct electric current.

However, at room temperature a small number of

charge carriers are generated. These small number
of charge carriers will carry electric current.

PIN photodiode operation

A PIN photodiode is made of p region and n region

separated by a highly resistive intrinsic layer. The
intrinsic layer is placed between the p region and n
region to increase the width of depletion region.

The p-type and n-type semiconductors are heavily

doped. Therefore, the p region and n region of the
PIN photodiode has large number of charge carriers
to carry electric current. However, these charge
carriers will not carry electric current under reverse
bias condition.

On the other hand, intrinsic semiconductor is an

undoped semiconductor material. Therefore, the
intrinsic region does not have charge carriers to
conduct electric current.

Under reverse bias condition, the majority charge

carriers in n region and p region moves away from
the junction. As a result, the width of depletion region
becomes very wide. Therefore, majority carriers will
not carry electric current under reverse bias
condition.

However, the minority carriers will carry electric

current because they experience repulsive force from
the external electric field.

In PIN photodiode, the charge carriers generated in

the depletion region carry most of the electric current.
The charge carriers generated in the p region or n
region carry only a small electric current.

When light or photon energy is applied to the PIN

diode, most part of the energy is observed by the
intrinsic or depletion region because of the wide
depletion width. As a result, a large number of
electron-hole pairs are generated.

Free electrons generated in the intrinsic region move

towards n-side whereas holes generated in the
intrinsic region move towards p-side. The free
electrons and holes moved from one region to
another region carry electric current.

When free electrons and holes reach n region and p

region, they are attracted to towards the positive and
negative terminals of the battery.

The population of minority carriers in PIN photodiode

is very large compared to the PN junction
photodiode. Therefore, PIN photodiode carry large
minority carrier current than PN junction photodiode.

When forward bias voltage is applied to the PIN

photodiode, it behaves like a resistor.

We know that capacitance is directly proportional to

the size of electrodes and inversely proportional to
the distance between electrodes. In PIN photodiode,
the p region and n region acts as electrodes and
intrinsic region acts as dielectric.

The separation distance between p region and n

region in PIN photodiode is very large because of the
wide depletion width. Therefore, PIN photodiode has
low capacitance compared to the PN junction
photodiode.

In PIN photodiode, most of the electric current is

carried by the charge carriers generated in the
depletion region. The charge carriers generated in p
region or n region carry only a small electric current.
Therefore, increasing the width of depletion region
increases the minority carrier electric current.

Advantages of PIN photodiode

1. Wide bandwidth
2. High quantum efficiency
3. High response speed

Avalanche photodiode

The operation of avalanche photodiode is similar to

the PN junction and PIN photodiode except that a
high reverse bias voltage is applied in case of
avalanche photodiode to achieve avalanche
multiplication.

Applying high reverse bias voltage to the avalanche

photodiode will not directly increase the generation of
charge carriers. However, it provides energy to the
electron-hole pairs generated by the incident light.

When light energy is applied to the avalanche

photodiode, electron-hole pairs are generated in the
depletion. The generated electron-hole pairs
experience a force due to the depletion region
electric field and external electric field.

In avalanche photodiode, a very high reverse bias

voltage supply large amount of energy to the minority
carriers (electron-hole pairs). The minority carriers
which gains large amount of energy are accelerated
to greater velocities.

When the free electrons moving at high speed

collides with the atom, they knock off more free
electrons. The newly generated free electrons are
again accelerated and collide with other atoms.
Because of this continuous collision with atoms, a
large number of minority carriers are generated.
Thus, avalanche photodiodes generates more
number of charge carriers than PN and PIN
photodiodes.

Avalanche photodiodes are used in the applications

where high gain is an important factor.

Advantages of avalanche photodiode

1. High sensitivity
2. Larger gain

Disadvantages of avalanche photodiode

Generates high level of noise than a PN photodiode

Photodiode operation modes

A photodiode can be operated in one of the two

modes: photovoltaic mode or photoconductive mode.

Operation mode selection of the photodiode is

depends upon the speed requirements of the
application and the amount of dark current that is
tolerable.

Photovoltaic mode

In the photovoltaic mode, the photodiode is

unbiased. In other words, no external voltage is