ECE249:

Unit-4
PN junction diode and its applications

1
Basic Diode Concepts
* Energy Diagrams – Insulator, Semiconductor, and Conductor
the energy diagram for the three types of solids

2
Intrinsic Semiconductors
* Intrinsic (pure) Si Semiconductor:

When equilibrium between

excitation and recombination
is reached :
electron density  hole density
n i  p i  1.5 1010 cm -3
for intrinsic Si crystal at 300 K
( Note : Si crystal atom density
is ~ 5 10 22 cm -3 )

3
 Intrinsic Semiconductors
*Apply a voltage across
a piece of Si:
electron current
and hole current

4
N- and P- Type Semiconductors
* Doping: adding of impurities (i.e., dopants) to the intrinsic semi-
conductor material.
* N-type: adding Group V dopant (or donor) such as As, P, Sb,…

n  p  constant for a semiconductor

For Si at 300K

n  p  ni2  pi2  1.5  10 10 
2

In n - type material
n  N d the donor conceration
n  N d  ni , p  pi
We call
electron the major charge carrier
hole the minor cahage carrier

5
 N- and P- Type Semiconductors
* Doping: adding of impurities (i.e., dopants) to the intrinsic semi-
conductor material.
* P-type: adding Group III dopant (or acceptor) such as Al, B, Ga,…

n  p  constant for a semiconductor

For Si at 300K
2
i
2
i 
n  p  n  p  1.5  10 
10 2

In p - type material
p  N a the acceptor conceration
p  N a  pi , n  ni
We call
hole the major charge carrier
electron the minor cahage carrier

6
The PN-Junction
* The interface in-between p-type and n-type material is called a
pn-junction.
The barrier potential VB  0.6  0.7V for Si and 0.3V for Ge
at 300K : as T  ,VB  .

7
Biasing the PN-Junction
* There is no movement of charge
through a PN-junction at
equilibrium.
* The PN-junction form a diode
which allows current in only one
direction and prevent the current
in the other direction as
determined by the bias.

8
 Diodes – Basic Diode Concepts
Biasing the PN-Junction
*Forward Bias: dc voltage positive terminal connected to the p region
and negative to the n region. It is the condition that permits
current through the pn-junction of a diode.

9
 Biasing the PN-Junction
*Forward Bias:

10
 Diodes – Basic Diode Concepts

*Reverse Bias: dc voltage negative terminal connected to the p region and

positive to the n region. Depletion region widens until its potential
difference equals the bias voltage, majority-carrier current ceases.

11
 2. Diodes – Basic Diode Concepts
*Reverse Bias:
majority-carrier current ceases.
* However, there is still a very
small current produced by
minority carriers.

12
 2. Diodes – Basic Diode Concepts
Biasing the PN-Junction
* Reverse Breakdown: As reverse voltage reach certain value, avalanche
occurs and generates large current.

Diode Characteristic I-V Curve

13
 Shockley Equation
* The Shockley equation is a theoretical result
under certain simplification:
  vD  
i D  I s exp   1
  n VT  
where I s  10 -14 A at 300K is the (reverse) saturation
current, n  1 to 2 is the emission coefficien t,
kT
VT   0.026V at 300K is the thermal voltage
q
k is the Boltzman' s constant, q  1.60  10 -19 C
 v 
when v D  0.1V, i D  I s exp D 
 n VT 
This equation is not applicable when v D  0

14
Diode Testing

15
Ideal-Diode Model
* We may apply “Ideal-Diode Model” to simplify the analysis:
(1) in forward direction: short-circuit assumption, zero voltage drop;
(2) in reverse direction: open-circuit assumption.
* The ideal-diode model can be used when the forward voltage drop and
reverse currents are negligible.

16
2. Piecewise-Linear Diode Models
Modified Ideal-Diode Model

* This modified ideal-diode model is usually accurate enough in

most of the circuit analysis.

17
 Application
Rectifier Circuits
* Rectifiers convert ac power to dc power.
* Rectifiers form the basis for electronic power suppliers and battery
charging circuits.
Half-Wave
Rectifier

18
 Center-Tapped Full wave rectifiers
 A center-tapped transformer is used with two diodes that conduct on alternating
half-cycles.

F D1
+ – During the negative half-cycle, the
lower diode is forward-biased and the
+
I upper diode is reverse-biased.
Vin Vout
–
0 0 D1
+ + F
– +
RL
– –
–
– + V in V out
D2
+
0 0
During the positive half-cycle, the upper – +
diode is forward-biased and the lower diode RL
is reverse-biased. I –
+
+ –
D2

19
 Bridge Full-wave rectifiers
 The Bridge Full-Wave rectifier uses four diodes connected across the entire
secondary as shown.
F

I
D3 D1
+ +
Vin
– – + Conduction path for the
RL Vout 0 negative half-cycle.
D2 D4 –
F

Conduction path for the I

positive half-cycle. D3 D1
– –
Vin
+ + +
D2 RL Vout 0
D4 –

20
MCQ
The forward voltage drop across a silicon diode is
about …………………
(a) 0.3 V
(b) 3 V
(C) 7 V
(d) 0.7 V

21
MCQ
The leakage current in a crystal diode is due to
…………….
(a) minority carriers
(b) majority carriers
(C)junction capacitance
(d) none of the above

22