ASSIGNMENT # 1

Name : Ali Nawaz Khan

Reg. No. : EE-01083-193
Section : A
Department : BSEE
Semester : 5th
Subject : Electronic Devices and Circuits
Submitted To : Sir Rashid Javaid Shb

DIODE:
In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts electric current in
only one direction. The term usually refers to a semiconductor diode, the most common type
today. This is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals.

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[1]
A vacuum tube diode (now little used except in some high-power technologies) is a vacuum
tube with two electrodes: a plate and a cathode.

A two-terminal semiconductor (rectifying) device that exhibits a nonlinear current-

voltage characteristic. The function of a diode is to allow current in one direction and to
block current in the opposite direction. The terminals of a diode are called the anode
and cathode. There are two kinds of semiconductor diodes: a P-N junction diode, which
forms an electrical barrier at the interface between N- and P-type semiconductor layers,
and a Schottky diode, whose barrier is formed between metal and semiconductor
regions.

Function of Diode
The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one direction
(called the diode's forward bias direction) while blocking current in the opposite direction (the
reverse direction). Thus, the diode can be thought of as an electronic version of a check valve.
This unidirectional behavior is called rectification, and is used to convert alternating current to
direct current, and to extract modulation from radio signals in radio receivers.

Properties of Diodes
The fundamental property of a diode is its tendency to conduct electric current in only
one direction. When the cathode is negatively charged relative to the anode at a voltage
greater than a certain minimum called forward breakover, then current flows through the
diode. If the cathode is positive with respect to the anode, is at the same voltage as the
anode, or is negative by an amount less than the forward breakover voltage, then the
diode does not conduct current. This is a simplistic view, but is true for diodes operating
as rectifiers, switches, and limiters. The forward breakover voltage is approximately six
tenths of a volt (0.6 V) for silicon devices, 0.3 V for germanium devices, and 1 V for
selenium devices.

When an analog signal passes through a diode operating at or near its forward
breakover point, the signal waveform is distorted. This nonlinearity allows for
modulation, demodulation, and signal mixing. In addition, signals are generated at
harmonics, or integral multiples of the input frequency. Some diodes also have a
characteristic that is imprecisely termed negative resistance. Diodes of this type, with
the application of a voltage at the correct level and the polarity, generate analog signals
at microwave radio frequencies.

Special Types of DIODE:

Following are the special types of diode
1. Photodiode
2. Varactor Diode
3. Schottky Barrier Diode

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 4. Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

PHOTODIODE
A photodiode is a type of photodetector capable of converting light into either current
or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation.

Photodiodes are similar to regular semiconductor diodes except that they may be
either exposed (to detect vacuum UV or X-rays) or packaged with a window or optical
fibre connection to allow light to reach the sensitive part of the device. Many diodes
designed for use specifically as a photodiode will also use a PIN junction rather than the
typical PN junction.

All P-N junctions are light sensitive; photodiodes are just P-N junctions that are
designed to optimize this effect. Photodiodes can be used two ways -- in a photovoltaic
(here it becomes a current source when illuminated -- see solar cell), or
photoconductive role.

 To use a photodiode in its photoconductive mode, the photodiode is reverse-

biased; the photodiode will then allow a current to flow when it is illuminated.

Materials:
The material used to make a photodiode is critical to defining its properties, because
only photons with sufficient energy to excite electrons across the material's bandgap will
produce significant photocurrents.Materials commonly used to produce photodiodes
include.

Material Electromagnetic spectrum

wavelength range (nm)
Silicon 190 – 1100
Germanium 400 – 1700
Indium gallium arsenide 800 – 2600
Lead(II) sulfide <1000 – 3500

Photovoltaic mode:
When used in zero bias or photovoltaic mode, the flow of photocurrent out of the
device is restricted and a voltage builds up. The diode becomes forward biased and
"dark current" begins to flow across the junction in the direction opposite to the
photocurrent. This mode is responsible for the photovoltaic effect, which is the basis for

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solar cells—in fact, a solar cell is just an array of large area photodiodes.

Photoconductive mode:
In this mode the diode is often (but not always) reverse biased. This increases
the width of the depletion layer, which decreases the junction's capacitance resulting in
faster response times. The reverse bias induces only a small amount of current (known
as saturation or back current) along its direction while the photocurrent remains virtually
the same. The photocurrent is linearly proportional to the luminance.

Although this mode is faster, the photovoltaic mode tends to exhibit less electronic
noise. (The leakage current of a good PIN diode is so low – < 1nA – that the Johnson–
Nyquist noise of the load resistance in a typical circuit often dominates.)

Features:
1. Responsivity
2. Dark Current
3. (NEP)

Noise-equivalent power

(NEP) The minimum input optical power to generate photocurrent, equal to the
rms noise current in a 1 hertz bandwidth. The related characteristic detectivity (D) is the
inverse of NEP, 1/NEP; and the specific detectivity ( ) is the detectivity normalized to
the area (A) of the photodetector, . The NEP is roughly the minimum
detectable input power of a photodiode.
When a photodiode is used in an optical communication system, these
parameters contribute to the sensitivity of the optical receiver, which is the minimum
input power required for the receiver to achieve a specified bit error ratio.

Principle of operation:
A photodiode is a PN junction or PIN structure. When a photon of sufficient
energy strikes the diode, it excites an electron thereby creating a mobile electron and a
positively charged electron hole. If the absorption occurs in the junction's depletion
region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from the junction
by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus holes move toward the anode, and
electrons toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced.

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 A p n junction photodiode is just a p n junction diode that has been specifically
fabricated and encapsulated to permit light penetration into the vicinity of the
metallurgical junction. The absorption of light inside the diode creates electron-hole
pairs.

Applications:
P-N photodiodes are used in similar applications to other photodetectors, such as
photoconductors, charge-coupled devices, and photomultiplier tubes.

Photodiodes are used in consumer electronics devices such as compact disc

players, smoke detectors, and the receivers for remote controls in VCRs and
televisions.

In other consumer items such as camera light meters, clock radios (the ones that
dim the display when it's dark) and street lights, photoconductors are often used rather
than photodiodes, although in

Varactor Diode

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 A variable capacitance diode is known as a varicap diode or as a Varactor. The
name varactor is an acronym of “Variable reactor”. A Varactor is a nonlinear device that
provides a capacitance that varies responsive to an applied control voltage. A Varactor
is, essentially, a variable voltage capacitor. The capacitance of a Varactor, when within
its operating parameters, decreases as a voltage applied to the device increases.

In electronics, a varicap diode, varactor diode, variable capacitance diode, variable

reactance diode or tuning diode is a type of diode which has a variable capacitance that is a
function of the voltage impressed on its terminals.

Capacitance:

The capacitance of a capacitor is dependent on a number of factors including the

plate area, the dielectric constant of the insulator between the plates and the distance
between the two plates. In the case of the varactor diode, it is possible to increase and
decrease the width of the depletion region by changing the level of the reverse bias.
This has the effect of changing the distance between the plates of the capacitor.
The capacitance at a given bias can be calculated from the following equation:

Cj (V) = Cj (0V)1+ VΦt

Where, the built in potential (1.2 for GaAs) Cjo = the junction capacitance at 0V t = the
tuning slope V = the reverse bias voltage.

Voltage Capacitance Curve:

Applications:
Varactors are used as voltage-controlled capacitors, rather than as rectifiers.
They are commonly used in parametric amplifiers, parametric oscillators and voltage-
controlled oscillators as part of phase-locked loops and frequency synthesizers.

Schottky Barrier Diode

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The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law (named after transistor co-inventor William
Bradford Shockley, not to be confused with tetrode inventor Walter H. Schottky) gives the I–V
characteristic of an ideal diode in either forward or reverse bias (or no bias). The equation is:

where

I is the diode current,

IS is the reverse bias saturation current (or scale current),
VD is the voltage across the diode,
VT is the thermal voltage, and
n is the ideality factor, also known as the quality factor or sometimes emission
coefficient. The ideality factor n varies from 1 to 2 depending on the fabrication process
and semiconductor material and in many cases is assumed to be approximately equal to
1 (thus the notation n is omitted).

The thermal voltage VT is approximately 25.85 mV at 300 K, a temperature close to “room

temperature” commonly used in device simulation software. At any temperature it is a known
constant defined by:

where k is the Boltzmann constant, T is the absolute temperature of the p-n junction, and q is
the magnitude of charge on an electron (the elementary charge).

The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law is derived with the assumption that the only
processes giving rise to the current in the diode are drift (due to electrical field), diffusion, and
thermal recombination-generation. It also assumes that the recombination-generation (R-G)
current in the depletion region is insignificant. This means that the Shockley equation doesn’t
account for the processes involved in reverse breakdown and photon-assisted R-G.
Additionally, it doesn’t describe the “leveling off” of the I–V curve at high forward bias due to
internal resistance.

Under reverse bias voltages (see Figure 5) the exponential in the diode equation is negligible,
and the current is a constant (negative) reverse current value of −IS. The reverse breakdown
region is not modeled by the Shockley diode equation.

For even rather small forward bias voltages (see Figure 5) the exponential is very large because
the thermal voltage is very small, so the subtracted ‘1’ in the diode equation is negligible and the
forward diode current is often approximated as

The use of the diode equation in circuit problems is illustrated in the article on diode modeling.

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Opration:
The Schottky barrier diode is sometimes called the HOT-ELECTRON or HOT-
CARRIER DIODE because the electrons flowing from the semiconductor to the metal
have a higher energy level than the electrons in the metal. The effect is the same as it
would be if the metal were heated to a higher temperature than normal. Figure 2-52 is
an illustration of the construction of a Schottky barrier diode.

Applications:
1-Voltage clamping 2-Discharge protection

3-Power supply 4-Ultra high-speed switching

5-Blocking diodes 6- Power rectifier

7- RF mixer and detector diode 8- Solar cell applications

9- Power OR circuits

Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as
indicator lamps in many devices, and are increasingly used for lighting. Introduced as a
practical electronic component in 1962, [2] early LEDs emitted low-intensity red light, but
modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths,
with very high brightness.

In a diode formed from a direct band-gap semiconductor, such as gallium arsenide, carriers that
cross the junction emit photons when they recombine with the majority carrier on the other side.

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Depending on the material, wavelengths (or colors) from the infrared to the near ultraviolet may
be produced.[12] The forward potential of these diodes depends on the wavelength of the emitted
photons: 1.2 V corresponds to red, 2.4 V to violet. The first LEDs were red and yellow, and
higher-frequency diodes have been developed over time. All LEDs produce incoherent, narrow-
spectrum light; “white” LEDs are actually combinations of three LEDs of a different color, or a
blue LED with a yellow scintillator coating. LEDs can also be used as low-efficiency photodiodes
in signal applications. An LED may be paired with a photodiode or phototransistor in the same
package, to form an opto-isolator.

Opration:
When a light-emitting diode is forward biased (switched on), electrons are able to
recombine with holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is
called electroluminescence.

The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the
energy gap of the semiconductor. An LED is often small in area (less than 1 mm2), and
integrated optical components may be used to shape its radiation pattern.[3] LEDs
present many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy
consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size, faster switching, and
greater durability and reliability.

Laser diodes

When an LED-like structure is contained in a resonant cavity formed by polishing

the
parallel end faces, a laser can be formed. Laser diodes are commonly used in
optical storage devices and for high speed optical communication.

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V-I curve of led:

Applications:

1. They are used in the display panels

2. They are used for the display of time in digital clocks
3. They are used in signboards
4. They are used as Green, yellow and red traffic signals
5. Infrared LEDs are used inflash guns with the camerasto avoid detection.
Photographs are taken as they are taken with white light flash guns.
6. Laser LEDs are used for reading CD ROMS

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