Kurt Christian R.

Abad ECE 212

BSCpE 2 02/12/2023

What are the basic components of electronics?

Diodes
A diode is a two-terminal device that allows electric current to flow in only one direction. Thus, it is
the electronic equivalent of a check valve or a one-way street. It is commonly used to convert an
Alternating Current (AC) into a Direct Current (DC).
Transistors
A transistor is a miniature semiconductor that regulates or controls current or voltage flow in addition
amplifying and generating these electrical signals and acting as a switch/gate for them. Typically,
transistors consist of three layers, or terminals, of a semiconductor material, each of which can carry a
current.
OP amps
An operational amplifier is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential
input and, usually, a single-ended output. In this configuration, an op amp produces an output potential
that is typically 100,000 times larger than the potential difference between its input terminals.

Uses of the Components

Introduction to OP amps and ideal behaviors
Operational Amplifiers, also known as Op-amps, are basically a voltage amplifying device
designed to be used with components like capacitors and resistors, between its in/out terminals. They are
essentially a core part of analog devices. Feedback components like these are used to determine the
operation of the amplifier. The amplifier can perform many different operations (resistive, capacitive, or
both), Giving it the name Operational Amplifier.

Op-amps are linear devices that are ideal for DC amplification and are used often in signal
conditioning, filtering or other mathematical operations (add, subtract, integration and differentiation).
The operational amplifier is arguably the most useful single device in analog electronic circuitry.
With only a handful of external components, it can be made to perform a wide variety of analog signal
processing tasks. It is also quite affordable, most general-purpose amplifiers selling for under a dollar
apiece. Modern designs have been engineered with durability in mind as well: several “op-amps” are
manufactured that can sustain direct short-circuits on their outputs without damage.
The ideal operational amplifier exhibits linear behavior and must abide by three conditions to be
considered ideal. Voltage and current that the op amp can function with, also referred to as saturation. In
an ideal op amp, the current entering the inverting and non-inverting nodes are zero.
Buffer Circuits
A buffer circuit follows the gain amplifier contributing an additional buffer amplifier noise nb,
leading to an analog to digital converter (ADC) with quantization noise nq, resulting in the measured
pixel digital number (DN) dij.
 The energy-storage device, the heart of the SHA, is almost always a capacitor. The input amplifier
buffers the input by presenting a high impedance to the signal source and providing current gain to charge
the hold capacitor. In the track mode, the voltage on the hold capacitor follows (or tracks) the input signal
(with some delay and bandwidth limiting). In the hold mode, the switch is opened, and the capacitor
retains the voltage present before it was disconnected from the input buffer. The output buffer offers a
high impedance to the hold capacitor to keep the held voltage from discharging prematurely. The
switching circuit and its driver form the mechanism by which the SHA is alternately switched between
track and hold.
Basic Configuration of OP amps
1. Voltage Follower
The most basic circuit is the voltage buffer, as it does not require any external components. As the
voltage output is equal to the voltage input, students might become puzzled and wonder whether this kind
of circuit has any practical application

2. Inverting Op Amp
In this configuration, the output is fed back to the negative or inverting input through a resistor
(R2). The input signal is applied to this inverting pin through a resistor (R1).
The positive pin is connected to ground.

3. Non-inverting Op Amp
This configuration is very similar to the inverting operation amplifier. For the non-inverting one,
the input voltage is directly to the applied to the non-inverting pin and the end of feedback loop is
connected to ground.

4. Non-inverting Summing amplifier

To add 2 voltages, only 2 resistors can be added on the positive pin to the non-inverting operational
amplifier circuit.
5. Inverting Summing Amplifier
By adding resistors in parallel on the inverting input pin of the inverting operation amplifier
circuit, all the voltages are summed. Unlike the non-inverting summing amplifier, any number of voltages
can be added without changing resistor values.

6. Differential Amplifier
The inverting operational amplifier (see circuit number 2) amplified a voltage that was applied on
the inverting pin, and the output voltage was out of phase. The non-inverting pin is connected to ground
with this configuration.
If the above circuit is modified by applying a voltage through a voltage divider on the non-inverting

7. Integrator
A square wave is very easy to generate, by just toggling a GPIO of a microcontroller for example.
If a circuit needs a triangle waveform, a good way to do it is just integrating the square wave signal. With
an Operation Amplifier, a capacitor on the inverting feedback path, and a resistor on the input inverting
pin

8. Op Amp Differentiator
The differentiator works similarly to the integrator by swapping the capacitor and the resistor.
9. Converter current – voltage
A photodetector converts light into current. To convert the current into voltage, a simple circuit
with an operational amplifier, a feedback loop through a resistor on the non-inverting, and the diode
connected between the two input pins allows you to get an output voltage proportional to current
generated by the photodiode, which is evident by the light characteristics.

10. Negative resistance

A feedback on the inverting pin forces the output voltage to be the double of the input voltage. As
the output voltage is always higher than the input voltage, the positive feedback through the R1 resistor
on the non-inverting pin simulates a negative resistance.

Differentiators and Integrators

The Integrator Amplifier produces an output that is the mathematical operation of integration.
The Differentiator Amplifier produces an output that is the mathematical operation of differentiation.
Both the Integrator and Differentiator Amplifiers have a resistor and capacitor connected across the op-
amp and are affected by its RC time constant.
In their basic form, Differentiator Amplifiers suffer from instability and noise but additional components
can be added to reduce the overall closed-loop gain.

Active filters
Active filters are the electronic circuits, which consist of active element like op-amp(s) along with
passive elements like resistor(s) and capacitor(s). Active filters are mainly classified into the following
four types based on the band of frequencies that they are allowing and / or rejecting
Types of active filter:
Active Low Pass Filter - If an active filter allows (passes) only low frequency components and
rejects (blocks) all other high frequency components, then it is called as an active low pass filter.
Active High Pass Filter-If an active filter allows (passes) only high frequency components and
rejects (blocks) all other low frequency components, then it is called an active high pass filter.
 Active Band Pass Filter-If an active filter allows (passes) only one band of frequencies, then it is
called as an active band pass filter. In general, this frequency band lies between low frequency range and
high frequency range. So, active band pass filter rejects (blocks) both low and high frequency
components.
Active Band Stop Filter - If an active filter rejects (blocks) a particular band of frequencies, then
it is called as an active band stop filter. In general, this frequency band lies between low frequency range
and high frequency range. So, active band stop filter allows (passes) both low and high frequency
components.

DIODES
Introduction to PN junctions
A P-N junction is an interface or a boundary between two semiconductor material types, namely
the p-type and the n-type, inside a semiconductor. In a semiconductor, the P-N junction is created by the
method of doping. The p-side or the positive side of the semiconductor has an excess of holes, and the n-
side or the negative side has an excess of electrons. The process of doping is explained in further detail in
the next section.
P-N Junction Formula
The formula used in the P-N junction depends upon the built-in potential difference created by the electric
field is given as:

Models of Diode Behavior

Piece-wise linear model:
The piece-wise linear model, as the name suggests, is a model in which the characteristics of
diode is approximated by “piece-wise linear” line segments.
Simplified Diode model:
In the section on piece-wise linear model, we learnt that the average resistance of diode in
forward bias configuration is very less. In the example discussed, the average resistance was merely 6.67
Q. Such small value of resistance can usually be ignored in comparison with other elements in the circuit.
Ideal diode model:
The piece-wise linear model represents the diode model in piece-wise linear manner. The simplified
diode model ignores the effect of diode resistance in comparison with values of other elements of the
circuit. Lets take the process of simplification one step further and establish that the voltage drop across
the diode (0.7 V for Si) is negligible as compared to other voltage drops in the circuit. Hence the diode
voltage drop can be ignored for simplification purpose. The resultant model is an ideal diode model.
Ideal Diodes
An ideal diode is to control the direction of current-flow. Current passing through a diode can only go
in one direction, called the forward direction. Current trying to flow the reverse direction is blocked.
They're like the one-way valve of electronics. If the voltage across a diode is negative, no current can
flow*, and the ideal diode looks like an open circuit. In such a situation, the diode is said to be off or
reverse biased. As long as the voltage across the diode isn't negative, it'll "turn on" and conduct current.
Ideally* a diode would act like a short circuit (0V across it) if it was conducting current. When a diode is
conducting current it's forward biased (electronics jargon for "on").
Assumed States Method
Method of assumed state [From Neaman]
Analyzing multi-diode circuits requires determining if the individual devices are ON or OFF. In
many cases, the choice is not obvious, so we must initially guess the state of each device, then analyze the
circuit to determine if we have a solution consistent with our initial guess. To do this, we can:
Assume the state of a diode. If a diode is assumed ON, the voltage across the diode is assumed to be V
(Voltage source or short circuit). If a diode is assumed to be OFF, the current through the diode is
assumed to be zero (Open circuit).
Analyze the “linear” circuit with the assumed diode states.
Evaluate the resulting state of each diode.
If the initial assumption were that a diode is OFF and the analysis shows that VD S Wy , then the
assumption is correct. If, however, the analysis actually shows that VD > V , then the initial assumption is
incorrect.
Similarly, if the initial assumption were that a diode is ON and the analysis shows that ID > 0,
then the initial assumption is correct. If, however, the analysis shows that Ip < 0, then the initial
assumption is incorrect.
If any initial assumption is proven incorrect, then a new assumption must be made and the new “linear”
circuit must be analyzed. Step iii must then be repeated.

Ideal Diode + Voltage Source Model

What is a Diode?
A diode is the 'one way' sign for electrical circuits. The current is allowed to move through the
diode in one direction only. Each diode has a positive end, the anode, and a negative end, the cathode.
Current flows from the anode to the cathode, but not the other way around.
How do you analyze a Diode in a circuit?
Method 1: The Diode as a Switch
The most painless (and least accurate) way to analyze diode circuits is to pretend that the diode is a
voltage-controlled switch that functions as a perfect one-way valve for electric current. If the voltage
across this “switch” is greater than 0 V, current flows freely, without any resistance or voltage drop. If the
voltage across the “switch” is less than or equal to 0 V, no current flows.

Method 2: The Constant-Voltage-Drop Approach

When we are using the method described in the preceding section, we are analyzing the circuit as though
diodes are ideal, meaning that they function as perfect one-way valves for current. We can make that
method much more realistic simply by incorporating an ideal battery that represents the diode’s voltage
drop.
The battery becomes an integral part of the overall diode component,

What are the important applications of a Diode?

Rectifying a voltage: turning AC into DC voltages.
Drawing signals from a supply.
Controlling the size of a signal.
Mixing (multiplexing) signals.
As freewheeling of the inductive energy.
Below are the diode examples with the use of diode in day-to-day life:
Zener diodes – They are used to regulate the voltage to protect circuits from high voltage surges,
 Avalanche diodes – They are used to electronically tune radio and TV receivers.
 Varactor diodes are used to generate radio-frequency oscillations  
Tunnel diodes -  These diodes are used as RF circuits.

What is a Diode used for in a circuit?

A diode is a semiconductor device that essentially acts as a one-way switch for current. It allows
current to flow easily in one direction, but severely restricts current from flowing in the opposite
direction.
Diodes are also known as rectifiers because they change alternating current (ac) into pulsating
direct current (dc). Diodes are rated according to their type, voltage, and current capacity.
Diodes have polarity, determined by an anode (positive lead) and cathode (negative lead). Most diodes
allow current to flow only when positive voltage is applied to the anode.