Experiment - 3

Experiment–3: I–V Characteristics of Diodes
Introduction to Electronics Laboratory

Electronics and Communication Engineering Group
School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar
Autumn Semester 2018
Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

Agenda of the Experiment
In this experiment, we will do the following:
! Observe and measure the I–V characteristics of a p-n silicon diode (1N4007).
! Observe and measure the I–V characteristics of a p-n germanium diode (AC27).
I
! Observe and measure the I–V characteristics of a zener diode. IN 750
! Observe and measure the I–V characteristics of RED LEDs.
! Extract various important quantities from these measurements.

What you will Need for the Experiment
Before starting the experiment, ensure that you have:
!
o
1N4007 silicon diode, germanium diode (OA79 or IN60)
! 4.7 V Zener diode, RED LED
! 1 kΩ potentiometer (also called ‘pot’ i.e. a variable resistor) and screwdriver
! Resistors- 1 kΩ, 100 Ω (×2)
! Multimeters (1–2), and a DC power supply
! Breadboard and connecting wires (but of course!)

Part 1: Forward Characteristics of All Diodes
1. A diode has a non-linear I–V characteristic. For a small change in voltage, it may
exhibit large change in current.
2. To measure I–V, we need to use a potentiometer (variable resistor) with which we

can tune the voltage more accurately, than the DC voltage knob.
3. Wire up the following circuit using 1N4007 Si diode. How will you distinguish the
anode/cathode (n or p) terminals of the diodes? Use the DMM, or ask your TA!
4148 100 Ω
IN
+ VD -
E zoo 5V +
−
1 kΩ
ID
100 Ω
4. Now, using a screwdriver, slowly vary the position of the potentiometer, such that
the diode current variess in the range 0 ≤ ID ≤ 10 mA. Measure both ID and VD in
each case. Check connections and resolution for DMM (ammeter/voltmeter).
Part 1: Forward Characteristics of All Diodes (cont’d..)
5. Maintain an observation table as shown below.

Voltage across diode VD (Volts) Diode forward current ID (mA)
0 0
There is no answer to ‘how many readings should I take?’ Whenever you see
minor variation of ID with VD , take readings at less frequent intervals. Whenever
you see large variations, take more frequent readings.
6. Repeat steps 3–5 for Germanium diode, Zener diode, and red LED, and maintain
an observation table for each diode.
7. Plot a graph of ID v/s VD for the measured range of VD . This means that VD should
be on the X-axis. Do this for all diodes, and you should have 4 plots.
8. Save these plots and observation tables. We shall come back to them later, and of
course, you need them for your report too!

Part 2: Reverse Characteristics of Zener Diode
1. Wire up the following circuit, using a 4.7 V Zener diode.

+ VR -
+ IR
VDC
I
− 1 kΩ
2. Vary VDC in the range of 0 to 6 V, and measure the diode reverse voltage VR , and
reverse current IR .
3. Maintain an observation table as shown below.

Diode reverse voltage VR (Volts) Diode reverse current IR (mA)
0 0

Obtaining Results and Interpreting Them
Now that the experiment is complete and we have I–V data, do the following:
1. Use the forward bias data for all diodes and plot ID v/s VD graphs. From each
graph, calculate the forward resistance by calculating the slope of the curve at a
point in the ON region (when there is sufficiently large change in current w.r.t.
voltage). If the measured slope is m,
dVD 1
Forward resistance ron = ≈ (1)
dID m
Mention the values of ID and VD at which you are computing the slope.
2. Plot a graph of ln ID v/s VD . From the slope of the graph, determine the diode
ideality factor η. Recall from Shockley’s equation that,
VD
ID ≈ I S e ηVT
(2)
VD
∴ ln ID = + ln IS
ηVT
1
3. Clearly, the expected plot of ln ID v/s VD is linear with slope . Using the
ηVT
calculated slope and VT = 26 mV, calculate the ideality factor η.
4. From the same graph, calculate the saturation current IS (how?).
What You Should Report
Your MS-Excel/Word file report should contain:
! The ID v/s VD reading pairs for all diodes.
! The ID v/s VD plots for all diodes.
! The cut-in voltage (approx) for each diode, and the reverse breakdown voltage
(approx) for Zener diode.
! The on-resistance ron values for each diode.
! The ln ID v/s VD plots for all diodes.
! The calculated values of η and IS for each diode.
Happy Learning by Doing!

Experiment - 3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Experiment - 3

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Experiment - 3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Experiment–3: I–V Characteristics of Diodes

Introduction to Electronics Laboratory

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

In this experiment, we will do the following:

! Extract various important quantities from these measurements.

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

Before starting the experiment, ensure that you have:

! 4.7 V Zener diode, RED LED

! 1 kΩ potentiometer (also called ‘pot’ i.e. a variable resistor) and screwdriver

! Resistors- 1 kΩ, 100 Ω (×2)

! Multimeters (1–2), and a DC power supply

! Breadboard and connecting wires (but of course!)

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

2. To measure I–V, we need to use a potentiometer (variable resistor) with which we

5. Maintain an observation table as shown below.

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

1. Wire up the following circuit, using a 4.7 V Zener diode.

3. Maintain an observation table as shown below.

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

Your MS-Excel/Word file report should contain:

! The ID v/s VD reading pairs for all diodes.

! The ID v/s VD plots for all diodes.

! The on-resistance ron values for each diode.

! The ln ID v/s VD plots for all diodes.

! The calculated values of η and IS for each diode.

Happy Learning by Doing!

Basic Electronics Laboratory (EC2P005) School of Electrical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar

You might also like