BEEE (B.

TECH, 1ST YEAR)

Prepared By
Dr. Sachidananda Sen
1
Asst. Professor, EEE Dept.
 SYLLABUS
UNIT IV
Semiconductor Diodes
 Energy bands in solids (metals, insulator and
semiconductors),
 Intrinsic semiconductor, p-type & n-type semiconductors,
 Drift and diffusion phenomenon
 PN junction diode,
 V-I characteristics,
 Basic concepts of diode resistances (static and dynamic),
 Junction Capacitances (drift and diffusion),
 Junction breakdown mechanisms,
 Zener diode,
 Problems related to: diode current, voltage, and
resistance, diode circuits and temperature effects;
 TYPES OF MATERIALS: INSULATOR
 Based on the electrical conductivity all the materials in
nature are classified as insulators, semiconductors,
and conductors.

 Insulator: An insulator is a material that offers

a very low level (or negligible) of conductivity
when voltage is applied.
 Eg: Paper, Wood Mica, glass, quartz.

 Typical resistivity level of an insulator is of the

order of 10^10 to 10^12 Ω-cm.
 The energy gap is more than 5 eV.
 ENERGY LEVELS
 The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the
higher is the energy state, and any electron that has left
its parent atom has a higher energy state than any
electron in the atomic structure.

Let W = Energy,
Q = Charge, V = Voltage

Discrete levels in isolated atomic structures

 ENERGY LEVELS
 An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb
more energy than one in the valence band of
germanium to become a free carrier.
 Similarly, an electron in the valence band of gallium
arsenide must gain more energy than one in silicon or
germanium to enter the conduction band.

conduction and valence bands of an

insulator, a semiconductor, and a
conductor
 ENERGY BANDS
 The energy band structure of an insulator is shown.
 Band structure of a material defines the band of energy
levels that an electron can occupy.
 Valence band (VB) is the range of electron energy
where the electron remain bonded to the atom and do not
contribute to the electric current.
 Conduction band (CB) is the range of electron energies
higher than valence band where electrons are free to
accelerate under the influence of external voltage source
resulting in the flow of charge.
 The energy band between the VB and CB is called as
forbidden band gap.
 It is the energy required by an electron to move from VB
to CB i.e. the energy required for a valence electron to
become a free electron.
 TYPES OF MATERIALS: CONDUCTOR
 A conductor is a material which supports a generous
flow of charge when a voltage is applied across its
terminals. i.e. it has very high conductivity.
 Eg: Copper, Aluminum, Silver, Gold.

 The resistivity of a conductor is in the order of 10^-4 and

10^-6 Ω-cm.
 The Valence and conduction bands overlap and
there is no energy gap (0 eV) for the electrons to move
from valance band to conduction band.
 This implies that there are free electrons in CB even at
absolute zero temperature (0K).
 Therefore, at room temperature when electric field is
applied large current flows through the conductor.
 It has positive temperature coefficient.

 As α = +ve, resistance increases with temperature.

 TYPES OF MATERIALS: SEMICONDUCTOR
 A semiconductor is a material that has its
conductivity somewhere between the insulator and
conductor.
 The resistivity level is in the range of 10^1 and
10^4 Ω-cm.
 Two of the most commonly used are Silicon (Si=14
atomic no.) and Germanium (Ge=32 atomic no.). Both
have 4 valance electrons.
 The energy gap is in the order of 1 eV. Eg., the band
gap energy for Si, Ge and GaAs is 1.1, 0.67 and 1.43 eV,
respectively at 0K.
 At 0K and at low temperatures, the valence band
electrons do not have sufficient energy to move from VB
to CB.
 Thus, semiconductors act a insulators at 0K.
 TYPES OF MATERIALS: SEMICONDUCTOR
 As the temperature increases, a large number of
valance electrons acquire sufficient energy to leave the
VB, cross the forbidden band gap and reach CB.
These are now free electrons as they can move freely
under the influence of electric field.
 At room temperature there are sufficient electrons in
the CB, and hence, the semiconductor is capable of
conducting some current even at room temperature.
 It has negative temperature coefficient, i.e., α = – ve,
resistance decreases with temperature.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES
 A pure form of semiconductors is called as intrinsic
semiconductor.
 Conduction in intrinsic semiconductors is either
due to thermal excitation or crystal defects.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC
 The term intrinsic is applied to any semiconductor
material that has been carefully refined to reduce the
number of impurities to a very low level – essentially as
pure as can be made available through modern
technology.
 Si and Ge are the two most important semiconductors
used.
 Other examples include Gallium arsenide (GaAs),
Indium Antimonide (InSb) etc.
 The fundamental components of an atom are the
electron, proton, and neutron.
 In the lattice structure, neutrons and protons form
the nucleus and electrons appear in fixed orbits around
the nucleus.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC

The Bohr model for

the three materials

Silicon has 14 orbiting electrons,

Germanium has 32 electrons,
Gallium has 31 electrons,
and Arsenic has 33 orbiting electrons
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC
 For germanium and silicon there are four electrons in
the outermost shell, which are referred to as valence
electrons.
 Gallium has three valence electrons and arsenic has five
valence electrons.
 Atoms that have four valence electrons are called
tetravalent, those with three are called trivalent,
and those with five are called pentavalent.
 The term valence is used to indicate that the potential
(ionization potential) required to remove any one of these
electrons from the atomic structure is significantly lower
than that required for any other electron in the structure.
 This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of
electrons, is called covalent bonding.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC

Covalent bonding of the silicon atom

Covalent bonding of the GaAs crystal

 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC
 The term “free” is applied to any electron that has
separated from the fixed lattice structure and is very
sensitive to any applied electric fields such as established
by voltage sources or any difference in potential.
 The external causes include effects such as light
energy in the form of photons and thermal energy (heat)
from the surrounding medium.
 At room temperature there are approximately 1.5 × 10^10
free carriers in 1 cm^3 of intrinsic silicon material, that
is, 15,000,000,000 (15 billion) electrons in a space
smaller than a small sugar cube—an enormous number.
 The free electrons in a material due only to external
causes are referred to as intrinsic carriers (ni).
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC
 Ge has the highest number and GaAs the lowest.
 In fact, Ge has more than twice the number as GaAs.

 The number of carriers in the intrinsic form is important,

but other characteristics of the material are more
significant in determining its use in the field.
 One such factor is the relative mobility (μn) of the free
carriers in the material, that is, the ability of the free
carriers to move throughout the material.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: INTRINSIC
 Free carriers in GaAs have more than five times the
mobility of free carriers in Si, a factor that results in
response times using GaAs electronic devices that can be
up to five times those of the same devices made from Si.
 Impurity levels of 1 part in 10 billion are common today,
with higher levels attainable for large-scale integrated
circuits.
 One might ask whether these extremely high levels of
purity are necessary.
They certainly are if one considers
that the addition of one part of
impurity (of the proper type) per
million in a wafer of silicon
material can change that material
from a relatively poor conductor
to a good conductor of electricity.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: EXTRINSIC
 The ability to change the characteristics of a material
through this process (adding impurity into a pure
semiconductor) is called doping, something that
germanium, silicon, and gallium arsenide readily and
easily accept.
 Intrinsic semiconductor has very limited applications as
they conduct very small amounts of current at room
temperature.
 The current conduction capability of intrinsic semiconductor
can be increased significantly by adding a small amounts
impurity to the intrinsic semiconductor.
 By adding impurities it becomes impure or extrinsic
semiconductor.
 A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the
doping process is called an extrinsic semiconductor.
 The amount of impurity added is 1 part in 10^6 atoms.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: N – TYPE
 There are two extrinsic materials of high importance to
semiconductor device fabrication: n-type and p-type
materials.
 Both n-type and p-type materials are formed by
adding a predetermined number of impurity atoms to a
silicon base (called substrate).
n-type material:
 An n-type material is created by introducing impurity
elements that have five valence electrons
(pentavalent), such as antimony (Sb), arsenic (As),
and phosphorus (P).
 Each is a member of a subset group of elements in the
Periodic Table of Elements referred to as Group V
because each has five valence electrons.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: N – TYPE
 Note that the four covalent bonds
are still present.
 There is, however, an additional
fifth electron due to the impurity
atom, which is unassociated with
any particular covalent bond.
 This remaining electron, loosely
bound to its parent (antimony)
atom, is relatively free to
move within the newly formed
n-type material.
 Since the inserted impurity
atom has donated a relatively
“free” electron to the structure: Antimony impurity
 Diffused impurities with five in n-type material
valence electrons are called
donor atoms.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: N – TYPE
 The effect of this doping process on the conductivity can
best be described using the energy-band diagram.
 Note that a discrete energy level (called the donor level)
appears in the forbidden band with an Eg significantly less
than that of the intrinsic material.
 Those free electrons due to the added impurity sit at this
energy level and have less difficulty absorbing a sufficient
measure of thermal energy to move into the conduction band
at room temperature.

Effect of donor impurities on

the energy band structure
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: N – TYPE
 The result is that at room temperature, there are a
large number of carriers (electrons) in the conduction
level, and the conductivity of the material increases
significantly.
 At room temperature in an intrinsic Si material there
is about one free electron for every 10^12 atoms.
 If the doping level is 1 in 10 million (10^7 ), the ratio
10^12/10^7 = 10^5 indicates that the carrier
concentration has increased by a ratio of 100,000:1.
 It is important to realize that even though a large
number of free carriers have been established in the n-
type material, it is still electrically neutral since
ideally the number of positively charged protons in the
nuclei is still equal to the number of free and orbiting
negatively charged electrons in the structure.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: P – TYPE
p-type material:
 The p-type material is formed by doping a pure
germanium or silicon crystal with impurity atoms having
three valence electrons.
 The elements most frequently used for this purpose are
boron, gallium, and indium.
 Each is a member of a subset group of elements in the
Periodic Table of Elements referred to as Group III
because each has three valence electrons.
 Note that there is now an insufficient number of
electrons to complete the covalent bonds of the newly
formed lattice.
 The resulting vacancy is called a hole and is
represented by a small circle or a plus sign,
indicating the absence of a negative charge.
 SEMICONDUCTOR TYPES: P – TYPE
 Since the resulting vacancy will readily accept a free
electron: The diffused impurities with three valence
electrons are called acceptor atoms.
 The resulting p-type material is also electrically
neutral, for the same reasons described for the n-type
material.

Boron impurity in p-type material

 ELECTRON VERSUS HOLE FLOW
 The effect of the hole on conduction is shown in figure.
 If a valence electron acquires sufficient kinetic
energy to break its covalent bond and fills the void
created by a hole, then a vacancy, or hole, will be created
in the covalent bond that released the electron.
 There is, therefore, a transfer of holes to the left and
electrons to the right.
 The direction to be used in this text is that of
conventional flow, which is indicated by the direction
of hole flow.

Holes and electrons flow

Electron versus hole flow
in opposite direction.
 MAJORITY AND MINORITY CARRIERS
 In the intrinsic state, the number of free electrons in
Ge or Si is due only to those few electrons in the valence
band that have acquired sufficient energy from
thermal or light sources to break the covalent bond or to
the few impurities that could not be removed.
 The vacancies left behind in the covalent bonding
structure represents a very limited supply of holes.
 In an n-type material, the number of holes has not
changed significantly from this intrinsic level.
 The net result, therefore, is that the number of
electrons far outweighs the number of holes.
 For this reason: In an n-type material (figure a) the
electron is called the majority carrier and the hole the
minority carrier.
 MAJORITY AND MINORITY CARRIERS
 For the p-type material the number of holes far
outweighs the number of electrons, as shown in (figure b).
 Therefore: In a p-type material the hole is the majority
carrier and the electron is the minority carrier.
 When the fifth electron of a donor atom leaves the parent
atom, the atom remaining acquires a net positive charge:
hence, the plus sign in the donor-ion representation.
 For similar reasons, the minus sign appears in the
acceptor-ion.

a) n-type material; (b) p-type material

 SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
 The n- and p-type materials represent the basic building
blocks of semiconductor devices.
 Now that both n- and p-type materials are available, we
can construct our first solid-state electronic device:
 The semiconductor diode is created by simply joining an
n-type and a p-type material together, nothing more.
 Just the joining of one material with a majority carrier of
electrons to one with a majority carrier of holes.
 At the instant the two materials are “joined” the
electrons and the holes in the region of the junction will
combine, resulting in a lack of free carriers in the region
near the junction.
 Note that the only particles displayed in this region
are the positive and the negative ions remaining once the
free carriers have been absorbed.
 SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
 This region of uncovered positive and negative ions is
called the depletion region due to the “depletion” of free
carriers in the region.
 If leads are connected to the ends of each material, a two-
terminal device results, as shown in figure a and b.
 Three options then become available: no bias, forward bias,
and reverse bias.
A p–n junction with no external bias:
(a) an internal distribution of charge;
(b) a diode symbol, with the defined
polarity and the current direction
 NO/ZERO APPLIED BIAS (VOLTAGE = 0 V)
 The term bias refers to the application of an external voltage
across the two terminals of the device to extract a
response.
 The condition shown in previous figure is the no-bias situation
because there is no external voltage applied.
 The symbol for a semiconductor diode is provided to show its
correspondence with the p–n junction.
 It is clear that the applied voltage is 0 V (no bias) and the
resulting current is 0 A, much like an isolated resistor.
 Also, it is important to note the polarity of the voltage across the
diode in fig. b and the direction given to the current.
 Those polarities will be recognized as the defined polarities for
the semiconductor diode.
 If a voltage applied across the diode has the same polarity
across the diode, it will be considered a positive voltage.
 If the reverse, it is a negative voltage. The same standards
can be applied to the defined direction of current.
 NO/ZERO APPLIED BIAS (VOLTAGE = 0 V)
 Under no-bias conditions, any minority carriers (holes) in the n-type
material that find themselves within the depletion region will
pass quickly into the p-type material.
 The closer the minority carrier is to the junction, the greater
is the attraction for the layer of negative ions and the less is the
opposition offered by the positive ions in the depletion region of the
n-type material.
 This carrier flow is indicated at the top of figure c for the minority
carriers of each material.
 The majority carriers (electrons) of the n-type must overcome the
attractive forces of the layer of positive ions in the n-type material
and the shield of negative ions in the p-type material to migrate into
the area beyond the depletion region of the p-type material.

The net carrier flow

is zero when VD = 0 V
 NO/ZERO APPLIED BIAS (VOLTAGE = 0 V)
 However, the number of majority carriers is so large in the n-type
material that there will invariably be a small number of majority
carriers with sufficient kinetic energy to pass through the
depletion region into the p-type material.
 Again, the same type of discussion can be applied to the majority
carriers (holes) of the p-type material. The resulting flow due to the
majority carriers is shown at the bottom of figure c.
 A close examination reveals that the relative magnitudes of the flow
vectors are such that the net flow in either direction is zero.
 This cancellation of vectors for each type of carrier flow is indicated
by the crossed lines.
 The length of the vector representing hole flow is drawn longer than
that of electron flow to demonstrate that the two magnitudes need
not be the same for cancellation and that the doping levels for each
material may result in an unequal carrier flow of holes and electrons.
 In summary, therefore: In the absence of an applied bias across a
semiconductor diode, the net flow of charge in one direction is zero.
 In other words, the current under no-bias conditions is zero.
 REVERSE – BIAS CONDITION (VD < 0 V)
 If an external potential of V volts is applied across the p–n junction
such that the positive terminal is connected to the n-type
material and the negative terminal is connected to the p-type
material as shown in figure.
 The number of uncovered positive ions in the depletion region of the
n-type material will increase due to the large number of free
electrons drawn to the positive potential of the applied voltage.
 For similar reasons, the number of uncovered negative ions will
increase in the p-type material.

The net effect, therefore,

is a widening of the
depletion region, which
will establish too great a
barrier for the majority
carriers to overcome,
effectively reducing the
majority carrier flow
to zero. Reverse-biased p–n junction
 REVERSE – BIAS CONDITION (VD < 0 V)
 The number of minority carriers, however, entering the
depletion region will not change, resulting in minority current
flow of the same magnitude indicated earlier in with no
applied voltage.
 The current that exists under reverse-bias conditions is called
the reverse saturation current Is.
 Its value remains in few microamperes (μA) and typically in
Nano amperes (nA).
 The term saturation comes from the fact that it reaches its
maximum level quickly and does not change significantly
with increases in the reverse-bias potential.
 The reverse-biased conditions are depicted in figure b for the
diode symbol and p–n junction.
 Note, in particular, that the direction of Is is against the arrow
of the symbol.
 FORWARD – BIAS CONDITION (VD > 0 V)
 A forward-bias or “on” condition is established by applying
the positive potential to the p-type material and the negative
potential to the n-type material as shown in figure.
 The application of a forward-bias potential VD will “pressure”
electrons in the n-type material and holes in the p-type
material to recombine with the ions near the boundary and
reduce the width of the depletion region.

Forward-biased p–n junction

 FORWARD – BIAS CONDITION (VD > 0 V)
 The resulting minority-carrier flow of electrons from the p-type
material to the n-type material (and of holes from the n-type to the p-
type material) has not changed in magnitude (since the conduction
level is controlled primarily by the limited number of impurities in
the material), but the reduction in the width of the depletion region
has resulted in a heavy majority flow across the junction.
 An electron of the n-type material now “sees” a reduced barrier
at the junction due to the reduced depletion region and a strong
attraction for the positive potential applied to the p-type material.
 As the applied bias increases in magnitude, the depletion region
will continue to decrease in width until a flood of electrons can pass
through the junction, resulting in an exponential rise in current
as shown in the forward-bias region of the characteristics of figure.
 Note that the vertical scale of figure is measured in mA, and the
horizontal scale in the forward-bias region has a maximum of 1 V.
 Typically, therefore, the voltage across a forward-biased diode
will be less than 1 V. Note also how quickly the current rises
beyond the knee of the curve.
VI CHARACTERISTICS OF DIODE

Comparison of VI characteristics of Ge,

Si, and GaAs semiconductor diodes
 IDEAL AND ACTUAL/PRACTICAL DIODE
 A p–n junction will permit a generous flow of charge
when forward-biased and a very small level of current when
reverse-biased.
 An analogy often used to describe the behavior of a
semiconductor diode is a mechanical switch.
 In figure a the diode is acting like a closed switch permitting
a generous flow of charge in the direction indicated.
 In figure b the level of current is so small in most cases that it
can be approximated as 0 A and represented by an open
switch.

Ideal semiconductor diode:

(a) Forward biased;
(b) Reverse-biased
 IDEAL AND ACTUAL/PRACTICAL DIODE
 The semiconductor diode behaves in a manner similar to a
mechanical switch in that it can control whether current will
flow between its two terminals.
 The semiconductor diode is different from a mechanical switch in
the sense that when the switch is closed it will only permit
current to flow in one direction.
• Ideally, if the semiconductor
diode is to behave like a closed
switch in the forward-bias region,
the resistance of the diode
should be 0 ohm.
• In the reverse-bias region its
resistance should be ∞ ohm to
represent the open-circuit
equivalent.
• Such levels of resistance in the
forward and reverse-bias regions
result in the characteristics of
figure.
Ideal versus actual semiconductor characteristics
 IDEAL AND ACTUAL/PRACTICAL DIODE
 When a switch is closed the resistance between the contacts is
assumed to be 0 ohm.
 At the plot point chosen on the vertical axis the diode current is 5
mA and the voltage across the diode is 0 V.
 Substituting into Ohm’s law results in

 In fact: At any current level on the vertical line, the voltage across
the ideal diode is 0 V and the resistance is 0 ohm (a short-circuit).
 For the horizontal section, if we again apply Ohm’s law, we find

 Because the current is 0 mA anywhere on the horizontal

line, the resistance is considered to be ∞ ohms (an open-circuit) at
any point on the axis.
 DRIFT AND DIFFUSION PHENOMENON
 Drift and diffusion are responsible for generating current in
semiconductors and the overall current density is the sum of the
drift and diffusion currents.
where q is the charge, μn is the mobility of the carriers
through the semiconductor crystal, n is the electron
concentration and Dn is the diffusion coefficient.
Drift Current
 Drift current arises from the movement of carriers in response to an
applied electric field E.
 Holes move in the same direction as the electric field while
electrons move in the opposite direction.
 The net motion of charged particles generates a drift current that is
in the same direction as the applied electric field.
 The drift velocity increases with increasing electric field and
contributes to the mobility μ of the carriers.
 The drift current follows Ohm’s law and is mainly influenced by
the external field and charge carrier concentration.
 DRIFT AND DIFFUSION PHENOMENON
Diffusion Current
 The movement of charge carriers from higher concentration to lower
concentration generates diffusion current.
 This occurs when a semiconductor is doped non-uniformly then there is
a non-uniform distribution of carriers or a concentration gradient.
 Diffusion of particles (carriers) gives rise to diffusion current.

 This process does not require an external electric field and is

primarily dependent on the repulsive forces between carriers of the
same charge that are highly concentrated in an area.
 The repulsive forces will drive the diffusion of carriers leading to a
change in concentrations and eventually a uniform distribution.
 The initial carrier concentrations also determine the direction of the
diffusion current – current moves in the direction where there is initially
a higher concentration of electrons or a lower concentration of holes.
 If a strong electric field is applied, then drift current dominates
the overall current density.
 If no field is applied, then the current is due to the carrier concentration
gradient.
 TYPES OF DIODE RESISTANCE: STATIC
DC or static resistance
 The application of a dc voltage to a circuit containing a semiconductor
diode will result in an operating point on the characteristic
curve that will not change with time.
 The resistance of the diode at the operating point can be found simply
by finding the corresponding levels of VD and ID as shown in figure.
 The dc resistance levels at the knee and below will be greater than
the resistance levels obtained for the vertical rise section of the
characteristics. The resistance levels in the reverse-bias region will
naturally be quite high.
• In general, therefore, the
higher the current through a
diode, the lower is the dc
resistance level. Determining the dc
• Typically, the dc resistance resistance of a diode
of a diode in the active at a particular
(most utilized) will range operating point
from about 10 to 80 ohms.
 TYPES OF DIODE RESISTANCE: DYNAMIC
AC or dynamic resistance
 The dc resistance of a diode is independent of the shape of the
characteristic in the region surrounding the point of interest.
 If a sinusoidal rather than a dc input is applied, the situation will
change completely.
 The varying input will move the instantaneous operating point up
and down a region of the characteristics and thus defines a specific
change in current and voltage.
The designation Q-point
is derived from the word
quiescent, which means
“still or unvarying.”

The lower the Q-point of

operation on the VI
characteristics (smaller
current or lower voltage), the
higher is the ac resistance.
 TYPES OF DIODE RESISTANCE: AVERAGE
Average resistance
 If the input signal is sufficiently
large to produce a broad swing
such as indicated in figure, the
resistance associated with the
device for this region is called the
average ac resistance.
 The average ac resistance is, by
definition, the resistance
determined by a straight line
drawn between the two
intersections established by the
maximum and minimum values of
input voltage.
 As with the dc and ac resistance
levels, the lower the level of
currents used to determine the
average resistance, the higher is
the resistance level.
TYPES OF DIODE RESISTANCE: SUMMARY
 DIODE EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
 An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements
properly chosen to best represent the actual
terminal characteristics of a device or system in a
particular operating region.
 In other words, once the equivalent circuit is defined, the
device symbol can be removed from a schematic and the
equivalent circuit inserted in its place without severely
affecting the actual behavior of the system.
 The result is often a network that can be solved using
traditional circuit analysis techniques.
 PIECEWISE-LINEAR EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
 One technique for obtaining an equivalent Sometimes the
circuit for a diode is to approximate the resistance rav can be
characteristics of the device by straight- approximated by the
line segments, as shown in figure. ac resistance rd
 The resulting equivalent circuit is called a
piecewise-linear equivalent circuit.
 It should be obvious from figure that the
straight-line segments do not result in
an exact duplication of the actual
characteristics, especially in the knee
region. Piecewise-linear equivalent circuit
using straight-line segments to
approximate the characteristic curve
Components of the piecewise-
linear equivalent circuit
 SIMPLIFIED EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
 For most applications, the resistance rav is sufficiently
small to be ignored in comparison to the other elements of
the network.
 It states that a forward-biased silicon diode in an electronic
system under dc conditions has a drop of 0.7 V across it in
the conduction state at any level of diode current
(within rated values, of course).

Simplified equivalent circuit for the

silicon semiconductor diode
 IDEAL EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
 Now that rav has been removed from the equivalent
circuit, let us take the analysis a step further and
establish that a 0.7-V level can often be ignored in
comparison to the applied voltage level.
 In this case the equivalent circuit will be reduced to that
of an ideal diode as shown in figure with its
characteristics.

Ideal diode and its characteristics

DIODE EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS: SUMMARY
 JUNCTION CAPACITANCE
 Every electronic or electrical device is frequency sensitive, i.e.,
the terminal characteristics of any device will change
with frequency.
 For the diode it is the stray capacitance levels that have the
greatest effect.
 At low frequencies and relatively small levels of capacitance
the reactance of a capacitor, determined by XC = 1/2πfC, is
usually so high it can be considered infinite in
magnitude, represented by an open circuit, and ignored.
 At high frequencies, however, the level of XC can drop to the
point where it will introduce a low-reactance “shorting” path.
 If this shorting path is across the diode, it can essentially keep
the diode from affecting the response of the network.
 JUNCTION CAPACITANCE
Transition/drift capacitance
 In a diode the depletion region (free of carriers) behaves
essentially like an insulator between the layers of opposite charge.
 Since the depletion width (d) will increase with increased reverse-bias
potential, the resulting transition capacitance will decrease, as
shown in figure.
 The fact that the capacitance is dependent on the applied reverse-bias
potential has application in a number of electronic systems.
 This capacitance, called the drift or transition (CT), barriers, or
depletion region capacitance, is determined by

 where C(0) is the capacitance under no-bias conditions and VR

is the applied reverse bias potential.
 The power n is 1 ⁄2 or 1 ⁄3 depending on the manufacturing process
for the diode.
 JUNCTION CAPACITANCE
Diffusion capacitance
 Although the effect described above will also be present in the
forward-bias region, it is overshadowed by a capacitance effect
directly dependent on the rate at which charge is injected into the
regions just outside the depletion region.
 The result is that increased levels of current will result in increased
levels of diffusion capacitance (CD) as demonstrated by the equation:

where τT is the minority carrier lifetime—the time

taken for a minority carrier such as a hole to
recombine with an electron in the n-type material.

The transition capacitance

is the predominant
capacitive effect in the
RB region whereas the
diffusion capacitance is the
predominant capacitive
effect in the FB region.
 JUNCTION BREAKDOWN MECHANISM
 In the negative region or under reverse-bias (RB)
condition, there is a point where the application of
too negative a voltage with the reverse polarity will
result in a sharp change in the characteristics.
 The current increases at a very rapid rate in a
direction opposite to that of the positive
voltage region.
 The reverse-bias potential that results in this
dramatic change in characteristics is called the
breakdown potential and is given the label VBV.
Breakdown region
 AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN
 As the voltage across the diode increases in the reverse-bias
region, the velocity of the minority carriers responsible for the
reverse saturation current will also increase.
 Eventually, their velocity and associated kinetic energy
(WK = 1/2mv^2 ) will be sufficient to release additional carriers
through collisions with otherwise stable atomic structures.
 That is, an ionization process will result whereby valence
electrons absorb sufficient energy to leave the parent atom.
 These additional carriers can then aid the ionization process to
the point where a high avalanche current is established and
the avalanche breakdown region determined.
 The avalanche region (VBV) can be brought closer to the
vertical axis by increasing the doping levels in the p- and n-
type materials. VBV for Si is 1000 V and for Ge is 400 V.
 However, as VBV decreases to very low levels, such as 25 V,
another mechanism, called Zener breakdown, will contribute
to the sharp change in the characteristic.
 ZENER BREAKDOWN
 It occurs because there is a strong electric field in the
region of the junction that can disrupt the bonding forces
within the atom and “generate” carriers.
 Although the Zener breakdown mechanism is a
significant contributor only at lower levels of VBV, this sharp
change in the characteristic at any level is called the Zener
region, and diodes employing this unique portion of the
characteristic of a p–n junction are called Zener diodes.
 The breakdown region of the semiconductor diode described
must be avoided if the response of a system is not to be
completely altered by the sharp change in characteristics in
this reverse-voltage region.
 The maximum reverse-bias potential that can be applied before
entering the breakdown region is called the peak inverse
voltage (referred to simply as the PIV rating) or the peak
reverse voltage (denoted the PRV rating).
 ZENER BREAKDOWN
 If an application requires a PIV rating greater than that
of a single unit, a number of diodes of the same
characteristics can be connected in series.
 Diodes are also connected in parallel to increase the current-
carrying capacity.
 In general, the breakdown voltage of GaAs diodes is about 10%
higher those for silicon diodes, but, 200% higher than levels for
Ge diodes.
 TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
 Temperature can have a marked effect on the characteristics of
a semiconductor diode, as shown for a silicon diode in figure.
 In the forward-bias region the characteristics of a silicon
diode shift to the left at a rate of 2.5 mV per °C increase in
temperature.
 An increase from room temperature (20°C) to 100°C (the
boiling point of water) results Semiconductor diode in a drop
of 80*(2.5 mV) = 200 mV, or 0.2 V, which is significant on a
graph scaled in tenths of volts.
 A decrease in temperature has the reverse effect, as shown:
 In the reverse-bias region the reverse current of a silicon diode
doubles for every 10°C rise in temperature.
 The reverse breakdown voltage of a semiconductor diode will
increase or decrease with temperature.
 However, if the initial breakdown voltage is < 5 V, the
breakdown voltage may actually decrease with temperature.
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS

Variation in Si diode characteristics

with temperature change
 ZENER DIODES
 The Zener region as discussed earlier, the characteristic drops in an
almost vertical manner at a reverse-bias potential denoted VZ.
 The fact that the curve drops down and away from the
horizontal axis rather than up and away for the positive-VD region
reveals that the current in the Zener region has a direction opposite
to that of a forward-biased diode.
 The slight slope to the curve in the Zener region reveals that
there is a level of resistance to be associated with the Zener diode in
the conduction mode.
• The location of the Zener region can be
controlled by varying the doping levels.
• An increase in doping that produces an
increase in the number of added impurities,
will decrease the Zener potential.
• Zener diodes are available having Zener
potentials of 1.8 V to 200 V with power
ratings from 1 ⁄4 W to 50 W.
• Because of its excellent temperature and Zener region
current capabilities, silicon is the preferred
material in the manufacture of Zener diodes.
 ZENER DIODES
 This region of unique characteristics is employed in the design of
Zener diodes, which have the graphic symbol appearing in figure a.
 The semiconductor diode and the Zener diode are presented side by
side to ensure that the direction of conduction of each is clearly
understood together with the required polarity of the applied voltage.
 For the semiconductor diode the “on” state will support a
current in the direction of the arrow in the symbol.
 For the Zener diode the direction of conduction is opposite to that of
the arrow in the symbol, as pointed out in the introduction to this
section.
 Note also that the polarity of VD and VZ are the same as would be
obtained if each were a resistive element as shown in figure c.

Conduction direction:
(a) Zener diode;
(b) Semiconductor diode;
(c) Resistive element
 ZENER DIODES

Zener diode characteristics

with the equivalent model
for each region
 PROBLEMS
 The general characteristics of a semiconductor diode can be defined
by the following equation, referred to as Shockley’s equation, for
the forward- and reverse-bias regions:
 PROBLEMS
Ques 1: At a temperature of 27°C (common temperature for components
in an enclosed operating system), determine the thermal voltage VT.
Answer:

Diode current:
For positive values of VD the first term of the above equation will grow
very quickly and totally overpower the effect of the second term.
The result is the following equation, which only has positive values and
takes on the exponential format e^x.

For negative values of VD the exponential term drops very

quickly below the level of Is, Semiconductor diode and the resulting
equation for ID is simply

At V = 0 V, becomes
 PROBLEMS
Ques 2: Determine the dc resistance levels for the diode of figure at
a. ID = 2 mA (low level)
b. ID = 20 mA (high level)
c. VD = –10 V (reverse-biased).
Answer:
 PROBLEMS
Ques 3: For the characteristics
of figure.
a). Determine the ac resistance
at ID = 2 mA.
b). Determine the ac resistance
at ID = 25 mA.
c). Compare the results of parts
(a) and (b) to the dc
resistances at each
current level.
 PROBLEMS
Answer:
 PROBLEMS
Answer: