Date: 13th Dec.

2021

SEMESTER - I

BASIC ELECTRONICS

Course code: 21ELN14/24

Florence Nishmitha
Assistant Professor,
Dept. of ECE, SJEC
 Contents
• Background materials

• p-n junction diode

• Characteristic and parameters

• Diode approximations
– Ideal diodes and Practical diodes
– Piecewise Linear characteristic
– DC equivalent circuits

• DC Load line analysis

 p-n junction diode
Background material:
p – type and n – type:

• Majority charge carriers are holes in p-type

• Majority charge carriers are electrons in n-type
 p-n junction:

• In Fig., p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are shown side by side,
representing a p-n junction

• Since holes and electrons are close together at the junction, some free electrons
from the n-side are attracted across the junction to fill adjacent holes on the p-
side

• Barrier voltage: Typical barrier voltages at 25°C are 0.3 V for germanium junctions
and 0.7 V for silicon
Forward Biasing a p-n junction
Reverse Biasing a p-n junction
 p-n junction diode
• A p-n junction permits substantial current flow when
forward biased, and blocks current when reverse
biased

• Can be used as Switch

• A p-n junction provided with a copper wire connecting

leads -> electronic device -> Diode
Low current Medium current High current
Characteristics and Parameters
Forward & Reverse characteristic (Si diode)

There is a substantial IF when the VF exceeds approx. 0.7 V

 Characteristics and Parameters
Forward & Reverse characteristic (Ge diode)

There is a substantial IF when the VF exceeds approx. 0.3 V

• For Si diode, IR < 100 nA

• Completely independent of VR

• The IR usually less than 1/10,000 of the lowest normal IF level

• Thus, IR is negligible when compared to IF

• Reverse biased diode may be treated as open switch

This can be investigated further as:

Calculate the forward and reverse resistances offered by a silicon diode with
the characteristics in Fig. (Si diode V-I graph) at IF = 100mA and at VR = 50V.

Solution:
At IF = 100mA, VF ≈ 0.75V At VR = 50V, IR ≈ 100nA

VF 0.75 V VR 50 V
RF = = = 7.5 Ὡ RR = = = 500M Ὡ
IF 100mA IR 100nA
 Diode parameters
The diode parameters of greatest interest are

• VF forward voltage drop

• IR reverse saturation current
• VBR reverse breakdown voltage
• rd dynamic resistance
• IF (max) maximum forward current

Some of the parameters determined directly from the diode

characteristics.

For Si diode, VF ≈ 0.7V, IR = 100nA and VBR = 75 V

Dynamic resistance (rd) :
• Resistance offered to changing levels of
forward voltage

• Other names: Incremental resistance/

ac resistance

• rd is the reciprocal of the slope of the

forward characteristic beyond the knee
∆VF
rd =
∆ IF
The dynamic resistance can also be calculated from the rule-of-thumb
equation
26𝑚𝑉 where IF is DC forward current
r’ =
d IF
• The above eqn. gives ac resistance only for the junction
• It doesn’t include the dc resistance of the semiconductor material
• So rd (from the characteristic) should be sightly larger than r’d

Example: Determine the dynamic resistance at a forward current of

70mA for the diode characteristics given in Fig. (Si diode V-I graph).
Using the equation for r’d, estimate the diode dynamic resistance.

Solution: From Si diode V-I graph; At IF = 70mA,

∆IF = 60mA and ∆VF ≈ 0.025 V 26𝑚𝑉 26 mV

r’d = =
IF 70 mA
∆VF 0.025 V
rd = = = 0.42 Ὡ = 0.37 Ὡ
∆IF 60mA
 Diode Approximations
First approximation - Ideal Diodes
Characteristics:
• Zero forward resistance & zero forward voltage drop
• Infinitely high reverse resistance & zero reverse current
• Figure shows the characteristics of an ideal diode
 Diode Approximations
Second approximation - Constant voltage drop
• Ideal diode does not exist, but there are many applications where diodes can
be assumed to be near-ideal devices.
• Supply voltage >> Forward voltage drop => (VF assumed as constant)
• Reverse current << forward current => (IR can be ignored)
• This assumptions lead to the near-ideal/ approximate characteristic for silicon
and germanium
The below example investigates a situation where the
diode VF is assumed to be constant
 Diode Approximations
Third approximation- Piecewise Linear Characteristics
• Includes Bulk resistance 𝒓𝑩 .
• The bulk resistance is the resistance of the p and n materials. The figure
below depicts third approximation
• Voltage 𝑉𝐷 = 0.7 + 𝐼𝐷 𝑅𝐵 where 𝐼𝐷 𝑅𝐵 is the voltage drop due to bulk
resistance.
 Diode Approximations
Third approximation- Piecewise Linear Characteristics
• Applied when forward characteristics of a diode is not
available
• It’s a straight-line approximation
Process:
• First mark VF on the horizontal axis
• Then, from VF, a straight line is drawn with a slope equal to
the diode dynamic resistance
Example: Construct the piecewise linear characteristic
for a silicon diode which has a 0.25 ohms dynamic
resistance and a 200mA maximum forward current.
Solution:
Plot point A on the horizontal axis at
VF = 0.7 V
 DC Equivalent circuits
• Represents the device behaviour

• Components: Resistors and Voltage cells

• A diode equivalent circuit may be substituted

for the device when investigating a circuit
containing diode
 DC Equivalent circuits
• In the example 2.3 the forward biased diode is
assumed to have a constant voltage drop (VF )
and negligible series resistance.
• The diode equivalent circuit is shown in fig (a).
• More accurate equivalent circuit includes the
diode dynamic resistance (rd ) in series with
the voltage cell as shown in fig (b).
• This takes account of small variations in VF
that occur with change in forward current.
• Ideal diode is added to show current flows in
one direction.
Calculate IF for the diode circuit in Fig. a, assuming that the diode has VF = 0.7V and
rd = 0. Then recalculate the current taking rd = 0.25 Ὡ.
 DC Load line Analysis

• Diode in series with a 100 ohm resistor, 𝐼𝐹 and a

supply voltage E as shown in fig (a)
• The polarity of E is such that the diode is forward-
biased, so that there is a diode forward current 𝐼𝐹 .
• The circuit current can be determined
approximately by assuming a constant diode
forward voltage drop.
• When the precise levels of the diode current and
voltage must be calculated, graphical analysis/ DC
load line analysis is employed
• For graphical analysis, a dc load line is drawn on the diode forward characteristics
• It is a straight line illustrating all DC conditions that could exist within the circuit
• Since load line is straight, it can be constructed by plotting any two corresponding
current and voltage points
• To determine two points on the load line, an equation relating to voltage, current, and
resistance is first derived for the circuit
 E = (IF R1) + VF

• Any two convenient levels of IF can be substituted into the

above equation to calculate corresponding VF levels, or vice
versa
• It is convenient to calculate VF when IF = 0, and to determine IF
when VF = 0
Example-how to draw DC Load line
 Q-Point
• The relationship between the diode
forward voltage and current in the
circuit is defined by the device
characteristics

• One point on DC load line where diode

voltage & current are compatible with
circuit conditions

• It is point Q, termed as quiescent point

or DC bias point.

• Place where load line intersects the

diode characteristics
Cross verification for Q point present on the graph:

• This can be done by substituting the levels of IF & VF @

point Q into Eqn. E = IF R1 + VF

• From the Q point present on the graph, we can note that IF

= 40mA & VF = 1V

E = (40mA × 100 Ὡ) + 1V = 5V

• So, with E = 5V and R1 = 100 Ὡ, the only levels of IF & VF

that can satisfy the above Eqn. on the diode characteristic
curve on graph are 40mA & 1V
 Calculating Load Resistance & Supply
voltage

Figure 2.14

• Resistor R1 dictates the slope of the dc load line

• Supply voltage E determines point A on the load line
• So, circuit conditions can be altered by changing either R1 or E
Calculating Load Resistance & Supply
voltage
• Diode circuit design: supply voltage & IF are necessarily
used

• Point A & Q are first plotted, and the load line is drawn

• R1 is then calculated from the slope of the load line

• Another way: R1 & the required IF are known, & the

supply voltage is to be determined

• This can be solved by plotting Q and drawing the load

line with Slope 1/R1

• The supply point is then read at point A