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Electronic Circuits - Diode as a Switch

Diode is a two terminal PN junction that can be used in various applications. One of such
applications is an electrical switch. The PN junction, when forward biased acts as close circuited
and when reverse biased acts as open circuited. Hence the change of forward and reverse
biased states makes the diode work as a switch, the forward being ON and the reverse being
OFF state.

Electrical Switches over Mechanical Switches

Electrical switches are a preferred choice over mechanical switches due to the following reasons
−

• Mechanical switches are prone to oxidation of metals whereas electrical switches don’t.
• Mechanical switches have movable contacts.
• They are more prone to stress and strain than electrical switches.
• The worn and torn of mechanical switches often affect their working.

Hence an electrical switch is more useful than a Mechanical switch.

Working of Diode as a Switch

Whenever a specified voltage is exceeded, the diode resistance gets increased, making the
diode reverse biased and it acts as an open switch. Whenever the voltage applied is below the
reference voltage, the diode resistance gets decreased, making the diode forward biased, and it
acts as a closed switch.

The following circuit explains the diode acting as a switch.

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A switching diode has a PN junction in which P-region is lightly doped and N-region is heavily
doped. The above circuit symbolizes that the diode gets ON when positive voltage forward biases
the diode and it gets OFF when negative voltage reverse biases the diode.

Ringing
As the forward current flows till then, with a sudden reverse voltage, the reverse current flows for
an instance rather than getting switched OFF immediately. The higher the leakage current, the
greater the loss. The flow of reverse current when diode is reverse biased suddenly, may
sometimes create few oscillations, called as RINGING.

This ringing condition is a loss and hence should be minimized. To do this, the switching times of
the diode should be understood.

Diode Switching Times

While changing the bias conditions, the diode undergoes a transient response. The response of
a system to any sudden change from an equilibrium position is called as transient response.

The sudden change from forward to reverse and from reverse to forward bias, affects the circuit.
The time taken to respond to such sudden changes is the important criterion to define the
effectiveness of an electrical switch.

• The time taken before the diode recovers its steady state is called as Recovery Time.

• The time interval taken by the diode to switch from reverse biased state to forward biased

state is called as Forward Recovery Time. $tfr $

• The time interval taken by the diode to switch from forward biased state to reverse biased

state is called as Reverse Recovery Time. $tfr $

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To understand this more clearly, let us try to analyze what happens once the voltage is applied to
a switching PN diode.

Carrier Concentration
Minority charge carrier concentration reduces exponentially as seen away from the junction.
When the voltage is applied, due to the forward biased condition, the majority carriers of one side
move towards the other. They become minority carriers of the other side. This concentration will
be more at the junction.

For example, if N-type is considered, the excess of holes that enter into N-type after applying
forward bias, adds to the already present minority carriers of N-type material.

Let us consider few notations.

• The majority carriers in P-type holes = Ppo

• The majority carriers in N-type electrons = Nno

• The minority carriers in P-type electrons = Npo

• The majority carriers in N-type holes = Pno

During Forward biased Condition − The minority carriers are more near junction and less far
away from the junction. The graph below explains this.

Excess minority carrier charge in P-type = Pn − Pno with pno steadystatevalue

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Excess minority carrier charge in N-type = Np − Npo with Npo steadystatevalue

During reverse bias condition − Majority carriers doesn’t conduct the current through the
junction and hence don’t participate in current condition. The switching diode behaves as a short
circuited for an instance in reverse direction.

The minority carriers will cross the junction and conduct the current, which is called as Reverse
Saturation Current. The following graph represents the condition during reverse bias.

In the above figure, the dotted line represents equilibrium values and solid lines represent actual
values. As the current due to minority charge carriers is large enough to conduct, the circuit will
be ON until this excess charge is removed.

The time required for the diode to change from forward bias to reverse bias is called Reverse

recovery time $trr $ . The following graphs explain the diode switching times in detail.

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From the above figure, let us consider the diode current graph.

At t1 the diode is suddenly brought to OFF state from ON state; it is known as Storage time.
Storage time is the time required to remove the excess minority carrier charge. The negative
current flowing from N to P type material is of a considerable amount during the Storage time.
This negative current is,

−VR
−IR =
R

The next time period is the transition time” from$t2 $to$t3 $

Transition time is the time taken for the diode to get completely to open circuit condition. After

t3 diode will be in steady state reverse bias condition. Before t1 diode is under steady state
forward bias condition.

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So, the time taken to get completely to open circuit condition is

Reverse recovery time (trr ) = Storage time (Ts ) + T ransition

time (Tt )

Whereas to get to ON condition from OFF, it takes less time called as Forward recovery time.
Reverse recovery time is greater than Forward recovery time. A diode works as a better switch if
this Reverse recovery time is made less.

Definitions
Let us just go through the definitions of the time periods discussed.

• Storage time − The time period for which the diode remains in the conduction state even in
the reverse biased state, is called as Storage time.

• Transition time − The time elapsed in returning back to the state of non-conduction, i.e.
steady state reverse bias, is called Transition time.

• Reverse recovery time − The time required for the diode to change from forward bias to
reverse bias is called as Reverse recovery time.

• Forward recovery time − The time required for the diode to change from reverse bias to
forward bias is called as Forward recovery time.

Factors that affect diode switching times

There are few factors that affect the diode switching times, such as

• Diode Capacitance − The PN junction capacitance changes depending upon the bias
conditions.

• Diode Resistance − The resistance offered by the diode to change its state.

• Doping Concentration − The level of doping of the diode, affects the diode switching times.

• Depletion Width − The narrower the width of the depletion layer, the faster the switching will
be. A Zener diode has narrow depletion region than an avalanche diode, which makes the
former a better switch.

Applications

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There are many applications in which diode switching circuits are used, such as −

• High speed rectifying circuits

• High speed switching circuits
• RF receivers
• General purpose applications
• Consumer applications
• Automotive applications
• Telecom applications etc.

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