B.

TECH FIRST YEAR

ACADEMIC YEAR: 2020-2021

Course name: Basic Electronics

Course code : EC 1001
lecture series no : 05 (Five)
Credits : 3
Mode of delivery : online (Power point presentation)
Faculty : Dr. Tejpal
Email-id : [email protected]
PROPOSED DATE OF DELIVERY:
 “Model of the diode for
Session outcome circuits”
 Assignment
quiz
mid term examination –I
mid term examination –II
Assessment criteria's
END TERM EXAMINATION
 PROGRAM
OUTCOMES
MAPPING WITH CO1
[[EC1001.1]. Apply principles of physics
to describe the working of semiconductor
devices. ]

[PO1]

Engineering knowledge: Demonstrate and apply

knowledge of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering to
classical and recent problems of electronic design &
communication system.
Introduction to Semiconductors
Objective of the lecture:

Diode Current Equation

Actual Diode Characteristics
Note the regions for no
bias, reverse bias, and
forward bias
conditions.
Carefully note the scale
for each of these
conditions.
The reverse saturation
current is seldom more
than a few microamperes.
Diode current equation
I  I (eV D V T
 1)
D o

I eV D V T
I
o o

 ID is diode current
 Io is reverse saturation current
 VD is voltage across diode
 VT is thermal voltage = T / 11600
 η is a constant = 1 for Ge and 2 for Si
Diode current equation
 For positive values of VD (forward bias), the first term grows
quickly and overpowers the second term. So,
I  I eV D V T
D o

 For large negative values of VD (reverse bias), the first term drops
much below the second term. So,
ID ≈ –Io
Diode resistances
 Two types of resistances are defined for a diode :
 Static or DC resistance:
 It is simply the ratio of diode voltage and diode
current
RD  VD
ID
 The dc resistance at the knee and below will be greater than
the resistance at the linear section of characteristics
 The dc resistance in the reverse bias region will naturally be
quite high
Diode resistances
 Dynamic or AC resistance
 Often sinusoidal voltages are applied to diode
 So the instantaneous operating point moves up and down
in the characteristic curve
 So DC resistance is not a suitable parameter
 Instead, AC resistance is used
 It is the change in the diode voltage divided by the
corresponding change in the diode current, where
the change is as small as possible
VD
rd 
I D
Diode resistances
 AC resistance is nothing but reciprocal of the slope of
the tangent line drawn at that point
 Derivative of a function at a point is equal to the slope of
the tangent line at that point

d
(I D ) 
d
I o eVD /VT  Io

dV 
D D

dV
dI D I D  Io

dVD  VT
rd  VD  dVD  VT  VT
I D dI D I D  I o ID
Diode Equivalent Circuit
 Diode is often replaced by its equivalent circuit during
circuit
analysis and design
 Equivalent circuit is obtained by replacing the
characteristic curve by straight-line segments
A

K
1/RF A K Forward bias
RF
RR =  Vγ
A K Reverse bias
Vγ
Diode Equivalent Circuit
 As further approximation, we can neglect the slope of the
characteristic i.e., RF = 0

A K

RF = 0

A K Forward bias
RR = 
Vγ
A K Reverse bias
Vγ
Diode Equivalent Circuit
 As third approximation, even the cut-in voltage can be
neglected (Ideal diode)

A K

RF = 0

A K Forward bias
RR = 

Vγ = 0 A K Reverse bias
 Zener Region
The Zener region is in the diode’s reverse-bias region.
At some point the reverse bias voltage is so large the
diode breaks down and the reverse current increases
dramatically.
• The maximum reverse voltage
that won’t take a diode into the
zener region is called the peak
inverse voltage (PIV) or peak
reverse voltage (PRV).
• The voltage that causes a diode
to enter the zener region of
operation is called the zener
voltage (VZ).
Breakdown region
 When a diode is applied with too much reverse bias, the
current increases sharply. This is called diode
breakdown
 The reverse voltage at which breakdown occurs is
called breakdown voltage or zener voltage: VB or VZ
VZ

VD

-ID
Breakdown region
 Two breakdown mechanisms:
 As reverse bias voltage increases, velocity of
minority charge carriers increases
 As the charge carriers speed up towards respective
terminals, they collide with other valence
electrons
 If kinetic energy of speeding electrons are sufficiently
high, they release additional carriers through collisions
 Additional carriers thus released also speed up and
collide with other valence electrons
 The process multiplies, and is called Avalanche
breakdown
 Generally occurs in lightly doped diodes
Breakdown region
 Zener breakdown:
 Occurs in heavily doped diodes
 Since charge concentration is high, width of depletion region is narrow
 So, high electric filed is generated within the depletion region
 High electric field disrupts the bonding forces and generates carriers
 Normally, at lower reverse bias voltages, zener mechanism is
prominent, and at higher reverse voltages, avalanche breakdown is
prominent
 Maximum reverse voltage that can be applied before entering
breakdown region is called Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)