Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ideal Diode Equation PDF
Ideal Diode Equation PDF
kT N D N A
f ln 2
q ni
Reminder
Drift currents only flow when there is an
electric field present.
Diffusion currents only flow when there is a
concentration difference for either the
electrons or holes (or both).
I ndrift qA n nE
I pdrift qA p pE
I drift
Aq n n p p E
dn
I diff
n qADn n qADn
dx
dp
I diff
p qAD p p qAD p
dx
I diff
I n I p qADnn D p p
diff diff
I T I diff I drift
Symbol for Diode
Biasing a Diode
When Va > 0V, the diode is forward biased
When Va < 0V, the diode is reverse biased
When the applied voltage (Va) is zero
The diode voltage and current are equal to zero
on average
Any electron that diffuses through the depletion
region from the n-side to the p-side is
counterbalanced by an electron that drifts from the p-
side to the n-side
Any hole that diffuses through the depletion region
from the p-side to the n-side is counterbalanced by an
hole that drifts from the n-side to the p-side
So, at any one instant (well under a nanosecond), we may
measure a diode current. This current gives rise to one of
the sources of electronic noise.
Schematically
http://ece-www.colorado.edu/~bart/book/
Applied voltage is less than zero
The energy barrier between the p-side and n-side
of the diode became larger.
It becomes less favorable for diffusion currents to flow
It become more favorable for drift currents to flow
The diode current is non-zero
The amount of current that flows across the p-n junction
depends on the number of electrons in the p-type material
and the number of holes in the n-type material
Therefore, the more heavily doped the p-n junction is the smaller
the current will be that flows when the diode is reverse biased
Schematically
http://ece-www.colorado.edu/~bart/book/
Plot of I-V of Diode with Small
Negative Applied Voltage
Applied Voltage is greater than zero
The energy barrier between the p-side and n-side of
the diode became smaller with increasing positive
applied voltage until there is no barrier left.
It becomes less favorable for drift currents to flow
There is no electric field left to force them to flow
There is nothing to prevent the diffusion currents to flow
The diode current is non-zero
The amount of current that flows across the p-n junction depends
on the gradient of electrons (difference in the concentration)
between the n- and p-type material and the gradient of holes
between the p- and n-type material
The point at which the barrier becomes zero (the flat-band condition)
depends on the value of the built-in voltage. The larger the built-in
voltage, the more applied voltage is needed to remove the barrier.
It takes more applied voltage to get current to flow for a heavily
doped p-n junction
Schematically
http://ece-www.colorado.edu/~bart/book/
Plot of I-V of Diode with Small Positive
Applied Voltage
Ideal Diode Equation
Empirical fit for both the negative and positive
I-V of a diode when the magnitude of the
applied voltage is reasonably small.
qVD
I D I S e nkT
1
Ideal Diode Equation
Where
ID and VD are the diode current and voltage, respectively
q is the charge on the electron
n is the ideality factor: n = 1 for indirect semiconductors (Si, Ge, etc.)
n = 2 for direct semiconductors (GaAs, InP, etc.)
k is Boltzmanns constant
T is temperature in Kelvin
kT/q is also known as Vth, the thermal voltage. At 300K (room temperature),
kT/q = 25.9mV
Simplification
When VD is negative
I D ~ I S
When VD is positive
qVD
nkT
ID ~ ISe
To Find n and IS
Using the curve tracer, collect the I-V of a
diode under small positive bias voltages
Plot the I-V as a semi-log
The y-intercept is equal to the natural log of the
reverse saturation current
The slope of the line is proportional to 1/n
q
ln I D VD ln I S
nkT
Example
Questions
How does the I-V characteristic of a heavily
doped diode differ from that of a lightly doped
diode?
Why does the I-V characteristics differ?
For any diode, how does the I-V characteristic
change as temperature increases?
For the same doping concentration, how does the
I-V characteristic of a wide bandgap (EG)
semiconductor compare to a narrow bandgap
semiconductor (say GaAs vs. Si)?
What the Ideal Diode Equation Doesnt
Explain
I-V characteristics under large forward and
reverse bias conditions
Large current flow when at a large negative
voltage (Breakdown voltage, VBR)
Linear relationship between ID and VD at
reasonably large positive voltages (Va > f)
VBR or VZ
Slope = 1/RS