SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE – TYPE OF DIODE, WHICH CONTAINS “P-N JUNCTION” MADE FROM DIFFERENTLY DOPED
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS. IT IS DOUBLE-ENDED, NONLINEAR ELECTRONIC COMPONENT, WHERE TERMINAL
ATTACHED TO THE “P” LAYER (+) IS CALLED ANODE AND “N” LAYER (–) CATHODE. THIS ELECTRONIC COMPONENT IS
MAINLY USED BECAUSE OF IT’S ABILITY OF MAKING ELECTRIC CURRENT FLOW ONLY IN ONE DIRECTION (FROM ANODE
TO CATHODE) AFTER FORWARD-BIASING THE AFOREMENTIONED “P-N JUNCTION” WITH THE POSITIVE ELECTRIC
VOLTAGE.

FIG. 1. SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE SYMBOL

HOWEVER, IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION (REVERSE BIAS OF THE “P-N” JUNCTION WITH THE NEGATIVE ELECTRIC
VOLTAGE) WE CAN SAY THAT IN IDEAL SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE ELECTRIC CURRENT WON’T FLOW. THIS IS WHY
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE IS OFTEN DESCRIBED AS THE “ELECTRIC VALVE”, WHICH CAN PASS OR BLOCK THE FLOW OF THE
ELECTRIC CURRENT.

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE – INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE CONSISTS OF TWO, DIFFERENTLY DOPED SEMICONDUCTOR CRYSTALS – “P” AND “N”
TYPES. TOGETHER, THEY FORM SO-CALLED “P-N JUNCTION”, WHERE THE “N” LAYER (WITH ELECTRON DONOR DOPANTS)
HAS AN EXCESS AMOUNT OF ELECTRONS, WHICH ARE THE MAJORITY CARRIERS THERE (WE HAVE MORE ELECTRONS (-)
THAN ELECTRON HOLES (+)). HOWEVER, IN THE “P” LAYER (ELECTRON ACCEPTOR DOPANTS) THE MAJORITY CARRIERS
ARE ELECTRON HOLES (+) RATHER THAN ELECTRONS (-), SO WE HAVE MORE HOLES “TO FILL”, THAN ELECTRONS
AVAILABLE. THE ELECTRON HOLE IS A VACANCY CREATED BY THE ELECTRON “TRAVELLING” FROM ITS INITIAL PLACE
TO SOME OTHER LOCATION IN THAT CRYSTAL. IN REALITY, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “A HOLE”, BUT THAT LACK OF
ELECTRON KIND OF MAKES IT A POSITIVELY CHARGED PARTICLE, WHICH ATTRACTS NEGATIVE ELECTRONS TO FORM A
PAIR AGAIN (HOLES CAN MOVE TOO).

AFTER THEY COMBINE, A PROPORTIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRONS BEGINS. ELECTRONS, WHICH

PREVIOUSLY LACKED IN “P” LAYER ARE TRANSFERRED THERE FROM “N” LAYER, WHERE WERE TOO MANY OF THEM. SO,
“N” LAYER IS A GOOD FRIEND FOR “P” LAYER, RIGHT? AND THIS IS WHERE SO-CALLED DEPLETION REGION IS FORMED,
WHICH PREVENTS THE FLOW OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT (THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM).
 FIG. 2. P-N JUNCTION IN STATE OF THERMODYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM

TO ALLOW THE FLOW OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT THROUGH THE “P-N JUNCTION” (ELECTRIC VALVE ON), EXTERNAL
POSITIVE ELECTRIC VOLTAGE MUST BE APPLIED TO “PUSH” AND HELP LARGE GROUP OF ELECTRONS AND HOLES TO MEET
TOGETHER (FORWARD BIAS OF THE DIODE). AFTER THEY ARE “PUSHED” THROUGH THE DEPLETION REGION WITH ENOUGH
FORCE (VF = 0,7V) DIODE STARTS CONDUCTING CURRENT, SO IT STARTS TO FLOW THROUGH IT.

FIG. 3. P-N JUNCTION FORWARD-BIASED (ELECTRIC VALVE ON)

TO MAKE SURE, THAT THE ELECTRIC CURRENT WON’T FLOW (ELECTRIC VALVE OFF), IT IS NEEDED TO APPLY EXTERNAL
NEGATIVE VOLTAGE TO THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE (REVERSE BIAS) TO MAKE DEPLETION REGION EVEN LARGER
(ILLUSTRATION BELOW).

FIG. 4. P-N JUNCTION REVERSE-BIASED (ELECTRIC VALVE OFF)

WITH PASSING TIME, TECHNOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS WERE INCREASING WHAT RESULTED IN DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
TYPES OF DIODES. WHEN A SEMICONDUCTOR IS COMBINED WITH THE CORRESPONDING METAL, WE ACQUIRE
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE UNDER FORWARD BIAS

IN THE IMAGE ABOVE, YOU CAN SEE THAT AN EXTERNAL VOLTAGE IS APPLIED ACROSS THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
WHERE THE P-SIDE OF THE DIODE IS CONNECTED TO THE POSITIVE TERMINAL AND THE N-SIDE IS CONNECTED TO THE
NEGATIVE TERMINAL OF THE BATTERY. THIS DIODE IS FORWARD BIASED.

FORMATION OF A FORWARD BIAS DIODE

SINCE THE RESISTANCE OF THE DEPLETION REGION (THE REGION WHERE THERE ARE NO CHARGES) IS VERY HIGH, THE
APPLIED VOLTAGE DROPS PRIMARILY ACROSS THIS REGION. THE DROP IN VOLTAGE ACROSS THE P AND N SIDE OF THE
JUNCTION IS RELATIVELY NEGLIGIBLE. ALSO, THE DIRECTION OF THE APPLIED VOLTAGE (V) BEING OPPOSITE TO THAT OF
THE BUILT-IN POTENTIAL (V0), THE DEPLETION LAYER’S WIDTH DECREASES AND THE BARRIER HEIGHT REDUCE.

IF THE APPLIED VOLTAGE IS SMALL, THEN THE BARRIER POTENTIAL IS REDUCED MARGINALLY BELOW THE EQUILIBRIUM
VALUE. THIS RESULTS IN A SMALL NUMBER OF CARRIERS CROSSING THE JUNCTION. HENCE, THE CURRENT IS SMALL. ON
THE OTHER HAND, FOR A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH VALUE OF VOLTAGE, MORE CARRIERS HAVE THE ENERGY TO CROSS THE
JUNCTION. THIS LEADS TO A HIGHER CURRENT.

ANOTHER THING TO NOTE IS THAT WHEN THE VOLTAGE IS APPLIED, SOME ELECTRONS CROSSOVER TO THE P-SIDE AND
SOME HOLES CROSS TO THE N-SIDE. UNDER FORWARD BIAS, THIS PROCESS IS THE MINORITY CHARGE INJECTION PROCESS
(REFER TO IMAGE BELOW). HENCE, THE MINORITY CHARGE CONCENTRATION (ELECTRONS ON THE P-SIDE ARE A MINORITY
AND HOLES ON THE N-SIDE ARE A MINORITY) IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AT THE JUNCTION BOUNDARY.

THIS CONCENTRATION GRADIENT, THE INJECTED ELECTRON DIFFUSE FROM THE JUNCTION-END TO THE FAR-END OF THE P-
SIDE. SIMILARLY, INJECTED HOLES DIFFUSE TO THE FAR END OF THE N-SIDE. THIS GIVES RISE TO CURRENT TOO.
 THE TOTAL DIODE FORWARD CURRENT = HOLE DIFFUSION CURRENT + ELECTRON DIFFUSION CURRENT (USUALLY IN MA)

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE UNDER REVERSE BIAS

IN THE IMAGE ABOVE, YOU CAN SEE THAT AN EXTERNAL VOLTAGE IS APPLIED ACROSS THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE. THE
N-SIDE OF THE DIODE CONNECTS TO THE POSITIVE TERMINAL AND THE P-SIDE CONNECTS TO THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL OF
THE BATTERY. THIS DIODE IS A REVERSE-BIAS DIODE.

FORMATION OF A REVERSE BIAS DIODE

SINCE THE RESISTANCE OF THE DEPLETION REGION (THE REGION WHERE THERE ARE NO CHARGES) IS VERY HIGH, THE
APPLIED VOLTAGE DROPS PRIMARILY ACROSS THIS REGION. THE DROP IN VOLTAGE ACROSS THE P AND N SIDE OF THE
JUNCTION IS RELATIVELY NEGLIGIBLE.

ALSO, THE DIRECTION OF THE APPLIED VOLTAGE (V) BEING THE SAME AS THAT OF THE BUILT-IN POTENTIAL (V0), THE
DEPLETION LAYER’S WIDTH WIDENS AND THE BARRIER HEIGHT INCREASES. THIS LEADS TO A SUPPRESSION OF THE FLOW
OF ELECTRON TO THE P-SIDE AND HOLES TO THE N-SIDE. HENCE, THE DIFFUSION CURRENT DECREASES TO A GREAT
EXTENT.

DUE TO THE DIRECTION OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD, THE ELECTRONS IN THE P-SIDE AND HOLES IN THE N-SIDE ARE SWEPT TO
THEIR MAJORITY ZONES, IF THEY COME CLOSE TO THE JUNCTION. THIS CAUSES DRIFT CURRENT. THE DRIFT CURRENT IS
USUALLY OF A FEW ΜA. THIS CURRENT IS VERY LOW EVEN IN THE FORWARD-BIASED DIODE AS COMPARED TO THE
CURRENT DUE TO THE INJECTED CARRIERS.

CRITICAL VALUE OF REVERSE BIAS VOLTAGE

ALSO, A SMALL AMOUNT OF VOLTAGE APPLIED TO THE DIODE IS SUFFICIENT TO SWEEP THE MINORITY CHARGE CARRIER
TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE JUNCTION. THIS DIODE REVERSES CURRENT IS NOT DEPENDENT ON THE VOLTAGE BUT ON THE
CONCENTRATION OF THE MINORITY CHARGE CARRIERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE JUNCTION.

HOWEVER, THE CURRENT IS INDEPENDENT UP TO A CRITICAL VALUE OF REVERSE BIAS VOLTAGE – THE BREAKDOWN
VOLTAGE (VBR). WHEN THE VOLTAGE APPLIED CROSSES VBR, EVEN A SMALL CHANGE IN THE BIAS VOLTAGE CAUSES A
HUGE CHANGE IN CURRENT. THERE IS ALSO AN UPPER LIMIT OF CURRENT FOR EVERY DIODE, BEYOND WHICH IT GETS
DESTROYED DUE TO OVERHEATING. THIS IS THE RATED VALUE OF CURRENT.
MS JUNCTION (METAL-SEMICONDUCTOR), WHICH ALSO POSSESSES RECTIFYING PROPERTIES (CURRENT CONDUCTION IN
ONE DIRECTION) – IT IS USED FOR EXAMPLE IN FAST SCHOTTKY DIODES.

MS JUNCTIONS CAN HAVE ONE OF TWO CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS:

 UNSYMMETRICAL NON-LINEAR

 SYMMETRICAL, LINEAR

MS JUNCTION PROPERTIES DEPEND MAINLY ON THE SURFACE STATE OF SEMICONDUCTOR AND ON THE OUTPUT WORK
DIFFERENCE OF ELECTRONS FROM METAL AND SEMICONDUCTOR ITSELF. SCHOTTKY DIODE IS MAINLY USED IN SYSTEMS
THAT REQUIRE FAST SWITCHING TIME (SMALL JUNCTION CAPACITANCE CJ OF THE DIODE HAS A DECISIVE IMPACT) WITH
FREQUENCIES UP TO SEVERAL TENS OF GHZ.

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE – CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTIC

THE GRAPH BELOW SHOWS THE CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE. THIS IS A
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTIC FOR SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES USED IN ELECTRONICS (VF = 0,7V). THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE
STARTS CONDUCTING CURRENT AFTER EXCEEDING THE THRESHOLD OF THE FORWARD VOLTAGE VALUE SPECIFIED BY
THE MANUFACTURER IN THE DATA SHEET. SEMI-THERMAL DIODES ARE MAINLY USED TO PROTECT OTHER ELECTRONIC
COMPONENTS.

FIG. 5. CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE

HOW TO DETERMINE WHERE IS THE ANODE AND WHERE IS THE CATHODE?

SIMPLE MULTIMETER CAN BE USED TO DETERMINE THE POLARITY OF A DIODE. THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE WAYS TO DO
THIS BUT I WILL SHOW HERE TWO MOST POPULAR WAYS THAT CAN BE DONE EVEN WITH THE CHEAPEST MULTIMETERS
(GET BASETECH BT-11 MULTIMETER ):

A) USING OHMMETER (2KΩ RANGE):

FIG. 6. FORWARD-BIAS: OHMMETER WILL INDICATE THE APPROXIMATE FORWARD VOLTAGE OF THE DIODE (NEAR 0,7V)

FIG. 7. REVERSE-BIAS: OHMMETER INDICATES “1” WHAT MEANS VERY HIGH RESISTANCE (ELECTRIC VALVE OFF)

YOU CAN ALSO USE “DIODE CHECK” FUNCTION (DIODE SYMBOL ON THE MULTIMETER) BUT THE RESULT WILL BE THE
SAME AS THE ABOVE WITH USING OHMMETER.

B) USING VDC MEASUREMENT FUNCTION:

FIG. 8. FORWARD-BIAS: MULTIMETER SHOULD INDICATE VOLTAGE DROP OF APPROXIMATELY 0,7V FOR SILICON DIODES

FIG. 9. REVERSE-BIAS: MULTIMETER WILL INDICATE THE APPROXIMATE FULL VOLTAGE OF THE SUPPLY. (NOTE: HERE DIODE
IS INSERTED IN OPPOSITE WAY COMPARED TO THE EXAMPLE ABOVE. IN REALITY, I WOULD CHANGE THE POLARITY OF THE
POWER SUPPLY, BECAUSE YOU CAN’T UNMOUNT “WITH YOUR HANDS” ONCE SOLDERED COMPONENT, UNLESS YOU DESOLDER
IT. OF COURSE, WE DON’T WANT TO DO THAT TO THE GOOD OPERATING COMPONENT. I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU AN
EXAMPLE, THAT YOU SHOULD ALSO PAY ATTENTION TO CORRECT COMPONENT PLACEMENT AT YOUR PCB OR BREADBOARD)
TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES

 RECTIFIER DIODE – ALTERNATING CURRENT RECTIFICATION,

 ZENER DIODE – STABILIZATION OF VOLTAGE AND CURRENT IN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS,

 LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED) – EMITS LIGHT IN THE INFRARED OR VISIBLE LIGHT SPECTRUM,

 VARIABLE CAPACITANCE DIODE – ITS CAPACITY DEPENDS ON THE VOLTAGE APPLIED TO IT IN THE REVERSE
BIAS,

 SWITCHING DIODE – USED IN PULSE ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS THAT REQUIRE VERY FAST SWITCHING TIMES,

 TUNNEL DIODE – SPECIALLY DESIGNED DIODE CHARACTERIZED BY THE NEGATIVE DYNAMIC RESISTANCE
REGION,

 PHOTODIODE – DIODE THAT WORKS AS PHOTODETECTOR – IT REACTS TO LIGHT RADIATION (VISIBLE, INFRARED
OR ULTRAVIOLET),

 GUNN DIODE – COMPONENT USED IN HIGH-FREQUENCY ELECTRONICS.