02.

diode
•Introduction to P-N Junction
•Biasing the PN Junction (Forward and reverse biased)
•Ideal and practical diode characteristic
and circuit analysis.
•Zener diode characteristics and
application as a voltage regulator

Dr Afzan Othman 1
MENJANA MINDA KREATIF DAN INOVATIF
p-n junction

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 P-type

• A p-type material consist of silicon atoms and trivalent

impurity atoms (boron).
• The boron atom adds a hole when bonds with silicon atoms.

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 N-type

• A n-type material consist of silicon atoms and pentavalent

impurity atoms (antimony).
• The antimony atom releases an electron when bonds with four
silicon atoms.

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 PN junction

• If the n-type and p-type material is connected together, thus

the pn junction is formed at the boundary of these two
regions and a diode is created.
• The p region has many holes (majority carriers) and less
electrons (minority carriers).
• The n region has many electrons (majority carriers) and less
holes (minority carriers).

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 PN junction: depletion region

• When pn junction is formed, the electron in n region begin to

diffuse across the junction into p region where they combine with
holes near junction.
• Thus n region losses the electrons, and create a layer of positive
charges near the junction.
• The p region losses the holes, and create a layer of negative charges
near the junction.
• These two layers of positive and negative charges form the
depletion region.

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 PN junction: forward biased

• Forward biased is condition that allows current flows through pn

junction.
• To make a forward biased, +ve side of DC voltage is connected to p
region while –ve side is connected to n region.

p type Depletion n type

region

oDepletion region decreases, electrons flow from n-type to p-type,

results in current flow
oNegatively charged Boron attracts to positive source
oPositively charged Antimony attracts to negative source
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 PN junction: reverse biased

• Reverse biased is condition that prevents current flows through pn

junction.
• To make a reverse biased, -ve side of DC voltage is connected to p
region while +ve side is connected to n region.

p type Depletion n type

region

oDepletion region width increases, electrons cannot flow results

in no current
oNegatively charged Boron repelled against negative source
oPositively charged Antimony repelled against positive source
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Diode

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 diode

• Diode is a device with two electrodes which anode and cathode.

• Usually made from Si and Ge.
• It allows current to flow in one direction only. Why?
• It widely used in rectifier, clipper, clamper circuits and logic gates.

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 Diode- Characteristics

• Diode characteristics is depend on the applied bias voltage:

o Forward biased
o Reverse biased
• Each diode has knee voltage (voltage barrier):
o Si = 0.7V
o Ge = 0.3V

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 Diode- IV Characteristics

Silicon knee voltage = 0.7V, Germanium knee voltage = 0.3V

Note:
In actual case, current in reverse bias is not zero
Current starts to flow at high voltage in reverse biased region

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 Diode Shockley equation

• A Shockley Diode equation gives and ideal I-V characteristic for a diode.
VD
nVT
I D  I S (e  1)
Where Is is reverse saturation current or leakage current
VD is the forward biased voltage
n is the ideality factor (Ge= 1 and Si= 2)
VT is the thermal voltage (usually 26mV)
e is natural number (2.7182)

• When VD is negative (reversed biased), ID ≈ -IS

VD
• When VD is positive (forward biased), ID ≈ I S (e nVT
)

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 Diode resistance

• Diode is a nonlinear device, hence its Q-point

(operating point) is changing depending on the
biasing circuit.
• There are two type of diode resistance that
depends on the Q-point.
• Static Resistance - Forward biased resistance of
diode due to DC voltage source.
VDQ
RD ( St ) 
I DQ
• Dynamic Resistance - Forward biased resistance
of diode due to AC voltage source.
VDQ
RD ( Dyn ) 
I DQ
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 Diode MoDEL

• There are several models of diode that can be used to simplify analysis
of circuits which contain diode.
• Ideal Diode Model – diode is assume as switch.
o Forward biased: voltage across diode is assumed 0V (diode short circuit),
current flows through it.
o Reverse biased: diode is open circuit, no current flows through it.

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 Diode MoDEL

• Practical Diode Model – replace diode with voltage source.

o Forward biased: voltage across diode is 0.7V (Si) and 0.3V (Ge), current
flows through it.
o Reverse biased: diode is open circuit, no current flows through it.

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 Diode MoDEL

• Complete Diode Model – replace diode with voltage source, V and

internal Resistance, rd
o Forward biased: voltage across diode is V = Vk + Vr, current flows through
it.
o Reverse biased: diode is open circuit, VT = Vr and current still flows through
internal resistance.

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 Diode Circuit Analysis

1. Determine the state of the diode whether it is in ON (forward biased)

or OFF (reverse biased) state.
• The applied Voltage is matched with the arrow of the diode
symbol or not.
• The VD > Vknee for the diode to be operated.
2. Substitute the equivalent circuit for ON or OFF diode.
3. Perform KVL (Kirchoff voltage law) to find node voltages.
4. Perform Ohm’s Law and KVL (Kirchoff current law) to find current.

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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
KVL, KCL & Ohm’s law

• KVL - The sum of all the voltages

around the loop is equal to zero.

• KCL - The current entering any

junction is equal to the current leaving
that junction.

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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
KVL, KCL & Ohm’s law

• Ohm’s Law - the current through a

conductor between two points is
directly proportional to the potential
difference across the two points

V
I
R

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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Practical model
• Series configuration

• Forward Biased.

•VK for Si = 0.7V and Ge = 0.3V

•If voltage source (E) > knee voltage(Vk), diode is assume replaced by
a battery 0.7V for Si or 0.3V for Ge. ( E = Vs )

•hence, using
•Kirchoff's voltage law (KVL): E = VR + VD
•ID=IR , Ohm’s law :VR = IRR = IDR

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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Practical model
• Series configuration

• Reverse Biased.

•Current flow is approximately 0A (ID=0A)

•Using Kirchoff's voltage law (KVL): E = -VD + VR

E = -VD + ID R where ID= 0 A

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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 1
• Series configuration

Si 0.7V

VR
2k +
3V 2k 3V VR
IR IR
-

Using KVL, Using Ohm’s Law,

3 V = 0.7 V + VR V 2.3V
IR    1.15mA
VR = 2.3 V R 2k
VD = 0.7 V
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 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 2
Series configuration

Find VD, VR and IR in the circuit below.

Si
+ 3V -
VR
2k +
3V 2k 3V VR
IR IR
-

Since it is an open circuit, IR = 0

Using Ohm’s Law, VR = IRR = 0
Using KVL, VD = 3V
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 3
Series configuration
Find VR and IR in the circuit below.
Si Ge
+12V VR

5.6k
IR

0.7V 0.3V
+12V
5.6k +
VR
IR
-
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 3 cont.
Series configuration

Using KVL,
12 V = 0.7 V + 0.3 V + VR
VR = 11 V

Using Ohm’s Law,

V
IR 
R
11V

5.6k
 1.96mA
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 4
Series configuration

+ V1 - Si
Vo
+10V
Find V1, V2 and 4.7k +
V2
Vo in the circuit. 2.2k
-

+ V1 - 0.7V -5V
Vo
+10V
4.7k +
V2
2.2k
-

-5V
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 4 cont.
Series configuration

Using KVL, Therefore,

10 V = V1 + 0.7 V + V2 – 5 V1 = IR1
V1 + V2 = 10 – 0.7 + 5 = 2.07 mA x 4.7 kΩ
= 14.3 V = 9.73 V
Using Ohm’s Law to get current
V1  V2 V2 = IR2
I
R1  R2 = 2.07 mA x 2.2 kΩ
14.3V = 4.55 V

4.7 k  2.2k
14.3V V2 = Vo + 5 = 4.55 V
 Vo = 4.55 – 5
6.9k
 2.07 mA = -0.45 V
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 5
Series configuration

-- Find Vo1 and Vo2 in the figure below

Ge Si
Vo1 Vo2
-10V
1.2k

3.3k

Solution:
Vo1 = -9 V
Vo2 = - 6.6 V
Diode Circuit Analysis:
Parallel configuration
 Diode Circuit Analysis:
Example 1
Parallel configuration

Calculate the value of current when the diode is ideal.

Zener Diode

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 Zener diode

• A zener diode is a silicon pn junction device that is designed

for operation in the reverse-breakdown region.
• Mainly use for voltage regulation and limiting application.
• In reverse bias, the zener diode is ‘on’ and the voltage across
the zener diode is called Zener voltage, Vz
• In forward bias, zener diode act like the regular diode.
• Note that the direction of the current flow is different
between zener and regular diode.
ID
+ VD -

Anode Cathode

- VZ +
IZ
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Zener diode

regular diode operating region

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 Zener diode: Reverse biased

(Vs > Vz)

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 Using Zener diode in voltage
regulator

Voltage across zener is fixed to ~Vz if the applied voltage, Vs > Vz

Load, RL

Input/signal
Vs

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 Zener diode analysis

• There are three types of zener analysis:

o Fixed VS and RL
o Fixed VS and variable RL
o Variable VS and fixed RL

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 Zener diode analysis
Fixed VS and RL
• Determine the state of the Zener diode by removing it from the
network and calculating the voltage across the resulting open circuit.

+
Vi
-

• Find VL, RL
VL  Vi
RS  R L
o If VL > Vz , thus VL = VZ (the Zener diode is ON)
o If VL < VZ , VL equal to equation above (Zener diode is OFF)

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 Zener diode analysis
Fixed VS and RL (cont..)

+
Vi
-

• Find IZ, using KCL

I Z  I1  I L
VL
where IL 
RL
Ohms law
Vi  VZ
I
and 1 
Ri
• Thus power dissipation by zener diode, PZ = VZ x IZ

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 Zener diode analysis
Fixed VS and variable RL

+
Vi
-

• Step 1: Determine RLmin so that zener is on.

RLVi RV
VL  RL min  i Z
Ri  RL Vi  VZ
If RL > RLmin , the Zener diode is ON thus VL = VZ

• Step 2: Calculate the IZ using KCL: 2 conditions

1. If RLmin, then ILmax and IZmin because of constant I1
2. If RLmax, then ILmin and IZmax
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 Zener diode analysis
Fixed VS and variable RL

+
Vi
-

; Izmax taken from data sheet

I Z min or max  I1constant  I L max or min Izmin = 0, if not given

VZ VZ
Where I  VS  VZ and I L max  or RL max 
1
RS RL min I L min

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 Zener diode analysis
Variable VS and fixed RL

+
Vi
-

• Step 1: Determine Vimin so that zener is on.

RLVi ( R  Ri )VZ
VL  Vi min  L
Ri  RL RL
If Vi > Vimin , the Zener diode is ON thus VL = VZ

• Step 2: Calculate the IZ using KCL: 2 conditions

1. If Vimin, then I1max and IZmin because of constant IL
2. If Vimax, then I1min and IZmax
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 Zener diode analysis
Variable VS and fixed RL

+
Vi
-

I Z min or max  I1min or max  I Lconstant ; Izmax= Pzmax/Vz

VL VS min  VZ or VS max  I1max RS  VZ

where I L  and I1min 
RL RS

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