Unit-I - 2

Vel Tech Multi Tech Dr.
Rangarajan
Dr.Sakunthala Engineering College
(Autonomous)
Electron Devices and Circuits
R.Balakrishnan
AP/RAE
Objectives
 To understand the concept of semiconductor diode
 To learn the operation and characteristics of BJT and FET
transistors.
 To study various types of display and power devices
 To learn positive and negative feedback circuits
Syllabus
 Semiconductor Diodes
 Ideal diode-Current-voltage characteristics, Terminal
characteristics of junction diode - Zener diode and
applications –Diode logic gates-Clipping and Clamping
circuits-Voltage doubler-Schottky-Barrier diode-Varactor –
Photo diode-Tunnel diode.
 Transistor amplifier
 BJT- Structure, Operation – Three modes of configuration
–Currents in Transistor – Relation between α ,β & γ – load
line – Transistor as an amplifier (CE)- h parameter – Av and
Ap
Syllabus
 Field Effect Transistor
 JFET-Structure, Operation of N Channel and P Channel -
Drain and Transfer characteristics-Applications of JFET-
MOSFET types- Characteristics of Enhancement and
depletion mode-Comparison of JFET and MOSFET.
 Power Devices and Display Devices
 SCR, DIAC, TRIAC, Power BJT, Power MOSFET, IGBT Heat
sinks and junction temperature, LED, LCD, Photo
transistor, Opto Coupler, Solar cell, CCD.
 Feedback Amplifiers and Oscillators
 Advantages of negative feedback - Voltage/current,
series/shunt feedback.Positive feedback – Barkhausen
criterion for oscillation - Phase shift - Wein Bridge –
Hartley – Colpitts and crystal oscillators.
Text Books
 1.Sedra and Smith, “Micro Electronic Circuits”; Sixth
Edition, Oxford University Press, 2011.
 2.Donald A Neaman, “Semiconductor Physics and
Devices”, Third Edition, Tata Mc GrawHill Inc. 2007.
Reference Books
 1. Robert L.Boylestad and Louis Nasheresky,
―Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory‖, 10th
Edition, Pearson Education / PHI, 2008
 2. Malvino, Electronic Devices and Circuits, PHI, 2007.
 3. David A. Bell, ―Electronic Devices and Circuits,
Fifth Edition, Oxford UniversityPress, 2008.
UNIT - I
Semiconductor Diodes
UNIT – I -Semiconductor Diodes
 Ideal diode-Current-voltage characteristics,
 Terminal characteristics of junction diode
 Zener diode and applications
 Diode logic gates
 Clipping and Clamping circuits
 Voltage doubler
 Schottky
 Barrier diode
 Varactor
 Photo diode
 Tunnel diode.
Clamping circuits
 A Clamper circuit can be defined as the circuit that consists of a diode,
a resistor and a capacitor that shifts the waveform to a desired DC
level without changing the actual appearance of the applied signal.
 Clamper circuits consist of energy storage elements like capacitors. A
simple clamper circuit comprises of a capacitor, a diode, a resistor and a
dc battery if required.
 A Clamper Circuit is a circuit that adds a DC level to an AC signal.
Actually, the positive and negative peaks of the signals can be placed at
desired levels using the clamping circuits.
 As the DC level gets shifted, a clamper circuit is called as a Level
Shifter.
 The clamper circuit consists of a capacitor and diode connected in
parallel across the load.
 The clamper circuit depends on the change in the time constant of the
capacitor.
 The working of clamper circuits depends on the variation in the time
constant of the capacitor. This variation is the outcome of changing
the current path of the diode with the change in input signal
polarity.
 τ= RC
 Where
 R is the resistance of the resistor employed
 C is the capacitance of the capacitor used
The time constant of charge and discharge of the capacitor
determines the output of a clamper circuit.
 In a clamper circuit, a vertical shift of upward or downward takes place
in the output waveform with respect to the input signal.
 The load resistor and the capacitor affect the waveform. So, the
discharging time of the capacitor should be large enough.
 Types of Clampers
Positive Clamper
 Positive clamper with positive Vr (Voltage reference)
 Positive clamper with negative Vr (Voltage reference)
Negative Clamper
 Negative clamper with positive Vr (Voltage reference)
 Negative clamper with negative Vr (Voltage reference)
 Positive Clamper
 A Clamping circuit restores the DC level. When a negative peak of the
signal is raised above to the zero level, then the signal is said to
be positively clamped.
 A Positive Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and
a capacitor and that shifts the output signal to the positive portion of the
input signal.
 Initially when the input is given, the capacitor is not yet charged and
the diode is reverse biased.
 The output is not considered at this point of time.
 During the negative half cycle, at the peak value, the capacitor gets
charged with negative on one plate and positive on the other.
 The capacitor is now charged to its peak value Vm. The diode is
forward biased and conducts heavily.
 During the next positive half cycle, the capacitor is charged to positive
Vm while the diode gets reverse biased and gets open circuited.
 The output of the circuit at this moment will be
 V0=Vi+Vm
 Vo = Vm + Vm = 2Vm
 The output signal changes according to the changes in the input, but
shifts the level according to the charge on the capacitor, as it adds the
input voltage.
 Positive Clamper with Positive Vr
 A Positive clamper circuit if biased with some positive reference
voltage, that voltage will be added to the output to raise the
clamped level.
 During the positive half cycle, the reference voltage is applied

through the diode at the output and as the input voltage increases,
the cathode voltage of the diode increase with respect to the anode
voltage and hence it stops conducting.
 During the negative half cycle, the diode gets forward biased and starts
conducting. The voltage across the capacitor and the reference
voltage together maintain the output voltage level.
 Positive Clamper with Negative Vr
 A Positive clamper circuit if biased with some negative reference
clamped level.
 During the positive half cycle, the voltage across the capacitor and the
reference voltage together maintain the output voltage level.
 During the negative half-cycle, the diode conducts when the cathode
voltage gets less than the anode voltage.
 Negative Clamper
 A Negative Clamper circuit is one that consists of a diode, a resistor and
a capacitor and that shifts the output signal to the negative portion of
the input signal.
 During the positive half cycle, the capacitor gets charged to its peak
value Vm. The diode is forward biased and conducts. During the
negative half cycle, the diode gets reverse biased and gets open
circuited. The output of the circuit at this moment will be
 V0=Vi+Vm
 Vo = – Vm – Vm = -2Vm
 The output signal changes according to the changes in the input, but
shifts the level according to the charge on the capacitor, as it adds the
input voltage.
 Negative clamper with positive Vr
 A Negative clamper circuit if biased with some positive reference
clamped level.
 Though the output voltage is negatively clamped, a portion of the
output waveform is raised to the positive level, as the applied reference
voltage is positive.
 During the positive half-cycle, the diode conducts, but the output equals
the positive reference voltage applied. During the negative half cycle,
the diode acts as open circuited and the voltage across the capacitor
forms the output.
 Negative Clamper with Negative Vr
 A Negative clamper circuit if biased with some negative reference
clamped level.
 The cathode of the diode is connected with a negative reference
voltage, which is less than that of zero and the anode voltage.
 Hence the diode starts conducting during positive half cycle, before the
zero voltage level. During the negative half cycle, the voltage across the
capacitor appears at the output.
 Applications
 Clippers
 Used for the generation and shaping of waveforms
 Used for the protection of circuits from spikes
 Used for amplitude restorers
 Used as voltage limiters
 Used in television circuits
 Used in FM transmitters
 Clampers
 Used as direct current restorers
 Used to remove distortions
 Used as voltage multipliers
 Used for the protection of amplifiers
 Used as test equipment
 Used as base-line stabilizer
Voltage doubler
 A voltage doubler is an electronic circuit that produces an output
voltage that is double the input voltage.
 It is a voltage multiplier with a voltage multiplication factor equal to
2.
 The circuit is formed by an oscillating AC input voltage, two capacitors
, and two diodes.
 The input voltage is AC, and the output is DC voltage with twice the
peak value of the input AC voltage.
 In some applications, heavy and expensive step up transformers can
be replaced by voltage doublers.
 Definition: A multiplier circuit that generates a dc output voltage
having amplitude twice the maximum amplitude of the ac input supply
voltage is known as Voltage Doubler.
 The circuit shows its necessity in all such applications where a high
level of voltage is required when the input source is of low amplitude.
Voltage doubler circuits
1. Half Wave Voltage Doubler

2. Full Wave Voltage Doubler
Half Wave Voltage Doubler
 The circuit is made of two diodes D1 and D2,

 Two capacitors C1 and C2 and an AC supply voltage.
 This input ac voltage gets doubled by the circuit and a
double amplitude dc signal is achieved at the output.
Half Wave Voltage Doubler
 When positive half of the input signal is applied, diode D1 gets
forward biased. Due to this, it behaves as a short circuit and
current flows through the diode.
 This current charges the capacitor C1 up to the peak value of the
applied input signal.
 At the same time, the positive half of the input signal reverse
biases the diode D2. Due to this current does not flow through
that portion of the circuit. Hence, C2 will not get charged.
 Due to the absence of a return path for the current, the charge
present in capacitor C1 will not get discharged.
 Hence, C1 stores the charge because of its energy storing
property.
 When negative half of the input signal is applied, diode

D2 comes in forward biased although D1 falls in reversed biased.
 Due to reverse the biased condition of D1, capacitor C1 will
not get charged. However, the capacitor C1 will now discharge.
While C2 charges due to forward biased condition of diode D2.
 The capacitor C2 present in the circuit charges will gets charged
but with double the peak of applied input voltage i.e., 2Vm.
 This is so because the discharging capacitor voltage of C1 and
applied input voltage gets added. Hence producing a voltage that
is twice the peak of the applied input voltage i.e., 2Vm.
 Now, the charge present on the capacitor gets discharged through
the load. Hence the dc output with the peak of 2Vm is achieved.
 The thing that has to be kept in mind in case of half-wave
voltage doubler is that the output does not increase rapidly.
But with each applied input cycle it rises slowly.
 Another factor is that simply one-half cycle charges the capacitor
C2. Thus, the discharging voltage consists of ripple (unwanted
fluctuations) frequency that is equivalent to supply frequency of
applied input signal.
Full Wave Voltage Doubler
 The circuit has an ac source, two capacitors C1 and

C2 and two diodes D1 and D2.
 When positive half of supply is provided, the diode D1 gets forward
biased. This forward voltage charges the capacitor C1 up to the
maximum value of applied input voltage Vm.
 At this particular cycle, D2 gets reverse biased, causing no any current
to flow through it. Hence, capacitor C2 will not be charged.
 When the negative half cycle of the signal is applied, the diode D2 will
be forward biased.
 However, D1 will now come to reverse biased state. Due to forward
biasing applied at D2, the current flowing through the circuit will charge
capacitor C2 up to Vm.
 However, capacitor C1 will not be charged this time due to reverse
biasing of D1.
 As the two capacitors form a series connection. Thus, the output
achieved will be Vm + Vm i.e., 2Vm.
 However, in the presence of a load, this output will be a little bit less
than a no-load condition (2Vm).
 Advantages of Voltage Doubler
 It eliminates the use of a high voltage transformer. As it changes a
low voltage to high at a low rate.
 Voltage multiplication can be greatly increased by cascading such
circuits.
 Disadvantages of Voltage Doubler
 The output present has undesired fluctuations called ripples.
 Applications of Voltage Doubler
 cathode ray tubes,
 x-ray
 Radar systems along with LCD backlight,
 Laser systems
 Oscilloscopes
Schottky Diode
 The Schottky Diode is a type of metal-semiconductor diode
having a low forward voltage drop and a very fast switching
speed.
 The main adavantage is that the forward voltage drop of a
Schottky Diode is substantially less than the 0.7 volts of the
conventional silicon pn-junction diode.
 A Schottky diode (also known as the hot-carrier diode or Schottky
barrier diode) is a semiconductor diode formed by the junction of
a semiconductor with a metal.
 Schottky diodes have a low forward voltage drop
(0.15 to 0.45 V) and a very fast switching action.
 Just like a regular diode, a Schottky diode will conduct a current
in the forward direction when sufficient forward voltage is
applied.
 But a silicon PN Junction diode has a typical forward voltage of
600–700 mV (0.6–0.75 V), while Schottky’s forward voltage is
150–450 mV (0.15–0.45 V).
 This lower forward voltage requirement enables Schottky diodes
to have higher switching speeds and increased efficiency.
 The junction in a Schottky diode is formed by the metal
(such as gold, tungsten, chromium, platinum, molybdenum,
or certain silicides) and an N – Type doped silicon
semiconductor.
 Since they are constructed using a metal compound on one side
of their junction and doped silicon on the other side, the
Schottky diode therefore has no depletion layer and are classed as
unipolar devices unlike typical pn-junction diodes which are
bipolar devices.
 The most common contact metal used for Schottky diode
construction is “Silicide” which is a highly conductive silicon and
metal compound.
 This silicide metal-silicon contact has a reasonably low ohmic
resistance value allowing more current to flow producing a
smaller forward voltage drop of around Vƒ<0.4V when
conducting.
 Different metal compounds will produce different forward
voltage drops, typically between 0.3 to 0.5 volts.
 Working of Schottky Diode
 The most important physical parameter of this Schottky diode is
their fast switching rate and less forward voltage drop.
 It is a metal – semiconductor junction that does not have the
capacity to store charges at their junction. The reason behind
this is due to absence of depletion layer.
 Usually, a voltage drop happens across the diode terminals, when
current flows through a diode.
 Schottky diode voltage drop is usually between 0.15 and 0.45
volts when compared to a normal diode. A normal PN junction
diode has a voltage drop ranging between 0.6 to 1.7 volts. For
a better efficiency and output, voltage drop should be low.
 When manufacturing the diode, N-type semiconductor acts as a
cathode and the metal side acts an anode of the diode.
 When voltage is given to the diode, the current flows in the
forward direction. When this current flows through the diode,
there will be a minimum voltage loss across the terminals of
the diode. This loss of voltage is called as Voltage drop.
Unbiased Schottky Diode
 The free electrons present inside the n – type semiconductor will
move from n – type semiconductor to a metal during the
combination between metal and n – type semiconductor.
 This results in production of equilibrium state. When free
electrons moves across the junction, it provides an extra electron
to the atoms present in the atom.
 Due to this, atoms present in the metal junction receive an extra
electron. The atoms at the negative side junction lose electrons
and become positive ions. On the metal junction, atoms will
gain extra electrons and tries to become negative ions.
 Hence, this will result in production of positive ions at negative
side and negative ions on the positive side at the metal junction.
Depletion region will be formed when these positive and
negative ions comes together. In unbiased Schottky diode,
only less number of electrons will flow from semiconductor to
metal. Other electron flow is stopped due to the built in voltage.
 Forward Biased Schottky Diode
 In the n-type semiconductor when positive terminal of the
battery is connected to metal and negative terminal is
connected to n-type conductor, it is called as Forward biased
Schottky diode.
 On the diode, when forward bias voltage is applied, more
electrons are formed in the metal and conductor.
 When a voltage greater than 0.2 volts are applied, free electrons
cannot move through the junction barrier.
 Due to this current will flow through diode. When voltage value
increases, depletion region becomes thin and disappears.
 Reverse Biased Schottky Diode
 In the n-type semiconductor if the negative terminal of the battery
is coupled to metal and positive terminal is connected to n-type
conductor, it is called as Reverse biased Schottky diode.
 At the same time, if a reverse bias voltage is applied, the width of
depletion region increases.Therefore, the current flow stops.
 In the metal plate, there will be more number of excited electrons.
Due to this, there will be flow of a small amount of leakage
current.
 When reverse biased voltage increases further, current also
increases due to weak barrier.
 When abnormal increase in bias voltage takes place, electric
current also increases suddenly. A device will be damaged,
when the depletion region breaks down.
 V-I Characteristics of Schottky Barrier Diode
 The V-I characteristics of Schottky diode is almost similar to the
P-N junction diode.
 Nevertheless, the forward voltage drop of Schottky diode is very
low when compared to the P-N junction diode.
 The forward voltage drop ranges from 0.3 volts to 0.5 volts. The
barrier of forward voltage drop is made of silicon.
 The forward voltage drop is proportional to the doping
concentration of N type semiconductor. Due to high concentration
of current carriers, the V-I characteristic of Schottky diode is
steeper.
VI characteristics of Schottky Diode, PN Junction Diode, and Point
Contact Diode
Advantages of Schottky Diode
 It has a fast recovery time due to the very low quantity of stored
charge. So this diode is used for high-speed switching application.
 It has a low turn-on voltage.
 It has low junction capacitance.
 The voltage drop is low.
 Disadvantages of Schottky Diode
 Reverse leakage current.
 Low reverse voltage rating.
 Application
 Used in Switched-mode power supplies.
 Used in reverse current protection.
 Used in discharge protection.
 Used in voltage clamping application.
 Used in RF mixer and Detector diode.
 Used in solar cell application
Barrier diode
 Definition: The potential barrier in the PN junction diode is the
barrier in which the charge requires additional force for crossing
the region. In other words, the barrier in which the charge carrier
stopped by the obstructive force is known as the potential barrier.
 Barrier Potential: The electric field that is produced in the
depletion region acts as a barrier.
 External energy must be exerted to allow the electrons to get
through the barrier of the electric field. The potential difference
required for the electrons to be passed across the electric field is
called the potential barrier.
 The barrier potential of a P-N junction depends on the type of
material, amount of doping and temperature of the semiconductor.
For silicon it is about 0.7V, for germanium, it is about 0.3V.
 When the P and N-type semiconductor material are placed

together, the gradient of very large density charge carriers is
created on both the P and N side region.
 The free electrons from N-side cross the region and start
combining with the holes, leaving behind the immobile positive
donor ions. Similarly, the holes of the P-region combine with the
electrons of the N-region and leaving behind the negative
acceptor ions.
 The process is continued until the P and N-region have enough
charge carrier for opposing the electrons and holes respectively.
 The immobile ions (negative acceptor ions and positive donor
ions) are concentrated between the N and P-region and create
the electric field which acts as a barrier between the flows of
charges.
 The region is created because of the depleted ions, and hence it is
called the depletion region.
 The depletion region acts as a barrier and opposes the flow of
charge carrier. The value of barrier potential lies between 0.3 –
0.7V depends on the type of material used.
Varactor diode
 A Varactor Diode (also known with the names Varicap Diode,
Varactor Diode, Tuning Diode) is a p-n junction diode which
acts as a variable capacitor under varying reverse bias voltage
across its terminals.
 The term varactor is originated from a variable
capacitor. Varactor diode operates only in reverse bias.
 The diode has two terminals: anode and cathode. One end of
the symbol consists of the diode, and the other end has two
parallel lines that represent the conductive plates of the capacitor.
The gap between the plates shows their dielectric.
 Construction
 A Varactor Diode consists of p-type and n-type semiconductor
layers sandwiched together, with the n-type layer attached to a
mesa (table-shaped) structure.
 A gold plated molybdenum stud is connected to n-type layer via
the mesa structure and it acts as cathode terminal.
 The p-type layer is connected to another gold plated molybdenum
stud (which acts as anode) via a gold wire.
 Except for some portion of the molybdenum studs, the entire
arrangement is enclosed in a ceramic layer.
.
 The p-type and n-type layers of the varactor diode are made up of
silicon or gallium arsenide depending on the type of application
for which it is used.
 For low frequency applications, silicon is used, and for high-
frequency applications gallium arsenide is used.
 For conventional diodes, the p-type and n-type semiconductor
layers are uniformly doped with impurities to improve
conductivity.
 But in the case of varactor diodes, the concentration of impurities
near the pn junction is very less and it gradually increases as we
move towards the layer’s other surface
 Operation of Varactor Diode
 The function of the varactor diode is to store charges, so it is
always operated in reverse bias condition.
 When a forward bias voltage is applied, the electric current flows,
as a result, the depletion region becomes negligible, which is
undesirable.
 The junction capacitance of a p-n junction diode is inversely
proportional to the width of the depletion layer.
 In other words, if the width of the depletion layer is less, then,
the capacitance is more, and vice versa. So if we need to increase
the capacitance of a varactor diode, the reverse bias voltage
should be decreased.
 It causes the width of the depletion layer to decrease, resulting in
higher capacitance. Similarly, increasing the reverse bias voltage
should decrease the capacitance.
 This ability to get different values of capacitances just by
changing the voltage applied is the biggest advantage of a
varactor diode when compared to a normal variable capacitor.
 Cj is the diode capacitance

 C is the diode capacitance when the device is unbiased
 V is the applied voltage
 Vb is the barrier voltage at the junction
 m is the constant depending upon the material
 K is the constant equal to 1
 F is the maximum operating frequency
 f is the operating frequency
 Characteristics
 The below graph illustrates the relation between the magnitude of
reverse bias voltage p-type & n-type layers of a varactor diode,
and the magnitude of junction capacitance.
 Varactor Diode Applications
 They are used in RF design arena and provide a method of
varying the capacitance within a circuit by the application of
control voltage. It provides them with special capability due to
which varactor diodes are used in the RF industry.
 These diodes are used in many circuits and find applications in
two main sectors.
 FR filters – It is possible to tune filters by using varactor diodes.
Tracking filters can be required in front-end receiver circuits
wherein the filters are enabled to track the frequency of incoming
received signals.
 Voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) – VCOs are used for many
applications and oscillators within a phase-locked loop is the
major region. VCOs are present in almost all wireless receivers
and radio.
Photo diode
 A photodiode is a PN junction diode that consumes light energy
to produce an electric current. Sometimes it is also called a photo-
detector, a light detector, and photo-sensor.
 Photodiodes are designed to work in reverse bias condition.

Typical photodiode materials are Silicon, Germanium and Indium
gallium arsenide.
 When the conventional diode is reverse biased, the depletion
region starts expanding and the current starts flowing due to
minority charge carriers.
 With the increase of reverse voltage, the reverse current also
starts increasing. The same condition can be obtained in
Photodiode without applying reverse voltage.
 The junction of Photodiode is illuminated by the light source, the
photons strike the junction surface.
 The photons impart their enrgy in the form of light to the
junction.
 Due to which electrons from valence band get the energy to jump
into the conduction band and contribute to current. In this way,
the photodiode converts light energy into electrical energy.
 The current which flows in photodiode before light rays are
incident on it is called dark current. As leakage current flows in
the conventional diode, similarly the dark current flows in the
photodiode.
 Modes of Operation of Photodiode
 It operates in two modes that are
 1).Photo-conductive
 2). Photo-voltaic.
 Photo-Conductive: When the Photo diode operates in reverse
biased mode it is called Photoconductive mode. In this, the
current flowing in diode varies linearly with the intensity of light
incident on it. In order to turn-off the diode, it should be provided
with forward voltage.
 Photo-Voltaic: When the diode is operated without reverse
biased it is said to be operated in photovoltaic mode. When the
reverse biased is removed, the charge carriers are swept across the
junction. The barrier potential is negative on N-side and positive
on P-side
 V-I Characteristics of Photodiode
 The characteristics are shown in the negative region because the
photodiode can be operated in reverse biased mode only.
 I = Isc + I0 (1 – eV/ɳVt)

 Isc is the short circuit current,
 V is positive for forward voltage and negative for reverse bias,
Vt is volt equivalent for temperature,
 ɳ is unity for germanium and 2 for silicon.
 I = Isc + I0 (1 – eV/ɳVt)
 Advantages of Photodiodes
 The reverse current is low in the tens of microamperes.
 The rise and fall times in case of photodiodes is very small
making it suitable for high-speed counting and switching
applications.
 Disadvantages of Photodiodes
 Photodiodes have lower light sensitivity than cadmium sulphide
LDRs (Light dependent resistors), thus they CdS LDRs are
considered more suitable for some applications.
 Applications of Photodiodes
 It is used for detection of both visible as well as invisible light
rays.
 Photodiodes are used for the communication system for encoding
& demodulation purpose.
 It is also used for digital and logic circuits which require fast
switching and high-speed operation.
 These diodes also find application in character recognition
techniques and IR remote control circuits.
Tunnel diode
 A heavily doped two-terminal semiconductor device through
which electric current flows because of tunneling ( or tunnelling)
of electrons is known as Tunnel diode. It possesses the negative
resistance characteristic in which current decreases even when the
applied voltage is increased.
 Tunneling basically denotes the penetration of electrons through
the depletion region. As highly doped diode has a thin depletion
region.
 It works on the principle of Quantum mechanical tunneling. As
tunnel diodes show fast switching characteristics thus it finds
extensive applications in the field of the microwave.
 Construction of Tunnel Diode
 The basic manufacturing material of a tunnel diode is germanium,
gallium arsenide or gallium antimonide.
 It is not formed using silicon as its basic material. This is so
because the ratio of maximal value of forward current to valley
current in case of silicon is very low.
 However, gallium arsenide has the maximum value of this ratio
thus is widely used.
 In the tunnel diode, the doping concentration is very high.
 The concentration of doped impurity in a tunnel diode
is thousand times more as compared to any normal diode. This is
done so as to have thin depletion region, that is the basis of
tunneling effect.
 This diode was invented by Dr Leo Esaki in 1957. Hence it is
also known as Esaki Diode.
 Volt-Amp Characteristic
 In forward biasing, the immediate conduction occurs in the diode
because of their heavy doping.
 The current in a diode reached their maximum value IP when the
Vp voltage applied across it.
 When further the voltage increases, the current across the
terminal decreases. And it decreases until it reaches their
minimum value. This minimum value of current is called the
valley current Iv.
 The graph above shows that from point A to point B the value of
current decreases with the increase of voltage.
 So, from A to B, the graph shows the negative resistance region of
the tunnel diode.
 This region shows the most important property of the diode. Here
in this region, the tunnel diode produces the power instead of
absorbing it.
Tunnel Diode Working
 The zero current flows through the diode in the unbiased
condition
 The small forward current flows through the depletion
region.
The maximum current flows through the tunnel.
 Small current flows through the diode, and thus the tunnel
current starts decreasing
 Advantages of Tunnel Diode
 It is a low power consuming device.
 It is not expensive.
 A tunnel diode is easy to operate and provides high-speed
operation.
 Disadvantages of Tunnel Diode
 The abrupt change in load current with applied voltage is
sometimes treated as its drawback.
 Proper isolation between input and output is not maintained as it
is a two terminal device.
 Applications of Tunnel Diode
 It is widely used in microwave and high-frequency applications
because of its fast response.
 It can be also used as amplifiers and in oscillator circuits.
 The tunnel diode is not widely used because it is a low current
device.

Unit-I - 2

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Vel Tech Multi Tech Dr.

Electron Devices and Circuits

 During the positive half cycle, the reference voltage is applied

1. Half Wave Voltage Doubler

 The circuit is made of two diodes D1 and D2,

 When negative half of the input signal is applied, diode

 The circuit has an ac source, two capacitors C1 and

 When the P and N-type semiconductor material are placed

 Cj is the diode capacitance

 Photodiodes are designed to work in reverse bias condition.

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