ZENER Diode

Diode
A diode is a specialized
electronic component with
two electrode called the
anode and the cathode.
Most diodes are made with
semiconductor materials
such as silicon, germanium,
or selenium.
Zener Diode - History
Clarence Melvin Zener (December 1, 1905 – July 2, 1993)
was the American physicist who first described the property
concerning the breakdown of electrical insulators. These
findings were later exploited by Bell Labs in the
development of the Zener diode, which was duly named
after him
 Zener Diode
A Zener diode is a type of diode that permits
current not only in the forward direction like a
normal diode, but also in the reverse direction if
the voltage is larger than the breakdown voltage
known as “Zener knee voltage” or “Zener voltage”
The arrowhead on a Zener diode symbol points in
the direction of forward current when the diode is
forward biased.
The Zener diode is normally operated in reverse
breakdown and the current direction is then from
anode to cathode
Zener Diode - Circuit
The most basic Zener diode circuit consist of a single
Zener diode and a resister.
The Zener diode provides the reference voltage, but a
series resistor must be in place to limit the current into
the diode otherwise a large amount of current would
flow through it and it could be destroyed.

The value of resistor calculated to

give required value of current for
supply voltage used.
Zener Diode – Forward bias
When a Zener diode is forward biased, it operates as a
normal diode.
In forward biased P side connected to +ve and N side
connected to –ve terminal of battery. In this case the
electrons and holes are swept across the junction an large
current flow through it.
Zener Diode – Reverse biased
In case
of reverse biased current practically zero and at
certain voltage which called Zener voltage the
current increases sharply.
Each Zener diode has breakdown rating which
specifies the max voltage that can be dropped
across it.
Zener Diode - characteristics
The figure shows, the forward
characteristics is same as that of ordinary
forward biased junction diode.
Zener Diode - Characteristics
In reverse direction however there is a very small leakage
current between 0V an the Zener voltage –i.e. tiny amount of
current is able to flow.
Then, when the voltage reaches the breakdown voltage
(VZ), suddenly current flow through it.
Notice that as the reverse
voltage is increased the
leakage current remains
essentially constant until the
breakdown voltage is
reached where the current
increases dramatically.
 Zener breakdown
The Zener effect is a type of electrical
breakdown in a reverse biased p-n diode
in which the electric field enables
tunneling of electrons from the valence to
the conduction band of a semiconductor,
leading to a large number of free minority
carriers, which suddenly increase the
reverse current.
Basic Parameters of a Zener Diode

The Zener Voltage (Vz) must be specified. The most

common range of zenervoltage is 3.3 to 75 volts, however
voltage out of this range are available.
A tolerance of the specified voltage must be stated. While the
most popular tolerance are 5% and 10%,more precision
tolerance as low as 0.05% are available. A test current (Iz)
must be specified with the voltage and tolerance.
The power handling capability must be specified for the zener
diode. Popular power ranges are: ¼, ½, 1, 5, 10 and 50 watts.
 The most common application of Zener
Diode
1. Zener Regulator

2. Zener Comparator

3. Zener Limiters

4. Zener in Power Supplies

SCR

12/05/14
 Introduction

The silicon-controlled rectifier(SCR) which is a power

electronic device is unquestionable of the greatest
interest today. It was first introduced in 1956 by Bell
Telephone Laboratories. It can convert alternating
current into direct current and at the same time can
control the amount of power fed to the load. Thus it
combines the features of a rectifier and a transistor.

12/05/14
 What is a silicon control rectifier?
A Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) is a four layer solid
state device that controls current flow. SCR is a three
terminal device.
The terminals are:
Gate (G)
Anode (A)
Cathode (K)

Two main uses of SCR are:

Switching
Amplification

12/05/14
 Basic SCR structure

The SCR consists of a four layer p-n-p-n structure

with the outer layers are referred to as the anode
(p- type) and cathode (n-type). The control
terminal of the SCR is named the gate and it is
connected to the p-type layer located next to the
cathode.
The three junctions are normally denoted as J1,
J2, and J3. They are numbered serially with J1
being nearest to the anode.

12/05/14
Basic SCR

Basic SCR connection 12/05/14

 How does SCR work?

Load is connected in series with anode.

The anode is always kept at a higher potential than
the cathode.

The working of SCR is to be studied under two

different conditions:
1. When Gate (G) is open
2. When Gate (G) is positive with respect to Cathode (K)

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 -
When Gate is Open
no voltage to the gate.J2 is reverse biased while J1 & J3 are
forward biased. reverse bias, no current will flow through the
device => SCR is cut-off.

Fig: SCR with gate open

12/05/14
 When Gate is positive with respect to cathode
•J3 is forward biased, J2 is reverse biased.
•Electrons from n-type material start moving across J3 towards left
•Similarly, holes move from p-type material towards the right.
•Eventually, the electrons that moved across J3 are now attracted
across J2. This initiates the Gate current and the J2 is now
conducting .

Fig: applying gate voltage 12/05/14

Characteristics curve

12/05/14
 The SCR has three basic states:
1.Forward blocking mode or off state: In this mode
or state the SCR operation is such that it blocks
forward current conduction that would normally be
carried by a forward biased diode.

2.Forward conduction mode or on state: In this

mode the SCR has reached into conduction.

3.Reverse blocking mode or off state: In this mode

or state the SCR blocks the current in the same way
as that of a reverse biased diode.

12/05/14
 Importance of SCR
It has small size and gives trouble free
service
Reliable fast action and light weight
no mechanical part , noiseless operation

12/05/14
 Application for SCRs:

1. Rectification ,
2. Regulated power suppliers,
3. Static switches ,
4. Motor speed controls and,
5. Battery charger and heater controls, etc.

12/05/14
 Conclusion
Finally , Silicon control rectifier (SCR) are widely used in
many areas of electronics. SCR circuits can be used for
many power applications as these electronics
components are able to switch high currents very easily.
In addition, these electronics components are very
cheap and they are widely available.

12/05/14
TUNNEL DIODE
 Introduction
O Invented by Dr. Leo Esaki in 1958.
O Also called Esaki diode.
O Basically, it is heavily doped PN- junction.
O These diodes are fabricated from germanium,
gallium
arsenide (GaAs), and Gallium Antimonide.
O Symbol:
 Description
O Tunnel diode is a semi-conductor with a
special characteristic of negative
resistance.

O By negative resistance, we mean that

when voltage is increased, the current
through it decreases.

O Highly doped PN- junction. Doping

density of about 1000 times greater than
ordinary junction diode.
 Construction
O Heavy Doping Effects:
i. Reduces the width of depletion layer to
about 0.00001 mm.
ii. Produces negative resistance
section in characteristics graph of
diode.
iii. Reduces the reverse breakdown voltage
to a small value approaches to zero.
iv. Small forbidden gaps in tunnel diode.
v. Allows conduction for all reverse voltages.
 Basic principle of operation:

O The operation depends upon quantum

mechanics principle known as “tunneling”.
O The movement of valence electrons from
valence energy band to conduction band
with no applied forward voltage is called
“tunneling”.
O Intrinsic voltage barrier (0.3V for Ge) is
reduced which enhanced tunneling.
O Enhanced tunneling causes effective
conductivity.
 Working:
O In a conventional diode,
forward conduction
occurs only if the
forward bias is sufficient
to give charge carriers
the energy necessary to
overcome the potential
barrier.
O When the tunnel diode is
slightly forward biased,
many carriers are able to
tunnel through narrow
depletion region without
acquiring that energy.
 Working(contd.)
O Forward Bias operation:
At first voltage begin to increase,
1. Electrons tunnel through pn junction.
2. Electron and holes states become aligned.

Voltage increases further:

1. States become misaligned.
2. Current drops.
3. Shows negative resistance (V increase, I
decrease).

As voltage increase yet further:

1. The diode behave as normal diode.
2. The electrons no longer tunnel through
barrier.
 Working(contd.)

O Reverse Bias Operation:

When used in reverse direction, they are
called as Back Diodes.
In this,
i. The electrons in valence band of p-side
tunnel directly towards the empty states
present in the conduction band of n-side.
ii. Thus, creating large tunneling current which
increases with application of reverse
voltage.
 I/V Characteristics
After continuous increase of V,
As forward bias is the current achieves its
applied, minimum value called as
significant I is Valley Current.
After further increase in V,
produced.
current start increasing as
ordinary diode.
 VI CharacteristicS

O The Tunnel diode reverse I-V is similar to the Zener

diode.
O The Zener diode has a region in its reverse bias
characteristics of almost a constant voltage
regardless of the current flowing through the diode.
 Applications:
O It is used as an ultra- high speed switch due to
tunneling (which essentially takes place at
speed of light). It has switching time of
nanoseconds or picoseconds.
O Used as logic memory storage device.
O In satellite communication equipment, they are
widely used.
O Due to its feature of –ive resistance, it is used in
relaxation oscillator circuits.
Applications(contd.):
O Tunnel diodes are resistant to the effects of
magnetic fields, high temperature and
radioactivity. That’s why these can be used in
modern military equipments - NMR machines.
O Due to low power requirement, they are used in
FM
receivers.
UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTOR
 Unijunction transistor
❖ The UJT as the name implies, is characterized by a single
pn
junction.
❖It exhibits negative resistance characteristic that makes it
useful in oscillator circuits.

Fig. 1 Symbol
Fig.2 Layered diagram

41
❖The symbol for UJT is shown in fig. 1. The UJT is having
three terminals base1 (B1), base2 (B2) and emitter (E).

❖ The UJT is made up of an N-type silicon bar which acts as the

base as shown in fig. 2. It is very lightly doped.

❖A P-type impurity is introduced into the base, producing a

single PN junction called emitter. The PN junction exhibits
the properties of a conventional diode.

❖A complementary UJT is formed by a P-type base and N-type

emitter. Except for the polarity of voltage and current the
characteristic is similar to those of a conventional UJT.

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Fig.3 UJT equivalent circuit

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 ❖ A simplified equivalent circuit for the UJT is shown in fig. 3.

❖ VBB is a source of biasing voltage connected between B2 and B1

❖When the emitter is open, the total resistance from B2 to B1 is simply

the resistance of the silicon bar, this is known as the inter base
resistance RBB. Since the N-channel is lightly doped, therefore RBB is
relatively high, typically 5 to 10K ohm.
❖
❖RB2 is the resistance between B2 and point ‘a', while RB1 is the
resistance from point ‘a' to B1, therefore the interbase resistance RBB is

RBB = RB1 + RB2 .

44
 Working
❖The diode accounts for the rectifying properties of the PN
junction. VD is the diode's threshold voltage. With the emitter
open, IE = 0, and I1 = I 2 . The interbase current is given by
I1 = I2 = VBB / R BB .

❖Part of VBB is dropped across RB2 while the rest of voltage is

dropped across RB1. The voltage across RB1 is
Va = VBB * (RB1 ) / (RB1 + RB2 )

❖ The ratio RB1 / (RB1 + RB2 ) is called intrinsic standoff ratio

ƞ = RB1 / (RB1 + RB2 ) i.e. Va = ƞVBB .

❖The ratio ƞ is a property of UJT and it is always less than

one and usually between 0.4 and 0.85.

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❖As long as IB = 0, the circuit of behaves as a voltage divider.
Assume now that vE is gradually increased from zero using an
emitter supply VEE . The diode remains reverse biased till vE
voltage is less than ƞVBB and no emitter current flows except
leakage current. The emitter diode will be reversed biased.

❖When vE = VD +ƞVBB, then appreciable emitter current begins

to flow where VD is the diode's threshold voltage. The value of
vE that causes, the diode to start conducting is called the peak
point voltage and the current is called peak point current IP.
VP = VD + ƞ VBB.

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 Fig.4 V-I Characteristics
❖The graph of fig. 4 shows the relationship between the
emitter voltage and current.

❖ The region from vE = 0 to vE = VP is called cut off region

because no emitter current flows (except for leakage).

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❖ Once vE exceeds the peak point voltage, IE increases, but vE
decreases. up to certain point called valley point (VV and IV).
This is called negative resistance region. Beyond this, IE
increases with vE this is the saturation region, which exhibits a
positive resistance characteristic.

❖ The physical process responsible for the negative resistance

characteristic is called conductivity modulation. When the
vE exceeds VP voltage, holes from P emitter are injected into
N base. Since the P region is heavily doped compared with
the N-region, holes are injected to the lower half of the
UJT.

48
❖The lightly doped N region gives these holes a long lifetime.
These holes move towards B1 to complete their path by re-entering
at the negative terminal of VEE. The large holes create a
conducting path between the emitter and the lower base. These
increased charge carriers represent a decrease in resistance RB1,
therefore can be considered as variable resistance. It decreases up
to 50 ohm.

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 . The Name “Varactor” means: variable
reactor (or reactance), also called “Varicap” meaning
variable capacitance. Both names: varactor and varicap are
the same form of semiconductor or a P-N Junction
Varactor or Varicap takes advantage of the fact that the
capacitance of the diode PN junction varies with the applied reverse
bias voltage. VARACTOR DIODE
This differs from other diodes, such as rectifying diodes and
switching diodes, which use the rectifying effect of the PN junction,
or current regulation diodes, which take advantage of zener
breakdown or avalanche breakdown.
A Varactor provides an electrically controllable capacitance, which can
be used in tuned circuits. It is small and inexpensive, which makes its use
advantageous in many applications. Its disadvantages compared to a manual
mechanical variable capacitor are a lower Q, nonlinearity, lower voltage rating
and a more limited range.