A diode is a device designed to permit electron flow in one direction and block flow from the

other direction. A diode consists of two electrodes: a cathode and an anode. A cathode is an
electrode that emits (gives off) electrons. An anode collects the electrons and puts them to use.
Semiconductor diodes are the most common type of diode. A semiconductor diode is the result
of the fusion between a small N-type crystal and a P-type crystal as shown in Figure 1. At the
junction of the two crystals, the carriers (electrons and holes) tend to diffuse. Some electrons
move across the barrier to join holes. Some holes move across the barrier to join electrons
while unlike charges attract each other.

Figure 01: PN Junction

The region of the P crystal near the junction becomes negative. It has taken electrons from the
N crystal. The region of the N crystal near the junction becomes positive. It has lost some
electrons but gained holes. This voltage or potential is called a potential hill or a potential
barrier. The barrier prevents the other electrons and holes in the crystal from joining. This
process is called diffusion. Due to this diffusion, a small voltage, or potential, exists between the
regions near the junction.
The symbol for a semiconductor diode is shown in Figure 2. The arrow side of the symbol
denotes the anode portion of the diode. The anode contains the P-type material. The bar side
of the symbol denotes the cathode portion of the diode. The cathode contains the N-type
material.
 Figure 02: Symbol of semiconductor diode

There are main two biasing systems available in the semiconductor diode. They are called
Forward and Reverse biasing.
In forward biasing technique, voltage is connected across the diode where positive terminal of
the source is connected to the P crystal. The negative source is connected to the N crystal as
shown in figure 3.

Figure 03: Forward bias setup

The negative electrons in the N crystal move toward the barrier. The positive holes in the P
crystal move toward the barrier. The source voltage opposes the potential barrier and reduces
its barrier effect. This allows the electrons and holes to join at the barrier. Therefore, current
flows in the circuit. It flows in the P crystal by holes. It flows in the N crystal by electrons. The
diode is biased in a forward direction, called forward biased. It requires approximately 0.6 volts
of potential to forward bias a silicon diode and 0.2 volts for a germanium diode. Once this
barrier voltage is exceeded, current flows through the circuit.
In reversed bias, the positive source is connected to the N crystal and the negative source is
connected to the P crystal as shown in figure 4. This shows the same junction diode biased in
a reverse direction, or reverse biased.
 Figure 04: Reverse bias setup
The source voltage aids the potential barrier in reverse bias. Electron/hole combinations are
limited at the junction. The electrons in the N crystal are attracted to the positive source
terminal. Very little current will flow in the circuit. A reverse voltage can be increased to a point
where the diode will break down. The amount of reverse bias will vary according to the diode
specifications.
Diodes are used for a number of purposes. Voltage rectification, voltage regulation, and even
light production are some of their various uses. Below show some diode types used in the
industry.

 Zener diode
 PN junction diode
 Tunnel diode
 Varactor diode
 Schottky diode
 Photodiode
 PIN diode
 Laser diode
 Avalanche diode
 Light emitting diode

An electronic device that can be used as a voltage regulator is the Zener diode. Zener diode is
basically like an ordinary PN junction diode but normally operated in reverse biased condition.
But ordinary PN junction diode connected in reverse biased condition is not used as Zener
diode practically. A Zener diode is a specially designed, highly doped PN junction diode. Symbol
of the Zener diode is shown in figure 05.
 Figure 05: Symbol of Zener diode
Below figure 6 shows a characteristic curve for a Zener diode. When the diode is forward
biased, it acts like a diode or a closed switch.

Figure 06: Zener diode characteristic curve

However, the Zener has unique reverse bias qualities that make it differ from the typical diode.
The Zener will go into reverse bias at various voltages. The amount of voltage required for
reverse bias varies according to the Zener diode selected. Some typical reverse bias voltages
are 2.4 V, 5.1 V, 6.0 V, 9.1 V, 12.0 V, etc. At this point, when the applied voltage is increased,
the forward current increases. These small reverse current flows until the diode reaches the
Zener breakdown point, V2 ( shown in figure 6).
At the Zener breakdown point, the Zener diode is able to maintain a fairly constant voltage as
the current varies over a certain range. Because of this attribute, the diode provides excellent
voltage regulation. Figure 7 shows a Zener diode is used as a simple shunt regulator as an
example.
 Figure 07: Zener diode as a shunt voltage regulator
https://electricalacademia.com/basic-electrical/semiconductor-diode-theory-types-
characteristics/
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_2.html
https://www.electrical4u.com/diode-working-principle-and-types-of-diode/
https://www.electrical4u.com/what-is-zener-diode/

The transistor is a three terminal device which offers current gain. There are three
configurations that can be used for a transistor: common emitter, common collector, and
common base. Each has different characteristics, and by designing the circuit around one of
these configurations it is possible to achieve the characteristics required.
When considering the structure of the transistor, it is a three terminal device and consists of
three distinct layers. Two of them are doped to give one type of semiconductor and the three is
the opposite type, ( two may be n-type and one p-type, or two may be p-type and one may be
n-type ). They are arranged so that the two similar layers of the transistor sandwich the layer of
the opposite type. As a result, these semiconductor devices are designated as either PNP
transistors or NPN transistors according to the way they are made up as shown in the figure 08.

Figure 08: Basic structure and circuit symbols for NPN & PNP transistors
The meanings of the three electrodes are shown as below:
 Base:   The base of the transistor gains its name from the fact that in early transistors,
this electrode formed the base for the whole device. The earliest point contact
transistors had two-point contacts placed onto the base material. This base material
formed the base connection.
 Emitter:   The emitter gains its name from the fact that it emits the charge carriers.
 Collector:   The collector gains its name from the fact that it collects the charge carriers.
A transistor can be considered as two P-N junctions placed back-to-back. One of these, namely
the base emitter junction is forward biased, whilst the other, the base collector junction is
reverse biased. It is found that when a current is made to flow in the base emitter junction a
larger current flow in the collector circuit even though the base collector junction is reverse
biased.
As an example considering a NPN transistor, When current flows through the base emitter
junction, electrons leave the emitter and flow into the base as shown in figure 09. However the
doping in this region is kept low and there are comparatively few holes available for
recombination. As a result most of the electrons are able to flow right through the base region
and on into the collector region, attracted by the positive potential.
 Figure 09: Basic transistor operation of NPN transistor
Only a small proportion of the electrons from the emitter combine with holes in the base region
giving rise to a current in the base-emitter circuit. This means that the collector current is much
higher. The ratio between the collector current and the base current is given the Greek symbol
β. For most small signal transistors this may be in the region 50 to 500. In some cases, it can be
even higher. This means that the collector current is typically between 50 and 500 times that
flowing in the base. For a high-power transistor, the value of β is somewhat less: 20 is a fairly
typical value. The same reasoning can be used for a PNP device, except that holes are the
majority carriers instead of electrons.
In NPN forward biased junction transistor, N material on one side of the forward-biased
junction is more heavily doped than the P material. This results in more current being carried
across the junction by the majority carrier electrons from the N material than the majority
carrier holes from the P material. Therefore, conduction through the forward-biased junction,
as shown in the figure 10 below, is mainly by majority carrier electrons from the N material
(emitter).

Figure 10: The forward-biased junction in an NPN transistor

In the NPN Reverse-Biased Junction, PN junction blocks the majority current carriers from
crossing the junction. However, there is a very small current, mentioned earlier, that does pass
through this junction. This current is called minority current, or reverse current. (This current
was produced by the electron-hole pairs). The minority carriers for the reverse biased PN
junction are the electrons in the P material and the holes in the N material. These minority
carriers actually conduct the current for the reverse-biased junction when electrons from the P
material enter the N material, and the holes from the N material enter the P material as shown
in figure 11. However, the minority current electrons play the most important part in the
operation of the NPN transistor.
 Figure 11: The reverse-biased junction in an NPN transistor.

PNP Forward-Biased Junction, the positive terminal of the battery repels the emitter holes
toward the base, while the negative terminal drives the base electrons toward the emitter.
When an emitter hole and a base electron meet, they combine. For each electron that
combines with a hole, another electron leaves the negative terminal of the battery, and enters
the base. At the same time, an electron leaves the emitter, creating a new hole, and enters the
positive terminal of the battery as shown in the below figure 12.

Figure 12: The forward-biased junction in a PNP transistor

PNP Reverse-Biased Junction, he negative voltage on the collector and the positive voltage on
the base block the majority current carriers from crossing the junction. However, this same
negative collector voltage acts as forward bias for the minority current holes in the base, which
cross the junction and enter the collector. The minority current electrons in the collector also
sense forward bias-the positive base voltage-and move into the base. The holes in the collector
are filled by electrons that flow from the negative terminal of the battery. At the same time the
electrons leave the negative terminal of the battery, other electrons in the base break their
covalent bonds and enter the positive terminal of the battery as shown in figure 13.

Figure 13: The reverse-biased junction in a PNP transistor

Input characteristics curve is the graph that indicates the variation of input current with the
input voltage. So, we will analysis the variation of base current (I B) with the base-to-emitter
voltage (VBE). Need to collect the data for I B and VBE through corresponding ammeter and
voltmeter to plot the curve with the help of these data. There is an exponential growth of base
current with increase in VBE. But gives the Input characteristics curve of a Transistor in CE mode.
 Figure 14: Input characteristic curve of transistor
Output Characteristics curve of a Transistor gives the variation of output current with the
change in output voltage. In a common emitter transistor collector current is output current
and collector-to emitter voltage is the output voltage. After collecting the data for I C and
VCE through the corresponding ammeter and voltmeter one can easily plot the I C vs VCE curve. In
the graph shown in figure 15 can see that there is a rapid increase of collector current at the
beginning and then the collector current becomes almost constant. If we increase V CE further,
the breakdown occurs and then the transistor may be damaged. 

Figure 15: Output characteristic curve of transistor

The output curve can be divided into four regions as follow,

 Active Region on output curve of a transistor where the output current is almost
constant and independent on output voltage is the Active region of Transistor. If the
base resistance be greater than the maximum allowed value then the transistor
operates in Active region.
 Saturation Region is the region on output curve of transistor where the collector
current increases rapidly with the slight increase in output voltage. To operate the
transistor in saturation region, the base resistance should be smaller than the maximum
allowed value.
 Cut Off Region is where the base current is almost zero. Therefore, collector current
also becomes zero even at higher output voltage. To operate a transistor in the cut off
region, both of emitter junction and collector junction should be in the reverse bias
condition. In the cut off region a transistor acts like the OFF stage of a switch.
 Inverted Region is the inverse of active region. A transistor will operate in inverted
region if its emitter junction is in reverse bias and the collector junction is in forward
bias. In this region, breakdown occurs and collector current increases rapidly. 

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transistors-works-basics-tutorial.php
https://ecstudiosystems.com/discover/textbooks/basic-electronics/bipolar-junction-
transistors/the-basic-transistor-amplifier/
https://electronicsphysics.com/input-and-output-characteristics-of-transistor/
https://instrumentationtools.com/transistor-collector-characteristic-curves/