Diode

A diode is a two-terminal device formed by placing a layer of P-type

semiconductor next to N -type semiconductor. It forms a P-N Junction. The
interface which joins both is made up of metal. Thus, it is referred as a
metallurgical junction.

A diode is a controlling element for electronic devices and circuits.

Rectifiers, Amplifiers, linear and digital Integrated circuits, switching circuits,

etc. are controlled with the help of diode.

Diode Facts

P-N Junction
The P-type Semiconductor has mobile holes and immobile negative acceptor
ions. On the contrary, the N-type material has mobile electrons and immobile
positive ions. The holes, as well as electrons, are uniformly distributed in P-type
and N-type material respectively. When P-N Junction forms, electrons from an
N-type material tend to diffuse into the P-type material. Similarly, holes in the
P-type material will tend to diffuse into the N-type material.

Diffusion Current

The diffusion happens due to density gradient. The density of electrons is higher
in N-type material and lower in P-type. Thus, it diffuses from N-type to P-type
across the junction. The density of holes in the P-type material is more than in
N-type material. Thus, they diffuse from P-type material to N-type material
across the junction.
Due to this movement, some of the electrons and holes combine at the junction.
This process is known as diffusion, and the current produced due to diffusion is
called diffusion current.

P-N Junction Diode formation

P-N Junction Diagram

The current produced due to diffusion is limited. At a particular time, this

diffusion current stops. It happens because after a particular time electrons stop
diffusing into the P-type material and holes stop diffusing into the N-type
material.

I will explain the reason behind this phenomenon later in this article. When
electrons and holes diffuse they combine at the junction due to which the
junction is depleted of mobile charge carriers.

Depletion layer

The area which is depleted of mobile charge carriers is called depletion layer.
The width of the depletion layer is 10-6m. Thus, the negative potential is
developed across the P-type material, and a positive potential is developed
across the N-type material. Now, when electrons try to diffuse into a P-type
material, they will feel repulsion from negative potential developed across the
P-type material.

When holes try to diffuse into N-type material they will be repelled from +ve
potential developed across the N-type material. Therefore after a particular time,
no more electrons and holes can diffuse across the junction due to barrier
potential. Thus, initial diffusion of charge carriers creates barrier potential at the
junction. The value of barrier potential in case of Germanium is 0.3V and in the
case of Silicon, it is 0.7V.

Factors Affecting Barrier Potential

Barrier Potential is affected by various factors such as doping density, electric

charge and temperature. Doping density and electric charge depend on the type
of material. Thus, it is fixed for a particular junction. But temperature variation
causes variation in barrier potential.

The junction temperature is the temperature of junction inside the diode and the
temperature outside the diode is ambient temperature. When diode conducts the
junction temperature increases and it is higher than ambient temperature. The
heat is dissipated by the recombination of electron and holes.

With the increase in junction temperature, more electron and holes combine,
and it reduces the width of the depletion layer. When the depletion layer’s width
decreases the barrier potential also decreases. Thus, with the increase in
junction temperature the magnitude of barrier potential decreases.

Diode Biasing

When an external voltage source is applied to P-N junction diode, it is called

diode biasing.
Representation of Diode in Electronic Circuit

P-N Junction diode is a device which conducts when it is forward biased and
does not conduct when it is reverse biased. But this is possible only in case of
an ideal diode. Practical diodes do not conduct instantly when forward biased
and do not stop conducting instantly when it is reverse biased; it produces
leakage current. Let’s discuss this two types of biasing in detail.

Forward Biasing

When the +ve terminal of the external voltage is connected to a P-type

semiconductor, and the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the N-
type semiconductor, it is called forward biasing. The mechanism of current flow
in forward biasing of a diode can be understood with the help of these points
mentioned below:-

(i) When the positive terminal of battery source is connected to a P-type section
of a diode, the holes in the P-type semiconductor are repelled from the +ve
terminal of the battery. These holes when repelled from the +ve terminal, they
tend to move towards the junction.

(ii) Electrons in N-type semiconductor get attracted towards positive terminal of

the battery, and they also tend to move towards the junction. Thus, electrons and
holes moving towards junction recombine at the junction.
Forward Biased Diode

(iii) When this electron-hole recombination takes place the junction temperature
increase. Due to increase in junction temperature, more electron and holes
recombine as a consequence of which width of depletion layer reduces.

(iv) The reduction in depletion layer results in the reduction of barrier potential.
In this way, forward current starts flowing in a P-N junction diode. This current
is due to the movement of majority charge carriers.The value of barrier potential
in case of Germanium (0.3V) and Silicon (0.7V) is too small.

Reverse Biasing

When -ve terminal of the battery is connected to a P-type semiconductor, and

the +ve terminal of the battery is connected to the N-type material then it is
called reverse biasing of a diode. The mechanism of reverse diode biasing can
be understood with the help of these points mentioned below:-

(i) When negative terminal of the battery is connected to the P-type

semiconductor, the holes in the P-type semiconductor will be attracted towards -
ve terminal of the battery. On the other hand, electrons in the N-type material
will be attracted towards positive terminal of the battery.

Reverse Biasing of Diode

Reverse Biasing of Diode

(ii) In this way, majority charge carriers in both P-type and N-type material will
move away from the junction. As a consequence of which the width of
depletion layer starts increasing.

(iii) With the increase of the width of the depletion region, the barrier potential
also starts increasing. Thus, reverse biasing of diode increases the barrier
potential.

(iv) The junction will offer higher resistance and diode will not conduct. Only a
small amount of leakage current will flow in reverse diode.

Leakage Current or Reverse Saturation Current

The diode does not conduct in reverse biasing, but a small amount of leakage
current flows in reverse biasing. This is because of minority charge carriers.
When the depletion layers start increasing majority charge carriers cannot cross
the junction.

On the contrary, minority charge carriers i.e. electrons in P-type and holes in N-
type flow across the junction the junction. The current due to this minority
charge carriers is called leakage current. But leakage current does not depend on
reverse voltage.

But leakage current does not depend on reverse voltage. On the contrary, the
reverse current is dependent on temperature. With the increase of temperature
more covalent bonds break and more minority charge carriers generate due to
which reverse saturation current increases.
Ideal Diode

The diode which starts conducting instantly on forward biasing and stops
conducting instantly on reversed biased. The ideal diode acts as a conductor
when it is forward biased. On the contrary, it acts as an insulator when it is
reverse biased. Practically, it is not possible.

Practical Diode

Practically, diode does not start conducting instantly. It begins conducting when
it crosses barrier potential. And on reverse biased it does not become an
insulator.
Forward Characteristics of PN Junction Diode

Knee Voltage: The forward voltage, at which the current through the junction
starts increasing rapidly is called knee voltage or cut-in voltage. In the case of
Germanium the value of knee voltage is 0.3V, and in the case of silicon, it is
0.7V which is too low.

A small amount of forward voltage is sufficient to eliminate the effect of barrier

potential. Thus, with the reduction of barrier potential, the resistance in the path
of current reduces and forward current starts flowing in the circuit.
Reverse Characteristics of P-N Junction Diode

Practically, when the diode is reversed biased the potential barrier increases,
due to which junction resistance increases. There is no possibility of current due
to majority charge carriers. A small amount of current flows due to minority
charge carriers. It is called leakage current.

The value of leakage current increases with reverse voltage but after a certain
time, it becomes constant. Thus, any further increase in reverse voltage will not
contribute to leakage current. Thus, it is also called reverse saturation current.

The value of reverse saturation current depends on temperature. The reverse

current (I0) approximately gets double for each 100 C rise in temperature in the
case of Germanium and each 80C rise in temperature in the case of silicon.
Zener Diode:
Definition: Zener diode is specially designed for operation in the breakdown
region in reverse bias condition. It is also called breakdown diode. In order to
achieve sharp breakdown voltage, it is properly doped. American Scientist C.
Zener explained the phenomenon of the breakdown.

In the previous article, we have discussed diodes. Diodes can be classified into
different types by its operational mechanism. Thus, they are designed in various
ways for specific applications.

Different diodes used as switching elements are the zener diode, tunnel diode,
Varactor diode, Schottky diode, power diodes, etc. We will discuss Zener diode
and its applications in this article.

Construction of Zener diode

There are various methods which are used for manufacturing Zener diodes such
as diffused structure, diffused and passivated structure and alloy diffused
structure. In diffused structure of zener diode, two N and P substrates diffused
together and had metallic layers deposited on both the sides to connect anode
and cathode terminals on both the sides.

In passivated structure of a Zener diode, the edges of the junction are covered
by the layer of oxides of Silica.
Construction of Zener Diode

Alloy diffused structures have all junction covered by the layer of Silica oxides
to prevent the junctions. In general alloy diffused structures gives better
performance at lower Zener voltages. On the contrary, passivated and diffused
structure gives better performance at higher voltages.

Working Principle of Zener Diode

A Zener diode is similar to conventional PN Junction diode except that it is

properly doped to achieve sharp breakdown voltage. There are two types of
mechanism by which breakdown can occur at reverse PN junction that are
avalanche and Zener breakdown.
Zener Breakdown

Zener breakdown occurs due to high reverse Voltage. When the high reverse
voltage is applied the width of depletion layer increases. Due to this potential
barrier increases and a high electric field is generated at the junction. This high
electric field breaks the covalent bond and a large number of minority charge
carrier are generated.

Thus, current increases suddenly due to the movement of minority charge

carriers and sometimes it leads to the breakdown of the junction. This is called
of Zener breakdown. This is observed in diodes having a reverse voltage of less
than 5 volts.

Avalanche Breakdown

Avalanche Breakdown mechanism comes into picture when the reverse voltage
becomes extremely high. At such a high reverse voltage, the minority carriers
get extremely high kinetic energy. Due to which they easily detach electrons
from the covalent bond.

Thus, these free electrons, in turn, collide with other atoms to liberate more
electrons. In this way, the current becomes very large that it leads to the
breakdown of the diode. Avalanche breakdown occurs when the reverse voltage
becomes higher than 5V.

A Zener diode can use any of these two breakdown mechanisms. Although
there are two types of breakdown mechanism, still only name Zener is
preferred. Silicon and Germanium both can be used for the construction of
Zener diode, but Silicon is often used because of it can operate at higher
temperature, and current capability of silicon is high.

Volt-Ampere Characteristics of Zener diode

We have already discussed earlier that when the reverse voltage increases at a
particular point, the junction breakdowns due to large reverse current. The
voltage at which current starts increasing rapidly and the stage of breakdown is
reached it is called Zener Voltage. The current which increases rapidly is called
Zener Current.
Zener diode Characteristics

The diagram represents the Volt-Ampere Characteristics of Silicon and

Germanium diodes. It is operated in breakdown region, and the current is
limited by dynamic resistance called zener impedance. The magnitude of zener
voltage is dependent on the amount of doping.

The forward Characteristics of Zener diode is similar to that of ordinary PN

Junction Diode. But the reverse characteristics are slightly different. During the
operation in breakdown region, it does not burn out immediately. As long as the
current through the diode is limited by the external circuit within permissible
values, it does not burn out.

A heavily doped diode will have very thin depletion layer. Thus, Zener voltage
will be very low. In this way, depletion layer and zener voltage can be
controlled with the help of doping concentration.

Zener impedance: It is the dynamic resistance of a zener diode. It is represented

by rz .

rz = ΔVz / Δ Iz

Applications of Zener Diode

1. Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator: Voltage regulator is a device which

maintains constant output voltage without bothering about variation in input
voltage and load current. Zener diode is used as the voltage regulator.

Zener Diode as Voltage regulator

The supply voltage Vs and the resistance Rs are so designed that the diode
operates in breakdown region. Besides, Resistor Rs is used to limit the value of
reverse current through the diode. The diode voltage Vz which is same as the
voltage across the load RL is the zener voltage Vz.

Besides, the series resistor Rs absorbs the excess current to maintain constant
output voltage. In this way, Zener diode maintains constant output voltage and
eliminates the effect of voltage fluctuation and provide voltage regulation.

2. For Switching Operations: Zener diode is used as a switch. It is because of its

ability to produce change from low current to high current. Thus, it is used as a
switch.

3. As Clipper: Zener diode is used in wave shaping circuit as a clipper. It is used

to clip input waveform in specific applications.

4. As a reference element: In various circuits reference elements are required for

comparing voltages to a reference value.Thus, in such circuits, Zener diode is
used as a reference element.

5. Meter protection: Zener diode is used in electronics circuit for the protection
of multimeter. In some cases, excess current flows through a circuit and damage
the multimeter. Thus, Zener diodes protect it from damage by providing voltage
regulation.

Zener diode is significant to use in breakdown region. Due to its doping

characteristics, the zener diode is made to use at high breakdown voltage.
Transistor:

Definition: The word Transistor is formed from two words, one is “Transfer”
and other is “Varistor”. This implies a device which transfers resistance from
one channel of the circuit to other is called transistor. It is a three terminal
current controlled device which can either be operated as switch or amplifier by
providing small signal voltage. It is one of the significant types of active
devices.

Significance and History of Transistor:

You must be thinking what is the need of transistor???

Let me explain this with the subvention of history. In the beginning of 20th
century when the vacuum triode was invented, it was considered as the
significant development in the field of electronics. This is because devices such
as computers were entirely based on them.

But the problem started with their size which can capture the entire room. Now
you can imagine what will happen if the entire room consists of a single
processing system. Obviously, to work with it is a cumbersome process.

Fortunately, we have compact size processing system in the contemporary

world. But this all has become possible with the invention of the transistor. In
the year 1947, John Bardeen along with William Shockley & Brattain invented
the transistor. The consequences are quite evident. Now, all the computing
devices are available in small size which we can easily carry with us anywhere.

Construction

Let’s discuss constructional features of the transistor, how this 3 terminal device
is formed. A diode is two terminal device, thus, if we merge the two diodes
provided that one terminal is common, the resulting device will comprise of
three terminals.
PNP transistor

This is how a transistor is constructed. We can use either sandwiched P-type

layer of the semiconductor between two N-type semiconductors or by
sandwiching N-type layer between two P-type semiconductor specimen. The
transistor formed in the former case will be NPN transistor and that formed in
the latter case is PNP transistor.

The three terminals have specific names that are as follows:-

1. Emitter
2. Base
3. Collector

We will discuss functions of these three terminals in the working of the

transistor.

A transistor is a semiconductor device, so the semiconductor material used in its

construction can be either germanium or silicon, but silicon is preferred over
germanium because it possesses smaller cutoff current.

Working of Transistor

The transistor as its names suggests transfer resistance from one channel to
other channels. Thus, as there are three terminals of the transistor, i.e. base,
emitter and collector. Thus, there are two junctions of the transistors. One is the
Emitter-base junction, and the other is Collector- base junction. I intend to
explain the working of the transistor with the help of these paramount
parameters.

Depletion Region

Before I delve into the working details of the transistor, let’s understand these
three significant terminals of the transistor and their characteristics.

Emitter: Emitter terminal is the heavily doped region as compared two base
and collector. This is because the work of the emitter is to supply charge carrier
to the collector via the base. The size of the emitter is more than base but less
than the collector.

Base: The size of the base region is extremely small, it is less than emitter as
well as the collector. The size of the base is always kept small so that charge
carriers coming from the emitter and entering base will not recombine in the
base region and will be directed towards the collector region. The doping
intensity of base is also less than emitter and collector for the same reason
mentioned above.

Collector: The collector terminal is moderately doped, and the size of the
collector region is slightly more than emitter region because all the charge
carriers coming from the emitter recombine at base and heat is released in this
process. Thus, it is necessary for the collector terminal to be large enough so
that it can dissipate the heat and the device may not burn out.
Unbiased Transistor

Let’s consider an NPN transistor which is unbiased. Unbiased means it is not

provided with any external voltage source. In this condition, the majority charge
carriers in emitter region will move towards the base region.

NPN Transistor

Due to moderate doping and small size of the base terminal, only 5-10% of the
charge carriers entering base will recombine. Please note that we have
considered NPN transistor so majority charge carriers in emitter will be
electrons.

Thus, only a few electrons will recombine at the base and the remaining will
start moving towards collector. Thus, 90-95% of the electrons emitted by an
emitter will get recombined with holes in collector region. This movement of
electron and holes in the circuit result in the generation of current.

Mainly, the transistors work in three regions that are as follows:

Active region: This region is utilized for the operation of the amplifier.
Saturation Region: In this region, the transistor is operated when we need
switching operation. In this region, the transistor acts as ON switch.

Cut Off Region: In this transistor works as a closed switch.

Advantages of using Transistors

Compact Size: These small size transistors have ushered to design compact
processors. We need not to work anymore with that large size vacuum tubes
based computers. All thanks to the inventors of transistors.

Light Weight: The entire arrangement of the transistor is packed in a single

case with heat sink and three terminals. This entire casing is extremely
lightweight which adds to the advantage of the transistor and make it a portable
device.

High Operating Efficiency: Transistors possesses high operating efficiency no

matter whether we are using it as an amplifier or oscillator or switch.

Long Life: It also possesses a long life which makes it reliable for various
applications as it has minimized ageing effects.

Disadvantages of using Transistors

Low operating Frequency: It possesses operating frequency only up to certain

MHz. This makes it out of the league when it comes to high-frequency
applications.

Low operating Temperature: There is a threshold limit of temperature above

which if the transistor is operated it may get dilapidated. The threshold limit is
75ᵒC. Thus, we cannot operate it above this temperature range.

Everything comes with pros and cons. You must have heard this. For every
advantage, a device possesses it must possess certain drawbacks although the
former outweighs the latter. Transistors too have certain disadvantages.