Index

Sr Content Page
No. No.

1. AIM 1
2. Introduction 2
3. Working Principle 3-5
4. Diagram 6-7
5. Advantages & 8
Disadvantages
6. Applications 9
7. Bibliography 10
AIM
Photoresistor and its
applications.

1
Introduction
A photoresistor or light dependent resistor is a
component that is sensitive to light. When light
falls upon it then the resistance changes. Values
of the resistance of the LDR may change over
many orders of magnitude the value of the
resistance falling as the level of light increases .It
is not uncommon for the values of resistance of an
LDR or photoresistor to be several megohms in
darkness and then to fall to a few hundred ohms in
bright light. With such a wide variation in
resistance, LDRs are easy to use and there are
many LDR circuits available. The sensitivity of light
dependent resistors or photoresistors also varies
with the wavelength of the incident light. LDRs are
made from semiconductor materials to enable
them to have their light sensitive properties. Many
materials can be used, but one popular material
for these photoresistors is cadmium sulphide, Cds.

2
Working principle
The photoresistor doesn’t have a P-N junction like
photodiodes. It is a passive component. These are
made up of high resistance semiconductor
materials.

When light is incident on the photoresistor, photons

get absorbed by the semiconductor material. The
energy from the photon gets absorbed by the
electrons. When these electrons acquire sufficient
energy to break the bond, they jump into the
conduction band. Due to this, the resistance of the
photoresistor decreases. With the decrease in
resistance, conductivity increases.

Depending upon the type of semiconductor material

used for photoresistor, their resistance range and
sensitivity differs. In the absence of light, the
photoresistor can have resistance values in
megaohms. And during the presence of light, its
resistance can decrease to a few hundred ohms.

Types of Photoresistors
Depending on the properties of semiconductor
material used for designing a Photoresistor, these
are classified into two types

3
– Extrinsic and Intrinsic photoresistors. These
semiconductors react differently under different
wavelength conditions.

Intrinsic photoresistor:

Intrinsic photoresistors are designed using Intrinsic

semiconductor material. These intrinsic
semiconductors have their own charge carriers. No
free electrons are present in their conduction band.
They contain holes in the valence band.

So, to excite electrons present in an intrinsic

semiconductor, from the valence band to
conduction band, sufficient energy should be
provided so that they can cross the entire bandgap.
Hence we require higher energy photons to trigger
the device. Hence, Intrinsic photoresistors are
designed for higher frequency light detection.

Extrinsic photoresistor :

Extrinsic semiconductors are formed by doping

intrinsic semiconductors with impurities. These
impurities provide free electrons or holes for
conduction. These free conductors lie in the energy
band closer to the conduction band.

4
Thus, a little amount of energy can trigger them to
jump into the conduction band. Extrinsic
photoresistors are used for detecting the longer
wavelength and lower frequency light.

Higher the light intensity, larger the resistance drop

of the photoresistor. The sensitivity of
photoresistors varies with the wavelength of the
light applied. When there is no sufficient
wavelength, enough trigger the device, the device
doesn’t react to the light. Extrinsic photoresistors
can react to infrared waves. Intrinsic photoresistors
can detect higher frequency light waves

5
Diagram

6
Photoresistor symbol

7
Advantages
1)Small in size
2)Low cost
3)It is easy to carry from one place to another
place.

Disadvantages
1)The accuracy of photoresistor is very low.

8
Applications
The resistance of photoresistor is a nonlinear
function of light intensity. Photoresistors are
not as sensitive to light as photodiodes or
phototransistors. Some of the applications of
photoresistors are as follows-
• These are used as light sensors.
• These are used to measure the intensity
of light.
• Night light and photography light meters
use photoresistors.
• Their latency property is used in audio
compressors and outside sensing.
• Photoresistors can also be found in Alarm
clocks, outdoor clocks, solar street lamps,
etc.
• Infrared astronomy and Infrared
Spectroscopy also use photoresistors for
measuring mid-infrared spectral region.

9
Bibli0graply
1) www.technologystudent.com/elec1/
ldr 1.htm
2) www.electrical4u.com/light-dependent-resistor-
ldr -working-principle-of-ldr
3)https://www.electronicsnotes.com/articles/electronic_
components/resistors/light-dependent-resistor-ldr.php

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