Chapter 3

Special-
Purpose Diodes

BY:
Mardianaliza Othman

ELECTRONICs 1 PLT 107 ELEKTRONIK 1

 Objectives
 Describe the characteristic of zener diode and analyze
its operation.
 Explain how a zener is used in voltage regulation and
limiting
 Describe the varactor diode and it’s variable
capacitance characteristics
 Discuss the operation and characteristics of LEDs and
photodiodes
 Discuss the basic characteristics of the current
regulator diode, the pin diode, the step-recovery
diode, the tunnel diode, and the laser diode.
 Lecture’s content
 Zener diodes
 Zener diode applications
 Varactor diodes
 Optical diodes
 Troubleshooting
 Summary
Zener diode – an introduction
 Zener diode – silicon pn-junction device that is
designed for operation in the reverse-biased
region.
 The basic function of zener diode is to maintain a
nearly constant dc voltage under proper operating
condition.
 Typically it is used to provide a stable reference voltage
for use in power supplies, voltmeter and other
equipment.

Zener diode symbol

 Zener diode-an introduction

 Breakdown voltage – set by controlling the

doping level during manufacture.
 When diode reached reverse breakdown –
voltage remains constant even though current
change drastically.
 If zener diode is FB – operates the same as a
rectifier diode.
 A zener diode is much like a normal diode –
but it is placed in the circuit in reverse bias
and operates in reverse breakdown.
 Note that it’s forward characteristics are just
like a normal diode.
Zener diode- an introduction

General diode V-I characteristic

Zener diode-zener breakdown
 Two type of reverse breakdown: avalanche breakdown & zener
breakdown

 i) avalanche breakdown
- occurs in both rectifier & zener diodes at high reverse voltage
- breakdown voltages greater than approximately 5V

 ii) zener breakdown

- occurs at relatively low reverse voltage
- a zener diode is heavily doped to reduce breakdown voltage
- this causes very thin depletion region
- as a result, intense electric field exists within the depletion
region
- Near zener breakdown voltage (Vz), the field have enough
energy to pull electrons from their valence bands and create
current.

 Note: both type called zener diode (breakdown voltages of 1.8V – 200 V)
Zener diode characteristic curve
 Zener diode-breakdown characteristic

 The reverse voltage (VR) is increased – the reverse current (IR)

remains extremely small up to the “knee” of the curve.
 Reverse current – called the zener current, IZ.

 At that point, breakdown effect begin where zener impedance (Zz)

begin to decrease as IZ increases rapidly.

 At the bottom of the knee- the zener breakdown voltage (VZ) remains
constant although it increase slightly as the zener current, IZ increase.

 IZK – min. current required to maintain voltage regulation

 IZM – max. amount of current the diode can handle without being
damage/destroyed
 IZT – the current level at which the VZ rating of diode is measured
(specified on a data sheet)

 The zener diode maintains nearly constant voltage for value of reverse
current rating from IZK to IZM
 Zener diode-zener equivalent circuit

Zener impedance

Zener diode equivalent circuit model and the characteristic curve illustrating Zz
 Zener equivalent circuit
 Since the actual voltage is not ideally vertical, the
change in zener current produces a small change in
zener voltage
 By ohm’s law:
VZ
ZZ 
I Z
 Normally -Zz is specified at IZT.
 In most cases, assume Zz is constant over full range of
zener current values and is purely resistive.
 Zener diode
-temperature coefficient & zener power
dissipation and derating
 As with most devices, zener diodes have given characteristics such as
temperature coefficients and power ratings that have to be considered.
 The data sheet provides this information (refer Figure 3-7).
 Zener diode applications
-an introduction

 Zener diode can be used as:

 Voltage regulator to provide stable reference
voltage.
 Simple limiter or clipper
 Example 1:
1N4740 10V zener diode

i/p vary from

10.055V – 32V

Maintain o/p voltage

 Zener diode applications
-zener regulation with a varying input
voltage
 From data sheet, 1N4740 10V zener diode maintain
regulation from IZK=0.25mA to IZM=100mA.
 So, I ZK  0.25mA, PD (max)  1W , VZ  10V
PD (max)
I ZM   100mA
VZ
 For min. zener current, the voltage across the 220 ohm
resistor:
 Since VR = VIN - VZ,
VR  I ZK R  ( 0.25)( 220)  55mV
VIN (min)  VR  VZ  55mV  10V  10.055V
 For max. zener current, the voltage across resistor is:
VR  I ZM R  (100mA)(220)  22V

 Thus VIN (max)  22V  10V  32V

 Zener diode applications
-zener regulation with a variable load
 In this illustration of zener regulation circuit, the zener diode will
“adjust” its impedance based on varying input voltages and loads (RL)
to be able to maintain its designated zener voltage.
 Zener current will increase or decrease directly with voltage input
changes. The zener current will increase or decrease inversely with
varying loads. Again, the zener has a finite range of operation.
Note: The zener diode maintains a nearly constant voltage across RL as
long as the zener current is greater than IZK and less than IZM
 Zener diode application
-from no load to full load
 When output terminal of zener diode is open (RL=  ),
the load current is zero.
 All of the current is through the zener =>no-load
condition.
 When RL is connected, current is flow through zener
and RL.
 The total current through R is constant as long as
zener is regulating.
 As RL decreases, load current IL increases, IZ
decreases.
 Zener diode continues to regulate the voltage until IZ
reaches its minimum value, IZK.
 At this point, IL is maximum and full-load condition
exists.
 Example 2
 Determine the minimum and maximum load current for which the
zener diode will maintain regulation. What is the minimum RL that
can be used? VZ=12V, IZK=1mA and IZM=50mA. Assume ZZ=0Ω
and VZ remains a constant 12V over range of current values.
 Solution question 2

 Step 1: When IL=0A (RL= 

), IZ is maximum and equal to
the total current, IT.
Vin  V Z 24  12
I z (max)  IT    25.5mA
R 470
 Step 2: IZ(max) is less than IZM, so 0A is min. value for IL
because zener can handle all of 25.5mA. RL can be
removed from the circuit. IL(min) = 0A
 Step 3: The max value of IL occurs when IZ is min (IZ=IZK)
I L(max)  I T  I ZK  25.5mA  1mA  24.5mA
 Step 4: The minimum value of RL is:

VZ 12
R L(min)    490
I L(max) 24.5
 Varactor diode-an introduction
 A varactor diode is best explained as a variable capacitor – the
junction capacitance varies with the amount of reverse-bias
voltage.

 Is a diode that always operates in reverse-bias and is doped to

maximize the inherent capacitance of depletion region.

 The depletion region-widened by the reverse bias – acts as a

capacitor dielectric because of its nonconductive characteristic. The
p & n regions are conductive – acts as the capacitor plates.
The reverse-biased
varactor diode acts
as a variable capacitor

Varactor diode symbol

 Varactor Diodes-Basic Operation
Reverse bias voltage , depletion region , the plate separation & the dielectric
hickness , thus the capacitance.
When the reverse bias voltage , the depletion region - the capacitance
The capacitance is expressed by the following formula

A ; =A dielectric constant, ddielectric thickness

C plate area,
d
The capacitance parameters are controlled by the method of doping near the
pn junction and the size and geometry of the diode’s construction.
Varactor diode-an application
 Major applications – tuning circuits – e.g. electronic
tuning in TV, other commercial receiver.
 When used in a resonant circuit –acts as a variable
capacitor (see Figure) – allowed the resonant
frequency to be adjusted by a variable voltage level.
 Varactor diode provides the total variable capacitance
in the parallel resonant band-pass filter.
 C1,C2,C3,C4 – coupling capacitor – prevent the dc bias
circuit.
 The parallel resonant frequency is:

1
fr 
2 LC
 C2: Prevent a dc path C3: Prevent a dc path
from cathode to the from the wiper to a
C1: Prevent a dc path anode of the varactor
from potentiometer load on the o/p
through the inductor through the inductor
wiper back to the ac
source through the
inductor & R1

C4: Prevent a dc path

from the wiper to gnd R2, R3, R4 and R5:
As a variable
dc voltage divider
A resonant band-pass filter for biasing the
varactor
Optical diode-an introduction

 Two types of optoelectronic devices:

 The light-emitting diode (LED) – a light
emitter
 Photodiode – a light detector
 Optical diode-LED
 Basic operation:
 When the devices is FB, e- cross the pn junction from the n-type
material & recombine with holes in p-type material.
 Recombining release energy in the form of heat and light.
 A large exposed surface area on one layer of the semiconductive
material permits the photons to be emitted as visible light -
electroluminescence
 Various impurities are added during the doping process to establish
the wavelength of the emitted light – determine the color of the
light and if it is visible or infrared (IR)

Electroluminescence
in a FB LED

Symbol of LED
 Optical diode-LED
 LED Semiconductor Materials:
 Early LEDs - GaAs
 1st visible red LEDs – gallium arsenide phosphide
(GaAsP) on a GaAs subtrate
 GaP substrate – brighter red LEDs & orange LEDs
 GaAs LEDs – emit infrared (IR) readiation –
invisible
 Others LEDs – refer textbook pg. 131.
 LED Biasing:
 The forward voltage across an LED is considerably
greater than for a silicon diode
 The max. VF for LEDs is 1.2V – 3.2V
 Reverse breakdown << for a silicon rectifier diode
(typically 3V – 10V)
 Basic operation of LED

LEDs emits light in response to a The amount of power o/p

sufficient forward current translated into light is directly
proportional to the forward current
Optical diode-LED applications
 Applications:
 Used for indicator lamps & readout displays on a wide variety of
instruments, ranging from consumer appliances to scientific
apparatus.
 Common type of display device using LEDs – 7-segment display
by forward-biasing selected recombinations of segments-decimal
digit/point can be form.
 IR light-emitting diodes – used in optical coupling applications –
often in conjunction with fiber optics.
 Area of application include – industrial processing & control,
position encoder, bar graph readers and optical switching.
 Optical diode-photodiode
 The photodiode is a device that operate in reverse bias
 Has a small transparent window that allows light to strike the pn junction
 When reverse-biased – the photodiode has a very small reverse leakage
current
 The reverse-biased current is produced by thermally generated electron-
hole pairs
 In the depletion region – swept across the pn junction by the electric field
create by the reverse biased.
 The reverse current increase with the light intensity
 When no incident light , reverse current is almost negligible – called dark
current

reverse current
 Photodiode

An increase in the amount of light

intensity – irradiance (mW/cm2),
produces an increase in the
reverse current.

No reverse current when no

incidence light. When light beam strike
the photodiode - conduct an amount
of reverse current.
 Other types of
diode

 Current Regulator Diode

 Schottky Diode
 PIN Diode
 Step-recovery Diode
 Tunnel Diode
 Laser Diode
 Current regulator diode
 Referred to as a constant-current diode –
maintains a constant current
 Operates in forward bias & the forward
current becomes a specified constant
value at forward voltages ranging about
1.5 V – 6I V.
p
 Constant forward current – called
regulator current,
 Schottky diode
 The Schottky diode’s significant characteristic is its fast switching speed
–also known as hot-carrier diodes
 This is useful for high frequencies and digital applications.
 It is not a typical diode in that it does not have a pn junction.
 Form by joining a doped n-material with a metal such as gold,silver or
platinium.
 Forward voltage drop is around 0.3 V
 Operate only with majority carrier – no minority carrier/ no reverse
leakage current
 When forward biased – the higher energy e- in the n region are injected
into the metal region where they give up their excess energy very rapidly

Schottky diode
symbol

Basic internal construction

 PIN diode
 Consists of heavily doped p & n regions separated by an intrinsic
(i) region
 When reverse-biased – acts like constant capacitance.
 When forward-biased – acts like a current controlled variable
resistance.
 Low forward resistance of the intrinsic region decrease with
increasing current.
 The pin diode is also used in mostly microwave frequency
applications.
 Its variable forward series resistance characteristic is used for
attenuation, modulation, and switching.
 Step-recovery
diode
 The step-recovery diode is used in very
high frequency (VHF) and also used for
fast switching applications.
 This is achieved by reduced doping at the
junction.
 Tunnel diode
 The tunnel diode exhibits a special characteristic known as
negative resistance.
 Useful in oscillator & microwave amplifier applications.
 It will actually conduct well with low forward bias. With further
increases in bias it reaches the negative resistance range where
current will actually go down.
 This is achieved by heavily-doped p and n materials (with Ge/
GaAs) that creates a very thin depletion region.
 The heavy doping allows conduction for all reverse voltage – no
breakdown effects VF begin to develop
a barrier- the current
A to B –
acts as
conductor

Two alternate symbols of tunnel diode act as a conventional

forward biased diode
 Tunnel diode application:
Parallel equivalent of the series
parallel resonant circuit
winding resistance of the coil

When the tank circuit is ”shocked”

into oscillation by an application of
voltages, a damped sinusoidal o/p results.
Tunnel diode is The damping due to resistance of
placed series with the tank-prevent a sustained oscillation
the tank circuit

Constant sinusoidal voltage will result on the

o/p due to the –ve resistance charac. of the
tunnel diode counteracts the +ve resistance
charac. of the tank resistance
 Laser diode
 Laser - Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
 Laser light is monochromatic – consists of a single color –
called coherent light
 Normally emits coherent light – consists of a wide band of
wavelength, whereas the LED emits incoherent light
 A pn junction is formed by two layers of doped GaAs. The
length of the pn junction bears a precise relationship with the
wavelength of the light to emitted.
 Laser diode-operation &
application
 Basic operation:
 The laser diode is FB by an external voltage source
 Electron move through the junction –recombine with holes –
photons are released. The released photon can strike an atoms –
cause another photons to be released.
 Some of the photons that are randomly drifting within the
depletion region strike the reflected surfaces perpendicularly
 This back-and-forth movement of photons increase as the
generation of photons “snowballs” until a very intense beam of
laser light is formed by the photons that pass through the partially
reflective of the pn junction.
 Therefore, a single wavelength of intense light emerges from the
laser diode.

 Application:
 Used in the pick-up system of compact disk (CD) players
 Troubleshooting
 Although precise power supplies typically use IC type regulators,
zener diodes can be used alone as a voltage regulator. As with all
troubleshooting techniques we must know what is normal.

A properly functioning zener will work to maintain the output voltage

within certain limits despite changes in load.
 Troubleshooting
 With an open zener diode, the full unregulated voltage
will be present at the output without a load. In some
cases with full or partial loading an open zener could
remain undetected.

no voltage dropped between

the filtered o/p of the power
supply & the o/p terminal

undetected
 Troubleshooting
 With excessive zener impedance the voltage would be
higher than normal but less than the full unregulated
output.

The zener has failed such that its internal impedance

is more than it should be.
 Summary
 The zener diode operates in reverse breakdown.
 A zener diode maintains a nearly constant voltage
across its terminals over a specified range of currents.
 Line regulation is the maintenance of a specific
voltage with changing input voltages.
 Load regulation is the maintenance of a specific
voltage for different loads.
 There are other diode types used for specific RF
purposes such as varactor diodes (variable
capacitance), Schottky diodes (high speed switching),
and PIN diodes (microwave attenuation and
switching).
 Summary
 Light emitting diodes (LED) emit either infrared or
visible light when forward-biased.
 Photodiodes exhibit an increase in reverse current
with light intensity.
 The laser diode emits a monochromatic light