INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

ECE-101: (Fundamentals of Electronics)

DIODES
Introduction

Semiconductor Diode Notation

Various types of junction diodes

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Diode Testing

• Diode Checking Function

• Ohmmeter Testing
• Curve Tracer

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Current-Voltage Characteristic of the Ideal Diode

• ideal diode – most fundament nonlinear circuit element

➢ two terminal device
➢ operates in two modes
❑ on and off

Figure: Diode characteristics

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Current-Voltage Characteristic

• cathode – negative terminal, from which current flows

• anode – positive terminal of diode, into which current flows

• voltage-current (VI) behavior is:

➢ nonlinear curve consists of straight-line segments and it is
called piecewise linear.

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Current-Voltage Characteristic of the Ideal Diode

• ideal diode: is most fundament nonlinear circuit element

➢ two terminal device
➢ operates in two modes forward and reverse bias

mode #2: mode #1:

reverse bias = forward bias =
open ckt. short ckt
device symbol
with two nodes

figure 4.1.

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Current-Voltage Characteristic

• External circuit should be designed to limit…

➢ current flow across conducting diode
➢ voltage across blocking diode
• Examples:

Figure: The two modes of operation of ideal diodes and the use of an external circuit to limit
(a) the forward current and (b) the reverse voltage.

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A Simple Application – The Rectifier

• One fundamental application of this piecewise linear behavior is

the rectifier.

• Q: What is a rectifier?

➢ A: Circuit which converts AC waves in to DC…ideally with no loss.

Figure: Rectifier Circuit

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A Simple Application – The Rectifier

• This circuit is composed of diode and series resistor.

• Q: How does this circuit operate?

➢ A: The diode blocks reverse current flow, preventing negative voltage

across R.

Figure: Rectifier Circuit

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A Simple Application – The Rectifier

(a)

(b) (c)

Input waveform Output waveform.

(d) (e)

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Another Application, Diode Logic Gates

• Q: How may diodes be used to create logic gates?

➢ A: Examples of AND / OR gates:

Figure: Diode logic gates: (a) OR gate; (b) AND gate (in a
positive-logic system).

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 OR GATE AND GATE

IF vA = 5V THEN diodeA will IF vA = 0V THEN diodeA will

conduct AND vY = vA = 5V conduct AND vY = vA = 0V

IF all diodes block

THEN vY = 5V +
5
V
+ -
5
V-
IF any diode
conducts THEN vY =
5V

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More Diodes

• Q: What difficulties are To apply nodal / mesh techniques,

associated with multi-diode one must have knowledge of all
component impedances.
circuits?
➢ A: Circuit cannot be solved
without knowledge of
diodes’ statuses. Yet,
statuses are dependent on
the solution.

IF vB < 0 THEN ZD1 = 0 ohms ELSE

ZD1 = open circuit

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Terminal Characteristics of Junction Diodes

• Most common implementation of a diode utilizes pn junction.

• I-V curve consists of three characteristic regions
➢ forward bias: v > 0
➢ reverse bias: v < 0
➢ breakdown: v < −𝑉𝑍𝐾

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The Forward-Bias Region

• The forward-bias region of operation is entered when v > 0.

• I-V relationship is closely approximated by

where denotes the saturation current which is constant for diode

at a given temperature. denotes the thermal voltage which is
defined as

where denotes the Boltzmann’s constant and denotes the

magnitude of electron charge.
simplification suitable
for large VD
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The Forward-Bias Region

• Q: What is the relative effect of current 6 step

4 4#1: consider
4 44 7two4cases4 (#14and4#2)48
flow (i) on forward biasing voltage (v)? I1 = IS eV1 / VT and I2 = IS eV2 / VT
• A: Very small. step #2: divide I2 by I1
6 47 48
➢ 10x change in i, effects 60mV change I2 IS eV2 / VT
in v. = V1 / VT
I1 IS e
step #3: combine two exponentials
6 44 7 4 48
I2
= e(V2 −V1 ) / VT
I1
6step4#4:4invert
4 7this4expression
4 48
V2 − V1 = VT ln ( I2 / I1 )
6 4step4#5:44
convert to log base 10
7 4 4 4 48
V2 − V1 = 2.3VT log ( I2 / I1 )
1 4 4 2 4 43
60 mV 2.3VT log(10 / 1)

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The Forward-Bias Region

• cut-in voltage – is voltage,

below which, minimal current
flows
➢ approximately 0.5V

• fully conducting region – is

region in which Rdiode is
approximately equal 0
➢ between 0.6 and 0.8V
fully conducting region

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Temperature dependence of the diode
forward characteristic
• the voltage drop across the diode decreases by approximately 2 mV
for every 1°C increase in temperature.
• So diodes could be used in the design of electronic thermometers

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The Reverse-Bias Region

this expression
• The reverse-bias region of applies for
operation is entered when v < 0. negative voltages
6 47 48
− v / VT
i = −IS e
action: invert exponential
6 4 4 7 4 48
 1 
i = −IS  v / V 
• I-V relationship, for negative 14e 2 43T 
voltages with |v| > VT (25mV), is 0 for larger
voltage
closely approximated by magnitudes

i = −IS

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The Reverse-Bias Region

• A “real” diode exhibits reverse-bias current, although small, much

larger than IS .
➢ 10-9 vs. 10-14Amps

• A large part of this reverse current is attributed to leakage effects.

• whereas IS doubles for every 5°C rise in temperature,

• the corresponding rule of thumb for the temperature dependence of

the reverse current is that it doubles for every 10°C rise in
temperature.

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The Breakdown Region

• The breakdown region of operation is entered when v < VZK.

➢ Zener-Knee Voltage (VZK)

• This is normally non-destructive.

breakdown region

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Modeling the Diode Forward Characteristic

• Analysis of circuits employing forward-conducting diodes

• Simplified diode models better suited for use in circuit analyses:

➢ exponential model
➢ constant voltage-drop model
➢ ideal diode model
➢ small-signal (linearization) model

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The Exponential Model

• exponential diode model

➢ most accurate
➢ most difficult to employ in circuit analysis
❑due to nonlinear nature

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Graphical Analysis using Exponential Model

• load line and diode characteristic intersect at operating point

Figure: Graphical analysis using the

exponential diode model.

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Graphical Analysis using Exponential Model

• Pro’s
➢ Intuitive
❑ b/c of visual nature
• Con’s
➢ Poor Precision
➢ Not Practical for Complex Analyses
❑ multiple lines required

Figure: Graphical analysis using the

exponential diode model.

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Modeling the Diode Forward Characteristic

• The Need for Rapid Analysis

Q: How can one analyze these

diode-based circuits more
efficiently?
• A: Find a simpler model.
➢ One example is assume that
voltage drop across the diode is
constant.

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The Constant Voltage-Drop Model

• The constant voltage-drop diode model assumes that the slope of

ID vs. VD is vertical @ 0.7V

Figure: Development of the diode constant-voltage-drop model:

(a) the exponential characteristic;
(b) approximating the exponential characteristic by a constant voltage, usually about 0.7 V;
(c) the resulting model of the forward–conducting diodes.
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Ideal Diode Model

• The ideal diode model assumes that the slope of ID vs. VD is

vertical @ 0V

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When to use these models?

• exponential model • ideal diode model

– low voltages – high voltages >> 0.7V
– less complex circuits – very complex circuits
– emphasis on accuracy over – cases where a difference in
practicality voltage by 0.7V is negligible
• constant voltage-drop mode: • small-signal model
– medium voltages = 0.7V
– more complex circuits
– emphasis on practicality over
accuracy

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Small-Signal Model

• small-signal diode model

➢ Diode is modeled as variable resistor.
➢ Whose value is defined via linearization of exponential model.
➢ Around bias point defined by constant voltage drop model.
❑VD(0) = 0.7V

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Small-Signal Model

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Small-Signal Model

• Q: How is the small-signal diode model defined?

➢ A: The total instantaneous circuit is divided into steady-state

and time varying components, which may be analyzed
separately and solved via algebra.

❑In steady-state, diode represented as CVDM.

❑In time-varying, diode represented as resistor.

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Small-Signal Model

• DC only
• time-varying only
• total instantaneous – DC + time-varying

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