Diode

Potential barrier acts like an insulator as there are no free carriers(ions are present) in that area Resistivity( ) =RA/l defines the resistance in a material per unit length. It is used to compare resistance of different materials Germanium has 1000 times more free charge carriers at room temp than silicon Semiconductor Si & Ge has negative temp coefficient as their resistance decrease with increase in temp The energy associated with each electron is given by (eV) W=QV At absolute zero deg temp conductivity is always zero as electron are locked down in their valence orbit.(entropy is zero at 0K)

Space charge capacitance CT of diode:

Reverse bias causes majority carriers to move away from the junction, thereby creating more ions. Hence the thickness of depletion region increases. This region behaves as the dielectric material used for making capacitors. The p-type and n-type conducting on each side of dielectric act as the plate. The incremental capacitance C T is defined by

Since

Therefore,

(E-1)

where, dQ is the increase in charge caused by a change dV in voltage. CT is not constant, it depends upon applied voltage, therefore it is defined as dQ / dV. When p-n junction is forward biased, then also a capacitance is defined called diffusion capacitance CD (rate of change of injected charge with voltage) to take into account the time delay in moving the charges across the junction by the diffusion process. It is considered as a fictitious element that allow us to predict time delay. If the amount of charge to be moved across the junction is increased, the time delay is greater, it follows that diffusion capacitance varies directly with the magnitude of forward current.

(E-2)

Example - 1:
When a silicon diode is conducting at a temperature of 25C, a 0.7 V drop exists across its terminals. What is the voltage, VON, across the diode at 100C? Solution: The temperature relationship is described by VON (TNew) VON(Troom) = KT (TNew Troom) or, VON (TNew ) = VON (Troom) + KT (Tnew Troom) Given VON (Troom) = 0,7 V, Troom= 25 C, TNew= 100 C Therefore, VON (TNew ) = 0.7 + (-2 x 10 ) (100-75) = 0.55 V
-3

Example - 3
The circuit of fig. 2, has a source voltage of Vs = 1.1 + 0.1 sin 1000t. Find the current, iD. Assume that nVT = 40 mV VON = 0.7 V Solution: We use KVL for dc equation to yield Vs= VON+ ID RL

Fig.2 This sets the dc operating point of the diode. We need to determine the dynamic resistance so we can establish the resistance of the forward-biased junction for the ac signal.

Assuming that the contact resistance is negligible Rf= rD Now we can replace the forward-biased diode with a 10 W resistor. Again using KVL, we have, vs= Rf id + RL id

The diode current is given by

I = 4 + 0.91 sin 1000 t mA Since iD is always positive, the diode is always forward-biased, and the solution is complete.

Small Signal Operation of Real diode: Consider the diode circuit shown in fig. 3. V = VD + Id RL VD = V- IdRL This equation involves two unknowns and cannot be solved. The straight line represented by the above equation is known as the load line. The load line passes through two points, I = 0, VD = V and VD= 0, I = V / RL.

Fig. 3

The slope of this line is equal to 1/ RL. The other equation in terms of these two variables V D & Id, is given by the static characteristic. The point of intersection of straight line and diode characteristic gives the operating point as shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Let us consider a circuit shown in fig. 5 having dc voltage and sinusoidal ac voltage. Say V = 1V, RL=10 ohm. The resulting input voltage is the sum of dc voltage and sinusoidal ac voltage. Therefore, as the diode voltage varies, diode current also varies, sinusoidally. The intersection of load line and diode characteristic for different input voltages gives the output voltage as shown in fig. 6.

Fig. 6 In certain applications only ac equivalent circuit is required. Since only ac response of the circuit is considered DC Source is not shown in the equivalent circuit of fig. 7. The resistance rf represents the dynamic resistance or ac resistance of the diode. It is obtained by taking the ratio of VD/ ID at operating point. Dynamic Resistance rD = VD / ID

Fig. 7

The avalanche region (VZ) can be brought closer to the vertical axis by increasing

the doping levels in the p- and n-type materials. However, as VZ decreases to very low levels, such as _5 V, another mechanism, called Zener breakdown, will contribute to the sharp change in the characteristic. It occurs because there is a strong electric field in the region of the junction that can disrupt the bonding forces within the atom and generate carriers.

If an application requires a PIV(Peak Inverse Voltage less than zener voltage) rating greater than that of a single unit, a number of diodes of the same characteristics can be connected in series. Diodes are also connected in parallel to increase the current-carrying capacity. The resistance of the diode at the operating point can be found simply by finding the corresponding levels of VD and ID

An effort should be made to keep the change in voltage and current as small as possible and equidistant to either side of the Q-point. In equation form Rd=

_ where signifies a finite change in the quantity. (1.6) The steeper the slope, the less the value of _Vd for the same change in _ Id and the less the resistance. The ac resistance in the vertical-rise region of the characteristic is therefore quite small, while the ac resistance is much higher at low current levels. In general, therefore, the lower the Q-point of operation (smaller current or lower voltage) the higher the ac resistance. The derivative of a function at a point is equal to the slope of the tangent line drawn at that point.

ID = Is(e^[kVD/TK ]- 1) how does this equation comes

Zener region dig

The reverse-bias potential that results in this dramatic change in characteristics is called the Zener potential and is given the symbol VZ. As the voltage across the diode increases in the reverse-bias region, the velocity of the minority carriers responsible for the reverse saturation current Is will also increase. Eventually, their velocity and associated kinetic energy (WK =1/2mv^2) will be sufficient to release additional carriers through collisions with otherwise stable atomic structures. That is, an ionization process will result whereby valence electrons absorb sufficient energy to leave the parent atom. These additional carriers can then aid the ionization process to the point where a high avalanche current is established and the avalanche breakdown region determined.

Rd =

(1.7)

It is important to keep in mind, however, that Eq. (1.7) is accurate only for values of ID in the verticalrise section of the curve. For lesser values of ID, n= 2 (silicon) and the value of rd obtained must be multiplied by a factor of 2. For small values of ID below the knee of the curve, Eq. (1.7) becomes inappropriate.

1.10 TRANSITION AND DIFFUSION CAPACITANCE

Electronic devices are inherently sensitive to very high frequencies. Most shunt capacitive effects that can be ignored at lower frequencies because the reactance XC =1/2fC is very large (open-circuit equivalent). This, however, cannot be ignored at very high frequencies. XC will become sufficiently small due to the high value of f to introduce a low-reactance shorting path. In the p-n semiconductor diode, there are two capacitive effects to be considered. Both types of capacitance are present in the forward- and reverse-bias regions, but one so outweighs the other in each region that we consider the effects of only one in each region. In the reverse-bias region we have the transition- or depletion-region capacitance (CT), while in the forward-bias region we have the diffusion (CD) or storage capacitance. Recall that the basic equation for the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is defined by C =A/d, where _ is the permittivity of the dielectric (insulator) between

the plates of area A separated by a distance d. In the reverse-bias region there is a depletion region (free of carriers) that behaves essentially like an insulator between the layers of opposite charge. Since the depletion width (d) will increase with increased reverse-bias potential, the resulting transition capacitance will decrease, as shown in Fig. 1.37. The fact that the capacitance is dependent on the applied reverse-bias potential has application in a number of electronic systems. In fact, in Chapter 20 a diode will be introduced whose operation is wholly dependent on this phenomenon. Although the effect described above will also be present in the forward-bias region, it is overshadowed by a capacitance effect directly dependent on the rate at which charge is injected into the regions just outside the depletion region. The result is that increased levels of current will result in increased levels of diffusion capacitance. However, increased levels of current result in reduced levels of associated resistance (to be demonstrated shortly), and the resulting time constant (t= RC), which is very important in high-speed applications, does not become excessive.

REVERSE RECOVERY TIME