LED (Light-emitting diode)

A LED is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through
it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form
of photons.

LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources, including lower energy
consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller size, and faster switching.

Applications
 Aviation Lighting
 Automotive Headlamps
 Advertising
 General Lighting
 Traffic Signals
 Camera Flashes
 Lighted Wallpaper
 Plant Growing Light
 Medical Devices.

Photodiode
A photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. The current
is generated when photons are absorbed in the photodiode.

When a photon of sufficient energy strikes the diode, it creates an electron–hole pair. This
mechanism is also known as the inner photoelectric effect. If the absorption occurs in the
junction's depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from
the junction by the built-in electric field of the depletion region. Thus holes move toward
the anode, and electrons toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced. The total current
through the photodiode is the sum of the dark current (current that is generated in the absence of
light) and the photocurrent, so the dark current must be minimized to maximize the sensitivity of
the device.
I-V characteristics of Photodiode.

When observing current-voltage characteristics of photodiode, take a look at the waveforms in

different quadrants of coordinate system. The third quarter characteristic shows the usage of
photodiode as a photodetector (light sensor). It corresponds to the current saturation of the p-n
junction. However, in the fourth quarter of characteristic, photodiode works as a light radiation
converter – solar battery. If current doesn’t flow through illuminated diode, the amount of
voltage that arises on the terminals is called photovoltaic voltage. Solar batteries are
commonly used in electrical equipment power supply for example sanitation and battery
charging when weather conditions or light are favourable for this purpose.

Applications
 photo detectors
 Photo diodes are used in providing electric isolation using a special circuitry called as
Optocouplers
 consumer electronics
 cameras as photo sensors
 Slotted optical switch
 scintillators e.t.c

Light Dependent Resistor

A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) or a photo resistor is a device whose resistivity is a function
of the incident electromagnetic radiation. Hence, they are light sensitive devices. They are also
called as photo conductors, photo conductive cells or simply photocells.

They are made up of semiconductor materials having high resistance. The symbol is shown in

the figure below. The arrow indicates light falling on it.

Typical LDR LDR Circuit Symbol

Working
A light dependent resistor works on the principle of photo conductivity. Photo conductivity is an
optical phenomenon in which the materials conductivity is increased when light is absorbed by
the material.
When light falls i.e. when the photons fall on the device, the electrons in the valence band of the
semiconductor material are excited to the conduction band. These photons in the incident light
should have energy greater than the band gap of the semiconductor material to make the
electrons jump from the valence band to the conduction band. Hence when light having enough
energy strikes on the device, more and more electrons are excited to the conduction band which
results in large number of charge carriers. The result of this process is more and more current
starts flowing through the device when the circuit is closed and hence it is said that the resistance
of the device has been decreased. This is the most common working principle of LDR.

LDR’s are light dependent devices whose resistance is decreased when light falls on them and
that is increased in the dark. Variation in resistance with changing light intensity is shown below.

Fig: Typical LDR resistance vs light intensity graph

Applications of LDRs
 Lighting Switch
 Camera Shutter Control
 Light Sensors
 To Detect Absences Or Presences Of Light Like In A Camera Light Meter
 Street Lamps
  Alarm Clock
 Burglar Alarm Circuits
 Light Intensity Meters
 For Counting The Packages Moving On A Conveyor Belt, Etc.

2ND CYCLE EXPERIMENTS

Experiment 1: Static V-I Characteristics of SCR & DAIC
AIM: To obtain the static V-I characteristics of SCR & DIAC
Apparatus: SCR TYN 616 (16 A, 600 V)
SCR TYN 612 (12 A, 600 V)
DAIC DB3 (VB0 = 30 V)
Resistor 50 Ω (100 w), 1k(1/2 w)
Ammeter 0-1 A (DC)
Voltmeter 0-30 V (DC)
Ammeter 0-25 mA (DC)
RPS, Connecting board, Wires etc.

SCR characteristics
Theory: Silicon controlled rectifier(SCR) is most important member of the
Thyristor family. SCR is a four-layer Three-junction P-N-P-N semiconductor-
switching device: it has 3 terminal Anode, Cathode and Gate. SCR requires
forward voltage and sufficient gate current to Turn ON, once SCR conducts it
behaves like a conducting diode & there is no control over the device i.e., it will
continue to conduct evev when gate current is removed. The switching action can
be explained using Two Transistor model of SCR.
The collector current IC of a Thyristor is related, in general to the emitter current IE
and leakage current of the collector base junction Icbo as IC = α IE + Icbo

For transistor Q1 (PNP) IE = IA, α = α1, IC= IC1

Therefore IC1 = α1 IA + Icbo1
Similarly for Q2 IE = I K , α = α2
IC2 = α2 Ik + Icbo2
IA = IC1 + IC2
= α1 IA + Icbo1 + α2 Ik + Icbo2
For a gate current

IK = IA + IG

IA = α1 IA + Icbo1 + α2 (IA + IG ) + Icbo2

  When the transistors are cut off

α1 = α2 =0
IA = Icbo1 + Icbo2
Therefore under this condition SCR is acting as open switch and blocks the
current.

 When the transistors are in Saturation

α =1
i.e., α1 + α2 —> 1, IA —> ∞

Therefore under this condition SCR is acting as short-circuited switch and the
anode current is limited by external resistance.

Forward Characteristics of SCR

VB01 , VB02 —>forward break over voltages

IL —> Latching current, IH —>Holding current

IG1 , IG2 —> Gate currents

When the anode voltage is made +ve w.r.t the cathode, the junction J1 and J3 are
forward biased , the junction J2 is reverse biased, and only a small leakage current
flows from anode to cathode. The Thyristor is then said to be in the forward
blocking or off state condition. If the anode to cathode voltage VAK is increased to
a sufficiently large value, the reverse biased junction J2 will break. This is known
as Avalanche breakdown and the corresponding voltage is called forward break
over voltage VBO. Since the other junctions J1 and J2 are already forward biased
there will be movement of carriers across all three junctions resulting in a large
forward current. The device will be then be in a conducting state or ON state. The
voltage drop due to the ohmic drop in the four layers and it is small typically 1
Volt. In the ON-state the anode current is limited by an external resistance.
The SCR can be made to conduct at lower VAK by applying a gate current to
initiate the avalanche multiplication at lower VAK. If the gate current is increased
the forward break over voltage further reduces. Latching current (IL) is the
minimum anode current required to maintain the Thyristor in the ON state,
immediately, after a Thyristor has been turned On and the gate signal has been
removed. The holding current (IH) is the minimum anode current below which
SCR turns off. Note that IL > IH, latching current is associated with turn ON process
, and holding current with turn off process.

Circuit Diagram

Procedure
Connections are made as shown in circuit diagram.

1. Set Ig = 10 mA, keeping Ig constant, vary the anode to cathode voltage VAK
in steps, at particular value of VAK, IA increases suddenly & voltage across
the device drops to conducting voltage. Note down these values.
2. Vary VAK in steps and note down Anode current IA & voltage across the
device from voltmeter.
3. Repeat the above steps for Ig = 10.5 mA.
To find holding current
1. Trigger the SCR, switch off the gate supply, make sure that SCR does not go
to OFF state.
2. Decrease the anode to cathode voltage, till the thyristor returns to blocking
state.
3. Note down the value if IA at which SCR will go to OFF state. This current is
holding current. It is the minimum anode current below which thyristor turns
off.

To find latching current

1. Trigger the SCR, make sure that SCR will not turn OFF by removing gate
current.
2. Adjust the anode current slightly above the holding current by varying
anode to cathode supply.
3. Reduce the anode current in steps of 0.5 mA for each reading see that by
removing gate current, SCR will be in ON state, this value of Anode current
is known as latching current.
Note that Latching current is greater than holding current.
4. Plot the graph of VAK versus IA
5. Determine the forward on state resistance ΔV / ΔI.

Tabular column

Ig = 10 mA, VBO1 = Ig = 10.5 mA, VBO2 =

VAK in volts IA in mA VAK in volts IA in mA
Experiment 2: Controlled Half Wave Rectifier (HWR) and
Full Wave Rectifier (FWR) using RC Triggering Circuit
AIM: To study the operation of controlled half wave rectifier & full wave
rectifier using RC Triggering circuit.

APPARATUS:
Power Modules
Module Details:
Bridge Rectifiers (6A /200V)
Thyristor-TYN612 (12 A/600V)
 Capacitor 4.7 µF/100V
Potentiometer (5K)
R-C half & full wave firing circuit module
Voltmeter (0 – 60 V)
CRO, Resistive load (50Ω, 2A), Patch chords connecting wires

THEORY
RC Half wave Trigger Circuit
Refer RC Half wave Trigger circuit. The limited range of firing angle control (00 –
900) by Resistance Firing can be overcome by RC Firing circuit. The role of the
capacitor is to shift the phase of anode voltage so that a positive gate current can be
supplied even after the peak of the Anode voltage. By varying the resistor R the
firing angle can be controlled from 00 – 1800 . The capacitor charges to the
negative peak of the AC voltage in every negative half cycle through the diode D2.
During the +ve half cycle it begins to charge through the resistor R. when the
capacitor charges to +ve voltage equal to the gate trigger voltage (Vgt) SCR is
Triggered and the capacitor voltage remains almost constant. The diode D1
prevents the breakdown of the gate to cathode junction during the negative half
cycle.

For a typical Thyristor in the range of power frequencies RC for zero output must
be chosen as

T=1 / f = period of AC line frequency in seconds

Maximum value of R is given by

Vs ---- Source voltage at which Thyristor turns ON

Vgt ----Gate Trigger voltage

Vd ---- Voltage drop of diode D1

Igt ---- Gate Trigger current

Circuit Diagram

Procedure
1. Connections are made as shown in the above circuit diagram.
2. Keep the control potentiometer in maximum position, switch ON the AC
supply.
3. Vary the control Potentiometer in steps, at each step note down the output
voltage across the load.
4. At a particular value of firing angle note down the waveform across the load
and also across SCR.
5. Switch of the Ac supply.
6. Plot the graph of output voltage (Vo) versus Firing angle (α).
Tabular Column
Firing Angle in degrees Average o/p voltage Average o/p voltage
(practical) Vo volts (Theoritical) Vo volts

Vo Thoeritical = [Vm (1 + cos α) ] / 2π

Vm = Maximum value of Transfotmer secondary voltage = √2 * Vs

Vs = RMS value of transformer secondary voltage

Output Waveforms
Graph
 RC Full wave Trigger Circuit
Refer RC Full wave Trigger circuit. Diodes D1 - D4 form a full wave diode
bridge. In this circuit initial voltage from which the capacitor C charges is
almost zero. The capacitor C is set to this low positive voltage by the clamping
action of SCR gate. When capacitor charges to a voltage equal to Vg1 SCR
triggers and rectified voltage Vo appears across the load.

Since control is possible in positive and negative half cycle the name controlled
full wave rectifier.

The value of RC is calculated by

T=1 / f = period of AC line frequency in seconds

Maximum value of R is given by

Circuit Diagram

Tabular Column
Firing Angle in degrees Average o/p voltage Average o/p voltage
(practical) Vo volts (Theoritical) Vo volts

Vo Thoeritical = [Vm (1 + cos α) ] / π

Vm = Maximum value of Transfotmer secondary voltage = √2 * Vs

Vs = RMS value of transformer secondary voltage

Output Waveforms
Graph