Title: Diodes

Objectives:
a) To investigate the basic characteristics of diodes, zener diode and LED.
b) To apply silicon diode to various electronic circuits: clamping, clipping, half-wave
rectification, envelop detector and voltage doubler.

Abstract:

Generally, the barrier potential of the diode was measured. Then the results were compared to
the theoretical predictions. Sine wave was also a part of the experiment where result was
measured by using oscilloscope and the understanding of (time/division) was compulsory in
order to fulfil the experiment.

Introduction:

The diode is a device formed from a junction of n-type and p-type semiconductor material.
The lead connected to the p-type material is called the anode and the lead connected to the
n-type material is the cathode. In general, the cathode of a diode is marked by a solid line on
the diode.

The primary function of the diode is the rectification. When it is forward biased (the higher
potential is connected to the anode lead), it will pass current. When it is reverse biased (the
higher potential is connected to the cathode lead), the current is blocked. The characteristic
curves of an ideal diode and a real diode are seen in Figure below.

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 V-I characteristics of a real diode

When analyzing circuits, the real diode is usually replaced with a simpler model. The
simplest form, the diode is modeled by a switch (Figure below). The switch is closed when
the diode is forward biased and open when the diode is reverse biased.

Materials: Oscilloscope, DC power supply, diodes, resistors and capacitors.

Part 1: Silicon Diode Characteristics

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Procedure:

1) Resistance R1 is measured.
2) Firstly, the circuit is connected as forward biased using the high speed switching
diode 1N4148 as shown is figure 3.1(a).
3) The VDC supply is adjusted from 0, V1 as given in the table and the V0 is measured.
4) The I is calculated using the formula I  V0  V1  / R1 mA, and graph of I against V1 is
plotted.
5) Diode barrier potential VB and diode bulk resistance RB is estimated.
6) Results are tabulated.
7) Secondly, the diode is connected as reversed biased as shown in figure 3.1(b).
8) The V1 and I is measured for V0 = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 V.

Part 2: Zener Diode Characteristics.

Procedure:
1) The diode is connected reversed biased using the 10 volt zener diode as shown in
figure 3.2 above.
2) The V1 and I is measured for V0 = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 V.
3) Graph of I and V1 is plotted.

Part 3: Light Emitting Diode.

Procedure:
1) The Yellow LED is connected as in figure 3.1(a).
2) Voltage V1 is recorded as the Yellow LED lights up, and diode current I is calculated.
3) Steps 1 and 2 are repeated using the Red LED.

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Part 4: Diode Clamping Circuit.

C1
~ V0 D1 V1
RL
Fig. 3.3 (a)

C1
~
V0 D1 V1
Fig. 3.3 (b)
RL

Procedure:
I)
1) Clamping circuit is connected using C1= 1 µF and RL =10 kΩ as shown in figure
3.3(a).
2) Signal generator is set to sine wave of 1kHz and 10 Vpp.
3) Waveform of V0 and V1 is sketched with DC mode.
4) Voltage levels are indicated on the waveforms.

II)
1) Steps 2 to 4 is repeated for the circuit shown in figure 3.3(b).

Part 5: Diode Clipping Circuit.

R1
~ V0 D1 D2 V1

Figure 3.4.

Procedure:
1) Clipping circuit is connected as shown in figure 3.4.
2) Signal generator is set to sine wave of 1kHz and 3 Vpp.
3) Waveform of V0 and V1 is sketched.
4) Voltage levels are recorded on the output waveforms.

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Part 6: Half-Wave Rectification.

R1
~ D1 V1
V0

Figure 3.5(a)

R1
~ D1 V1
V0

Figure 3.5(b)

A)
1) Half-wave rectification circuit is connected as shown in figure 3.5(a).
2) Signal generator is set to sine wave of 1 kHz and 3 Vpp.
3) Waveform of V0 and V1 is sketched.
4) Voltage levels are indicated on the half-wave waveforms.

B)
2) Steps 2 to 4 is repeated for the circuit shown in figure 3.5(b).

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Part 7: Envelop Detector Circuit.

D1
~ V0 V1
C1
R1
Figure 3.6

Procedure:
1) The circuit shown in Figure 3.6 is connected with AM Radio detector.
2) Signal generator is set to sine wave of 1 kHz and 3 Vpp.
3) C1 = 1 µF is used.
4) Waveform of V0 and V1 is sketched for R1 = ∞, 10, 5.6 and 3.3 kΩ.
5) The time constants used are = = R1C1 = ∞, 10, 5.6 and 3.3 ms.

Part 8: Voltage Doubler.

C1 D2
~ V1
Vs V0 C2
D1 RL

Procedure:
1) C1 = C2 = 1 µF is used.
2) For RL = ∞, waveform of V0 and VL is sketched and voltage levels are recorded.
3) Experiment is repeated using RL = 10, 5.6 and 3.3 kΩ.

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Experiment Data:

Part 1(i):
V1 (V) V0 (V) I (mA) V1 (V) V0 (V) I (mA)
0.60 0.90 0.92 0.72 3.30 7.95
0.64 1.30 2.03 0.74 4.40 11.27
0.68 2.00 4.07 0.76 5.60 14.91
0.70 2.50 5.54 0.77 6.50 17.65

R1 = 324.7 Ω
VB = 0.70V
RB = 7.50 Ω

Part 1(ii):
V0 (V) V1 (V) I (µA) V0 (V) V1 (V) I (µA)
5 5.0 0.02 20 20.0 0.23
10 10.0 0.04 25 24.9 0.30
15 15.0 0.17 29 29.0 0.35

Part 2:
V0 (V) V1 (V) I (A) V0 (V) V1 (V) I (A)
5 5.0 0.0556 20 10.5 0.2349
10 10.0 0.1136 25 10.7 0.3015
15 10.4 0.1735 29 10.8 0.3542

Part 3:
Voltage when Yellow LED lights up = 4.2V
Voltage when Red LED lights up = 2.9V

Diode current of yellow LED = 12.94mA

Diode current of red LED = 8.93mA

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Explanation of Graph

Part 1(i)
The resistance measured in the experiment is 324.7 Ω. From the graph plotted, the
barrier potential, VB obtained is 0.70V. The bulk resistance, RB is calculated by using the
change of voltage, V divided by the change of current, I and the value of RB is 7.50 Ω.
RB = 0.80-0.68V .
(18.00-2.00)x10-3A
= 7.50 Ω
The graph of I against V shows an exponential curve. The voltage against the silicon diode
remained at zero until when it is almost reach the VB point. After the VB point, the current
started to increases very rapidly.

Part 1(ii)
The graph is drawn in the third quadrant of the graph as the diode is in reverse bias,
and the voltage measured is in different direction with the voltage source. The graph shows a
very big increases in the current when the voltage is increase but it is because of the unit used
to measure the current is in mirco Ampere, thus, if the unit of the current is converted into
Ampere, the changes in the current is actually very small.

Part 2
The graph is also drawn in the third quadrant of the graph as zener diode is operating
in third quadrant. The graph shows that when the current increase rapidly, the voltage was
increased at the beginning but maintain stable after 10.0A.

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Part 4(i)

The experiment is set to 10Vpp and the diode is connected in reversed bias. The graph
reached the peak at 2Vp-0.7, where Vp is 5V, therefore, it reached the peak at 9.3V. The
graph also showed that it reached a lowest point at 0.7V.

Part 4 (ii)

The experiment is set to 10Vpp and the diode is connected in forward bias. The Vp is
equal to 5V. The peak of the graph is 0.7V whereas the lowest point of the graph is -9.3V as a
result of –(2Vp-0.7V).

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Part 5

The experiment is set to 3Vpp and the Vp is 1.5V. The output graph shows that the
voltage of the peak and the lowest point are already cut-off. The value of the voltage of peak
and lowest point is reduced.

Part 6 (i)

The experiment is set with 3Vpp. The graph shows a negative half-wave graph. The
graph from zero and reach the lowest point and rebound back to zero. At V=zero, the graph
remain at zero until it reaches another period and go to the lowest point again.

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Part 6 (ii)

The graph shows a positive half-wave graph. The graph from zero and reach the peak
of the graph. After that, the voltage decrease and back to zero. At V=zero, the graph remain
at zero until it reaches another period and go up again to the peak.

Part 7

resistor value= ∞

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resistor value= 5.6 kΩ

resistor value= 10 kΩ

resistor value= 3.3 kΩ

Part 8

resistor value= 5.6kΩ

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resistor value= 10kΩ

resistor value= 3.3kΩ

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Discussion

Part 1(i)
At the beginning when the circuit started to conduct electricity, the current is very
small as the forward voltage across the diode is smaller than the barrier potential, V B. The
diffusion and drift between electrons and holes inside the silicon diode balanced up the
diffusion and drift current generated. Therefore, there will be no current is detected when the
forward voltage is smaller than VB. When the forward voltage exceeds the V B, the current
increased rapidly. This is because when a forward-biasing voltage is applied across the diode,
the depletion region between P-N junction will collapse and diode will become less resistive
to the current through it. But in order for the sustained current to pass through the diode, the
depletion region must be fully collapsed. To accomplish this, a forward voltage should be
applied through the diode with at least more than barrier potential, VB. This is why in the
experiment, when the voltage applied across the diode is bigger than the V B, the current flow
through will increase rapidly. The bulk resistance is very small compare to the resistance of
resistor because the current and voltage increase with a high value.

Part1 (ii)
From the experiment, the voltage measured across the diode is almost same as the
voltage from the voltage source. The diode is connected in reverse bias and will prevent the
current from passing through it. The current is blocked by the diode is due to the expanded
depletion region. There are still current is detected from the experiment as a very small
amount of current which is known as leakage current can actually pass through the reversed
bias silicon diode.

Part 2
Zener diode has the same feature as the breakdown voltage of reversed bias of diode.
In the experiment, a 10V of zener diode is used. There is just a little change in current when
the supplied voltage is less than the voltage of zener diode. This is because of the zener diode
is connected in reverse bias and causing the depletion region become wider. This will then
causes the current to flow difficultly across the high resistance of the wide depletion region.
When the supplied voltage is increased to 10V and above, the current increases drastically
but the voltage across the zener is maintained at about 10V. The current is increasing because
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the voltage across the zener is bigger than the voltage of zener. The voltage across the zener
diode is remain almost constant because the extra voltage will be dropped across the resistor.

Part 3
From the experiment, the voltage needed to light up a yellow LED is higher than the
voltage needed by the red LED. The voltage needed to light up a LED is actually depends on
the wavelength of the colour of the LED. The wavelength of yellow colour is actually short
than the wavelength of red colour. Therefore, by using the formula E G=(hc)/ λ, we know that
the energy band gap of yellow is higher than the red one. This is why the voltage need by
yellow LED to light up is higher. Theoretically, the voltage need to light up yellow LED is
about 2.10V to 2.18V and red LED is about 1.63V to 2.03V, but from the experiment, we get
4.2V and 2.9V for the yellow and red LED. This may because of when the observer was
recording the reading of voltage used, he took too much of voltage even though the LED was
already lighted up at lower voltage.

Part 4
The diode is in reversed bias mode during the positive cycle and is in forward bias
mode during the negative cycle. During the negative cycle, the capacitor will be charged and
the output voltage will be about the same as the barrier potential, V B which is 0.7V. During
the positive cycle, the diode will acts like an open circuit and will be no effect on the
capacitor charge. Therefore, the maximum voltage across the negative cycle is equal to 2Yp-
Vo which is 9.3 in the experiment.

During the positive cycle of the ac signal, the diode is in reversed bias mode. The
capacitor is charged rapidly to the amplitude due to the short time constant. During the
negative cycle, the diode is in reverse bias and it will acts as an open circuit. Therefore, there
will be no effect on the capacitor voltage. The capacitor still managed to maintain its charge
although it is owing to the large discharging of time. Therefore, the maximum voltage across
RL is approximately equal to -(2Vp-Vo) which is about -9.3 in the experiment.

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 Throughout the experiment, we will notice that the waveform will not change but the
level is shifting upward or downward. The clamping circuit does not change the peak-to-peak
value. Besides, the resistance and capacitor will affect the waveform.

Part 5
Clipper circuit is use to clip or cut-off unwanted voltage. In the experiment, we
connect the diode in two manual, one is forward bias and another one is reversed bias. During
the positive cycle which passed through the diode in forward bias, the voltage should be
equal to Vp-0.7V which is about 0.8V. During the negative cycle, the diode is in reversed
bias mode, thus, the voltage should be equal to –(Vp-0.7) which is about -0.8V. As the circuit
consists of both forward bias and reversed bias diode, the output graph will become peak and
lowest point will become smaller compare to the input voltage.

Part 6
In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of the AC wave is
passed, while the other half is blocked. In experiment part (i), the graph only shows the
negative value of the voltage. This is because the diode is converted in reversed bias, so when
the voltage pass through the positive cycle, the voltage from the AC will now be let pass by
the reversed bias mode diode. For negative cycle, the diode is in forward bias mode and
voltage can pass through it. In experiment part (ii) also, for the positive cycle, the diode is in
forward bias and voltage can passed through. The diode is in reversed bias and thus no
voltage is passing through it and the graph looks flat in this part.

Part 7

The wave form of the envelop detector circuit are quite different from the previous
waves. as it was tested using various resistors. the result was almost the same for 5.6,10,and
3.3 but for the value of infinite its appeared to be in a straight line. takes a high-frequency
signal as input andprovides an output which is the envelope of the original signal. The
capacitor in the circuit stores up charge on the rising edge, and releases it slowly through the
resistor when the signal falls. The diode in series rectifies the incoming signal, allowing
current flow only when the positive input terminal is at a higher potential than the negative
input terminal. Most practical envelope detectors use either half-wave or full-
wave rectification of the signal to convert the AC audio input into a pulsed DC signal.
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Filtering is then used to smooth the final result. This filtering is rarely perfect and some
"ripple" is likely to remain on the envelope follower output, particularly for low frequency
inputs such as notes from a bass guitar. More filtering gives a smoother result, but decreases
the responsiveness; thus, real-world designs must be optimized for the application.

Part 8

The half wave voltage doubler is a Half Wave Dual Polarity Rectifier with the ground
relocated. Unlike a normal rectifier that only puts out the peak voltage of the AC voltage that
is fed into it, a half wave voltage doubler puts out the peak-to-peak voltage (AC voltage
measured from the negative peak to the positive peak) of the AC voltage at its input. Since
the peak-to-peak voltage is double the peak AC voltage, you get double the voltage out.

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Conclusion

When the silicon diode is connected in forward bias, the current will start to increase
if the voltage is more than the barrier potential which is 0.7V. While in reversed bias,
the current will remain almost unchanged and stable as long as it haven’t reach the
breakdown voltage. Zener diode shows the same characteristic with the reversed bias
mode diode. When the voltage reached the breakdown point, the current will increase
sharply whereas voltage will just has a very little change. Yellow LED needs more
voltage to light up that red LED. The voltage needed to light up a LED is depends on
the wavelength of the colour of the LED. Clamper circuit is used to adjust the ac
waveform either above or below a given reference voltage. Clipper circuit is used to
clip or cut-off unwanted voltage inside the circuit. A half-wave rectification can be
used to convert an ac voltage to dc voltage. When the AC voltage from the
transformer goes positive -

 D1's anode is made more positive than its cathode, which allows it to become forward
biased and pass current to charge C1 up to the transformer's positive peak voltage
 D2's cathode is made more positive than its anode, which reverse biases D2 and does
not allow it to pass current

 When the AC voltage from the transformer goes negative -

 D2's cathode is made more negative than its anode, which forward biases D2 and
allows it to pass current to charge C2 up to the transformer's negative peak voltage

 D1's anode is made more negative than its cathode, which reverse biases D1 and does
not allow it to pass current

 So now we have both capacitors charged up to the transformer's peak voltage.

Since both capacitors are charged up to the peak AC voltage of the
transformer, placing the capacitors in series with each other gives us the peak
to peak voltage of the transformer out. 

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References:

1. http://www.people.seas.harvard.edu/~jones/es154/...2/diode.../diode_appl

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diode

3. www.physics.upenn.edu/courses/p150-labs/lab_report.html

4. hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/solids/diod.html

5. www.eee.metu.edu.tr/.../Experiments/2012/EE_214_Experiment_2.p.

6. it.scribd.com/doc/.../Zener-Diode-Voltage-Regulation-

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Appendices:

Part 1(i)

Part 1(ii)

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Part 2

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