UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Taxila.
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
SUBMITTED BY:
Name: FAIZAN HASSAN
Reg. No. 20-ME-65
Section: A
Course: Applied Physics (LAB)
SUBMITTED TO:
Madam Kulsoom Raheem
LAB REPORT
TOPIC : I-V Characteristics of a Diode
LAB NO : 9
EXPERIMENT NO 9
INTRODUCTION:
Semiconductor:
A semiconductor is a substance whose electrical conductance is between
insulators and conductors. W.r.t band theory, they have almost empty
conduction band and almost filled valence band and a considerable forbidden
energy gap between the bands. Their conductivity ranges between 10 4 to 107
ohm-1m-1.
There are two types of semiconductors, intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic semiconductor:
It is the pure semiconductor, in which no impurity atom is added. For example,
silicon, germanium etc.
Extrinsic semiconductor:
It is a semiconductor in which an impurity atom either from group 3 or 5 of
periodic table is added to it, through the process of doping. For example,
aluminium from group 3 or phosphorus from group 5 may be added to silicon of
group 4.
There are two types of extrinsic semiconductors, N-type and P-type.
N-type semiconductor:
When an impurity atom from group 5 of the periodic table such as, P, As, Sb, is
added to an element of group 4, e.g silicon, it forms N-type semiconductor.
P-type semiconductor:
When an impurity atom from group 5 of the periodic table such as, Al, Ga, In, is
added to an element of group 4, e.g silicon, it forms P-type semiconductor.
Diode:
A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily
in one direction; it has low resistance in one direction, and high resistance in the
other. Semiconductor diode is most common type of diode.
Semiconductor Diode:
A semiconductor diode is a diode made of semiconductor material, most
often silicon. It's kind of like a door for electricity to move through
PN Junction Diode:
It is a semiconductor device formed when P-type and N-type semiconductors
are joined together. It is used to allow electric current to flow in one direction
only and opposes the current flow in other direction. In this diode, the P region
has holes as majority charge carriers and electrons as minority charge carriers.
While the N region has holes as minority charge carriers and electrons as
majority charge carriers.
PN Junction at equilibrium:
After the formation of PN Junction diode, a few electrons, being majority
charge carriers, start to flow from N to P region, creating a layer of positive ions
in the N region. These electrons combine with the holes in P region and form a
layer of negative ions in the P region. This layer of positive and negative ions
sets up an electric field, between the layers, stopping further diffusion of
electrons and thus stopping the movement of electrons and holes, because holes
attract to anions and electrons attract to cations. This region between the layers
is known as “depletion region”. A potential difference is set up across the
electric field, known as “potential barrier”. The value of potential of potential
barrier for Silicon at room temperature is 0.6 - 0.7 volts and for Germanium is
0.3 - 0.35 volts. At this stage, the Junction is said to be at equilibrium.
Biasing of PN Junction Diode:
The process of supplying DC voltage to a diode is called biasing.
There are 2 types of biasing, forward and reverse.
Forward biasing:
In forward biasing, the positive terminal of the battery is connected to P region
of diode and negative terminal of the battery is connected to N region of diode.
The depletion region contracts and majority charge carriers start flowing across
the region and there is natural flow of current. Current flows in forward biasing
due to majority charge carriers. The value of current is in mA.
Reverse biasing:
In reverse biasing, the positive terminal of the battery is connected to N region
of diode and negative terminal of the battery is connected to P region of diode.
The depletion region expands and minority charge carriers start flowing across
the region and almost no current flows across the region. Current flows in
reverse biasing due to minority charge carriers. The maximum current that can
flow is 1µA.
Diode Current Equation:
This equation is used to relate the current flowing through the diode as the
function of voltage applied across it.
qV
I =I 0 (e nKT −1)
Where,
I is the current flowing through the diode.
I0 is the reverse saturation current.
q is the charge on the electron.
V is the voltage applied across the diode.
η is the (exponential) ideality factor.
K is the Boltzmann constant.
T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin.
Experiment Part 1
Circuit Diagram:
.
Part A
Here, we are discussing the case of forward biasing.
Firstly, we will take IN4148 diode and connect it in forward bias mode.
Then, we will connect a limiting resistor of 1K ohm resistance in series
with the diode.
Then, a voltage source ranging between 0-15 V in series.
By changing voltage, we will get different values of current I D and
voltage VD across the diode.
We will take 10 readings by varying voltage.
Then, VD / ID graph will be plotted for these values.
Finally, we will calculate the resistance by the slope of the curve in the
ON region. Forward resistance is given as;
RON = dVD / dID
Part B
The procedure that will be followed for reverse bias mode is;
Firstly, we will take IN4148 diode and connect it in reverse bias mode.
Then, we will connect a limiting resistor of 1K ohm resistance in series
with the diode.
Then, a voltage source ranging between 0-15 V in series.
By changing voltage, we will get different values of current I D and
voltage VD across the diode.
We will take 10 readings by varying voltage.
Then, VD / ID graph will be plotted for these values.
The forward resistance can be calculated by;
R = VR / IR
SIMULATION
FORWARD BIASED:
Voltage (V) Current (mA)
0 0
0.50 0.195
0.62 0.263
0.64 0.294
0.72 0.320
0.76 0.355
0.82 0.470
0.87 0.433
0.97 0.510
0.6
0.5
f(x) = 0.620544040649904 ln(x) + 0.542130099936229
0.4
Current mA
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Voltage V
Resistance = V / I
R = 0.81 / (0.327 x 10-3)
R = 1.220 x 103
R = 1220 Ohm
(a)
Forward Biased of PN Junction Diode:
(1)
The Cut in Voltage or Knee Voltage of diode is 0.40 Volts
(2)
The Dynamic Forward resistance of diode is
Rac = ∆Vf / ∆If
Rac = 0.91 / (0.497 x10-3)
Rac = 1.20 x 103 Ohm
(3)
The Static Forward resistance of diode is
Rdc = Vf / If
Rdc = 0.5/ 0.03 x 10-3
Rdc = 1.30 x 103 Ohm
REVERSED BIASED:
Voltage (V) Current (mA)
0 0
-0.47 -0.127
-0.55 -0.264
-0.62 -0.249
-0.70 -0.382
-0.77 -0.366
-0.79 -0.454
-0.83 -0.444
-0.92 -0.530
0
-1 -0.9 -0.8 -0.7 -0.6 -0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0
-0.1
-0.2
Current mA
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
-0.6
Voltage V
(b)
Reverse Bias of PN Junction Diode:
(1)
The Dynamic Reverse resistance of diode is
Rac = ∆Vr / ∆Ir
Rac = 1.729 k Ohm
(2)
The Static Reverse resistance of diode is
Rdc = Vr / Ir
Rdc = 1.209 x 103 Ohm
(c)
Calculate dynamic resistance and cut-in voltage from graph for the
given diode
Cut in voltage in this diode is 0.40 volts.
Data Analysis:
(a)
Determine the value of resistance that will give a diode current of
10mA assuming a 0.7V battery model for diode.
Ans
R=V/I
R = 0.7/(10x10-3)
R = 70 ohm
(b)
Simulate this for your circuit. Determine simulation type? What is the
current obtained from your simulation?
Ans
In this circuit with 70-ohm resistor, we perform simulation with the voltage of
0.7 V and get our resultant current as 2.825 mA.
Experiment Part 2:
Use DC sweep to simulate the circuit shown for 0< V in <10 with 0.5V for
R=100Ω, R=1KΩ and R=10kΩ.
(a)
Comment on the effect of changing the resistance R.
Ans
By changing the resistance, the value of Vo changes, i.e by increasing
the resistance the value of Vo increases.
(b)
What is the effect of the diode on Vo?
Ans
The value of Vo can only be measured if we use diode in the circuit. Otherwise,
no current flows across those terminals through which we measure V o because
that path which uses diode becomes complete and current flows through it.
(c)
Derive an expression for Vo as a function of V in using the (battery +
resistance) model of the diode. Get values of battery and resistance
from the linear I-V characteristic plot for ID=0.4mA.
Ans
Vo in terms of Vin can be represented as;
V¿
Vo = 5
Vin (V) Vout (V)
R = 100 Ω R = 1K Ω R = 10K Ω
0.5 0.0045 0.241 0.341
1 0.009 0.376 0.416
1.5 0.136 0.426 0.448
2 0.181 0.453 0.468
2.5 0.226 0.471 0.483
3 0.269 0.485 0.495
3.5 0.311 0.496 0.504
4 0.350 0.505 0.512
4.5 0.383 0.512 0.519
5 0.416 0.519 0.525
5.5 0.432 0.525 0.530
6 0.450 0.531 0.535
6.5 0.465 0.536 0.540
7 0.477 0.540 0.544
7.5 0.487 0.544 0.548
8 0.496 0.548 0.552
8.5 0.504 0.552 0.555
9 0.511 0.555 0.558
9.5 0.517 0.558 0.561
10 0.523 0.561 0.564
Additional Questions:
(1)
Differentiate between Ge and Si diodes ?
Ans
The threshold voltage of Si diode is 0.7V, while that of Ge diode is 0.3V.
The reverse saturation current of Si diode is 1 nA, while that of Ge diode
is 1000 nA
The working temperature of Si diode is 170 o C, while that of Ge diode is
100o C.
(2)
What is diode current equation ?
Ans
This equation is used to relate the current flowing through the diode as the
function of voltage applied across it.
qV
nKT
I =I 0 (e −1)
(3)
What is cut-in or knee voltage ? What are its values for Si and Ge diodes ?
Ans
The forward voltage at which the flow of current across the PN junction
increases quickly is known as Knee or cut-in voltage. It is also the least
reverse voltage at which PN junction can work without any harm.
(4)
Mentions some specifications for the diode?
Ans
There are following specifications for the diode
It is a fast switching diode.
It’s peak repetitive reverse voltage is 100V.
It has RMS reverse voltage of 75V.
It’s peak forward surge current is 2A.
It’s forward continuous current is 300mA.
It’s reverse recovery time 8ns.
CONCLUSION:
After performing this experiment we’ve been able to explore the NPN junctions,
the forward biasing of PN junction and the reverse biasing of PN junction, how
it works, it’s effects on the flow of current and many other concepts
THE END
