Voltage, The Reverse Current Will Drastically Increase

ELECTRONICS I (LECTURE 3) PAGE 1 OF 6
REVERSE BREAKDOWN REGION
 If the external reverse bias voltage is increased to a value called the breakdown
voltage, the reverse current will drastically increase.
 The high reverse bias voltage imparts energy to the free minority electrons.
 This energy will increase their speed through the p region, as well as collision
with valence electron.
 This energy is enough to knock valence electrons out of orbit and into the
conduction band.
 The newly created conduction electrons are also high in energy and repeat the
process. If one electron knocks only two others the numbers quickly multiply.
 As these high-energy electrons go through the depletion region, they have enough
energy to go through the n-region as conduction electrons, rather than combining
with holes.
 The multiplication of conduction electrons just discussed is known as Avalanche

Effect.
 This results in a very high reverse current that can damage the diode because of
excessive heat dissipation.
V I CHARACTERISTIC FOR FORWARD BIAS
 Normal operation for a forward biased diode is above the knee of the curve.
 DYNAMIC RESISTANCE (rD)
o Unlike linear resistance, the resistance of the forward – biased diode is

not constant over the entire curve. Such resistance is known as
dynamic resistance.
 Below knee voltage rD is maximum.
V I CHARACTERISTIC FOR REVERSE BIAS
o Reverse Voltage = VR
o Reverse Current = IR
o Reverse Breakdown
Voltage = VBR
 Normally very small reverse

current flow from the diode in
reverse bias.
 Reverse current increases rapidly

when bias voltage reaches to
breakdown voltages.
 Breakdown is not a normal mode

of operation for most pn-junction
devices.
 For typical silicon diode, minimum voltages are 50 V for breakdown.

COMPLETE V I CHARACTERISTIC CURVE
TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON THE DIODE
 For given value of forward voltages, current will increase as temperature is

increased.
 For a given value of forward current, the forward voltage decreases i.e. potential
barrier get minimize.
 Remember reverse current is very small and can be neglected.

DYNAMIC RESISTANCE
 Consider a biased PN junction. As the applied bias increases in magnitude the

depletion region will continue to decrease in width until a flood of electrons can
pass through the junction, resulting in an exponential rise in current as shown in
the forward-bias region of the characteristics curve.
 The horizontal scale in the forward-bias region has a maximum of 1 V. Therefore,

the voltage across a forward-biased diode will be less than 1 V. Note also, how
quickly the current rises beyond the knee of the curve, while reverse saturation
current Is has a very small value as compare to forward current diode ID.
 It can be demonstrated through the use of solid-state physics that the general
characteristics of a semiconductor diode can be defined by the following
Shockley’s equation for the forward- and reverse-bias regions:
 kVD

Is  e  1
TK
=> ID = ------ 
 
 Is = reverse saturation current

 k = 11,600/ with  = 1 for Ge and  = 2 for Si for relatively low levels of
diode current (at or below the knee of the curve) and  = 1 for Ge and Si
for higher levels of diode current (in the rapidly increasing section of the
curve).
 TK = TC + 273°
The dynamic resistance of the PN junction can be develop by taking derivative of the
above Shockley’s Equation #,
d d   kVD TK 
=>  ID  = I s  e  1
dVD dVD   
d d  kVD TK 
=>  ID  =  Ise  Is 
dVD dVD  
d d  kVD TK  d
=>  ID  = Is  e   Is (1)
dVD dVD   dVD
d kI s  kVD TK 
=>  ID  =  e   0
dVD TK  
d k  kVD TK 
=>  ID  =  I s e  ------ 
dVD TK  
From equation #,

kVD
=> Is e TK = ID + Is
But ID >> Is
So,
kVD
=> Is e TK ≈ ID
Therefore,
d k
=>  ID  =  ID 
dVD TK
Substituting  = 1 for Ge and Si in the vertical-rise section of the characteristics, we
obtain,
And at room temperature,

=> TK = TC + 273
=> TK = 25 + 273 = 298 K
Thus,
d 11600
=>  ID  =  ID  = 38.93 ID
dVD 298
dVD 0.0257
=> =
dI D ID
But,
dVD
=> = rD
dI D
26mV
=> rD = ID

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ELECTRONICS I (LECTURE 3) PAGE 1 OF 6

REVERSE BREAKDOWN REGION

 The multiplication of conduction electrons just discussed is known as Avalanche

V I CHARACTERISTIC FOR FORWARD BIAS

 DYNAMIC RESISTANCE (rD)

o Unlike linear resistance, the resistance of the forward – biased diode is

 Below knee voltage rD is maximum.

V I CHARACTERISTIC FOR REVERSE BIAS

 Normally very small reverse

 Reverse current increases rapidly

 Breakdown is not a normal mode

 For typical silicon diode, minimum voltages are 50 V for breakdown.

COMPLETE V I CHARACTERISTIC CURVE

TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON THE DIODE

 For given value of forward voltages, current will increase as temperature is

 Remember reverse current is very small and can be neglected.

 Consider a biased PN junction. As the applied bias increases in magnitude the

 The horizontal scale in the forward-bias region has a maximum of 1 V. Therefore,

 Is = reverse saturation current

From equation #,

And at room temperature,

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