Unit 5.

Semiconductor diode [4]

5.1 PN junction diode
Introduction to PN Junction Diode, basic construction, forward and
reverse characteristics.
Types of Diode and their application in Electric and Electronic Circuit.
Checking of Diode using Ohm Meter.
5.2 Zener diode
Basic construction and operation of a Zener diode.
Forward and reverse bias Characteristics of a Zener diode.
Application of Zener Diode as a Voltage Regulator.
P-N Junction Diode : It is two terminal devices consisting of a P-N junction formed either in Ge or Si
crystal. It is circuit symbol is shown in fig. (a). The P and N type regions are referred to as anode and
cathode respectively. In figure (b) arrowhead indicates the conventional direction of current flow when
forwardbiased. It is the same direction in which hole flow takes place.
Working

A P-N junction diode is a one way device offering low resistance when forwardbiased and behaving
almost as an insulator when reverse biased. Hence such diodes are mostly used as rectifiers for
converting alternating current into direct current.
V/I Characteristic
Fig shows the voltage current characteristics for a low power P-Njunction diode.

Forward characteristic
When the diode is forward biased and applied voltage is increased from zero hardly any current flows
through the device in the beginning. It is so because the external voltage is being opposed by the
internal barrier voltage VB whose value is 0.7 V for Si and 0.3 V for Ge. As soon as VB is neutralized,
current through the diode increases rapidly with increasing applied battery voltage. It is found that as
little a voltage as 1.0 V produces a forward current of about 50 mA.
Reverse characteristic
When the diode is reverse biased majority carriers are blocked and only a small current (due to
minority carriers) flows through the diode. As the reverse voltage is increased from zero, the reverse
current very quickly reaches its maximum or saturation value I0 which is also known as leakage
current. It is of order of nano ampers (nA) for Si and micro ampers (µA) for Ge. As seen from fig.2
reverse voltage VBR, the leakage current when suddenly and sharply increases, the curve indicating
zero resistance at this point.
Types of Diode and their application in Electric and Electronic Circuit: The diode is the most used
semiconductor device in electronics circuits. It is a two-terminal device that allows the flow of current in
one direction. They are mostly made up of silicon but germanium is also used. Usually, they are used for
rectification. But there are different properties & characteristics of diodes which can be used for
different application.
Rectifier Diode
A rectifier diode is a type of P-N junction diode, whose P-N junction area is very large. This results in
high capacitance in reverse direction. It has low switching speed.

This is the most common and most used type of a diode. These types of diodes can handle heavy current
and are used in converting AC into DC (Rectification).
Schottky Diode
The Schottky diode, named after a German physicist Walter H. Schottky, is a type of diode
which consists of a small junction between an N-type semiconductor and a metal. It has no P-N
junction.
The plus point of the Schottky diode is that it has very low forward voltage drop and fast switching. As
there is no capacitive junction (P-N junction), the Schottky diode switching speed is very fast.

The limitation of Schottky diode is that it has low reverse breakdown voltage and high reverse leakage
current.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
The light emitting diode is also a type of P-N junction diode that emits light in the forward bias
configuration.
LED is made up of a direct-band semiconductor. When the charge carriers (electrons) cross the barrier
and recombine with electron holes on the other side, they emit photon particles (light), while the color of
the light depends on the energy gap of the semiconductor.LED converts electrical energy into light
energy.
Photodiode
The photodiode is a type of P-N junction diode that converts the light energy into electrical current. Its
operation is opposite to that of an LED.

Every semiconductor diode is affected by optical charge carriers. It is why they are packaged in a light
blocking material.
In the photodiode, there is a special opening that allows the light to enter its sensitive part.
When the light (Photon particles) strikes the PN junction, it creates an electron-hole pair. These electron
and hole flow out as electrical current. To increase its efficiency, a PIN junction diode is used.
A photodiode is used in reverse bias and they can be used in solar cells.
Laser Diode
A laser diode is similar to LED because it converts electrical energy into light energy. But unlike LED,
Laser diode produces coherent light.

The laser diode consists of a PIN junction, where electron and holes combine together in the intrinsic (I)
region. when they combine, it generates a laser beam.
Laser diodes are used in optical communication, laser pointer, CD drives and laser printer etc.
Tunnel Diode
A tunnel diode is a heavily doped P-N junction diode. It works on the principle of the tunneling effect.
Due to heavy doping concentration, the junction barrier becomes very thin. This allows the electron to
easily escape through the barrier. This phenomenon is known as tunneling effect.
The Tunnel diode has a region in its VI curve where the current decreases as the voltage increases. This
region is known as the negative resistance region. The tunnel diode operates in this region in different
applications such as an oscillator and a microwave amplifier.
The symbol with VI characteristic curve of tunnel diode is given below:

The tunnel diode also conducts current in reverse direction & it is a fast switching device.
Checking of Diode using Ohm Meter:
 To check an ordinary silicon diode using a digital multi-meter, put the multi-meter selector
switch in the diode check mode. Connect the positive lead of multi-meter to the anode and
negative lead to cathode of the diode.
 If multi-meter displays a voltage between 0.6 to 0.7, we can assume that the diode is healthy.
This is the test for checking the forward conduction mode of diode.
 The displayed value is actually the potential barrier of the silicon diode and its value ranges
from 0.6 to 0.7 volts depending on the temperature.
 Now connect the positive lead of multi-meter to the cathode and negative lead to the anode. If the
multi-meter shows an infinite reading (over range), we can assume that the diode is healthy.
 This is the test for checking the reverse blocking mode of the diode.

Zener diode: A zener diode is a p-n junction semiconductor device designed to operate in the reverse
breakdown region. The breakdown voltage of a zener diode is carefully set by controlling the doping
level during manufacture. Zener diodes are the basic building blocks of electronic circuits. They are
widely used in all kinds of electronic equipments. Zener diodes are mainly used to protect electronic
circuits from over voltage.
Zener diode is heavily doped than the normal p-n junction diode. Hence, it has very thin depletion
region. Therefore, zener diodes allow more electric current than the normal p-n junction diodes.
Zener diode allows electric current in forward direction like a normal diode but also allows electric
current in the reverse direction if the applied reverse voltage is greater than the zener voltage. Zener
diode is always connected in reverse direction because it is specifically designed to work in reverse
direction.
Zener breakdown
The zener breakdown occurs in heavily doped p-n junction diodes because of their narrow depletion
region. When reverse biased voltage applied to the diode is increased, the narrow depletion region
generates strong electric field.
When reverse biased voltage applied to the diode reaches close to zener voltage, the electric field in the
depletion region is strong enough to pull electrons from their valence band. The valence electrons which
gains sufficient energy from the strong electric field of depletion region will breaks bonding with the
parent atom. The valance electrons which break bonding with parent atom will become free electrons.
These free electrons carry electric current from one place to another place. At zener breakdown region, a
small increase in voltage will rapidly increases the electric current.
 Zener breakdown occurs at low reverse voltage whereas avalanche breakdown occurs at high
reverse voltage.
 Zener breakdown occurs in zener diodes because they have very thin depletion region.
 Breakdown region is the normal operating region for a zener diode.
 Zener breakdown occurs in zener diodes with zener voltage (Vz) less than 6V.
Symbol of zener diode
The symbol of zener diode is shown in below figure. Zener diode consists of two terminals: cathode and
anode.

In zener diode, electric current flows from both anode to cathode and cathode to anode.
The symbol of zener diode is similar to the normal p-n junction diode, but with bend edges on the
vertical bar.
VI characteristics of zener diode
The VI characteristics of a zener diode is shown in the below figure. When forward biased voltage is
applied to the zener diode, it works like a normal diode. However, when reverse biased voltage is
applied to the zener diode, it works in different manner.
When reverse biased voltage is applied to a zener diode, it allows only a small amount of
leakage current until the voltage is less than zener voltage. When reverse biased voltage applied
to the zener diode reaches zener voltage, it starts allowing large amount of electric current. At
this point, a small increase in reverse voltage will rapidly increase the electric current. Because
of this sudden rise in electric current, breakdown occurs called zener breakdown. The zener
breakdown voltage of the zener diode is depends on the amount of doping applied. If the diode
is heavily doped, zener breakdown occurs at low reverse voltages. On the other hand, if the
diode is lightly doped, the zener breakdown occurs at high reverse voltages. Zener diodes are
available with zener voltages in the range of 1.8V to 400V.
Advantages of zener diode
 Power dissipation capacity is very high
 High accuracy
 Small size
 Low cost
Applications of zener diode
 It is normally used as voltage reference
 Zener diodes are used in voltage stabilizers or shunt regulators.
 Zener diodes are used in switching operations
 Zener diodes are used in clipping and clamping circuits.
 Zener diodes are used in various protection circuits
Application of Zener diode as voltage regulator:
A voltage regulator is an electronic circuit that provides a stable DC voltage independent of the load
current, temperature and AC line voltage variations. A Zener diode of break down voltage VZ is reverse
connected to an input voltage source VI across a load resistance RL and a series resistor RS. The voltage
across the zener will remain steady at its break down voltage VZ for all the values of zener current IZ as
long as the current remains in the break down region. Hence a regulated DC output voltage Vo =VZ is
obtained across RL, whenever the input voltage remains within a minimum and maximum voltage.
There are two type of regulations:
RS
I IL
IZ
Vin
VZ Vout R

Line Regulation: In this type of regulation, series resistance and load resistance are fixed, only input
voltage is changing. Output voltage remains the same as long as the input voltage is maintained above a
minimum value.
Suppose R is kept fixed but supply voltage Vin is increased slightly. It will increase I. This increase in I
will be absorbed by the zener diode without affecting IL. The increase in Vin will be dropped across R
thereby keeping Vout constant. Conversely, if supply voltage Vin falls, the diode takes a smaller current
and voltage drop across R is reduced, thus again keeping Vout constant. Hence when Vin changes, I and
IR droop change in such a way as to keep Vout (= VZ) constant.

Load Regulation: In this type of regulation, input voltage is fixed and the load resistance is varying.
Output volt remains same, as long as the load resistance is maintained above a minimum value.
In this case, Vin is fixed but IL is changed. When IL is increases, diode current IZ decreases thereby
keeping I and hence IR drop constant. In this way, Vout remains unaffected.
It will be seen under all conditions, Vout = Vz.
Hence, Vin = IR + Vout .