Lecture – 2

PN Junction Diode
The PN junction diode consists of a p-region and n-region separated by a
depletion region where charge is stored. If we were to make electrical connections
at the ends of both the N-type and the P-type materials and then connect them to a
battery source, an additional energy source now exists to overcome the potential
barrier.
The effect of adding this additional energy source results in the free
electrons being able to cross the depletion region from one side to the other. The
behavior of the PN junction with regards to the potential barrier’s width produces
an asymmetrical conducting two terminal device, better known as the PN Junction
Diode.
A PN Junction Diode is one of the simplest semiconductor devices around,
and which has the electrical characteristic of passing current through itself in one
direction only. However, unlike a resistor, a diode does not behave linearly with
respect to the applied voltage. Instead, it has an exponential current-voltage (I-V)
relationship and therefore we can not describe its operation by simply using an
equation such as Ohm’s law.
If a suitable positive voltage (forward bias) is applied between the two ends
of the PN junction, it can supply free electrons and holes with the extra energy they
require to cross the junction as the width of the depletion layer around the PN
junction is decreased.
By applying a negative voltage (reverse bias) result in the free charges being
pulled away from the junction resulting in the depletion layer width being
increased. This has the effect of increasing or decreasing the effective resistance of
the junction itself allowing or blocking the flow of current through the diode’s pn-
junction.
Then the depletion layer widens with an increase in the application of a
reverse voltage and narrows with an increase in the application of a forward
voltage. This is due to the differences in the electrical properties on the two sides
of the PN junction resulting in physical changes taking place. One of the results
produces rectification as seen in the PN junction diodes static I-V (current-voltage)
characteristics. Rectification is shown by an asymmetrical current flow when the
polarity of bias voltage is altered as shown below.
 Junction Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics

But before we can use the PN junction as a practical device or as a rectifying

device we need to firstly bias the junction, that is connect a voltage potential
across it. On the voltage axis above, “Reverse Bias” refers to an external voltage
potential which increases the potential barrier. An external voltage which decreases
the potential barrier is said to act in the “Forward Bias” direction.
There are two operating regions and three possible “biasing” conditions for the
standard Junction Diode and these are:
1. Zero Bias – No external voltage potential is applied to the PN
junction diode.
2. Reverse Bias – The voltage potential is connected negative, (-ve) to
the P-type material and positive, (+ve) to the N-type material across the
diode which has the effect of Increasing the PN junction diode’s
width.
 3. Forward Bias – The voltage potential is connected positive, (+ve) to
the P-type material and negative, (-ve) to the N-type material across the
diode which has the effect of Decreasing the PN junction diodes
width.

Zero Biased Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Zero Bias condition, no external potential
energy is applied to the PN junction. However, if the diodes terminals are shorted
together, a few holes (majority carriers) in the P-type material with enough energy
to overcome the potential barrier will move across the junction against this barrier
potential. This is known as the “Forward Current” and is referenced as IF .
Likewise, holes generated in the N-type material (minority carriers), find
this situation favourable and move across the junction in the opposite direction.
This is known as the “Reverse Current” and is referenced as IR. This transfer of
electrons and holes back and forth across the PN junction is known as diffusion, as
shown below.
Zero Biased PN Junction Diode

The potential barrier that now exists discourages the diffusion of any more
majority carriers across the junction. However, the potential barrier helps minority
carriers (few free electrons in the P-region and few holes in the N-region) to drift
across the junction.
 Then an “Equilibrium” or balance will be established when the majority
carriers are equal and both moving in opposite directions, so that the net result is
zero current flowing in the circuit. When this occurs, the junction is said to be in a
state of “Dynamic Equilibrium”.
The minority carriers are constantly generated due to thermal energy so this
state of equilibrium can be broken by raising the temperature of the PN junction
causing an increase in the generation of minority carriers, thereby resulting in an
increase in leakage current but an electric current cannot flow since no circuit has
been connected to the PN junction.

Reverse Biased PN Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Reverse Bias condition, a positive voltage is
applied to the N-type material and a negative voltage is applied to the P-type
material.
The positive voltage applied to the N-type material attracts electrons towards
the positive electrode and away from the junction, while the holes in the P-type end
are also attracted away from the junction towards the negative electrode.
The net result is that the depletion layer grows wider due to a lack of
electrons and holes and presents a high impedance path, almost an insulator and a
high potential barrier is created across the junction thus preventing current from
flowing through the semiconductor material.
Increase in the Depletion Layer due to Reverse Bias

This condition represents a high resistance value to the PN junction and

practically zero current flows through the junction diode with an increase in bias
voltage. However, a very small reverse leakage current does flow through the
junction which can normally be measured in micro-amperes, (μA).
One final point, if the reverse bias voltage Vr applied to the diode is
increased to a sufficiently high enough value, it will cause the diode’s PN junction
to overheat and fail due to the avalanche effect around the junction. This may
cause the diode to become shorted and will result in the flow of maximum circuit
current, and this shown as a step downward slope in the reverse static
characteristics curve below.
Reverse Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

Sometimes this avalanche effect has practical applications in voltage

stabilising circuits where a series limiting resistor is used with the diode to limit
this reverse breakdown current to a preset maximum value thereby producing a
fixed voltage output across the diode. These types of diodes are commonly known
as Zener Diodes.
Forward Biased PN Junction Diode
When a diode is connected in a Forward Bias condition, a negative voltage
is applied to the N-type material and a positive voltage is applied to the P-type
material. If this external voltage becomes greater than the value of the potential
barrier, approx. 0.7 volts for silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium, the potential
barriers opposition will be overcome and current will start to flow.
 This is because the negative voltage pushes or repels electrons towards the
junction giving them the energy to cross over and combine with the holes being
pushed in the opposite direction towards the junction by the positive voltage. This
results in a characteristics curve of zero current flowing up to this voltage point,
called the “knee” on the static curves and then a high current flow through the
diode with little increase in the external voltage as shown below.
Forward Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

The application of a forward biasing voltage on the junction diode results in

the depletion layer becoming very thin and narrow which represents a low
impedance path through the junction thereby allowing high currents to flow. The
point at which this sudden increase in current takes place is represented on the
static I-V characteristics curve above as the “knee” point.
Reduction in the Depletion Layer due to Forward Bias
 This condition represents the low resistance path through the PN junction
allowing very large currents to flow through the diode with only a small increase in
bias voltage. The actual potential difference across the junction or diode is kept
constant by the action of the depletion layer at approximately 0.3v for germanium and
approximately 0.7v for silicon junction diodes.
Since the diode can conduct “infinite” current above this knee point as it
effectively becomes a short circuit, therefore resistors are used in series with the diode
to limit its current flow. Exceeding its maximum forward current specification causes
the device to dissipate more power in the form of heat than it was designed for
resulting in a very quick failure of the device.
We have seen above that the diode is two terminal non-linear device whose I-V
characteristic are polarity dependent as depending upon the polarity of the applied
voltage, VD the diode is either Forward Biased, VD > 0 or Reverse Biased, VD < 0.
Either way we can model these current-voltage characteristics for both an ideal diode
and for a real silicon diode as shown:

Ideal and Real Characteristics

 Zener Diode
However, the Zener Diode or “Breakdown Diode”, as they are sometimes
referred too, are basically the same as the standard PN junction diode except that
they are specially designed to have a low and specified Reverse Breakdown
Voltage which takes advantage of any reverse voltage applied to it.
In the forward-biased direction, that is Anode is more positive with respect
to its Cathode, a Zener diode behaves like a normal junction diode when the
forward voltage VF across the diode exceeds 0.7 volts (silicon) causing the Zener
diode to conduct. The forward current flowing through the conducting diode is at
its maximum determined only by the connected load. Thus, in the forward-bias
direction, the Zener behaves like a regular diode within its specified current and/or
power limits and as such, the forward characteristics of a Zener diode is generally
of no interest.
However, unlike a conventional diode that blocks any flow of current
through itself when reverse biased, that is the Cathode becomes more positive than
the Anode, as soon as the reverse voltage reaches a pre-determined value, the
Zener diode begins to conduct in the reverse direction.
 Since a Zener diode is designed to work in the reverse breakdown region of
its characteristic curve, they have a fixed breakdown voltage, V Z value which is
determined during manufacture. As the reverse voltage across the Zener diode
increases from 0 volts to its Zener breakdown voltage, a small reverse or leakage
current will flow through the diode which remains fairly constant as the reverse
voltage increases.
Once the reverse voltage applied across the Zener diode exceeds the rated
voltage of the device, a process called Zener Breakdown occurs in the
semiconductor depletion layer and a current starts to flow through the diode to
limit this increase in voltage.
The current now flowing through the Zener diode increases dramatically to
its maximum circuit value (which is usually limited by a series resistor). Once
Zener breakdown occurs, the voltage drop across the diode remains fairly constant
even though the Zener current, IZ through it can vary considerably. The voltage
point at which the voltage across the Zener diode becomes stable is called the
“Zener voltage”, (VZ). For Zener diodes this breakdown voltage value can range
from a few volts up to a few hundred volts.
The point at which the Zener voltage triggers the current to flow through the
diode can be very accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping
stage of the diodes semiconductor construction giving the diode a specific Zener
breakdown voltage, (VZ) for example, 4.3V or 7.5V. This Zener breakdown
voltage on the I-V curve is almost a vertical straight line.

Zener Diode I-V Characteristics

 The Zener Diode is used in its “reverse bias” or reverse breakdown mode,
i.e. the diodes anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics
curve above, we can see that the Zener diode has a region in its reverse bias
characteristics of almost a constant negative voltage regardless of the value of the
current flowing through the diode.
This voltage remains almost constant even with large changes in current
providing the Zener diodes current remains between the breakdown
current IZ(min) and its maximum current rating IZ(max).
This ability of the Zener diode to control itself can be used to great effect to
regulate or stabilize a voltage source against supply or load variations. The fact
that the voltage across the diode in the breakdown region is almost constant turns
out to be an important characteristic of the Zener diode as it can be used in the
simplest types of voltage regulator applications.
The function of a voltage regulator is to provide a constant output voltage to
a load connected in parallel with it in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage or
variations in the load current. A Zener diode will continue to regulate its voltage
until the diodes holding current falls below the minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse
breakdown region.
The Zener Diode Regulator
Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilized voltage output with low
ripple under varying load current conditions. By passing a small current through
the diode from a voltage source, via a suitable current limiting resistor (RS), the
Zener diode will conduct sufficient current to maintain a voltage drop of Vout.
We remember that the DC output voltage from the half or full-wave
rectifiers contains ripple superimposed onto the DC voltage and that as the load
value changes so to does the average output voltage. By connecting a simple Zener
stabilizer circuit as shown below across the output of the rectifier, a more stable
output voltage can be produced.
Zener Diode Regulator

Resistor, RS is connected in series with the Zener diode to limit the current
flow through the diode with the voltage source, VS being connected across the
combination. The stabilized output voltage Vout is taken from across the Zener
diode.
The Zener diode is connected with its cathode terminal connected to the
positive rail of the DC supply so it is reverse biased and will be operating in its
breakdown condition. Resistor RS is selected so to limit the maximum current
flowing in the circuit.
With no load connected to the circuit, the load current will be zero, (IL = 0),
and all the circuit current passes through the Zener diode which in turn dissipates
its maximum power.
Also, a small value of the series resistor RS will result in a greater diode
current when the load resistance RL is connected and large as this will increase the
power dissipation requirement of the diode so care must be taken when selecting
the appropriate value of series resistance so that the Zener’s maximum power
rating is not exceeded under this no-load or high-impedance condition.
The load is connected in parallel with the Zener diode, so the voltage
across RL is always the same as the Zener voltage, (VR = VZ).
There is a minimum Zener current for which the stabilization of the voltage
is effective and the Zener current must stay above this value operating under load
within its breakdown region at all times. The upper limit of current is of course
depended upon the power rating of the device. The supply voltage VS must be
greater than VZ.
One small problem with Zener diode stabilizer circuits is that the diode can
sometimes generate electrical noise on top of the DC supply as it tries to stabilize
the voltage. Normally this is not a problem for most applications but the addition
of a large value decoupling capacitor across the Zener’s output may be required to
give additional smoothing.