LDR Topic

1
St.John Bosco Faith Training Center. Inc
LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR
SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

INTRODUCTION
• A light dependant resistor(LDR) or a photoresistor or
photocell is a light controlled variable resistor. Its
resistance changes with the light intensity that falls on
it.
• The resistance of a photoresistor decreases with
increasing incident light intensity. In other words, it
2 exhibits photoconductivity.
• The resistance range and sensitivity of a photoresistor
can substantially differ among dissimilar devices.
…contd.
20/09/2023
SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon
3
A typical LDR Circuit symbol of LDR
• They are made up of semiconductor materials having

high resistance.
• Photocells or LDRs are non linear devices. There
sensitivity varies with the wavelength of light incident
on them.
• Some photocells might not at all response to a certain
range of wavelengths.
WORKING OF LDR
4
 A LDR works on the principle of photoconductivity.

 Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which the
materials conductivity reduces when light is absorbed by the
material.
 When light falls i.e. when the photons fall on the device, the
electrons in the valence band of the semiconductor material
are excited to the conduction band.
 These photons in the incident light should have energy greater
than the band gap of the semiconductor material to make the
electrons jump from the valence band to the conduction band.
…contd.

 When light having enough energy is incident on the
5
device, more and more electrons are excited to the
conduction band which results in large number of charge
carriers.
 The result of this process is more and more current starts
flowing and hence it is said that the resistance of the
device has decreased.

6
TYPES OF LDR
There are two types of photocells:
1) Intrinsic: These are pure semiconductor materials such as
silicon or germanium. Electrons get excited from valence
band to conduction band when photons of enough energy
falls on it and number of charge carriers increases.
2) Extrinsic: These are semiconductor materials doped with
impurities which are called as dopants. These dopants create
new energy bands above the valence band which are filled
with electrons. Hence this reduces the band gap and less
energy is required in exciting them. Extrinsic photo resistors
are generally used for long wavelengths.

7 CHARACTERISTICS OF LDR
 LDRs are light dependent devices whose resistance
decreases when light falls on them and increases in the
dark.
 When a light dependent resistor is kept in dark, its
resistance is very high. This resistance is called as
dark resistance.
 It can be as high as 1012 Ω.
 If the device is allowed to absorb light its resistance will
decrease drastically.
SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon …contd.

20/09/2023
 If a constant voltage is applied to it and intensity of light is
increased
8 the current starts increasing.
 When light is incident on a photocell it usually takes about 8

to 12ms for the change in resistance to take place, while it
takes seconds for the resistance to rise back again to its initial
value after removal of light. This phenomenon is called
as resistance recovery rate.
…contd.
 LDRs are less sensitive than photo diodes and photo transistor.
 A9
photodiode and a photocell (LDR) are not the same, a photodiode
is a p-n junction semiconductor device that converts light to
electricity, whereas a photocell is a passive device, there is no p-n
junction nor it converts light to electricity.
 If the light intensity is kept constant, the resistance may still vary
significantly due to temperature changes, so they are sensitive to
temperature changes as well.
 Extrinsic light dependent resistors are generally designed for longer
wavelengths of light, with a tendency towards the infrared (IR).
When working in the IR range, care must be taken to avoid heat
build-up, which could affect measurements by changing the
resistance of the device due to thermal effects.

10
CONSTRUCTION OF LDR
 Modern light dependent resistors are made of lead sulphide,
lead selenide, indium antimonide and most commonly
cadmium sulphide (CdS) and cadmium selenide.
 A light sensitive material is deposited on an insulating
substrate such as ceramic.
 The material is deposited in zigzag pattern in order to obtain
the desired resistance and power rating.
 This zigzag area separates the metal deposited areas into two
regions. Then the ohmic contacts are made on the either
sides of the area.
…contd.
 The resistance of these ohmic contacts should be as less as
11 possible to make sure that the resistance mainly changes
due to the effect of light only.
 Highly purified cadmium sulphide powder and inert
binding materials are mixed. This mixture is then pressed
and sintered.
 The disc is then mounted in a glass envelope or
encapsulated in transparent plastic to prevent surface
contamination.

ADVANTAGES:
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 LDRs are cheap and are readily available in many sizes

and shapes.
 Practical LDRs are available in a variety of sizes and
package styles, the most popular size having a face
diameter of roughly 10 mm.
 They need very small power and voltage for its operation.
DISADVANTAGES
:
 Highly inaccurate with a response time of about tens or
hundreds of milliseconds.
13 APPLICATIONS OF LDR
1. Light sensor: The LED lights up when the intensity of the
light reaching the LDR resistor is sufficient.
Example is Automatic Emergency Light: It senses
darkness/night and turns ON automatically. Similarly it
senses day light and turns OFF automatically. Series of
LEDs are connected.
20/09/2023
14

2. Audio Compressor: Audio compressors are devices which reduce the
gain of the audio amplifier when the amplitude of the signal is above a set
15 This is done to amplify soft sounds while preventing the loud sounds
value.
from clipping. Some compressors use an LDR and a small lamp (LED)
connected to the signal source to create changes in signal gain.
3. Fire Alarm: The alarm works by sensing the smoke produced during
fire. When there is no smoke the light from the bulb will be directly falling
on the LDR. The LDR resistance will be low and so the voltage across it
(below 0.7 V). The transistor will be OFF and nothing happens. When
there is sufficient smoke to mask the light from falling on LDR, the LDR
resistance increases and so do the voltage across it. The transistor will
switch ON which is connected to a tone player to play a music.
4. Automatic Street Light: It automatically switches ON when the night

falls and turns OFF when the sun rises.
20/09/2023
REFERENCE
16
S
 http://www.circuitstoday.com/ldr-light-dependent-
resistors
 http://electrical4u.com/light-dependent-resistor-ldr-
working-principle-of-ldr/
 http://www.resistorguide.com/photoresistor/
 https://www.kitronik.co.uk/pdf/How_an_LDR_works.pdf
20/09/2023

17
THANK YOU 

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St.John Bosco Faith Training Center. Inc

LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

A typical LDR Circuit symbol of LDR

• They are made up of semiconductor materials having

 A LDR works on the principle of photoconductivity.

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon …contd.

 When light is incident on a photocell it usually takes about 8

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

 LDRs are cheap and are readily available in many sizes

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

4. Automatic Street Light: It automatically switches ON when the night

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon

SJBFTC.INC. Prepared by: Juanito P.Banzon 20/09/2023

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