EE 210 Lab Exercise #7:

Diode Characterization

NO LAB REPORT is required for this Laboratory Exercise. The

instructor will evaluate your Laboratory work and your annotations.

Introduction

Diodes

The nonlinear characteristics of diodes are used extensively in the design of digital and analog
circuits. The terminal current–voltage (I–V) characteristic of a diode is described by Schockley’s
equation and is given by,

q VD
( − 1)
ID = Is e nKT

where ID is the diode current, VD is the diode voltage, IS is the diode saturation current, n is the
ideality factor, k is Boltzmann’s constant, and T is the absolute temperature. Performing circuit
analysis using Schockley’s equation results in solutions that require numerical iteration (i.e. –
PSPICE). In order to avoid the use of numerical techniques, simplified equivalent circuit models
are used to linearize circuits that contain diodes. The two most common equivalent circuit models
are the ideal diode model and the ideal diode plus battery model. The ideal diode model assumes
that there is no voltage drop across the diode in the ON state, whereas, the ideal diode plus battery
model assumes that the voltage drop across the diode in the ON state is equal to the turn-on
voltage of the diode (approximately 0.7 V for a silicon diode). The ideal diode model is sufficient
for the analysis of power electronic circuits that contain input voltages that exceed hundreds of
volts, however, the more accurate ideal diode plus battery model is used for small signal circuit
analysis.

Exercise 1: Diode I-V Characteristics using x -y Mode

The x-y mode of the oscilloscope is used to determine the I-V characteristics of a diode with the
circuit shown in Fig. 1. In the x-y mode, the voltage appearing across the diode is applied to the
horizontal input of the oscilloscope and the voltage appearing across a current sampling resistor,
R, is applied to the vertical input of the oscilloscope. In this configuration, the current through
the series combination of the resistor and diode is proportional to the voltage across the sampling
resistor. Therefore, for a current sampling resistor of R = 100Ohm, the vertical voltage sensitivity of
the oscilloscope display (V/div) is automatically converted to mA/div.

EE 210 – Laboratory Exercise #7 page 1

Exercise 1: Procedure

1. Calibrate the waveform generator for a 8Vp-p 1 kHz triangular wave with NO DC OFFSET
and construct the circuit given in Figure 1. Notice that the node between the diode and the
100Ohm resistor is grounded. DO NOT GROUND THE OUTER CONDUCTOR OF THE
WAVEFORM GENERATOR (BLACK WIRE) - THIS WILL SHORT OUT THE
RESISTOR! Therefore, the diode voltage measurement does not include the voltage dropped
across the resistor (dependent on current) and only considers the voltage drop across the diode.
In order to display the correct polarity of the current, you must have Channel 2 of the
oscilloscope in the invert mode.

2. Place Scope in the x-y mode by pressing the appropriate button on the front panel of the
oscilloscope.

3. Measure the I-V characteristic of a small signal diode (D1N4148) and an LED, making sure
that the V/DIV of each channel is set to clearly display the curve. Set the horizontal and
vertical cursors to determine the turn-on voltage (the point where 1mA of current flows) of
each device and draw both I-V characteristics including the turn-on voltages.

Figure 1: Circuit for measuring the I-V characteristic of diodes.

EE 210 – Laboratory Exercise #7 page 2

Exercise 2: LED Display Circuit

In this exercise a simple volume display circuit is constructed using small signal diodes and LEDs.
The LEDs will light up in order as the input voltage is increased from 0 V to 5 V. The separation
between the LED turn on voltages can be improved by using Zener diodes instead of small signal
diodes.

Exercise 2: Procedure

1. Determine the resistor values R1, R2, R3, and R4 given in Figure 2 that will result in 5 mA of
current through each LED when the input voltage is equal to 5 V. For this calculation, assume
that the turn on voltages for the small signal diodes and LEDs are 0.7 V and 1.8 V,
respectively.

2. Build the volume display circuit shown in Figure 2 using small signal diodes and LEDs.
Beginning with a 1 Vp-p sinusoidal input voltage at a frequency of 1 kHz, increase the
amplitude of the input voltage until each LED turns on. Record the value of input voltage at
which diodes L1, L2, L3, and L4 turn on.

3. Lower the frequency of the input signal (between 1 Hz and 10 Hz works well) and explain what
occurs. Comment on why the LED’s shouldn’t blink for an audio input that ranges from 0-
20kHz (the typical frequency range of music).

Figure 2: Volume display circuit implemented using small signal diodes and LEDs.

EE 210 – Laboratory Exercise #7 page 3