Electronics Engineering

Lab Report 03

Diode Characteristics
4TH SEMESTER

Submitted to: Engr. Ali Hassan

Session: 2019-23 Section: C

SUBMITTED BY
Sr. Data
No. Names (Roll No.) Viva Total
Presentation
1 Sulaymaan Ahmad (293413)
2 Malik Muhammad Hamza
Farooq (291362)
3 Chaudhary Saad Ahmed
(296035)
4 Malik Taimoor Khan (295640)
Objectives:
• Diode structure
• Barrier potential
• Firing potential
• Breakdown potential
• How it works in forward and reverse
• Plotting Diode working Curve.

Theory:
Diode structure:
A diode is made of small piece of semi-conductor, usually a silicon in which half is doped as p
region and half is doped as n region with a p-n junction and depletion region in between. The p
region is called anode and is connected to conductive material while n region is called anode
and is also connected to second conductive material. The general diode structure and its
schematic model is shown below:

Barrier potential:
In depletion region, there are lot of positive and negative charges on opposite side of p-n
junction. This separation of opposite charges develops electric field directed from positive to
negative. This electric field is barrier to free electrons in n region to cross this depletion region.
The potential difference of electric field across the depletion region is the amount of voltage
required to move electrons through electric field. This potential difference is called barrier
potential and is represented in volts.
The barrier potential of p-n junction depends on many factors including the type of semi-
conductor material, the amount of doping and temperature. At 25ο C, the barrier potential is
0.7V for silicon and 0.3V for Germanium.
Firing potential:
Firing potential also known as threshold or offset potential is the external potential applied on
diode at which current through diode starts to increase exponentially. Its value is fixed at
specific temperature and for specific semiconductor. For silicon, it is 0.7V and for Germanium,
its value is 0.3V. These values are actually equal to barrier potentials so when external voltage
equal to barrier potential is applied to the diode in forward biasing, the current will start to
increase exponentially.
Breakdown potential:
When external voltage is applied to diode in reverse biased, there is no flow of forward current
but there is some current due to minority charge carriers which is called reverse current.
Usually, this reverse current is very small and negligible, but this increases with increase in
reverse voltage. Ultimately, there is reverse voltage value at which reverse current increases so
drastically that it damages the whole structure of diode making it short circuit. This value of
external voltage is called beak down potential.
Working of diode in forward and reverse biasing:
To bias a diode, it is to be connected with dc source. There are two types of biasing.
1. Forward biasing
2. Reverse biasing
Forward biasing:
The diode is said to be forward biased, when anode of diode is connected with positive
terminal of battery and cathode of diode is
connected to negative terminal of battery. The
mechanism behind flow of electrons in forward
biasing is described below:
It should be noted that current will only flow in
forward bias when external potential is greater than
barrier potential. The free electrons in n region are
repelled by negative external terminal and get
enough energy to overcome the barrier potential.
These free electrons after overcoming the barrier potential have surely lose their energy and
now can be easily occupied by the holes in p region. These electrons are now in valence band in
p region. However, the positive terminal of the battery attached with the P region attracts
these free electrons, in this way a circuit is completed and current flows.

Effect of forward bias on depletion region:

 As more electrons flow into the depletion region the number of positive ions is reduced. Also,
the diffusion of holes from p region into the depletion region decreases the number of negative
ions in depletion region. This reduction in positive and negative ions in the depletion region
causes the depletion region to narrow, which resultantly increases the flow of electrons in
forward bias.
Reverse biasing:
The diode is said to be diverse biased when cathode of diode is connected with positive
terminal of battery and anode of diode is connected with negative terminal of battery.
The internal mechanism of reverse biasing is described
below:
Because opposite charges attract each other, the positive
terminal of external voltage attracts the free electrons in
the n region. This results in additional positive ions in n
region. Similarly, negative terminal of the battery supplies
electrons into the P region, as a result number of holes in P
region decreases. All this scenario results in decrease in
number of majority charge carriers in both regions of diode and the current due to majority
charge carriers cannot flow. Very small current due to minority charge carriers can flow which is
also known as leakage current. But if the external voltage reaches to a certain value called
Break down voltage, the leakage current or reverse current becomes so intense that it can burn
the whole internal structure of diode and make it short circuit.
Effect of reverse biasing on depletion region:
Due to accumulation of positive ions in n region and negative ions in p region, the width of
depletion region also increases in reversed biased. This increased barrier potential also resist in
flow of current.
Quick search:
 Quick Search
Q: Differences Between Ge and Si Diodes?
Ans:

Germanium Diode Silicone Diode

Has a barrier potential of 0.3 V Has a Barrier Potential of 0.7 V

Used mainly in Solar cells for absorbing IR
light and converting it to electricity
Can operate for longer wavelengths ranging
900nm and above
Leakage current is higher of the order of
microamperes (µA)
Used as a detector is Ultra-high and Super-
high frequency circuits.
Can operate typically between 400-1100nm
of wavelengths
Leakage current is very small of the order of
nanoamperes (nA)

Q: Characteristics of germanium and Silicone diodes in Forward and reverse biased

conditions, which is closer to short circuit in forward biased region and which is closer to
open circuit approximation in reverse biased region? How are they similar and what are their
most noticeable differences?
Ans:
Forward and Reverse Biased characteristics
❖ When anode is positive with respect to cathode, diode is said to be forward biased. with
increase of the source voltage Vs from zero value, initially diode current is zero. from Vs=0 to
cut-in voltage, the forward current is very small cut-in voltage is also known as threshold
voltage or turn-on voltage. beyond cut-in voltage, the diode current rises rapidly and diode said
to conduct.
➢ the cut in voltage for germanium (Ge) diode is about 0.3 while for silicon
(Si) diode is as about 0.7 V.
❖ When cathode is positive with respect to anode the, the diode said to be reverse biased. In
the reverse biased condition. a small reverse current leakage current, of the order of
microamperes or milliamperes flow. the leakage current is almost independent of the
reverse voltage until this voltage reach breakdown voltage at this reverse breakdown,
voltage remains almost constant but reverse current becomes quite high limited only by the
external circuit resistance.
▪ Reverse breakdown voltage for Si diode is higher than that of Ge
diode of a comparable rating.
▪ The reverse saturation current is of order nA for silicon diode while it
is of the order of µA for germanium diode.
Short circuit approximation
Ge diode is closer to short circuit approximation in the forward biased region as less
voltage is required for a steady flow of current i.e. 0.3 V.
Open Circuit approximation
Si diode is closer to an open circuit approximation in the reverse biased region as
breakdown voltage for Si diode is much higher than the breakdown voltage for Ge diode.
Similarities in Ge and Si diode

• The I-V characteristic curve for both the diodes is same in nature with differing only in
values
• Both diodes have most of the similar applications
• Both are metalloids and elemental semiconductors
Noticeable differences in Ge and Si diodes

• The primary difference is voltage required for forward biasing the diode i.e. 0.7V for Si
and 0.3V for Ge
• Leakage Current in Si is of the order of nanoamperes (nA) whereas in Ge diode leakage
current is of the order of microamperes (mA).
• Breakdown Voltage for Si diode is higher than the breakdown Voltage for Ge diode.

Q: Effect of Heat on terminal resistance of a semiconductor and why it decreases with

application of heat?
Ans: The Resistance of a semiconductor material decreases with the application of heat, this is
due to the energy gained by the free electrons present in the semiconductor material due to
application of heat and this increase in energy allows the electrons to cross the potential barrier
easily hence resistance decreases.

Conclusion
In this Lab activity we were familiarized with the concepts of diodes and their working we
studied the Characteristics of two types of diodes Ge and Si. We measured their barrier
potentials and identified the given diodes using their barrier potentials, we also used the diodes
in rectification circuits and created half and full wave rectifiers using the given diodes.
We also plotted the characteristic I-V curves for the two types of diodes at different applied
voltages in the forward and reverse biased regions.