NOTES 1 ( ref: https://basicelectronicsguide.blogspot.

com/2019/01/diode-
switch.html)

Quick Review of Diodes

By Syeda Amna Ahmed - June 15, 2012

INTRODUCTION:

A diode is simply a pn junction. one side of a diode is doped with p-type

impurity and the other with n-type impurity.

CIRCUIT SYMBOL:

fig 1 Diode Circuit Symbol

FLOW OF CURRENT:

the diode symbol looks like an arrow which shows the direction of current in
the circuit. i.e. the current flows from +ve to -ve direction.

OPERATION:

Fig 2
 Fig 3 PN-Junction before diffusion

Fig 4 PN-Junction After Diffusion

Fig 4 shows the pn-juncton in equilibrium. At the equilibrium the negative

charges in the depleton region (due to potential barrier see fig 4) repels the
remaining charges for further diffusion, similarly, positive charges or holes
opposes for further diffusion. So at equilibrium the depletion region acts as a
potential barrier and hence no further movement of charges.

MODES OF OPERATION:
When we apply forward bias, the equilibrium disturbs and the potential
barriers reduces and starts conducting the current if the applied potential is
greater than the barrier potential.

1. Forward Bias

Applying positive potential at p-type and negative potential at n-type.

Fig 5 Forward Bias

The application of positive potential V will pressure electrons in the n-

type semiconductor and holes in the p-type semiconductor to
recombine with the ions near the boundary and reduce the width of the
 depletion region. The width of the depletion region decreases as the
applied bias voltage increase. The small potential barrier will never
diminish, so there is a potential drop called CUT IN VOLTAGE.

For Si diode it is 0.7V. For Diode conduction V>0.7V.

2. Reverse Bias

Applying positive potential at p-type and negative potential at n-type.

Fig 6 Reverse bias

For an ideal diode, in reverse bias condition no current flows through it,
and diode behaves as an ideal insulator. But this is not true for a
practical diode. The current that flows under reverse bias condition is
called REVERSE SATURATION CURRENT.

DIODE CURRENT UNDER FORWARD BIAS:

I=Current through diode

=Reverse saturation current

V=Applied voltage

=material parameter

=Voltage equivalent of temperature

PROS & CONS:

 • It is a non-linear device because its IV characteristic curve is non-linear
• Can conduct current only in 1 direction, that quality make them helpful
in rectification applications
• The higher the junction temperature greater will be the saturation
current

APPLICATIONS:

As a beginner, you might not aware of the usefulness of this tiny, low cost
semiconductor device. Diode is a passive two terminal device. The
characteristic of diode is to flow current only in one direction. There are
numerous applications of diode, each of which utilizes the characteristic
property of flowing current in one direction.

(1) Half Wave Rectification Circuit

By Syeda Amna Ahmed - June 25, 2012

Rectification is the process of converting an AC signal into a DC. It is the

simplest application of diode. Many of electronic devices are powered by
DC. So, there is a great need of DC power source. These recifiers are
operated from AC supply from grid. It is a part of power supply circuits.

A half wave rectifier converts only one half of input signal to DC. For the
silicon diode the input signal must be greater than 0.7V, otherwise the diode
will remain reverse biased.

Consider a sinusoidal waveform (AC current) whose average value is zero.

Rectifier circuit is capable of converting this waveform into unidirectional
waveform. It means rectified current is unidirectional and has nonzero average
value.

The following circuit shows a half wave rectifier.

 Fig 1 Half Wave Rectifier

Fig 2 Output & Input

As shown above a half wave rectifier has a diode in series with a load resistor

During positive half cycle or in the interval 0-->T/2 this conducting while it is
non conducting during the rest of the half cycle. So only positive half of the
signal appear at the output while negative half clipped off.

For an ideal diode Vp(out) = Vp(in)

For a practical diode consider the diode drop

Vp(out) = Vp(in) - 0.7

AVERAGE DC VALUE:

The DC value of the signal is same as the average value. DC value of the
output can be calculated by simple integration (area under the curve).

V(t)=Vp*Sinwt
After integrating

VDC = 0.318*Vp

Output DC voltage will be 31.8% of the peak value.

RMS VALUE:

VRMS=0.707*Vp

You have seen, the negative half cycle wastes completely because diode is
turned off. For better results we prefer full wave rectifier, which comprises of 4
diodes (bridge configuration)

(2) Full Wave Rectifier | Bridge Rectifier With

Smoothening Capacitor
By Syeda Amna Ahmed - December 22, 2018

In half wave rectification circuit, you have seen, negative half cycle wastes. In this circuit, we
use bridge rectifier configuration to obtain full wave at the output.

During positive half cycle, diode D is forward biased. The current flows through D then
2 2

load resistor and finally through D .Hence positive half cycle appears at the output.
3

During negative half cycle, diode D is forward biased. Current flows from D then
1 1

load resistor and finally through D . Hence negative half cycle also rectifies and appears at
4

the output.
 Figure 1 The Bridge Rectifier

Figure 2 Output of bridge rectifier

We are considering practical diodes, peak output voltage (V P (out) ) is given by

VP (out) =V P (in) -0.7

Average DC Value:

V = 0.636 V
DC P

It means the output DC is 63.6% of the peak value.

VRMS = 0.707*V P

Adding A Smoothening Capacitor:

You have seen the above figure, the output DC is pulsating that is not smooth. It is obviously
undesirable in most cases. Adding a capacitor of suitable value is used to smooth the output at
load resistor.
The capacitor charges to peak value and discharges between peaks. The rate at which capacitor
discharges is exponential. To minimize the ripples or pulses in the DC we need to choose a proper
capacitance value. Now it's time to evaluate the equation.
 Figure 3 The Bridge Rectifier With Smoothening Capacitor

Figure 4 Output of bridge rectifier. Less ripples, but still needs some improvements
(capacitance value 50uF)

Figure 5 Output of bridge rectifier The result is better than above (capacitance value 500uF)

V = peak voltage
P

V = ripple voltage
r

T = time period
R = load resistor
C = Smoothing capacitor
At t= T >> V = V - V
o P r

Apply Taylor series and expand e -t/RC

Neglecting higher powers we get

Set V r

With the help of the above equation we can get the value of capacitor.

(3)Diode As A Switch:
Have a closer look at diode symbol. It represents an arrow, which shows the direction of
current. It allows current to flow from anode to cathode. As you know, it is a voltage
controlled two terminal device. It has characteristics of a switch. In one direction it allows
current to flow, while in other direction it blocks the current. In other words, during forward
biased conditions, diode has ideally zero resistance. It behaves as a closed switch. While
during reverse biased it behaves as an open switch. Diodes use in switching applications are
also known as 'signal diodes’.

Figure 1 Diode as a switch. Practical veraua ideal diodes

Apply voltage positive V at anode. When anode is more positive than anode, it behaves as a
closed switch. Input is directly coupled to the output. And hence current flows from positive
to negative terminals.

Now apply positive voltage at cathode. See figure 1. It means cathode is at greater potential
than anode. In this situation the diode acts as an open switch between input and output
terminals. Consequently no current flows through the diode.

• Signal diodes are common in mixing circuits (mixers)

• Logic gates can also be implemented with the help of switching diodes.