MAULANA AZAD

NATIONALINSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY,
BHOPAL
DEPARTMENTOF PHYSICS

B.Tech. I&I Sem

EXPERIMENT:
STUDY OF DIODE
AIM:
Tostudy the forwardand reverse
characteristies ofSi and Ge junction diode.
THEORY:
SemiconductorP-N junction is
practicallyunidirectional, devicehaving more
conductionin one directionand
conduction in opposite
negligible direction.
When P-N
junction is formed, potentialbarrier is developedacrossthe
junctionthat opposesthe furthertransitionof
electrons and holes acrossthe
junction.Now ifthe external
potentialdifference is applied acrossthe junction
so that the P end is connected to
the tve of external
supply,it willoppose the
junction potentialbarrier and when external P.D.
becomes easy for electrons just balances the P.D.,now it
and holesto move towardsthe
the junction.Thus with further junction and cross
increase in external P.D. more and more
electrons
and holeswillcrossthe junction and contribute towardsexternal
current in the circuit.Hence diode conducts and it
is referredtoas Forward
bias.

ofexternal supplyis reversedsothat P

Ifthe polarity end is connected to the
-
veofexternal supply,it willassistthe junction differenceand width
potential
ofdepletionlayerwillfurtherincrease making itstillforelectronsand holes to
crossthe junction.
Hence diodewill notconductand it is referredas Reverse
bias.

Howeverdue tominoritycarries verysmall currentofthe orderoffew uA is

observedwhen diode is Reverse Bias. But as compared to forward current
which is ofthe orderoffewmA practicallywe can neglect the neglect the
reversecurrentand p-njunctiondiodemay be treatedas unidirectional device.

Semiconductor used forthe manufacturing ofp-n junction diode may be Si

andGe.The basic differencebetweenSi and Ge is the energyband gap is 1.21
eV forSi and 0.72eV forGe at Both Si
room temperature. and Ge diodes are

commerciallyavailable.

A number of
differencesbetween these twotypesare relevant in design. A
note worthy featureof l-V characteristics is that thereexistcut in or threshold
voltageVt the currentrises veryrapidly.It is found that Vt is approximately
0.2 V forGe and O.6V for Si. Note that the cut-involtageforSi diodeis offset
to the cut-in voltageforGe. The reason forthis
about 0.4 V with respect
iffound in part,in the fact that the reversesaturationcurrent in Ge
difference
diodeis normally largerby a factor about 100,then the reverse saturation
of
of
currentin a Si diode comparable ratings.

STUDY OF DIODE
PROCEDURE:

(A)FORWARD CHARACTERISTICS:
connectionas shown
1. Make (A)
figure in

2. Keep meter switchesas under

V and Ammeter=10mA
Voltmeter=|
of 0.I V from 0 and note IF(forward
3.Gradually increase VF in steps
current).1Tabulate the readings.

(B)REVERSE CHARACTERISTICS:
.Makeconnectionas shown in figure(B)
Keep meter switchesas under
Voltmeter=10Vand Ammeter= 100 uA
in stepsof V and measure diode current.
Gradually increase VR I
4. Plotthe graph between VR and IR

CIRCUITDIAGRAM:
FORWARD BIAS
R

mA
W
(0-10mA)
V
0-1
VF

FIGURE(A)

REVERSE BIAS

IR
R
M
100 LA

0-10V
VR

FIGURE(B)

OBSERVATIONS:
a) LeastCount ofAmmeters

b) Least Count of Voltmeters

V
..mA HA
V

STUDY OF DIODE
 TABLE1:FORWARD CHARACTERISTICSs
S.No. VVolts) 1(mA)

TABLE2:REVERSECHARACTERISTICS
.No. Ve Volts) Ie(A)

RepeatprocessA and B for

diode D2
DI--- Germanium diode
D2-Silicon Diode

RESULTSAND CONCLUSION:
ofdiode it is observedthat,diodeconducts,when itis
From I-Vcharacteristics
forwardvoltage.However thereis cut-in
forwardbias.Currentincreases rapidlywith
below
voltage which thereis no conduction. In reverse
bias,reversesaturationcurrent
ofdiodeis verysmall,ofthe orderof fewmicroamperes.
The diodecan be used asa unidirectionaldevicewhich findsimportantapplication as
It from the comparisonsofV-IcharacteristicsofSi and Ge that
rectifier.is observed
the cut-involtage
forthe Ge diode is smallerthan cut-in Si diode and forward current
forGe diodeis largerforsame forward voltage.
Reversesaturationcurrent in Ge diode is also higherthan the reverse saturation
current in Si diode forcomparable range.

IFmA)
Ge

VR (Vols)
0.2 0.6
Ge VFVolts)

IR(4A)

VICharacteristics
ofa Diode

STUDYOF DIODE