Experiment 3

V-I Characteristics of diodes

Introduction
The objective of this experiment is to study the V-I characteristics of different types of diodes,
namely, a) PN junction diode, c) Light Emitting Diode (LED) and, b) Zener diode.

Theory
PN junction diode:

Diode is a semiconductor device of which one side is doped to be p-type and the other side is
doped to be n-type. The leads on the p-type and n-type are called anode and cathode
respectively. When anode is connected to positive terminal and cathode is connected to negative
terminal of the dc supply (i.e. under forward bias), current can flow through the device. When it
is connected in reverse, current cannot flow. Thus the primary application of the diodes is in
rectification.

Zener diode:

Zener diodes are designed to operate under the reverse bias. The reverse breakdown voltage of
these diodes are kept very low. At breakdown, these diodes can draw large amount of current
with no change in voltage across the Zener. Thus the primary application of these diodes is in
voltage regulation. i.e. it can be used to provide a constant voltage irrespective of the load.

LED:

LEDs emit visible light or infrared under forward bias. The semiconductor material used for
construction of LEDs is not Si or Ge. Instead compound semiconductors formed by Gr-III and Gr-
V elements are used.

See textbook for more details.

Circuit diagrams:
a) PN junction diode in forward bias.

(0-200)mA 1N4007
A

(0-30)V V 1K RL

(0-10)V

b) LED in forward bias.

c) Zener diode
a. In forward bias
 b. In reverse bias

Pre-lab exercises
Draw the circuit diagrams and observation tables in your rough record.

Experiment procedure
1. Connect the power supply, voltmeter, ammeter with the diode as shown in the figure. You
can use two multimeter (one to measure current through diode and other to measure
voltage across diode).
2. Increase voltage from the power supply from 0V in step as shown in the observation table
3. Measure voltage across diode and current through diode. Note down readings in the
observation table.
4. Plot the graphs of Diode voltage vs. Diode current

Observation tables
PN junction diode:

Supply Voltage Diode voltage Diode current

(V) (V) (mA)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.4
0.6
 0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
2.0
3.0
5.0

LED:

Supply Voltage Diode voltage Diode current

(V) (V) (mA)
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
2.0
3.0
5.0
10.0

Zener diode:

Supply Voltage Diode voltage Diode current

(V) (V) (mA)
0.0
 0.1
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
2.0
3.0
─ 1.0
─ 2.0
─ 3.0
─ 4.0
─ 5.0
─ 6.0
─ 8.0
─ 10.0
─ 12.0

Post lab exercises – Lab record

1. For PN junction diode
a. Plot the forward V-I characteristics.
b. Determine the static (dc) and dynamic (ac) resistances.
c. Determine the cut-in voltage.
2. For LED
a. Plot the forward V-I characteristics of Blue, Yellow, and Red LEDs.
b. Explain the difference in the V-I characteristics.
3. For Zener diode
a. Plot the forward and reverse V-I characteristics.
b. Determine the breakdown voltage.