DIODE CAPACITANCE

Recall Capacitor
• A Capacitor can be made up of two conducting
parallel plates separated by an insulating
material called dielectric.
• The capacitor is a component which has the
ability or “capacity” to store energy in the
form of an electrical charge producing a
potential difference (Static Voltage) across its
plates.
 Contd..
• Recall
  that the basic equation
for the capacitance of a
parallel-plate capacitor is
defined by

• where is the permittivity of

the dielectric (between the
plates of area A separated
by a distance d.
 Diode Capacitance-Introduction
• Every
  electronic or electrical device is
frequency sensitive.
• For the diode it is the stray capacitance levels
that have the greatest effect and Reactance of
capacitor is
• At low frequencies (f=0)= ∞(infinite in
magnitude, represented by an open circuit, and
ignored)
 Contd..
• At
  high frequencies (f= ∞)=0( low-reactance
“shorting” path)
• If this shorting path is across the diode, it can
essentially keep the diode from affecting the
response of the network.
 Diode Capacitance-Types
In the p – n semiconductor diode, there are two
capacitive effects to be considered.
• Diffusion (or) Storage Capacitance(CD):It is the
capacitance offered by the diode when it is
forward biased.
• Transition (or) Depletion region (or) Space
Charge (or) Barrier Capacitance(CT):It is the
capacitance offered by the diode when it is
reverse biased.
 Diffusion (or) Storage Capacitance(CD)
• Diffusion Capacitance is occurred in a forward
biased PN Junction diode. It also sometimes
referred as storage capacitance(CD).
• The diffusion capacitance occurs due to stored
charge of minority electrons and minority holes
near the depletion region.
Contd..
Contd..
 Contd..
• When we apply the forward bias the holes are
diffused from P to N-side and electrons are
diffused from N to P-side and the width of
depletion region decreases.
• These minority carriers are accumulate at the
junction up to some amount of time before they
recombine with majority carriers (whenever there
is a storage of carriers it can acts as a capacitor).
 Contd..
• Depletion
  region acts like dielectric or
insulator of capacitor and charge stored at
both sides of the depletion layer acts like
conducting plates of capacitor.
• Applied voltage increases ,the concentration
of injected charged particle increases. This
rate of change of injected charge with
applied voltage is defined as a capacitance
called Diffusion Capacitance
 Derivation of Diffusion Capacitance(CD)
•   (1)
Where represents change in the number of
minority carriers stored outside the depletion
region when a change in voltage across diode is
applied.
If τ is the mean life time of the charge carriers,
then a flow of charge Q yields a diode current I is
given by
(2)
 Contd..
•   (2)
we know that
So

(3)
 Contd..
•   {From (1)}
So {From (3)}

(4)
 Contd..
•   (4)

}
 Contd..
•  
Generally

• is in order of microfarads(μF) (or) Nano farads

(nF).
CD Vs Applied Voltage (V)
 Conclusions
• Diffusion capacitance is directly proportional to
the electric current or applied voltage.
• If large current flows through the diode  Large
amount of charge accumulated near the depletion
region Large diffusion capacitance occurs.
• If small current flows through the diode  small
amount of charge accumulated near the depletion
region  small diffusion capacitance occurs.
 Next session
• Transition Capacitance
THANK YOU