A project report

On
“Characteristics of a semiconductor diode(compare Si with Ge
diode)”
Submitted to the
Department of Physics, University of Sahiwal,Sahiwal.
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of
Bachelor of Science
In
Electronics & Modern Physics

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Sir Shakeel Anwar Sab 1. Tanveer Ahmad
Department of Physics 2. Bilal Bashir
Dated: 6 Sept,2020. 3. Ali Raza
Acknowledgements:
The author is pleased to acknowledge the support of his major Professor, Muhammad Shakeel
Anwar.Also it is recognized that many contributed to this work especially in the construction of
systems and the measurement of devices.
The project report on “characteristics of a semiconductor diode is outcome of guidance,moral
support and devotion bestowed on us throughout our work. For this we acknowledge and
express our profound sense of gratitude and thanks to everybody who has been a source of
inspiration during the project preparation.
We offer our sincere phrases of thanks with to our Project Guide Mr. Shakeel Anwar that
without whose guidance and support it would not have been possible for this Project to have
materialized and taken a concrete shape.
We are all thankful to Dr. Tariq Masood ( HOD of Department of Physics), University of Sahiwal,
Sahiwal.

Junction Diode Summary (Abstract):

The PN-junction region of a junction diode has following important characteristics:
• Semiconductors contain two types of mobile charge carriers, “Holes” and
“Electrons”.
• The holes are positively charged while the electrons negatively charged.
• A semiconductor may be doped with donor impurities such as Antimony (N-type
doping), so that it contains mobile charges which are primarily electrons.
• A semiconductor may be doped with acceptor impurities such as Boron (P-type
doping), so that it contains mobile charges which are mainly holes.
• The junction region itself has no charge carriers and is known as the depletion
region.
• The junction (depletion) region has a physical thickness that varies with the
applied voltage.
• When a diode is Zero Biased no external energy source is applied and a
natural Potential Barrier is developed across a depletion layer which is
approximately 0.5 to 0.7v for silicon diodes and approximately 0.3 of a volt for
germanium diodes.
• When a junction diode is Forward Biased the thickness of the depletion region
reduces and the diode acts like a short circuit allowing full circuit current to flow.
• When a junction diode is Reverse Biased the thickness of the depletion region
increases and the diode acts like an open circuit blocking any current flow, (only a
very small leakage current will flow).
We have also seen above that the diode is two terminal non-linear device whose I-V
characteristic are
polarity dependent as depending upon the polarity of the applied voltage, VD the diode is
either Forward Biased, VD > 0 or Reverse Biased, VD < 0. Either way we can model these
current.

Table of contents:
Page number
1) Acknowledgement 2
2) Summary 2
3) semiconductor diode 3
 Definition
 Introduction
4) Junction Diode 5
5) zero biased junction diode 7
6) reverse biased junction diode 10
7) forward biased junction diode. 13
8) junction diode real and ideal characteristics 19
Junction Diode symbol and static i-v curve. 6
Zero biased junction diode symbol 8
Increase in depletion layer reverse biased. 11
symbol
Semiconductor diode:
Definition: A semiconductor diode is also called as PN-junction diode
defined as' type of diode, which contains “p-n junction” made from differently doped
semiconductor materials. It is double-ended, nonlinear electronic component, where terminal
attached to the “p” layer (+) is called anode and “n” layer (–) cathode. This electronic
component is mainly used because of it’s ability of making electric current flow only in one
direction (from anode to cathode) after forward-biasing the aforementioned “p-n junction”
with the positive electric voltage.

PN Junction Diode:
A PN-junction diode is formed when a p-type semiconductor is fused to an n-

type semiconductor creating a potential barrier voltage across the diode junctionThe effect
described in the previous tutorial is achieved without any external voltage being applied to the
actual PN junction resulting in the junction being in a state of equilibrium.However, if we were
to make electrical connections at the ends of both the N-type and the P-type materials and
then connect them to a battery source, an additional energy source now exists to overcome the
potential barrier.The effect of adding this additional energy source results in the free electrons
being able to cross the depletion region from one side to the other. The behaviour of the PN
junction with regards to the potential barrier’s width produces an asymmetrical conducting two
terminal device, better known as the PN Junction Diode.A PN Junction Diode is one of the
simplest semiconductor devices around, and which has the characteristic of passing current in
only one direction only. However, unlike a resistor, a diode does not behave linearly with
respect to the applied voltage as the diode has an exponential current-voltage ( I-V )
relationship and therefore we can not described its operatiooperationin by simply using an
equation such as Ohm’s law.If a suitable positive voltage (forward bias) is applied between the
two ends of the PN junction, it can supply free electrons and holes with the extra energy they
require to cross the junction as the width of the depletion layer around the PN junction is
decreased.
By applying a negative voltage (reverse bias) results in the free charges being pulled away from
the junction resulting in the depletion layer width being increased. This has the effect of
increasing or decreasing the effective resistance of the junction itself allowing or blocking the
flow of current through the diodes pn-junction.Then the depletion layer widens with an
increase in the application of a reverse voltage and narrows with an increase in the application
of a forward voltage.

Junction Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics

But before we can use the PN junction as a practical device or as a rectifying device we need to
firstly bias the junction, that is connect a voltage potential across it. On the voltage axis above,
“Reverse Bias” refers to an external voltage potential which increases the potential barrier. An
external voltage which decreases the potential barrier is said to act in the “Forward Bias”
direction.
There are two operating regions and three possible “biasing” conditions for the
standard Junction Diode and these are:
• 1. Zero Bias – No external voltage potential is applied to the PN junction diode.
• 2. Reverse Bias – The voltage potential is connected negative, (-ve) to the P-type material
and positive, (+ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Increasing
the PN junction diode’s width.
• 3. Forward Bias – The voltage potential is connected positive, (+ve) to the P-type material
and negative, (-ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Decreasing
the PN junction diodes width.

Zero Biased Junction Diode

When a diode is connected in a Zero Bias condition, no external potential energy is applied to
the PN junction. However if the diodes terminals are shorted together, a few holes (majority
carriers) in the P-type material with enough energy to overcome the potential barrier will move
across the junction against this barrier potential. This is known as the “Forward Current” and is
referenced as IFLikewise, holes generated in the N-type material (minority carriers), find this
situation favourable and move across the junction in the opposite direction. This is known as
the “Reverse Current” and is referenced as IR. This transfer of electrons and holes back and
forth across the PN junction is known as diffusion, as shown below.

The potential barrier that now exists discourages the diffusion of any more majority carriers
awcross the junction. However, the potential barrier helps minority carriers (few free electrons
in
the P-region and few holes in the N-region) to drift across the junction.Then an “Equilibrium” or
balance will be established when the majority carriers are equal and both moving in opposite
directions, so that the net result is zero current flowing in the circuit. When this occurs the
junction is said to be in a state of “Dynamic Equilibrium“.
The minority carriers are constantly generated due to thermal energy so this state of
equilibrium can be broken by raising the temperature of the PN junction causing an increase in
the generation of minority carriers, thereby resulting in an increase in leakage current but an
electric current cannot flow since no circuit has been connected to the PN junction.
Reverse Biased PN Junction Diode
When a diode is connected in a Reverse Bias condition, a positive voltage is applied to the N-
type material and a negative voltage is applied to the P-type material.The positive voltage
applied to the N-type material attracts electrons towards the positive electrode and away from
the junction, while the holes in the P-type end are also attracted away from the junction
towards the negative electrode.The net result is that the depletion layer grows wider due to a
lack of electrons and holes and presents a high impedance path, almost an insulator and a high
potential barrier is created across the junction thus preventing current from flowing through
the semiconductor material.

Increase in the Depletion Layer due to Reverse Bias

This condition represents a high resistance value to the PN junction and practically zero current
flows through the junction diode with an increase in bias voltage. However, a very small reverse
leakage current does flow through the junction which can normally be measured in micro
amperes, ( μA ).One final point, if the reverse bias voltage y applied to the diode is increased
to a sufficiently high enough value, it will cause the diode’s PN junction to overheat and fail due
to the avalanche effect around the junction. This may cause the diode to become shorted and
will result in the flow of maximum circuit current, and this shown as a step downward slope in
the reverse static characteristics curve below.

Reverse Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

Sometimes this avalanche effect has practical applications in voltage stabilising
circuits where a series limiting resistor is used with the diode to limit this reverse
breakdown current to a preset maximum value thereby producing a fixed voltage
output across the diode. These types of diodes are commonly known as Zener
Diodes and are discussed in a later tutorial.
Forward Biased PN Junction Diode
When a diode is connected in a Forward Bias condition, a negative voltage is applied to the N-
type material and a positive voltage is applied to the P-type material. If this external voltage
becomes greater than the value of the potential barrier, approx. 0.7 volts for silicon and 0.3
volts for germanium, the potential barriers opposition will be overcome and current will start to

flow.This is because the negative voltage pushes or repels electrons towards the junction giving
them the energy to cross over and combine with the holes being pushed in the opposite
direction towards the junction by the positive voltage. This results in a characteristics curve of
zero current flowing up to this voltage point, called the “knee” on the static curves and then a
high current flow through the diode with little increase in the external voltage as shown below.

Forward Characteristics Curve for a Junction Diode

The application of a forward biasing voltage on the junction diode results in the depletion layer
becoming very thin and narrow which represents a low impedance path through the junction
thereby allowing high currents to flow. The point at which this sudden increase in current takes
place is represented on the static I-V characteristics curve above as the “knee” point
Reduction in the Depletion Layer due to Forward Bias
This condition represents the low resistance path through the PN junction allowing very large
currents to flow through the diode with only a small increase in bias voltage.
The actualpotential difference across the junction or diode is kept constant by the action of the
depletionlayer at approximately 0.3v for germanium and approximately 0.7v for silicon junction
diodes.
Since the diode can conduct “infinite” current above this knee point as it effectively becomes a
short circuit, therefore resistors are used in series with the diode to limit its current flow.
Exceeding its maximum forward current specification causes the device to dissipate more
power in the form of heat than it was designed for resulting in a very quick failure of the device.

Junction Diode Ideal and Real Characteristics

In the next tutorial about diodes, we will look at the small signal diode sometimes called a
switching diode which is used in general electronic circuits. As its name implies, the signal diode
is designed for low-voltage or high frequency signal applications such as in radio or digital
switching circuits.
Signal diodes, such as the 1N4148 only pass very small electrical currents as opposed to the
high-current mains rectification diodes in which silicon diodes are usually used. Also in the next
tutorial we will examine the Signal Diode static current-voltage characteristics curve and
parameters.
What is the difference between the diodes of silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge)?
There are FOUR IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES that determine their applications, that is, the type
of device that is convenient to use with Si or with Ge. These main differences are
— Threshold voltage (cut-in voltage or “knee” voltage),
— Reverse bias saturation current,Dynamic resistance,
and
— Maximum working temperature.
1) The threshold voltage at which a forward biased device begins to conduct widely (since near
1 mA) is lower in the Ge diode, 0.25 V versus 0.65 V for Si, approximately (it depends
significantly on the temperature). This means that Ge is preferred for a “signal diode” (i.e.,
radiofrequency detectors or radio demodulators).

The threshold voltage is directly related with a very fundamental parameter: the
semiconducting band gap, which at is 0.66 eV for Ge and 1.11 eV for Si at 300 K (respectively
0.74 eV and 1.17 eV at 0 K)
.
2) The reverse bias saturation current is much higher in the Ge diode, a micro-ampere (1000
nA) versus a nano-ampere (1 nA) in Si, approximately (it depends significantly on the
temperature, the illumination and the applied reverse voltage). That is why some of these Ge
diodes were preferred as lighting sensors while those of Si are preferred as rectifiers (REAL Si
diodes are less imperfect rectifiers comparing with the ideal model).
3) The slope in the characteristic curve, the current versus voltage curve (inverse of
the dynamic resistance) is lower in the Ge diode, that is, the dynamic resistance is higher in the
Ge diode. This also means that Si is preferred as a rectifier diode, since -again- as rectifier, Si
diodes are less imperfect

4) Finally, a very important difference is the maximum working temperature.

Silicon diodes can work up to around 170 degree celsius or less. This is quite limiting !! It makes
many devices have to be cooled using very efficient heat sinks and some with fans. This also
makes the process of welding with Pb-Sn60 delicate, since its melting (eutectic) temperature is
higher (183 degrees celsius).
However, for Ge it is even worse !!! The maximum working temperature is less than 100
degree celsius. This is a VERY limiting factor and is the reason why power rectifiers are made of
Si.
This is the biggest difference between the Ge and Si diodes, even when some people think
that is the threshold voltage. The relatively small maximum working temperature greatly
restricted the use of Ge in favor of Si. In fact, at the beginning of the development of the Solid
State Electronics, this difference between Si and Ge (which together with Selenium at that time
were the only semiconductor materials that were used) was the cause of the almost
disappearance of Ge in most of the devices.