Experiment 2: P-N Junction Diode Characteristics and A Few

Applications
A. Aim:
To observe and draw the forward and reverse bias V-I characteristics of a P-N junction
diode.
Applications of diodes – clippers and peak detector.

B. Apparatus:
P-N Diode 1N4007
Regulated power supply (0-30 V)
Resistor 1kΩ
Ammeter (0-200 mA)
Voltmeter (0-20 V)
Bread board
Connecting wires

C. Part A: P-N Junction Diode Characteristics

Theory:
A p-n junction diode conducts only in one direction. The V-I characteristics of the diode are
curve between voltage across the diode and current through the diode. When external voltage
is zero, circuit is open and the potential barrier (due to built-in potential) does not allow the
current to flow. Therefore, the circuit current is zero. When p-type material (anode) is
connected to +ve terminal and n-type material (cathode) is connected to –ve terminal of the
supply voltage, such a scenario is known as forward bias. The potential barrier is reduced when
diode is in the forward biased condition. At some forward voltage, the potential barrier
altogether vanishes and current starts flowing through the diode and also in the circuit. In such
a case, the diode is said to be in ON state. The current increases with increase in forward
voltage. A forward biased diode circuit is shown in Fig. 1(a).

Circuit Diagrams:

Fig. 1: (a) Forward bias (b) Reverse bias

When n-type material (cathode) is connected to +ve terminal and p-type material (anode) is
connected –ve terminal of the supply voltage, it is known as reverse bias (see Fig. 1(b)) and
the potential barrier across the junction increases. Therefore, the junction resistance becomes
very high and a very small current (reverse saturation current) flows in the circuit. In such a
scenario, the diode is said to be in OFF state. The reverse bias current is due to the very weak
process of carrier generation inside the depletion region.
Model Waveform:

Fig. 2: Typical I-V diagram for a diode

Procedure (Forward Bias):
1. Connections are made as per the circuit diagram.
2. For forward bias, the RPS +ve is connected to the anode of the diode and RPS -ve
is connected to the cathode of the diode.
3. Switch on the power supply and increases the input voltage (supply voltage) in
steps.
4. Note down the corresponding current flowing through the diode and voltage across
the diode for each and every step of the input voltage.
5. The reading of voltage and current are tabulated.
6. Graph is plotted between voltage and current.

Observations:
S.NO Applied voltage (V) Current through diode ID (mA) Voltage across diode VD (V)

Procedure (Reverse Bias):

1. Connections are made as per the circuit diagram.
2. For reverse bias, the RPS +ve is connected to the cathode of the diode and RPS –ve
is connected to the anode of the diode.
3. Switch on the power supply and increase the input voltage (supply voltage) in steps.
4. Note down the corresponding current flowing through the diode and voltage across
the diode for each and every step of the input voltage.
5. The readings of voltage and current are tabulated and graph is plotted between voltage
and current.
Observations:
S.NO Applied voltage (V) Current through diode ID (uA) Voltage across diode VD (V)

D. Part B: Applications of Diode

Clipper Circuits:
The most general form of the diode clipper is shown in Figure below. For an ideal diode, the
clipping occurs at the level of the clipping voltage, V1 and V2. However, the voltage sources
have been adjusted to account for the 0.7 V forward drop of the real silicon diodes. D1 clips at
1.3V +0.7V=2.0V when the diode begins to conduct. D2 clips at -2.3V -0.7V=-3.0V when D2
conducts.

Negative Clipper:
A circuit which removes the peak (either positive or negative) of a waveform is known as a
clipper. A negative clipper is shown in Fig. 3. During the positive half cycle of the 5 V peak
input, the diode is reversed biased and does not conduct. So, output voltage during the positive
half cycle is simply a replica of the input voltage. During the negative half cycle of sine wave,
the diode is forward biased, and the entire input voltage appears across the resistor. So, part of
the negative half cycle in the output waveform gets clipped. The waveform is clipped at -0.7 V
due to the forward voltage drop (i.e., cut-in voltage) across the silicon diode. Germanium or
Schottky diodes clip at lower voltages.

Fig. 3: A simple negative peak clipper circuit

 Fig. 4: Input and output waveforms of the negative peak clipper circuit shown in Fig. 3.

Symmetrical clipper:
The addition of an anti-parallel diode to the existing diode in Fig. 3 yields the symmetrical
clipper as shown in Fig. 5. Diode D1 clips the negative peak at -0.7 V as before. The additional
diode D2 conducts when positive cycle exceeds 0.7 V, thus clipping the waveform above 0.7
V. The remainder of the voltage drops across the series resistor. Thus, both peaks of the input
sinewave are clipped as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 5: A simple symmetric peak clipper circuit

 Fig. 6: Input and output waveforms of the symmetric peak clipper circuit shown in Fig. 5.

Peak Detector:
A peak detector is an electronic circuit that takes a high-frequency signal as input and provides
an output which is the envelope of the original signal. The corresponding circuit is shown in
Fig. 7. An AC voltage source applied to the peak detector charges the capacitor to the peak of
the input. The diode conducts positive “half cycles” charging the capacitor to the waveform
peak. When the input waveform falls below the DC “peak” stored on the capacitor, the diode
is reverse biased, blocking current flow from capacitor back to the source. Thus, the capacitor
retains the peak value even as the waveform drops to zero. Another view of the peak detector
is that it is the same as a half-wave rectifier with a filter capacitor added to the output. Since
the silicon diode has a forward voltage drop of 0.7 V, output voltage in the steady state will be
0.7 V lesser than the peak voltage of the input waveform.

Fig. 7: Peak detector circuit

Fig. 8: Input and output waveforms of the peak detector circuit shown in Fig. 7.
(You can seethat the capacitor charges to peak within a few
cycles)

Precautions:
All the connections should be correct.
Parallax error should be avoided while taking the readings from the analog meters.

Result:
Forward and reverse bias characteristics for a p-n diode are observed. A few
applications ofdiode such as clippers and peak detectors are studied.

E. VIVA Questions:
1. Define depletion region of a diode?
2. What is meant by transition & space charge capacitance of a diode?
3. Is the V-I relationship of a diode Linear or Exponential?
4. Define cut-in voltage of a diode and specify the values for Si and Ge diodes?
5. What are the applications of a p-n diode?
6. Draw the ideal characteristics of P-N junction diode?
7. What is the diode equation?
8. What is PIV?
9. What is the breakdown voltage?
10. What is the effect of temperature on PN junction diodes?
11. Why do we keep 1 kΩ in series with the diode?