Chapter One

Boltzmann Diode Model

The pn junction diode is formed by fabrication of a p-type semiconductor region (NA>ND) in intimate contact
with an n-type semiconductor region (ND >NA) , as illustrated in Fig.1.

An actual diode can be formed by starting with an n-type wafer with doping ND and selectively converting a portion
of the wafer to p-type by adding acceptor impurities with N A>ND. The point at which the material changes from p-
type to n-type is called the metallurgical junction (or depletion region). The p-type region is also referred to as the
anode of the diode, and the n-type region is called the cathode of the diode.

Figure 1: the pn junction diode

As shown in Fig. 1, a very large concentration of holes exists on the p-type side of the metallurgical junction,
whereas a much smaller hole concentration exists on the n-type side. Likewise, there is a very large concentration of
electrons on the n-type side of the junction and a very low concentration on the p-type side.

Mobile holes will diffuse from the region of high concentration on the p-type side toward the region of low
concentration on the n-type side and that mobile electrons will diffuse from the n-type side to the p-type side.
As mobile holes move out of the p-type material, they leave behind immobile negatively charged acceptor atoms.
Correspondingly, mobile electrons leave behind immobile ionized donor atoms with a localized positive charge. A
space charge region (SCR), depleted of mobile carriers, develops in the region immediately around the
metallurgical junction. This region is also often called the depletion region, or depletion layer.
THE i -v CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIODE
The diode is the electronic equivalent of a mechanical check valve—it permits current to flow in one
direction in a circuit, but prevents movement of current in the opposite direction. We will find that
this nonlinear behavior has many useful applications in electronic circuit design. To understand this
phenomenon, we explore the relationship between the current in the diode and the voltage applied to
the diode. This is called the i -v characteristic of the diode.

The current in the diode is determined by the voltage applied across the diode terminals, and the
diode is shown with a voltage applied in Fig. 2.

Figure 2: Diode with external applied voltage

Voltage vD represents the voltage applied between the diode terminals; iD is the current through the diode.
A positive applied voltage reduces the potential barrier for electrons and holes, and current easily crosses the
junction. A negative voltage increases the potential barrier, and the increased barrier results in a very small current.

The most important details of the diode i-v characteristic appear in Fig. 3.

Figure 3: Diode i-v characteristic

The diode characteristic is definitely not linear. For voltages less than zero, the diode is essentially nonconducting,
with

As the voltage increases above zero, the current remains nearly zero until the voltage vD exceeds approximately
0.5 to 0.7 V. At this point, the diode current increases rapidly, and the voltage across the diode becomes almost
independent of current. The voltage required to bring the diode into significant conduction is often called either the
turn-on or cut-in voltage of the diode.
We see that the i -v characteristic passes through the origin; the current is zero when the applied voltage is zero.
For negative voltages the current is not actually zero but reaches a limiting value labeled as -Is for voltages less than
-0.1V. Is is called the reverse saturation current, or just saturation current of the diode.

A mathematical model for the i-v characteristics of the diode is given by:

The saturation current is typically in the range

Parameter n is termed the nonideality factor. For most silicon diodes, n is in the range 1.0 to 1.1, although it
approaches a value of 2 in diodes operating at high current densities. From this point on, we assume that n = 1
unless otherwise indicated, and the diode equation will be written as:

Application of Diode

HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER CIRCUITS

Rectifiers represent an application of diodes that we encounter frequently every day. The basic rectifier circuit
converts an ac voltage to a pulsating dc voltage.
An LC or RC filter is then added to eliminate the ac components of the waveform and produce a nearly constant dc
voltage output. Virtually every electronic device that is plugged into the wall utilizes a rectifier circuit to convert the
220-V, 50-Hz ac power line source to the various dc voltages required to operate electronic devices such as personal
computers, audio systems, radio receivers, televisions, and the like. All of our battery chargers and “wall-warts”
contain rectifiers. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of electronic circuits are powered by a dc source, usually
based on some form of rectifier.
This section explores half-wave rectifier circuits with capacitor filters that form the basis for many dc power
supplies. Up to this point, we have looked at only steady-state dc circuits in which the diode remained in one of its
three possible states (on, off, or reverse breakdown). Now, however, the diode state will be changing with time, and
a given piecewise linear model for the circuit will be valid for only a certain time interval.

HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER WITH RESISTOR LOAD

A single diode is used to form the half-wave rectifier circuit in Fig. 4.

Figure 4: Half-wave rectifier circuit

A sinusoidal voltage source is connected to the series combination of diode D1 and load resistor R.
During the first half of the cycle, for which vI > 0, the source forces a current through diode D1 in the forward
direction, and D1 will be on. During the second half of the cycle, vI < 0. Because a negative current cannot exist in
the diode (unless it is in breakdown), it turns off. These two states are modeled in Fig. 5 using the ideal diode model.

Figure 5: Ideal diode models

When the diode is on, voltage source vS is connected directly to the output and vO = vI. When the diode is off, the
current in the resistor is zero, and the output voltage is zero. The input and output voltage waveforms are shown in
Fig. 6, and the resulting current is called pulsating direct current. In this circuit, the diode is conducting 50 percent
of the time and is off 50 percent of the time.

Figure 6: Sinusoidal input voltage and pulsating dc voltage

In some cases, the forward voltage drop across the diode can be important. Figure 7 shows the circuit model for the
on-state using the CVD model and the resulting voltage waveforms. For this case, the output voltage is one diode-
drop smaller than the input voltage during the conduction interval:
Figure 7: CVD model and resulting waveforms

The unfiltered output of the half-wave rectifier is not suitable for operation of most electronic circuits because
constant power supply voltages are required to establish proper bias for the electronic devices. A filter capacitor
(or more complex circuit) can be added to filter the output to remove the time-varying components from the
waveform.
HALF-WAVE RECTIFIER WITH RC LOAD
To make use of this output voltage, a load must be connected to the circuit as represented by the resistor R as shown
in Fig. 8.

Figure 8: Half-wave Rectifier with RC load

Now there is a path available to discharge the capacitor during the time the diode is not conducting. Models for the
conducting and non-conducting time intervals are shown in Fig. 9; the waveforms for the circuit are shown in Fig.
10. The capacitor is again assumed to be initially discharged and the time constant RC is assumed to be >> T .

During the first quarter cycle, the diode conducts, and the capacitor is rapidly charged toward the peak value of the
input voltage source. The diode cuts off at the peak of v, and the capacitor voltage then discharges exponentially
through the resistor R, as governed by the circuit in Fig. 9 (b). The discharge continues until the voltage vI- von
exceeds the output voltage vO, which occurs near the peak of the next cycle. The process is then repeated once every
cycle.

Figure 9: Model for Half-wave rectifier with RC Load

Figure 10: Input and Output Waveforms for half-wave rectifier with RC load

Read about full-wave rectifier from your text (Chapter 3)