Doping

The electrical characteristics of silicon and germanium are improved by

adding materials in a process called doping.

There are just two types of doped semiconductor materials:

• n-type
• p-type

• n-type materials make the silicon (or germanium) atoms more negative
• p-type materials make the silicon (or germanium) atoms more positive

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 Doping
Antimony impurity in the n-type

Diffused impurities with five valence

Electrons are called donor atoms

Electron versus hole flow

Boron impurity in p-type material

The diffused impurities with three
valence electrons are called
acceptor atoms

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Semiconductors

Certain impurities will change the conductivity of

silicon. An impurity such as Antimony has an electron
that is not part of the bonding electrons so is free. This
creates an n-material.
Free (conduction) electron
Si from Sb atom

Where on the periodic table

would you expect to find another
Si Sb Si
element that could be used as an
impurity to create an n-material?
Elements above or below Sb will have Si

the same valence electron structure.

 Summary

Semiconductors

An impurity such as boron leaves a vacancy in the

valence band, creating a p-material. Both p- and n-
materials have energy levels that are different than
intrinsic silicon.
Si Hole from
B atom

Si B Si

Si
 Majority and Minority carriers

In an n-type material the electron is called the majority carrier and the
hole is the minority carrier
In a p-type material the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the
minority carrier

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 p-n Junction

One end of a silicon or germanium crystal can be doped as a p-type

material and the other end as an n-type material.

The result is a p-n junction.

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 p-n Junction

At the p-n junction, the negatively

charged atoms of the n-type side
are attracted to the positively
charged atoms of the p-type side.

The result is the formation of a

depletion region around the
junction.

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 Diode Operating Conditions

A diode has three operating conditions:

• No bias
• Forward bias
• Reverse bias

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 Diode Operating Conditions

No Bias

• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0V

• No current is flowing: ID = 0A
• Only a modest depletion layer exists

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 p-n junction
When the materials are joined, the negatively charged atoms of the n-type
doped side are attracted to the positively charged atoms of the p-type doped
side. This will result in a lack of carriers in the region near the junction

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 Diode Operating Conditions

Reverse Bias

External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in

the opposite polarity of the p- and n-type materials.

• The reverse voltage causes the

depletion layer to widen.
• The electrons in the n-type material
are attracted toward the positive
terminal.
• The holes in the p-type material are
attracted toward the negative
terminal.

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 Diode Operating Conditions

Forward Bias

External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in

the same polarity as the p- and n-type materials.

• The forward voltage causes the

depletion layer to narrow.
• The electrons and holes are pushed
toward the p-n junction.
• The electrons and holes have
sufficient energy to cross the p-n
junction.

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 Actual Diode Characteristics

Note the regions for no

bias, reverse bias, and
forward bias conditions.

Carefully note the scale

for each of these
conditions.

Shockley equation

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 Majority and Minority Carriers

Two sets of currents flow in a diode:

Majority Carriers
• The majority carriers in n-type materials are electrons.
• The majority carriers in p-type materials are holes.

Minority Carriers

• The minority carriers in n-type materials are holes.

• The minority carriers in p-type materials are
electrons.

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 Forward Bias Voltage

The point at which the diode changes from no-bias condition to

forward-bias condition occurs when the electrons and holes are
given sufficient energy to cross the p-n junction. This energy comes
from the external voltage applied across the diode.

The forward bias voltage required for a:

• silicon diode  0.7V

• germanium diode  0.3V
• Gallium arsenide GaAs  1.2V

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 Zener Region

The Zener region is in the diode’s

reverse-bias region.
At some point the reverse bias voltage
is so large the diode breaks down and
the reverse current increases
dramatically (zener potential VZ).

• This maximum voltage is called

avalanche breakdown voltage
• The current is called avalanche current.

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 Temperature Effects
• As temperature increases it adds energy to the diode.
• It reduces the required forward bias voltage for forward-bias
conduction.
• It increases the amount of reverse current in the reverse-bias
condition.
• It increases maximum reverse bias avalanche voltage.
• Germanium diodes are more sensitive to temperature variations
than silicon diodes.

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 Resistance Levels

Semiconductors act differently to DC and AC currents.

There are three types of resistances:

• DC, or static resistance

• AC, or dynamic resistance
• Average AC resistance

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 DC, or Static, Resistance

For a specific applied DC voltage VD,

the diode has a specific current ID,
and a specific resistance RD.

V
RD  D
ID

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 AC or Dynamic Resistance

Vd
rd 
I d
In general the lower the Q point of operation (small current and low applied voltage)
then the higher the ac resistance
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 AC, or Dynamic, Resistance

In the forward bias region: 

I D I s eVD / nVT  1 
26 mV
rd   rB
ID

• The resistance depends on the amount of current (ID) in the diode.

• The voltage across the diode is fairly constant (26mV for 25C).
• rB ranges from a typical 0.1 for high power devices to 2 for low
power, general purpose diodes. In some cases rB can be ignored.

In the reverse bias region:

rd 
The resistance is essentially infinite. The diode acts like an open.

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 AC, or Dynamic, Resistance

In the forward bias region: 

I D I s eVD / nVT  1 
26 mV
rd   rB
ID

• The resistance depends on the amount of current (ID) in the diode.

• The voltage across the diode is fairly constant (26mV for 25C).
• rB ranges from a typical 0.1 for high power devices to 2 for low
power, general purpose diodes. In some cases rB can be ignored.

In the reverse bias region:

rd 
The resistance is essentially infinite. The diode acts like an open.

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 Average AC Resistance

Vd
rav  (point to point)
I d

AC resistance can be
determined by selecting two
points on the characteristic
curve developed for a
particular circuit.

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 DIODE EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS

Piecewise-Linear Equivalent Circuit

Simplified Equivalent Circuit

Ideal Equivalent Circuit

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 Diode Specification Sheets

Data about a diode is presented uniformly for many different diodes. This
makes cross-matching of diodes for replacement or design easier.

1. VF, forward voltage at a specific current and temperature

2. IF, maximum forward current at a specific temperature
3. IR, maximum reverse current at a specific temperature
4. PIV or PRV or V(BR), maximum reverse voltage at a specific
temperature
5. Power dissipation, maximum power dissipated at a specific
temperature
6. C, capacitance levels in reverse bias
7. trr, reverse recovery time
8. Temperatures, operating and storage temperature ranges

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Diode Specification Sheets

26
 Reverse Recovery Time (trr)

Reverse recovery time is the amount of time it takes for the diode to stop
conducting once the diode is switched from forward bias to reverse bias.

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 Diode Symbol

The anode is abbreviated A

The cathode is abbreviated K
(because the Cathode end of the diode
symbol looks like a backwards K)

Various types of junction diodes. [(a) Courtesy of Motorola Inc.;

and (b) and (c) Courtesy International Rectifier Corporation.]

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 Diode Testing

• Diode checker
• Ohmmeter
• Curve tracer

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