BEE 101 APPLIED ELECTRONICS

JEMIMA YEBOAA ANSU GYAU

What to expect?

PN Equivalent
Biasing Circuit of
Junction
a diode

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PN – JUNCTION DIODE

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 1. PN JUNCTION

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A p-n junction is the junction between an n-type
semiconductor and a p-type semiconductor

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PN Junction
• A p-n junction is the junction between an n-type semiconductor and a
p-type semiconductor.

• It is fabricated by introducing donor impurities into one side of an

intrinsic semiconductor crystal and acceptor impurities into the other
side.

• It is also called a semiconductor diode.

(a) schematic diagram

(b) block diagram
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PN Junction

(a) When N-type and P-type (b) The positive

dopants are introduced side-by- terminal of the diode is
side in a semiconductor, a PN known as the anode; the
junction or a diode is formed negative terminal is the
cathode.

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PN Junction
• The figure below illustrates the cross-section of a p-n junction.

Assume the p-n junction is initially made (t = 0); A diffusion

current consisting of both holes and free electrons will flow
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across the junction.

Holes diffuse out of the p-type side and into the n-type side and
free electrons diffuse out of the n-type side and into the p-type-
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side.

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PN Junction
• The p-side becomes negatively charged and the n-side becomes
positively charged (t = t1), caused by the ionized acceptor atoms and
ionized donor atoms on the p-side and n-side respectively.

• The charges on either side of the p-n junction cause an electric field
to build up across the junction which is directed from the n-type side
to the p-type side.

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PN Junction in Equilibrium
The electric field opposes the diffusion of holes and electrons across
the junction.
•

Equilibrium is reached when the force exerted on the charge carriers

by the electric field is equal to the diffusion force.
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Depletion Region
Because no free electrons or holes can exist in the region about the
junction, there are no mobile charges to neutralize the ions in the
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region.

The ions on the n-type side have a positive charge on them and those
on the p-type side have a negative charge.
•

The region about the junction in which the ions exist is called depletion
region.
•

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Depletion Region
• Other names are the space-charge region and the transition region.

• The width of the depletion region is called the depletion width (W dep).

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Junction Capacitance
Junction capacitance is the capacitance associated with the depletion
region.
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The positive ions on the n-type side and the negative ions on the p-type
side serve as the positive and negative plates respectively as in a
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parallel plate capacitor.

The dielectric of the junction capacitance result from the depletion

region space between the positive and negative ions.
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Junction Capacitance
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Built-In Potential
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Junction Capacitance

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 2. BIASING

“
Biasing establishes a voltage across the pn
junction diode terminals

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Biasing
For semiconductors to conduct, a voltage potential is connected across
it in a process called biasing.
•

The external voltage, based on the how the biasing is done, can
increase or decrease the potential barrier.
•

There are three possible biasing conditions for the standard junction
diode namely:
1. Zero biasing
2. Forward biasing
3. Reverse biasing.

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Zero Bias
In zero bias condition, no external voltage is applied to the PN-
junction.
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• No current flows through the diode.

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Forward Biasing
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
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applied to the p-type material.

If this external voltage becomes greater than the value of the potential
barrier, 0.7V for Silicon and 0.3 V for Germanium, the potential
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barrier’s opposition will be “subdued” and current will start to flow.

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Forward Biasing
The negative voltage repels electrons
towards the junction giving them the
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energy to cross over and the holes are

repelled in the opposite direction towards
the junction by the positive voltage.

These result in the depletion layer

becoming very thin and narrow
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representing a low impedance path. In

that event, a very small potential barrier
is produced, allowing high currents to
flow.

The voltage at which the diode starts

conducting is called the knee voltage or
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Reverse Biasing
To reverse bias a diode, a positive voltage
is applied to the N-type material and a
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negative voltage is applied to the P-type

material as shown below

The positive voltage applied to the N-type

material attracts electrons towards the
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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
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holes and presents a high impedance path.

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Reverse Biasing

Consequently, a high potential barrier is created thus preventing

current from flowing through the semiconductor material.
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Reverse Biasing
However, a very small leakage current does flow through the
junction that can be measured in microamperes, (µ A).
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This leakage current is due to drift of thermally produced electron-

hole pairs across the junction i.e. the electric field across the
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junction causes the electron to be swept to the n-type side and the
hole to be swept to the p-type side.

If the reverse bias voltage, VR applied to the junction is increased

to a sufficiently high enough value called the Reverse Breakdown
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Voltage, it will cause the PN-junction to overheat and fail.

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Reverse Biasing

This may cause the diode to become shorted and will result in
maximum circuit current to flow.
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• This effect is called the Zener Breakdown or Avalanche Breakdown

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Reverse Biasing
The I-V Characteristic curve of the P-N diode illustrates the current (I)
and voltage relationship of the diode under forward and reverse bias
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conditions.
It is obtained by sweeping the voltage across the diode from negative
to positive whiles measuring the corresponding currents.
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Definition of Terms
Knee voltage or Cut-in Voltage
It is the forward voltage at which the diode starts conducting.

Breakdown voltage
It is the reverse voltage at which the diode (p-n junction) breaks down
with sudden rise in reverse current.

Peak-inverse voltage (PIV)

• It is the maximum reverse voltage that can be applied to a p-n junction
without causing damage to the junction.

If the reverse voltage across the junction exceeds its peak-inverse

voltage, then the junction gets destroyed because of excessive heat.
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Definition of Terms
In rectification, one thing to be kept in mind is that, care should be
taken that reverse voltage across the diode during negative half cycle
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of A.C. does not exceed the peak-inverse voltage of the diode.

It is usually safer to select a diode that has reverse breakdown voltage

at least 50% greater than the expected PIV.
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Maximum Forward current/Current handling Capacity

• It is the maximum instantaneous forward current that a p-n junction
can conduct without damaging the junction.

If the forward current is more than the specified rating, then the
junction gets destroyed due to overheating.
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Equivalent Circuit of a Diode
When the forward voltage VF is applied across a diode, it will not
conduct till the potential barrier VB at the junction is overcome.
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When the forward voltage exceeds the potential barrier voltage, the
diode starts conducting as shown below.
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The forward current IF flowing through the diode causes a voltage drop
in its internal resistance rf.
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Equivalent Circuit of a Diode
Hence, the forward voltage VF applied across the actual diode has to
overcome
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(a) potential barrier VB

(b) internal drop rf

Hence, the approximate equivalent circuit for a diode is a switch in

series with a battery VB and internal resistance rf as shown below.
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• For most applications, the internal resistance rf can be ignored

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Equivalent Circuit of a Diode
An ideal diode is one which behaves as a perfect conductor when
forward biased and as a perfect insulator when reverse biased.
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This implies that the forward resistance rf =0 and potential barrier VB

is considered negligible.
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Example 1
An AC voltage of peak value 20V is connected in series with a silicon
diode and load resistance of 500 Ω.
If the forward resistance of diode is 10 Ω, find under real and ideal
conditions the:
(i) Peak current through diode
(ii) Peak output voltage

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Solution
The diode will only conduct during the positive half-cycles of AC input
voltage. The
equivalent circuit is shown below:

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Solution
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Solution
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Thanks!
Any questions?

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