INCIONG, MARIELLA ALYZZA L.

(50%) MEXE 3102

MANALO, RENIEL F. (50%)

LABORATORY 2
Diode Characteristics

I. OBJECTIVES

● To investigate the behavior of diodes and to introduce some practical circuits

using diodes.
● To determine experimentally the volt ampere characteristics of a junction diode
and rectification

II. MATERIALS/APPARATUS

● 1 10V DC Source
● 1 2V 100Hz AC Source
● 1 10V 100Hz AC Source
● 1 1kOhms Resistor
● 4 1N4148 Diode
● 1 1uF Capacitor
● 1 Transformer

III. PROCEDURES

PART 1. 1N4148 Diode

Build the basic diode circuit shown.

Figure 1: Basic diode circuit.

1. Measure the diode voltage V​D ​as the power supply is varied from 0 to 10 volts using the
steps (.2, .4, .6, .8, 1, 2 , 3 ,6, 10). Put the measured values in a table.

For each of the voltage steps above, determine the diode current I​D ​by measuring
the voltage drop across the 1kΩ resistor. Since the value of the resistor is known, the
current flowing through the resistor can easily be calculated.

2. Plot the V-I characteristic for the diode. This plot will have the Diode Voltage on the
horizontal (x) axis and the Diode Current on the vertical (y) axis.
3. Set the power supply to 10 Volts and then vary the supply voltage by 20%. Record the
diode voltages, V​Dmin ​and V​Dmax ​at both points. To do so, get the 20% of 10 Volts and
then add it to the power supply voltage which is the 10 Volts.

4. Set the supply voltage back to its nominal value. Add a 1k load across the diode.
Measure the drop in output voltage.
 Remember in the first case there is no load, and no load current. By adding the resistor
you have added a load to your diode circuit. You can easily determine the load current if you
know the voltage drop across the load resistor.

To get the value of VR, subtract V(n002) to V(n001).

Questions:

1. What is the function of the resistor in this circuit ? How much current would have to flow
through the diode if there was no resistor between the diode and the voltage source?

2. What can be said about the voltage drop across the two diode terminals, if there is
current flowing through the diode, what would you expect the voltage drop to be?

PART 2 Half Wave Rectifier

Build the rectifier circuit shown below.

1. Use the function generator to set up the signal source ( V​s ​). Use a sine wave at
100 Hz with a peak amplitude of 2 Volts.
 2. Use the transient analysis to display both the input and the output at the same
time. Screenshot these waveforms.

3. Use a DC operating point analysis to record the input and output voltages.

For the input,

For the output,

4. Measure and record the input and output waveform as shown in the graph.

PART 3. Full Wave Rectifier

This first circuit is not very effective as a rectifier as it only uses one
half-period of the sine wave. A more commonly used circuit is the bridge rectifier.

Build the bridge rectifier shown below:

1. Use a sinusoidal input voltage at 100 Hz with an amplitude of 10 V. Measure and
sketch the input and output of the circuit using transient analysis.

2. Now add a capacitor 1uF parallel to the output as shown in the figure below. (Be
careful with the polarity of the capacitor), sketch the new output.

In most of the applications a transformer is used to scale the input voltage. To

build a power supply, for example, the 110V AC signal would be reduced to 10V AC
using a transformer. The output of the transformer would be a sinusoidal signal with
10V peak amplitude, that is just like the one generated by the function generator in
this lab.
IV. RESULTS

PART 1. 1N4148 diode

GRAPH OF THE CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH THE RESISTOR

GRAPH OF DIODE VOLTAGE AND DIODE CURRENT

 Table 1. Measured values of VD​ ​ and ID​
Voltage supply (V​s​) Voltage of diode (V​D​) Current of diode (I​D​)

0 0V 0A

0.2 199.79541mV 204.59069nA

0.4 387.0877mV 12.912754µA

0.6 485.90797mV 114.11947µA

0.8 525.96533mV 274.28954µA

1 548.48379mV 451.59532µA

2 600.22205mV 1.399792mA

3 625.18847mV 2.3752733mA

6 663.12075mV 5.3369091mA

10 690.57673mV 9.3094399mA

V-I CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIODE

 GRAPH OF V​Dmin ​WHEN POWER SUPPLY IS VARIED BY 20%

GRAPH OF V​Dmax ​WHEN POWER SUPPLY IS VARIED BY 20%

To get the values of two points, we get the 20% of 10V and add it to the power supply.
Hene, we get 10V as the minimum value and 12V as the maximum value. When we vary the
supply voltage by 20%, the value of the V​Dmin​ is 690.56088mV and the V​Dmax​ is 700.47826mV.
Voltage of diode (V​D​) for each step with no load
Current of diode (I​D​) for each step with no load
 Table 2. Measured values of VD​ ​ and I​D ​with no load
Voltage supply (Vs) Voltage of diode (Vd) Current of diode (Id)

0 0V 0A

0.2 200mV 205.52788nA

0.4 400.00001mV 17.169996µA

0.6 600.00002mV 1.3935969mA

0.8 800.00001mV 57.17998mA

1 1V 282.16654mA

2 2V 1.8907863A

3 3V 3.599966A

6 6V 8.8102455A

10 10V 15.805844A
Voltage of diode (V​D​) for each step with load
Current of diode (I​D​) for each step with load
 Voltage of Resistor (V​R​) for each step

Table 3. Measured values of V​D​ and I​D​ with load

Voltage supply Voltage of diode (V​D​) Current of diode (I​D​) Voltage of resistor (V​R​)
(V​S​)

0 0V 0A 0V

0.2 199.79541mV 204.59068nA 204.59294µV

0.4 387.06884mV 12.931174µA 12.931168mV

0.6 485.79773mV 114.20227µA 114.20229mV

0.8 525.644mV 274.35599µA 274.35601mV

1 548.37167mV 451.62832µA 451.62833mV

2 600.18337mV 1.3998166mA 1.3998166V

3 624.70192mV 2.3752979mA 2.3752981V

6 663.08349mV 5.3369165mA 5.3369165V

10 690.55283mV 9.3094474mA 9.3094472V

Questions:
1. What is the function of the resistor in this circuit ? How much current would have to flow
through the diode if there was no resistor between the diode and the voltage source?

The function of the resistor on the circuit is to control the flow of the current to the
diode. It reduces the current at the load end hence preventing damage to the diode.
According to the results, if there is no resistor, the diode will produce a very high circuit
current since it has a very low resistance. The current that will flow through the entire
circuit of the diode and voltage source is also the same if there is no resistor in the entire
circuit.

2. What can be said about the voltage drop across the two diode terminals, if there is
current flowing through the diode, what would you expect the voltage drop to be?

The voltage of the diode, voltage across the resistor and the current of the diode
are directly proportional to each other. In reverse-biased, there is no voltage across the
resistor and there is no current on the diode when the voltage of the diode is equal or
less than 0. In forward bias, there is a voltage on the resistor and a current on the diode
if the voltage of the diode is greater than 0.
 PART 2. Half Wave Rectifier

GRAPH OF THE INPUT AND OUTPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING TRANSIENT
ANALYSIS

GRAPH OF THE INPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING DC OPERATING POINT

ANALYSIS
GRAPH OF THE OUTPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING DC OPERATING POINT
ANALYSIS

Table 4. Input and Output Vpeak

INPUT OUTPUT

1.4132983V 836.33605mV
Part 3. Full Wave Rectifier

GRAPH OF THE INPUT AND OUTPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING TRANSIENT
ANALYSIS

GRAPH OF THE INPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING TRANSIENT ANALYSIS

GRAPH OF THE OUTPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING TRANSIENT ANALYSIS

Table 5. Input and Output Vpeak

INPUT OUTPUT

9.9964108V 12.72248V

GRAPH OF THE INPUT AND OUTPUT WAVEFORMS OF THE CIRCUIT USING TRANSIENT
ANALYSIS WITH CAPACITOR
V. CONCLUSION

This experiment focuses on the investigation of the basic characteristics of a

diode.This was also to expand the student's knowledge and as well as their laboratory
skills on the subject. From the experiment, the following conclusions were drawn.The
diode test is one of the foundations of electronics. It is in forward-biased when its
resistance has a smaller value while it is in reverse-biased when its resistance has a
larger value.The forward-biased voltage of diode is its barrier potential while the
reverse-biased voltage of diode is infinite over range which shows that the diode is in
healthy condition.

This experiment proved that diode controls the direction of the current.The
voltage of the diode, voltage across the resistor and the current of diode are directly
proportional to each other. In reverse-biased, there is no voltage across the resistor and
there is no current on the diode when the voltage of the diode is equal or less than 0.In
forward biased, there is a voltage on resistor and a current on the diode if the voltage of
the diode is greater than 0.