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EE211 Week2

The document discusses forward and reverse bias of a diode. In forward bias, electrons flow from the n-type to p-type material when the battery voltage exceeds the barrier potential. In reverse bias, the depletion layer widens and there is minimal leakage current until breakdown voltage is reached.

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areeb adnan
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8 views

EE211 Week2

The document discusses forward and reverse bias of a diode. In forward bias, electrons flow from the n-type to p-type material when the battery voltage exceeds the barrier potential. In reverse bias, the depletion layer widens and there is minimal leakage current until breakdown voltage is reached.

Uploaded by

areeb adnan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Forward Bias

Flow of Electrons
• The negative source terminal is connected to the n-type material, and the positive
terminal is connected to the p-type material. This connection produces what is called
forward bias.
• If the battery voltage is less than the barrier potential, the free electrons do not have
• enough energy to get through the depletion layer.
• When the dc voltage source is greater than the barrier potential, the battery again
pushes holes and free electrons toward the junction.
• Since free electrons continuously enter the right end of the diode and holes are being
continuously created at the left end, there is a continuous current through the diode.
• What happens when battery terminals are reversed.

1
Reverse Bias
Depletion Layer Widens
• The negative battery terminal attracts the holes, and the positive battery terminal
attracts the free electrons.
• Holes and free electrons flow away from the junction.
• Therefore, the depletion layer gets wider. How wider?
• When the holes and electrons move away from the junction, the newly created ions
increase the difference of potential across the depletion layer.
• The wider the depletion layer, the greater the difference of potential.
• The depletion layer stops growing when its difference of potential equals the applied
reverse voltage.
• When this happens, electrons and holes stop moving away from the junction.

2
Reverse Bias

Will there be any current through the reverse bias circuit?

3
Reverse Bias
Minority-Carrier/Surface Leakage Current

• Thermal energy continuously creates pairs of free electrons and holes.


• Those inside the depletion layer may exist long enough to get across the junction. When
this happens, a small current flows in the external circuit, called saturation current.
• A small current flows on the surface of the crystal, known as the surface-leakage current.
It is caused by surface impurities and imperfections in the crystal structure.

4
Reverse Bias
Breakdown Voltage

• There is a limit to how much reverse voltage a diode can


withstand before it is destroyed.
• If you continue increasing the reverse voltage, you will eventually
reach the breakdown voltage of the diode
• Once the breakdown voltage is reached, a large number of the
minority carriers suddenly appears in the depletion layer and the
diode conducts heavily.

5
Diode Bias Summary

6
Energy Levels and Bands
• When an electron is moved from the first to the second orbit, it gains potential energy
with respect to the nucleus.
• The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is the energy state, and any
electron that has left its parent atom has a higher energy state than any electron in the
atomic structure.

7
Energy Levels and Bands
• Within a crystal structure, electrons are influenced by surrounding atoms, resulting in
different energy levels (energy band).

8
Energy Levels and Bands

9
Barrier Potential and Temperature
• The barrier potential depends on the junction temperature.
• An increase in junction temperature creates more free electrons and holes in the doped
regions.
• As these charges diffuse into the depletion layer, it becomes narrower.
• This means that there is less barrier potential at higher junction temperatures.
• The barrier potential of a silicon diode decreases by 2 mV for each degree Celsius rise.

• In the reverse-bias region, the reverse current of a silicon diode doubles for every 10°C rise
in temperature.

10
Barrier Potential and Temperature
Example:

11
Diode IV Curve
• Compared to resistor, diode is a nonlinear device because the graph of its current versus
voltage is not a straight line as shown below.

12
Resistance Levels
Semiconductors react differently to DC and AC currents.

There are two types of resistance:

• DC (static) resistance
• AC (dynamic) resistance
DC (Static) Resistance
For a specific applied DC voltage
VD, the diode has a specific
current ID, and a specific
resistance RD.

RD  VD
ID
AC (Dynamic) Resistance
Diode Equivalent Circuit
Load-Line Analysis

The load line plots all possible


combinations of diode current (ID) and
voltage (VD) for a given circuit. It is used
to find the exact value of diode current
and voltage.

Example:

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