Republic of the Philippines

Biliran Province State University

(formerly NAVAL STATE UNIVERSITY)
School of Engineering
ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

MODULE 2

Diodes, v-i Characteristics, Diode

Circuits

Electronic Circuits: Devices and Analysis (Lecture)

(EE 243)

Prepared By:
Engr. Dante Añasco

Instructor
Diodes
Diodes are two-terminal electronic devices, made out of a semiconductor materials.
Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but there are others, like germanium,
gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN), and many
others.

Semiconductors are interesting because their electrical properties can be varied over
many order of magnitude: resistivity as high as 107 Ω-m (almost an insulator) or as
low as 10–6 Ω-m (almost a conductor).

Also, semiconductors can be made in two different “varieties”: either ntype in which
current is carried by electrons – as usual – or p-type, in which current behaves like it is
carried by positive charges, which we call “holes”.

A diode consists of a layer of n-type joined to a layer of p-type material creating a p-n
junction. When a voltage is applied across the junction, a current flows in response, but the
i-v relationship is extremely nonlinear. The non-linearity will force us to modify our
approach to analyzing circuits.
A diode is a device that allows current to flow in one direction but not the other. This is
achieved through a built-in electric field. A diode is a device that allows current to flow in
one direction but not the other.

Diode applications
• Rectification – cutting off the top half or bottom half of a voltage signal.
• Voltage regulation – providing a steady voltage reference in a circuit.
• light-emitting diodes – for indicators
• light-emitting diodes – for illumination
• lasers - DVD players, fiber-optic communication, surgery
• photodetectors – sense presence of light, especially low levels or fast pulses
• photovoltaics (solar cells) – “green” electrical power generation
• building block for transistors
Diode i-v Characteristic

where iD is the diode current and vD voltage across the diode. As stated earlier, the
relationship is extremely non-linear, and it will cause us a some grief when analyzing diodes.
But the non-linear behavior offers opportunities for new applications.

• IS is the current parameter of the diode, often known as the saturation current or
scale current. It is like “R” for a resistor. Each diode will have a unique value for IS. A
typical value is IS ≈ 10–14 A.

• kT/q is the thermal voltage. k is Boltzmann’s constant (recall thermodynamics from

physics) with a value of 1.38x10–23 J/K. T is the absolute temperature of the diode,
expressed in kelvin (K). Then the product kT is the thermal energy and represents the
average energy of an electron in the semiconductor. If we divide the electron the
electron charge — q = 1.6x10–19 C — we get the thermal voltage. At 300 K (= 27°C,
approximately room temperature), kT/q = 25.8 mV.

Diode: Forward and Reverse Conduction

A diode (PN junction) in an electrical circuit allows current to flow more easily in one direction
than another. Forward biasing means putting a voltage across a diode that allows current to
flow easily, while reverse biasing means putting a voltage across a diode in the opposite
direction.
A positive voltage means the diode is forward biased. A negative voltage means the diode is
operating with reverse bias.
 If vD is more positive than about 3·kT/q (≈ 75 mV at room temperature.)

current increases exponentially with increasing voltage. this is

forward bias or forward conduction.

If vD is more negative than about –3·kT/q

iD ≈ − IS
A very small trickle of current flows — almost zero. The current is independent of voltage.

This is reverse bias.

In an ideal diode, current essentially flows in gonly one direction. This is asymmetry is
the basis for some of the important applications of diodes. (We will see later that
current can flow in the reverse direction in the right circumstances.

Diode i-v Same diode

–14 A
IS = 10 Forward voltage only
T = 300 K semi-log plot
Diodes in Circuits
The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one direction
(called the diode’s forward direction),
The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one direction,
while blocking it in the opposite direction. Diodes can be used for such tasks as extracting
modulation from radio signals in radio receiver’s.
The non-linear behavior has some significant effects:

• Basic notions are still valid: KCL and KCL, energy, power.

• Node-voltage and mesh-current techniques are still applicable, but they usually
result in a set of non-linear equations, which are difficult to solve.

• Techniques that rely on linearity — superposition and Thevenin equivalents —

cannot be applied directly when non-linear elements are present.

When analyzing circuits with non-linear elements, we will make use of:

• Approximations that simplify the non-linear behavior. Essentially we will linearize

the elements — hiding the exponential behavior and allowing us to use our familiar
techniques. This approximation technique requires some initial guesses and the
results must be checked to confirm. Of course, it is only approximate.

• SPICE. It was invented to handle circuits with non-linear elements.

Diodes in Circuits
Important: When working with diodes, don’t EVER apply a forward voltage directly across the
diode. The result is usually a dead diode.
Of course, this is absolutely absurd. What really happens is that the diode would rapidly
heat up and burn out during the transient as the current increased. There must always be
something — probably a resistor — to limit the current.

The result is a transcendental equation. It is a perfectly valid relationship for which there is a
unique value for the current, but we can’t solve it by usual algebraic techniques. It is
impossible. To find the current, we are forced to use numerical techniques, meaning that are
we will use a sequence of smart “trial-and-error” steps to determine the value of iD.
Numerical analysis is an important topic in computer programming. In fact, computers were
invented to solve math and physics problems that were too difficult to do by hand. SPICE is
essentially a specialized numerical analysis app.

Crudely, we could make a guess for the value of iD and plug it into the equation. Most
likely, our guess will be wrong and the left side of the equation will not equal zero.
Based on the result, we can make a new guess and try again. We keep repeating until
we zero in — converge — on the correct result. A well-written computer algorithm will
take an initial guess and then automatically converge on the correct result after some
number of iterations. The process stops when the change in the calculated result from
one step to the next is smaller than the desired precision.

There are many algorithms for finding zeros of an equation. One method that we can
apply here is fixed-point iteration. We start by re-writing the transcendental equation,

The equation now has a general form of x = f (x). A procedure for converging to the
answer is depicted in the flow diagram on the next page.

Fixed-point iteration algorithm for solving x = f (x). Choose a precision εmax and start
with an initial guess. Does not work for all functions f (x), but when it does work, it
tends to converge quickly.
Applying the method to our diode equation, with an initial guess of 1.00 mA, gives the
sequence shown. Within four iterations, the calculation has converged to 5 significant digits.

Going back to the circuit, we can now calculate vD = 0.649 V.

Piecewise Diode Model

The results of the previous slide suggest an approximation:
• When reverse-biased, we treat the diode as if it is an open-circuit.
• When forward-biased, we treat it like an ideal source with a value of 0.7 V.

To use the models.

• Guess forward or reverse
• Insert the corresponding model
• Solve for voltage/current using model
• Check the result: for reverse, vD < 0, for forward, iD flows in correct direction

Note that the diode is NOT a voltage source. It is a passive device and does not provide power
to the circuit. But it does behave as if it were a voltage source or battery that is absorbing
power.