Diode Small Signal Model

We mentioned the idea of biasing early in the course. Let’s look at what we said then.

The figure below (Figure 1.13 from Sedra and Smith 7 ed.) shows the transfer characteristics of
a linear amplifier with power supplies L+ and L- . It also shows two sinusoidal inputs to the
amplifier plotted vertically, and the corresponding outputs plotted horizontally.

This figure makes that point that if the input signal amplitude is too large, the output will
exceed the power supplies. In that case, we are not operating in the linear region, and the
output “clips”. This is happening for the input labeled 2, so the output is a function that is more
complex than a single sinusoid. That means it has many Fourier components, and from our
definition of linearity, the circuit is not linear under those circumstances.

Figure 1.14 below shows the transfer characteristics of an amplifier that is more typical, and
more complex. There is a region of the transfer characteristics where the amplifier response is
approximately linear, but it is offset from 0 Volts. Therefore, to amplify a signal vi with this
amplifier, we must add a DC bias voltage VI to the signal, to move the signal into a linear region
of the transfer characteristics.
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Even then, the transfer characteristics may not be precisely linear. If they are not, our output
signal will be a distorted version of the input. In real amplifiers, the transfer characteristic is
very nearly linear, provided we do not move too far away from the region labeled Q in the
figure above. In other words, if the input signal is small in amplitude, then the transfer
characteristics will be approximately linear over the range of the signal amplitude, and the
output will be a good reproduction of the input.

To summarize: in real amplifiers, we must apply a bias voltage to our signal to get the signal
into a region of the transfer characteristics that is approximately linear. Furthermore, the signal
must be small, that is, of a small amplitude, so that it does not vary from the linear region of
the transfer characteristics.

Figure 4.14 below shows the transfer characteristics iD - vD of a typical diode. We don’t usually
think of a diode as an amplifier, but the notion of bias and application of a small signal still
applies. In the figure, the bias voltage is VD, which is generated by the biasing source VDD. The
small signal input is vd. The ac component of the output is id, and the DC component is ID. The
quiescent point or bias point Q is the point on the current-voltage curve that is not varying,
that is, it’s the DC voltage and current VD and ID.

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 VD0

Figure 4.14 Development of the diode small-signal model.

We will use this figure to develop the small signal model for the diode, that is, to develop a
circuit model that is appropriate for a small AC signal applied to the linear region of the transfer
characteristics.

Finding the Small Signal Model

Figure 4.14 shows a tangent drawn at the bias point Q. This line approximates the transfer
characteristics in the case that the signal amplitude is small. The slope of that line is an inverse
resistance, and the resistance is rd, which we will call the small signal resistance of the diode.
The resistance is the inverse slope of the tangent to the curve evaluated at the bias point:

If we extrapolate the line to iD = 0, it intercepts the axis at a value we are calling VD0.
Note that and rd are the parameters of a model for the forward bias diode of the type that we
discussed in diode modeling – a voltage source in series with a resistance. But depending upon

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the DC bias VD and therefore on the Q point, rd and VD0 will change. For example, if VD increases,
the slope of the line will increase, or rd will decrease, and VD0 will increase.

We develop the small signal model of the diode beginning with the ideal diode equation:

Recall that IS is the reverse bias saturation current, n is the ideality factor, and Vt is the thermal
voltage, which at room temperature is 25 mV. We will consider forward bias where vD >> nVt, in
which case we can approximate to

Now vD has an AC and a DC component: . Putting that in our equation above gives

The first term on the left is the DC current generated by application of V D:

If the signal is small, specifically , we can expand the exponent :

Then ID is the DC component of the current, and the AC component is , where

Now we have our diode small signal model. It is a voltage source VD0 in series with a resistance
rd, where rd is determined by the biasing conditions, specifically ID. So we don't have to evaluate

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the derivative of the curve; we can simply use the formula above. But we do have to know the
bias point.

Let's look at a simple circuit, and split it into its DC and AC components. To do this, we first
replace the diode with the small signal model. This is done for the circuit below. (There are lots
of symbols here…make sure you understand what they mean!)

A KVL for the circuit on the right gives

We can separate the DC components and the AC components:

DC:

AC:

The second of the DC equations comes from recognizing that . The DC and AC
circuits are shown below.

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 DC AC
Model Model

We have found that the AC model for a diode is a resistor whose value depends on the diode
biasing value ID.

Voltage Regulation Using Forward Bias Diode Drop

The AC model for the diode comes in handy when we want to use the diode as a voltage
regulator. A voltage regulator is intended to make sure that the voltage across a load remains
roughly constant even if the load changes. It is also useful when the load is constant, but there
is variation in the power supply. We will explore that application here.

We will assume a power supply of 10 V with a variation of +/- 1 V – a noisy power supply. We
have a load that requires about 2.1 V across it. Our circuit, shown below, takes advantage of the
approximately constant forward voltage drop of a diode. We will assume a 0.7 V constant
voltage drop model, and an ideality factor n = 2.

We make an approximation: we will assume that the voltage vD across each diode, including the
resistance rd, is fixed at 0.7 V regardless of the load. This is in fact the constant voltage drop
model. But in using the small signal model, we will allow the small signal resistance r d to change
with the diode current. In the circuit below, we will calculate r d with no load, and with a load,
and we will assume in each case that the total voltage across the three diodes is 2.1 V.

For the no-load case (RL removed), we consider the DC circuit only.

so the diode small signal resistance is

The figure on the right shows the result of these

calculations (with RL removed).

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Now we can calculate the no-load variation in the output voltage. Below we show the AC model
(DC sources shorted).

Then we have

With VSS = 1 V, we get vO = 18.5 mV, or about 0.88% of the

2.1 V load voltage. The output voltage variation is small, even
though the source is varying by 10%.

Re-doing the calculation with the load in place, we find (again

assuming the output voltage is 2.1 V)

; ;

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This gives , and a variation in the output
voltage of

Because the diode current has decreased, the diode

resistance has increased, and the variation in the load
voltage is not a little larger.

Voltage Regulation Using a Zener Diode

The increase in current in the revers-bias breakdown region of a Zener diode is even more rapid
than the increase in forward bias, so we often use the Zener in reverse-bias as a voltage
regulator. We do not have a simple equation like the ideal diode equation for Zener
breakdown, so the AC resistance is generally given. Data sheets for Zener diodes typically
include the AC resistance rZ evaluated at a test current IZT, as well as the breakdown voltage VZ.
The analysis for this kind of data goes a bit differently than for the diode in forward bias.
Specifically, we will calculate the zero-current diode voltage VZ0. See the diagram in Sedra and
Smith Figure 4.19 below for notation.

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Be careful about voltage and current polarities here. The i-v characteristics are based on the
polarities given on the Zener diode schematic symbol (upper figure on the left: Sedra and Smith
Figure 4.18). But the breakdown voltage VZ and current IZ have the polarities shown in the
circuit model (lower figure on the left: Sedra and Smith Figure 4.20). Note also the polarity of
VZ0. These parameters are specified as positive numbers, so we need a minus sign in front of
them when we draw the graph.

Let’s again assume a source, here called V+, that can vary by +/- 1 V, and that we want a
constant 6.8 V across the load. Since we are typically given VZ and rZ at IZT, we need to find VZ0 to
complete the problem. Here is an analysis for a 6.8 V Zener diode with rZ = 20  at IZT = 5 mA.
See the schematic and circuit model in Sedra and Smith Figure 4.21.

To find the circuit model we calculate VZO:

This gives VZ0 = 6.7 V. With no load, we can calculate VO and the variation VO.

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 Figure 4.21 (a) Circuit for Example 4.7. (b) The circuit with the Zener diode replaced with its
equivalent circuit model.

Then,

Using the AC model,

Thus, the line regulation is 38.5 mV/V.

We now add a load RL = 2 k, and calculate a new VO.

This gives and

Example
We bring the small signal diode model together with an amplifier model to illustrate the small
signal model in the example shown next. In this example, we amplify the voltage output
produced when a signal current is applied to the diode. Note the distinction between the DC
bias current IB and the AC diode signal output vd. Note also that what we are trying to find is the
small signal gain, that is, io/is. This is found from the AC circuit model.

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