Chapter1 Diodes-1

Chapter 1
Diodes
SJTU Zhou Lingling 1
Outline of Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Basic Semiconductor Concepts
1.3 The pn Junction
1.4 Analysis of diode circuits
1.5 Applications of diode circuits

1.1 Introduction
• The diode is the simplest and most

fundamental nonlinear circuit element.
• Just like resistor, it has two terminals.
• Unlike resistor, it has a nonlinear current-
voltage characteristics.
• Its use in rectifiers is the most common
application.

Physical Structure
The most important region, which is called pn junction, is

the boundary between n-type and p-type semiconductor.
Symbol and Characteristic for the
Ideal Diode
(a) diode circuit symbol; (b) i–v characteristic; (c) equivalent circuit in the
reverse direction; (d) equivalent circuit in the forward direction.
Characteristics
• Conducting in one direction and not in the

other is the I-V characteristic of the diode.
• The arrowlike circuit symbol shows the
direction of conducting current.
• Forward biasing voltage makes it turn on.
• Reverse biasing voltage makes it turn off.

1.2 Basic Semiconductor
Concepts
• Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Doped Semiconductor
• Carriers movement

Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Definition
A crystal of pure and regular lattice structure is
called intrinsic semiconductor.
• Materials
Silicon---today’s IC technology is based entirely
on silicon
Germanium---early used
Gallium arsenide---used for microwave circuits

Intrinsic Semiconductor(cont’d)
Two-dimensional representation
of the silicon crystal. The circles
represent the inner core of silicon
atoms, with +4 indicating its
positive charge of +4q, which is
neutralized by the charge of the
four valence electrons. Observe
how the covalent bonds are
formed by sharing of the valence
electrons. At 0 K, all bonds are
intact and no free electrons are
available for current conduction.

At room temperature,
some of the covalent
bonds are broken by
thermal ionization.
Each broken bond
gives rise to a free
electron and a hole,
both of which become
available for current
conduction.

• Thermal ionization
Valence electron---each silicon atom has four
valence electrons
Covalent bond---two valence electrons from
different two silicon atoms form the covalent bond
 Be intact at sufficiently low temperature
 Be broken at room temperature
Free electron---produced by thermal ionization,
move freely in the lattice structure.
Hole---empty position in broken covalent bond,can
be filled by free electron, positive charge

• Carriers
A free electron is negative charge and a
hole is positive charge. Both of them can
move in the crystal structure. They can
conduct electric circuit.

• Recombination
Some free electrons filling the holes results in the
disappearance of free electrons and holes.
• Thermal equilibrium
At a certain temperature, the recombination rate is
equal to the ionization rate. So the concentration
of the carriers is able to be calculated.

• Carrier concentration in thermal equilibrium

n  p  ni
3  EG kT
ni  BT e
2
• At room temperature(T=300K)
ni  1.5 10 10
carriers/cm3

Important notes:
• ni has a strong function of temperature. The high
the temperature is, the dramatically great the carrier
concentration is.
• At room temperature only one of every billion atoms
is ionized.
• Silicon’s conductivity is between that of conductors
and insulators. Actually the characteristic of intrinsic
silicon approaches to insulators.

Doped Semiconductor
• Doped semiconductors are materials in which

carriers of one kind predominate.
• Only two types of doped semiconductors are
available.
• Conductivity of doped semiconductor is much
greater than the one of intrinsic semiconductor.
• The pn junction is formed by doped
semiconductor.

Doped Semiconductor(cont’d)
n type semiconductor
• Concept
Doped silicon in which the majority of charge carriers are the
negatively charged electrons is called n type semiconductor.
• Terminology
 Donor---impurity provides free electrons, usually entirely ionized.
 Positive bound charge---impurity atom donating electron gives rise
to positive bound charge
 carriers
• Free electron---majority, generated mostly by ionized and slightly by
thermal ionization.
• Hole---minority, only generated by thermal ionization.
A silicon crystal
doped by a
pentavalent
element. Each
dopant atom
donates a free
electron and is
thus called a
donor. The doped
semiconductor
becomes n type.

p type semiconductor
• Concept
Doped silicon in which the majority of charge carriers are the
positively charged holes is called p type semiconductor.
• Terminology
 acceptor---impurity provides holes, usually entirely ionized.
 negatively bound charge---impurity atom accepting hole give rise
to negative bound charge
 carriers
• Hole---majority, generated generated mostly by ionized and slightly
by thermal ionization.
• Free electron---minority, only generated by thermal ionization.
A silicon crystal
doped with a
trivalent
impurity. Each
dopant atom
gives rise to a
hole, and the
semiconductor
becomes p type.

Carrier concentration for n type

a) Thermal equilibrium equation
nn 0  pn 0  ni
2
b) Electric neutral equation
nn0  pn0  N D

Carrier concentration for p type

a) Thermal equilibrium equation
p p 0  n p 0  ni
2
b) Electric neutral equation

p p0  n p0  N A

Because the majority is much great than the

minority, we can get the approximate equations
shown below:
nno  N D  p p0  N A
 
 ni
2 for n type  ni
2
for p type
 pn 0  n p 0 
 ND  NA

• Conclusion
Majority carrier is only determined by the
impurity, but independent of temperature.
Minority carrier is strongly affected by
temperature.
If the temperature is high enough,
characteristics of doped semiconductor will
decline to the one of intrinsic semiconductor.

• Doping compensation
n type semiconductor is generated by
donor diffusion, then injecting
NA
acceptor into the specific
area(assuming N A  N D ) forms p
ND type semiconductor. The boundary
between n and p type semiconductor
is the pn junction. This is the basic
step for VLSI fabrication technology.

Carriers Movement
There are two mechanisms by which holes and free

electrons move through a silicon crystal.
• Drift--- The carrier motion is generated by the electrical
field across a piece of silicon. This motion will produce
drift current.
• Diffusion--- The carrier motion is generated by the
different concentration of carrier in a piece of silicon. The
diffused motion, usually carriers diffuse from high
concentration to low concentration, will give rise to
diffusion current.

Drift and Drift Current
• Drift
 Drift velocities
Where  p ,  n are the
vdrift   p E

 constants called mobility of
vdrift    n E
 holes and electrons respectively.
 Drift current densities

J ndrift  (qn)  (n E )  qnn E
J p drift  qp   p E
• Total drift current density

J drift  q（n n＋p p ) E
• Resistivity
  1 q(n ＋p )
n p

• Resistivities for doped semiconductor

1
 qN D  n For n type
  q(n  p )  
1
n p
 1 qN  For p type
 A p
* Resistivities are inversely proportional to the concentration

of doped impurities.
• Temperature coefficient(TC)
TC for resistivity of doped semiconductor is
positive due to negative TC of mobility
• Resistivity for intrinsic semiconductor

  1 q (n  p )  1 qn (    )
n p i n p
* Resistivity is inversely proportional to the carrier

concentration of intrinsic semiconductor.
• Temperature coefficient(TC)
TC for resistivity of intrinsic semiconductor is
negative due to positive TC of ni .

Diffusion and Diffusion Current
• diffusion
A bar of intrinsic silicon (a) in which the hole concentration profile

shown in (b) has been created along the x-axis by some unspecified
mechanism.
Diffusion and Diffusion Current
dp ( x )
J p   qD p 
dx
dn( x)
J n  qDn 
dx
where D p , Dn are the diffusion constants or
diffusivities for hole and electron respectively.
* The diffusion current density is proportional to the
slope of the the concentration curve, or the
concentration gradient.

Einstein Relationship
Einstein relationship exists between the

carrier diffusivity and mobility:
Dn Dp kT
  VT 
n  p q
Where VT is Thermal voltage.
At room temperature，VT  25mv

1.3 pn Junction
• The pn junction under open-circuit

condition
• I-V characteristic of pn junction
Terminal characteristic of junction diode.
Physical operation of diode.
• Junction capacitance

pn Junction Under Open-Circuit
Condition
• Usually the pn junction is asymmetric, there

are p+n and pn+.
• The superscript “+” denotes the region is
more heavily doped than the other region.

pn Junction Under Open-Circuit
Condition
Fig (a) shows the pn

junction with no applied
voltage (open-circuited
terminals).
Fig.(b) shows the

potential distribution
along an axis
perpendicular to the
junction.
Procedure of Forming pn
Junction
The procedure of forming pn the dynamic equilibrium of

drift and diffusion movements for carriers in the silicon.
In detail, there are 4 steps:
a) Diffusion
b) Space charge region
c) Drift
d) Equilibrium

Junction
• diffusion
Both the majority carriers diffuse across the
boundary between p-type and n-type
semiconductor.
The direction of diffusion current is from p
side to n side.

Junction
• Space charge region

 Majority carriers recombining with minority carriers
results in the disappearance of majority carriers.
 Bound charges, which will no longer be neutralized by
majority carriers are uncovered.
 There is a region close to the junction that is depleted of
majority carriers and contains uncovered bound charges.
 This region is called carrier-depletion region or space
charge region.

Junction
• Drift
 Electric field is established across the space charge
region.
 Direction of electronic field is from n side to p side.
 It helps minority carriers drift through the junction. The
direction of drift current is from n side to p side.
 It acts as a barrier for majority carriers to diffusion.

Junction
• Equilibrium
Two opposite currents across the junction is
equal in magnitude.
No net current flows across the pn junction.
Equilibrium conduction is maintained by the
barrier voltage.

Junction Built-In Voltage
The Junction Built-In Voltage

N AND
Vo  VT ln 2
ni
It depends on doping concentration and
temperature
Its TC is negative.

Width of the Depletion Region
Width of the Depletion Region:

2 1 1
Wdepo  (  )Vo
q N A ND
2 1 1
Wdep  (  （
) Vo－V )
q N A ND
 Depletion region exists almost entirely on the slightly
doped side.
 Width depends on the voltage across the junction.
I-V Characteristics
The diode i–v

relationship with
some scales
expanded and
others
compressed in
order to reveal
details

I-V Characteristic Curve
Terminal Characteristic of Junction Diodes

• The Forward-Bias Region, determined by v  o
• The Reverse-Bias Region, determined by  VZK  v  0
• The Breakdown Region, determined by v  VZK

The pn Junction Under Forward-
Bias Conditions
The pn junction
excited by a constant-
current source
supplying a current I in
the forward direction.
The depletion layer
narrows and the barrier
voltage decreases by V
volts, which appears as
an external voltage in
the forward direction.

Bias Conditions
Minority-carrier distribution in a forward-biased pn junction. It is assumed

that the p region is more heavily doped than the n region; NA >>ND.
Bias Conditions
Excess minority carrier concentration:

v
p n ( xn )  p n 0 e VT
v
n p ( x p )  n p 0 e VT
 Exponential relationship
 Small voltage incremental give rise to great incremental
of excess minority carrier concentration.

Bias Conditions
Distribution of excess minority concentration:

 ( x－xn )
pn ( x)  pno  [ pn ( xn )  pn 0 ]e
Lp
( x＋x p )
n p ( x)  n p 0  [n p ( x p )  n p 0 ]e Ln
Lp  D p p
Where
Ln  Dn n
 n , p are called excess-minority-carrier lifetime.

Bias Conditions
The total current can be obtained by the diffusion current

of majority carriers.
I  I pD  I nD
 A( J pD  J nD )
dp ( x ) dn( x）
 A(  q q )
dx x  xn dx x   x p
D p pn 0 Dn n p 0 V
 Aq(  )( e VT
 1)
Lp Ln

Bias Conditions
The saturation current is given by :

D p pn 0 Dn n p 0
I s  qA(  )
Lp Ln
DpDn
 qAni ( 
2
)
L p nD Ln n A

Bias Conditions
I-V characteristic equation:

v
i  I（
s e
nVT
 1)
• Exponential relationship, nonlinear.
• Is is called saturation current, strongly
depends on temperature.
• n  1 or 2， in general n  1
• VT is thermal voltage.

Bias Conditions
assuming V1 at I1 and V2 at I2
then:
V2  V1  nVT ln I 2  2.3nVT lg I 2
I1 I1
* For a decade changes in current, the diode
voltage drop changes by 60mv (for n=1) or
120mv (for n=2).
Bias Conditions
• Turn-on voltage
A conduction diode has approximately a constant voltage
drop across it. It’s called turn-on voltage.
VD ( on)  0.7V For silicon
VD ( on)  0.25V For germanium
• Diodes with different current rating will exhibit the turn-on
voltage at different currents.
• Negative TC, TC  2mv /  C

The pn Junction Under Reverse-
Bias Conditions
The pn junction excited by a

constant-current source I in
the reverse direction.
To avoid breakdown, I is
kept smaller than IS.
Note that the depletion layer
widens and the barrier voltage
increases by VR volts, which
appears between the terminals
as a reverse voltage.

The pn Junction Under Reverse-
Bias Conditions
I-V characteristic equation:
i  Is Independent of voltage。
Where Is is the saturation current, it is proportional to ni2

which is a strong function of temperature.
D p pn 0 Dn n p 0
I s  qA(  )
Lp Ln
Dp Dn
 qAni ( 
2
)
L p nD Ln n A

The pn Junction In the
Breakdown Region
The pn junction excited by a reverse-current source I, where I > IS.

The junction breaks down, and a voltage VZ , with the polarity
indicated, develops across the junction.

The pn Junction In the
Breakdown Region
• Supposing I  I s , the current source will move

holes from p to n through the external circuit.
• The free electrons move through opposite
direction.
• This result in the increase of barrier voltage and
decrease almost zero of diffusion current.
• To achieved the equilibrium, a new mechanism
sets in to supply the charge carriers needed to
support the current I.

Breakdown Mechanisms
• Zener effect
 Occurs in heavily doping semiconductor
 Breakdown voltage is less than 5v.
 Carriers generated by electric field---field ionization.
 TC is negative.
• Avalanche effect.
 Occurs in slightly doping semiconductor
 Breakdown voltage is more than 7v.
 Carriers generated by collision.
 TC is positive.

Breakdown Mechanisms
Remember:
pn junction breakdown is not a destructive

process, provided that the maximum
specified power dissipation is not exceeded.

Zener Diode
Circuit symbol
The diode i–v characteristic

with the breakdown region
shown in some detail.

Junction Capacitance
• Diffusion Capacitance
 Charge stored in bulk region changes with the change of voltage
across pn junction gives rise to capacitive effect.
 Small-signal diffusion capacitance
• Depletion capacitance
 Charge stored in depletion layer changes with the change of
voltage across pn junction gives rise to capacitive effect.
 Small-signal depletion capacitance

Diffusion Capacitance
According to the definition: Cd  dQ

dV Q
The charge stored in bulk region is obtained from below

equations: Q  Aq   [ p ( x )  p ]dx
p 
xn
n no
 Aq  [ pn ( xn )  pno ]  L p
 pI p
Qn   n I n

Diffusion Capacitance
The expression for diffusion capacitance:

d V
Cd  [ T I s e VT ]
dV
T
( )IQ
VT
 T
( )IQ Forward-bias, linear relationship
  VT
0 Reverse-bias, almost inexistence


Depletion Capacitance
According to the definition: C j  dQ

dVR V
R VQ
Actually this capacitance is similar to parallel plate

capacitance. A A
Cj  ＝
Wdep 2 1 1
[ (  )(V0  vR )
q N A NB
C j0

(1  VR )
Vo
Depletion Capacitance
• A more general formula for depletion capacitance is :

C j0
Cj 
(1  VR ) m
V0
1 1
• Where m is called grading coefficient. m  ~
3 2
1
• If the concentration changes sharply, m 
2
• Forward-bias condition, C j  2C j 0
• Reverse-bias condition, C j  C d

Junction Capacitance
Remember:
a) Diffusion and depletion capacitances are

incremental capacitances, only are applied
under the small-signal circuit condition.
b) They are not constants, they have relationship
with the voltage across the pn junction.

1.4 Analysis of Diode Circuit
• Models
Mathematic model
Circuit model
• Methods of analysis
Graphical analysis
Iterative analysis
Modeling analysis

The Diode Models
Mathematic Model：
v
i  I s (e nVT
 1)
 v
 I s e nVT Forward biased


 I s Reverse biased
The circuit models are derived from

approximating the curve into piecewise-line.
The Diode Models
Circuit Model
a) Simplified diode model
b) The constant-voltage-drop model
c) Small-signal model
d) High-frequency model
e) Zener Diode Model

Simplified Diode Model
Piecewise-linear model of the diode forward characteristic and its

equivalent circuit representation.

The Constant-Voltage-Drop
Model
The constant-voltage-drop model of the diode forward characteristics

and its equivalent-circuit representation.

Small-Signal Model
Symbol convention:
 iD (t ) Lowercase symbol, uppercase subscript stands
for total instantaneous qualities.
 I D Uppercase symbol, uppercase subscript stands
for dc component.
 id (t ) Lowercase symbol, lowercase subscript stands
for ac component or incremental signal qualities.
 I d (t ) Uppercase symbol, lowercase subscript stands
for the rms(root-mean-square) of ac.

Small-Signal Model
Development of the diode small-signal model. Note that the numerical

values shown are for a diode with n = 2.
Small-Signal Model(cont’d)
Incremental resistance:
V
rd  T
I DQ
*The signal amplitude sufficiently small such

that the excursion at Q along the i-v curve
is limited to a short, almost linear segment.
High-Frequency Model
High frequency model
rs
rd cj

Zener Diode Model
VZ  VZ 0  I Z rZ

Method of Analysis
Load line
Diode
characteristic
Q is the
intersect point
Visualization

Method of Analysis
• Iterative analysis
Refer to example 3.4
• Model Analysis
Refer to example 3.6 and 3.7

1.5 The Application of Diode
Circuits
• Rectifier circuits
 Half-wave rectifier
 Full-wave rectifier
• Transformer with a center-tapped secondary winding
• Bridge rectifier
 The peak rectifier
• Voltage regulator
• Limiter

Half-Wave Rectifier
(a) Half-wave rectifier.

(b) Equivalent circuit of the half-wave rectifier with the diode replaced
with its battery-plus-resistance model.

Half-Wave Rectifier
(c) Transfer characteristic of the rectifier circuit.

(d) Input and output waveforms, assuming that rD  R

Full-Wave Rectifier
(a) circuit
(b) transfer characteristic assuming a constant-voltage-drop model for
the diodes

Full-Wave Rectifier
(c) input and output waveforms.

The Bridge Rectifier
(a) circuit

The Bridge Rectifier
(b) input and output waveforms

Peak Rectifier
Voltage and current

waveforms in the peak rectifier
circuit with CR  T .
The diode is assumed ideal.

Voltage Regulator
We define:
Vo
Lineregula tion 
Vs
Vo
Loadregulation 
I L

Limiter

Limiter
Applying a sine wave to a limiter can result in clipping off its two peaks.

Soft Limiting

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Chapter 1

SJTU Zhou Lingling 2

• The diode is the simplest and most

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The most important region, which is called pn junction, is

• Conducting in one direction and not in the

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• Carrier concentration in thermal equilibrium

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• Doped semiconductors are materials in which

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Carrier concentration for n type

b) Electric neutral equation

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Carrier concentration for p type

b) Electric neutral equation

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Because the majority is much great than the

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There are two mechanisms by which holes and free

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 Drift current densities

• Total drift current density

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• Resistivities for doped semiconductor

* Resistivities are inversely proportional to the concentration

• Resistivity for intrinsic semiconductor

* Resistivity is inversely proportional to the carrier

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A bar of intrinsic silicon (a) in which the hole concentration profile

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Einstein relationship exists between the

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• The pn junction under open-circuit

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• Usually the pn junction is asymmetric, there

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Fig (a) shows the pn

Fig.(b) shows the

The procedure of forming pn the dynamic equilibrium of

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• Space charge region

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The Junction Built-In Voltage

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Width of the Depletion Region:

The diode i–v

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