COLEGIO DE SAN JUAN DE LETRAN-CALAMBA

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
S.Y. 2014-2015
IETRON121L-INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS LAB.

RESEARCH PAPER #1
DIODE FUNDAMENTALS AND TRANSISTOR BASICS

GRADE

LEOPANDO, KEILLA MARIE R.

3113361
4ECE1

DATE SUBMITTED: NOVEMBER 18, 2014

ENGR. PAUL RYAN CORONADO

INSTRUCTOR

I.P-N JUNCTION DIODE

THE P-N JUNCTION FORMS A POPULAR SEMICONDUCTOR
DEVICE CALLED P-N JUNCTION DIODE. IT IS FORMED WHEN AN NTYPE AND P-TYPE MATERIALS ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER. IT HAS A
TWO TERMINAL ELECTRIC COMPONENT THAT CONDUCTS
ELECTRIC CURRENT IN ONLY ONE DIRECTION, FUNCTIONING AS
ONE-WAY VALVE. IT IS THE SIMPLEST OF SEMICONDUCTOR
DEVICES BUT PLAYS A VERY VITAL ROLE IN ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS,
HAVING CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE CLOSELY MATCHING THOSE
OF A SIMPLE SWITCH. IT WILL APPEAR IN A RANGE OF
APPLICATIONS, EXTENDING FROM THE SIMPLE TO THE VERY
COMPLEX.

FIGURE 1.1 P-N JUNCTION REPRESENTATION

FIGURE 1.2 SCHEMATIC SYMBOL

FIGURE 1.3 ACTUAL COMPONENT

II. JUNCTION DIODE OPERATIONS

IN THE ABSENCE OF AN APPLIED BIAS VOLTAGE, THE NET
FLOW OF CHARGE IN ANY ONE DIRECTION FOR A
SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE IS ZERO.
FOR THE DIODE TO CONDUCT IN ONE DIRECTION, THE
ELECTRONS MUST GAIN ENOUGH ENERGY TO OVERCOME THE
REPULSION OF THE DEPLETION REGION. IN ORDER TO DO THIS,
THE DIODE MUST BE PROPERLY BIASED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE
VOLTAGE APPLIED WILL PUSH OR FORCE THE ELECTRONS FROM
THE N-TYPE TO DIFFUSE TO THE P-TYPE MATERIAL.
BIASING IS THE APPLICATION OF A DC VOLTAGE TO A
CIRCUIT THAT IS INTENDED TO SET A DEVICES OPERATION AT A
PARTICULAR POINT ON ITS CHARACTERISTIC CURVE.
III. FORWARD BIAS
IN FORWARD BIAS, THE NEGATIVE SOURCE IS CONNECTED
TO THE N-TYPE MATERIAL (CATHODE) AND THE POSITIVE
TERMINAL TO THE P-TYPE MATERIAL (ANODE).

FIGURE 3.1 A DIODE CONNECTED FOR FORWARD BIAS

NOTICE THAT THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF VBIAS IS CONNECTED TO

THE N REGION OF THE DIODE AND POSITIVE SIDE IS CONNECTED
TO THE P REGION. THIS IS ONE REQUIREMENT FOR FORWARD
BIAS. A SECOND REQUIREMENT IS THAT THE BIAS VOLTAGE. VBIAS ,
MUST BE GREATER THAN THE BARRIER POTENTIAL. THE
RESISTOR, R LIMITS THE CURRENT TO A VALUE THAT WILL NOT
DAMAGE THE DIODE.
III. THRESHOLD VOLTAGE OR KNEE VOLTAGE
IT IS THE VOLTAGE REQUIRED ACROSS THE DIODE BEFORE IT
CAN BE TURNED ON AND FORWARD CURRENT FLOWS. SILICON
REQUIRES 0.7V AND GERMANIUM REQUIRES 0.3V.
IV. EFFECT OF FORWARD BIAS ON THE DEPLETION REGION
AS MORE ELECTRONS FLOW INTO THE DEPLETION REGION
THE NUMBER OF POSITIVE IONS IS REDUCED. AS MORE HOLES
EFFECTIVELY FLOW INTO THE DEPLETION REGION ON THEOTHER
SIDE OF THE P-NJUNCTION, THE NUMBER OF NEGATIVE IONS IS
REDUCED. THIS REDUCTION IN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IONS
DURING FORWARD BIAS CAUSES THE DEPLETION REGION TO
NARROW.

FIGURE 4.1 FORWARD BIAS ON DEPLETION REGION

V.REVERSE BIAS
REVERSE BIAS IS THE CONDITION THAT ESENTIALLY
PREVENTS CURRENT THROUGH THE DIODE. IN REVERSE BIASE,
THE POSITIVE SOURCE IS CONNECTED TO THE N-TYPE MATERIAL
(CATHODE) AND THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL IS CONNECTED TO THE
P-TYPE MATERIAL (ANODE).

FIGURE 5.1 A DIODE CONNECTED FOR FORWARD BIAS

VI. REVERSE SATURATION CURRENT OR LEAKAGE CURRENT

THE REVERSE CURRENT CAUSED BY THE THERMALLY
PRODUCED MINORITY CARRIERS IS CALLED THE SATURATION
CURRENT, SYMBOLIZED BY IS. THE NAME SATURATION MEANS
THAT WE CANNOT GET MORE MINORITY-CARRIER CURRENT THAN
IS PRODUCED BY THE THERMAL ENERGY. IN OTHER WORDS,
INCREASING THE REVERSE VOLTAGE WILL NOT INCREASE THE
NUMBER OF THERMALLY CREATED MINORITY CARRIERS.

VII.REVERSE BREAKDOWN OR BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE

NORMALLY, THE REVERSE CURRENT IS SO SMALL THAT IT
CAN BE NEGLECTED. HOWEVER, IF THE EXTERNAM REVERSE-BIAS
VOLTAGE IS INCREASED TO A VALUE CALLED THE BREAKDOWN
VOLTAGE. THE REVERSE CURRENT WILL DRASTICALLY INCREASE.
THE MULTIPLICATION OF CONDUCTION ELECTRONS IS
KNOWN AS AVALANCHE AND RESULTS IN A VERY HIGH REVERSE
CURRENT THAT CAN DAMAGE THE DIODE BECAUSE OF EXCESSIVE
HEAT DISSIPATION.
VIII.CHARACTERISTIC CURVE
AS THE APPLIED BIAS INCREASES IN MAGNITUDE, THE
DEPLETION REGION WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE IN WIDTH
UNTIL A FLOOD OF ELECTRONS CAN PASS THROUGH THE
JUNCTION, RESULTING IN AN EXPONENTIAL RISE IN CURRENT AS
SHOWN IN THE FORWARD-BIAS REGION.

IX. TRANSITOR
A TRANSISTOR IS A DEVICE WHICH CONVERTS A SMALL
CHANGE INTO A LARGE CHANGE IN CURRENT, VOLTAGE OR
POWER. BASICALLY, THESE ARE FUNCTIONS OF AN AMPLIFIER
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF TRANSISTOR; A VACCUUM TRIODE WAS
USED FOR THESE FUNCTIONS. THE FIRST TRANSISTOR WAS
CONSTRUCTED BY WILLIAM SHOCKLEY, JOHN BARDEEN AND
WALTER BRATTAIN IN 1947 AND WAS A THREE TERMINAL SOLID
STATE DEVICE. THE VARIOUS TRANSISTORS ARE THE BIPOLAR
JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (BJT), THE JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT
TRANSISTOR (JFET), AND THE INSULATED GATE FIELD EFFECT
TRANSISTOR OR THE METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD
EFFECT TRANSISTOR (MOSFET)
X. TRANSISTOR BIASING CONFIGURATIONS
A. COMMON BASE CONFIGURATION
THE EMITTER BASE ARE THE INPUT TERMINALS AND
THE COLLECTOR-BASE ARE THE OUTPUT TERMINALS.

FIGURE 10.1 TRANSISTOR IN COMMON BASE CONFIGURATION

B. COMMON EMITTER CONFIGURATION

IT IS A PNP TRANSISTOR CONNECTED IN COMMON
EMITTER CONFIGURATION, IN WHICH THE INPUT TERMINALS ARE
THE EMITTER-BASE AND THE OUTPUT TERMINALS ARE THE
COLLECTOR EMITTER.

FIGURE 10.2 TRANSISTOR IN COMMON EMITTER CONFIGURATION

C. COMMON COLLECTOR CONFIGURATION
THE COLLECTOR BASE-TERMINALS ARE THE INPUT
TERMINALS AND THE COLLECTOR-EMITTER TERMINALS ARE THE
OUTPUT TERMINALS.

FIGURE 10.3 TRANSISTOR IN COMMON COLLECTOR

CONFIGURATION

XI. TRANSISTOR BIASING METHODS

FOR THE TRANSISTOR TO PROPERLY OPERATE IT MUST BE
BIASED. A DC OPERATING POINT MUST BE SET SO THAT SIGNAL
VARIATIONS AT THE INPUT TERMINAL ARE AMPLIFIED AND
ACCURATELY REPRODUCED AT THE OUTPUT TERMINAL.
A. FIXED BIAS CIRCUIT
THE FIXED BIAS CIRCUIT PROVIDES A RELATIVELY
STRAIGHTFORWARD AND SIMPLE INTRODUCTION TO
TRANSISTOR DC BIAS ANALYSIS. EVENTHOUGH THE NETWORK
EMPLOYS AN NPN TRANSISTOR, THE EQUATIONS AND
CALCULATIONS APPLY EQUALLY WELL TO A PNP TRANSISTOR
CONFIGURATION MERELY CHANGING ALL CURRENT DIRECTIONS
AND POLARITIES.

FIGURE 10.1 FIXED BIAS CIRCUIT

FORWARD BIAS OF BASEEMITTER

WRITING KIRCHHOFFS VOLTAGE
EQUATION IN THE CLOCKWISE DIRECTION
FHE LOOP, WE OBTAIN
+Vcc-IbRb-Vbe=0
Solving the equation
Ib=

(1)

FIGURE 10.2 BASE-EMITTER LOOP

COLLECTOR EMITTER LOOP
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE COLLECTOR
CURRENT IS RELATED DIRECTLY TO IB
THROUGH IC=BIB (2)
APPLYING KIRCHOFFS VOLTAGE LAW IN
CLOCKWISE DIRECTION AROUND THE
INDICATED CLOSE LOOP IS;
VCE+ICRC-VCC=0
VCE=VCC-ICRC (3)
FIGURE 10.3 COLLECTOR-EMITTER LOOP
RECALL THAT:
VCE=VC-VE (4)
VCE=VC (5)

VBE=VB-VE (6)
VBE=VB (7)

B. EMITTER-STABILIZED BIAS CIRCUIT

IT CONTAINS AN EMITTER RESISTOR TO IMPROVE THE
STABILITY LEVEL OVER THAT OF THE FIXED-BIAS CONFIGURATION.
THE IMPROVED STABILITY WILL BE DEMONSTRATED THROUGH A
NUMERICAL EXAMPLE LATER IN THE SECTION. THE ANALYSIS WILL
BE PERFORMED BY BY FIRST EXAMINING THE BASE-EMITTER
LOOP AND THEN USING THE RESULTS TO INVESTIGATE THE
COLLECTOR-EMITTER LOOP.

FIGURE 10.4 BJT BIAS CIRCUIT WITH EMITTER RESISTOR

BASEEMITTER LOOP
Ib=

(8)

Ri=(B+1)Re (9)
FIGURE 10.5 BASE EMITTER LOOP

CollectorEmitter Loop
WRITING KIRCHHOFFS VOLTAGE LAW
FOR THE INDICATED LOOP IN THE CLOCKWISE
DIRECTION WILL RESULT IN
+IERE +VCE + ICRC - VCC = 0
SUBSTITUTING IE=IC AND GROUPING
TERMS GIVES
VCE- VCC+ IC(RC+ RE) = 0
VCE = VCC- IC(RC + RE) (10)
THE SINGLE-SUBSCRIPT VOLTAGE VE IS
THE VOLTAGE FROM EMITTER TO GROUND
AND IS DETERMINED BY:
VE=IERE (11)
WHILE THE VOLTAGE FROM COLLECTOR
TO GROUND CAN BE DETERMINED FROM:
VCE= VC- VE
VC = VCE + VE (12)
VC=VCC- ICRC (13)
THE VOLTAGE AT THE BASE WITH RESPECT TO GROUND CAN BE
DETERMINED FROM:
VB= VCC-IBRB (14)
VB VBE+ VE (15)

C. VOLTAGE-DIVIDER BIAS
VOLTAGE-DIVIDER BIAS IS THE
MOST WIDELY USED TYPE OF BIAS
CIRCUIT. ONLY ONE POWER SUPPLY
IS NEEDED AND VOLTAGE-DIVIDER
BIAS IS MORE STABLE THAN OTHER
BIAS TYPES.

FIGURE 10.7 VOLTAGE DIVIDER BIAS CONFIGURATION

TWO METHODS OF VOLTAGE DIVIDER BIAS
1. EXACT ANALYSIS
IT CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY VOLTAGE-DIVIDER
CONFIGURATION.
2. APPROXIMATE METHOD
IT CAN BE APPLIED ONLY IF SPECIFIC CONDITIONS ARE
SATISFIED. THE APPROXIMATE APPROACH PERMITS A MORE
DIRECT ANALYSIS WITH A SAVINGS IN TIME AND ENERGY.
THE APPROXIMATE APPROACH CAN BE APPLIED TO THE
MAJORITYOF SITUATIONS AND THEREFORE SHOULD BE
EXAMINED WITH THE SAME INTEREST AS THE EXACT
METHOD.
REFERENCE: BASIC ELECTRONICS BY: A.P GODSE U.A BAKSHI

https://haseebsohail.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/chap-41.pdf