Title: Diodes Introduction: A diode is a dispositive made of a semiconductor material, which has two terminals or electrodes (diode) that

act like an on-off switch. It acts as a short circuit and allows the current flow when the diode is on or forward-biased. However, diode behaves like an open circuit and blocks the flow of current if the diode is off or reversed-biased. Hence, in order to make the diode on, the potential or voltage applied must match the polarity of the diode (forward-biased). To turn off the diode, invert the polarity of the diode (reversed biased). Of course this is the theoretical behaviour of an ideal diode, but it can be seen as a good approximation for a real diode. Diode is used in various electronic applications. For example, due to the characteristic of diode, it can be used in AC-DC rectification and voltage multiplier. Besides, it is found very useful to make FM and AM detector. Light-Emitting Diode or LED which is one of the types of diode, is commonly used in electronic devices due to its properties. LED is a semiconductor light source. When current flow through the LED, it will produce certain wavelength of photon and this light is used in giving indication and not illumination. LEDs present many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved robustness, smaller size, faster switching, and greater durability and reliability. However, they are relatively expensive and require more precise current and heat management than traditional light sources. They also enjoy use in applications as diverse as replacements for traditional light sources in automotive lighting (particularly indicators) and in traffic signals. The compact size of LEDs has allowed new text and video displays and sensors to be developed, while their high switching rates are useful in advanced communications technology. Objectives: The objectives of this experiment are: i) ii) iii) iv) To show the difference between Pn Diodes, Zener Diodes and Light Emitting Diodes. To fathom the behavious of pn diodes under forwards biased and reversed biased conditions. To demonstrate the characteristics of Zener Diode at reversed biased condition. To show the relationship between forward current and LED intensity.

Theory: The Operation of PN diode 1. When applying positive potential to the p-type material and negative potential to the n-type material of the PN junction diode, this will provide a forward-biased condition for the diode. 2. This forward bias potential will pressure the electrons in n-type material and holes in p-type material to recombine with the ions near the boundary and reduce the width of the depletion region. 3. The resulting minority-carrier flow of electron from p-type material to the n-type material (and holes from n-type material to p-type material) has not changed in magnitude, but reduction in depletion region width has result in heavy majority flow across the junction. 4. As the applied bias increase in magnitude, the depletion region will continue to decrease in width until a flood of electron can pass through the junction, resulting in exponential rise in current. 5. Hence, the diode allows the current flows and the diode is on. 6. As for reverse-bias condition, it will increase the width of the depletion region and form a very strong barrier and hence block the flow of majority carrier. No current can flow through the diode and the diode is off.

The Operation of the Light-Emitting Diode (LED) 1. When applying positive potential to the p-type material and negative potential to the n-type material of the PN junction diode, this will provide a forward-biased condition for the diode. 2. This forward bias potential will pressure the electrons in n-type material and holes in p-type material to recombine with the ions near the boundary. 3. Electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device. 4. Electroluminescence occurs and the LED will release energy in term of photon. 5. The colour of the light emitted is determined by the energy gap of the semiconductor.

Procedures: (A) The Junction Diode

Figure 1 1. The circuit in the Figure 1 is set up as shown above to measure the forward characteristics of silicon diode. 2. The current is increased at intervals from 0 to 10mA by varying the power supply and the potential across the diode, VF is measured. 3. The graph of VF versus IF is then plotted on a graph. 4. The diode is now connected in the reversed biased mode as shown in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 5. The DMM is used to measure the potential across the diode as you vary the power supply. 6. The reverse current, IR is recorded through the diode at respective 4 values of VR, that are 1V, 3V, 8V and 15V. (B) Zener Diodes

Figure 3
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1. The breakdown characteristics (VR vs IR) for TWO different diodes using the circuit shown in Figure 3. 2. The identification information is noted on the diodes. (C) Light Emitting Diodes

Figure 4 1. The circuit is wired as shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 4. Loads are connected to 200 ohms control. The LED short lead is connected to ground during the installation process. Rs is adjusted to midrange. 2. The test requirements are set so that the millimeter in 100mV DC range and voltmeter in 3V DC range. 3. Power is applied to Trainer and Rs is adjusted for an indication 40mA on Inillian1meter. The brightness of LED is noted. 4. The forward voltage of the LED is recorded with 40mA of forward current. 5. The data points obtained in Steps 3 and 4 are plotted. 6. To prove the results of your calculations, use ohmmeter to set the Rs calculated by applying the formulae: VRS = VS - VF RS =

7. To prove the results of calculations in Step 6, the 200 control is set to the RS value calculated to produce 40 mA of forward current using the ohmmeter. The control is inserted into the circuit; power, applied to the trainer; and milliammeter indication, observed. If the curve and calculations are correct, the milliammeter should indicate very close to 40 mA. Power is removed from the trainer.

This procedure is repeated for 30 mA, 20 mA and 10 mA (depending upon the LED used, it may be necessary to use the 1 k control to obtain 10 mA IF). Power is removed from the trainer. 8. The test circuit is modified as shown below. The 1 k control is used for RS and a 68 resistor is added in series with the LED.
+5V
ADD THIS RESISTOR TO EXISTING CIRCUIT 3

Rs
1k
CONTROL

MILLIAMMETER 2 A

68
1 LED

VOLTMETER OR SCOPE

Power is applied to the trainer and RS is adjusted for minimum resistance (maximum IF). The LED should emit a bright red light. Power is removed from the trainer and the colour of the LED lens is noted. The red LED is replaced with the green LED and power is applied. The relationship between the LED's lens colour and the colour of its emission is again noted. This procedure is repeated using the amber LED. Power is removed from the trainer. Results: (A) The Junction Diode i) Forward-bias Characteristic IF (mA) 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 VF(V) 0.554 0.594 0.614 0.628 0.640 0.649 0.656 0.662 0.667 0.670

The graph of VF versus IF is then plotted on a graph on page 13. ii) Reverse-Biased Characteristic VR (V) 1.000 3.000 8.000 15.000 (B) Zener Diode Breakdown characteristics for 2 different breakdown diodes: I: 3.2V breakdown voltage II: 3.9V breakdown voltage (V) (mA) I 0.05 1.813 0.10 1.982 0.20 2.492 0.50 3.042 5.00 3.195 (C) Light Emitting Diodes STEPS 1-5 VF/V RED GREEN YELLOW AMBER 40mA 2.021 2.587 2.288 1.989 35mA 1.986 2.528 2.217 1.976 30mA 1.963 2.452 2.186 1.964 25mA 1.889 2.345 2.129 1.942 20mA 1.870 2.263 2.086 1.931 15mA 1.834 2.165 2.032 1.915 10mA 1.792 2.051 1.975 1.895 Table showing the forward current versus forward voltage of different types of LEDs. For Red LED (graph on page 14), From the graph, gradient = =

IR (mA) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

II 2.338 2.794 3.158 3.878 4.043

IF

27.5m 0.210

= 0.131

Forward resistance =

= 7.636 For Green LED (graph on page 15), From the graph, gradient = =
24.5m 0.390

= 0.0628 Forward resistance = = 15.918 For Yellow LED (graph on page 16), From the graph, gradient = =

22.5m 0.235

= 0.0957 Forward resistance = = 10.444 For Amber LED (graph on page 17), From the graph, gradient =

= 0.0775 = 0.342 Forward resistance = = 2.925

26.5m

STEPS 6-7 Calculation of the values of RS needed to obtain the following values of IF using the equation: VRS = VS - VF but VS = 5 V and IRS = IF RS =

IF 40 mA 30 mA 20 mA 10 mA Red 74.475 101.23 156.50 320.80 Green 60.325 84.933 136.85 294.90

RS / Yellow 67.800 93.800 145.70 302.50 Amber 75.275 101.20 153.45 310.50

By setting the control to the value RS calculated in step 6, the forward current reading is obtained. For Red LED, RS / 74.475 101.23 156.50 320.80 For Green LED, RS / 60.325 84.933 136.85 294.90 For Yellow LED, RS / 67.800 93.800 145.70 302.50 For Amber LED,
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IF / mA 40.6 32.5 21.7 10.8

IF / mA 40.1 30.9 21.2 10.4

IF / mA 40.7 31.2 20.9 10.6

RS / 75.275 101.20 153.45 310.50 STEP 8 Type of LED

IF / mA 40.8 31.5 20.7 10.3

Colour of emissions at minimum RS resistance (IF maximum) and power on Bright red light

Emission colour when power off

Red LED

The colour became dimmer slowly and then went off. The colour became dimmer slowly and then went off. The colour became dimmer slowly and then went off. The colour became dimmer slowly and then went off.

Green LED

Greenish yellow light

Yellow LED

Bright yellow light

Amber LED

Yellow brownish light

DISCUSSION: (A) The Junction Diode

Being semiconductor device, the junction diode is formed by fusing a p-type material and an n-type material together. It allows the current to flow through it in one direction and hence, it acts like a switch. When the positive voltage is applied to the p-region relative to the n-region, the junction diode is said to be in forward biased condition. In forward biased conditions, the depletion region has already been reduced and hence, majority electrons from n-junction can diffuse to the p-junction and majority holes from p-junction can diffuse to the n-junction. The injection of minority carries in both p and n junctions cause the current to produce. As seen in the graph on page 13 , the diode conducts current when it is in forward biased condition. The higher the voltage applied, the higher the diode current. In fact, the current (I) is an exponential function of the applied voltage (V), I = IS(eV/Vt-1), where Vt is given as kT/e. From the VF versus IF graph, we can also see that the slope decreases when the current increases. This means that as the at higher applied voltage, a slight increase of voltage will cause a significant increase in diode current. Ideally, when the diode is in forward bias, the diode can be treated as short circuit and hence zero voltage drop across it. Nevertheless, we found out that the voltage drop is approximately 0.6V across the diode when it is in forward biased (you can see from the graph too). It is due to the junction voltage across the diode that needs to be achieved in order to obtain a forward biased current. From the table when reversed biased voltage is applied, there is essentially no diode current in the diode. You can verify this from the table of reversed biased shown in the result section. This is due to the widen of space charge region that prevents the diffusion of carries from n-junction to the p-junction and the diffusion of carries from p-junction to the n-junction Besides, the graph obtained is non-linear because the diode is dependent on the temperature change.

(B) Zener Diode Zener diode is a diode which allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as an ideal diode during forward biased condition. However, it also permits the current to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage, zener knee voltage or zener voltage.

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In this experiment under reversed biased condition, when the current supplied increases from 0.50mA to 5mA, the voltage across the 3.2V breakdown-voltage zener diode is maintained in the range of 3.042V to 3.195V. For 3.9V breakdown-voltage zener diode, the voltage across it is maintained in the range of 3.878V to 4.034V when the current supplied increases from 0.50mA to 5mA. As the zener diode can maintain the voltage across it, it can be used as a voltage regulator.

(C) Light Emitting Diodes The forward-current-versus-forward-voltage characteristic of LEDs (Step 1 Step 5) The curves formed provide us with workable Forward Current VersusForward Voltage characteristic curve for this LED. This curve is usually available in manufacturings data sheet. After the experiment was repeated for red, light green, yellow and amber LEDs, we obtained three similar curves, showing the linear relationship between the forward current, IF and forward voltage, VF. These outcomes obey the general behavior of a diode which shows linear forward property after the threshold voltage was exceeded. The threshold voltage of a typical LED is around 2V.

The selection of current limiting resistance in an LED circuit (Step 6 Step 7) The result of IF is similar to the value we get at step 6. By using the forward characteristic curve obtained, it allows us to design an LED circuit, limiting the LED forward current to any predetermined value. This is done by choosing the appropriate control resistance RS.

The independence of the colour of light emitted by an LED and its lens colour (Step 8) Based upon the observation in Step 8, we might conclude that the light emitted by an LED is strictly a function of its lens color. However, as we will recall from the text, this is not true. The LED produces only a narrow band of wavelengths. Therefore, the lens color can modify its appearance only slightly. The primary purpose of using pigmentation in lens construction is to improve its visual contrast between the on and off condition.

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Conclusion: 1) Diode is a device that only allow the current to flow in one direction. 2) As obtained in this experiment, the threshold voltage of p-n silicon diode is approximately 0.6V 3) Zener diodes allow the current to flow in reverse direction with reverse bias configuration provided the breakdown voltage is reached. 4) The forward voltage current characteristic show straight line relationship if the forward voltage is greater than the turn-on threshold voltage of an LED. 5) The color of the emission of an LED is independent of its lens color and is solely a function of its chip material. 6) Intensity of the LED emission is directly proportional to its forward current for current levels far below its maximum swing.

References: 1. Neamen, Donald A. (2001). Electronic circuit analysis and design. (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. 2. Boylestad R. (2012). Electronic Device and Circuit Theory. (11th ed.). Prentice Hall International.

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