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2.0 DIODES
2.1 Understand the characteristic of diode and diode as a semiconductor device
schematic diagram and physical structure of diode.
Diodes are used to allow current to flow in one direction while blocking current flow in the opposite
direction.



Forward biased and Reverse biased.
Diode must be connected the correct way around. Small signal diode can be damaged by heat when
soldering unless when using a germanium diode.


The Biased P-N Junction

The p-n junction is considered biased when an external voltage is applied. There are two types of
biasing: Forward bias and Reverse bias.


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Forward Bias:

V
applied
> 0
In forward bias the depletion region shrinks slightly in width. With this shrinking the energy required
for charge carriers to cross the depletion region decreases exponentially. Therefore, as the applied
voltage increases, current starts to flow across the junction. The barrier potential of the diode is the
voltage at which appreciable current starts to flow through the diode. The barrier potential varies for
different materials.
Electrons in the p-type material, near the positive terminal of the supply, break their electron pair
bonds and enter the supply, thereby producing new holes. Also electrons from the negative terminal
of the supply enter the n-type material and migrate towards the junction.
Free electrons from the n-type then flow across the junction and move into the holes which have
migrated from the positive terminal. This current flow will continue as long as the external supply is
connected and is called forward current flow.

Reverse Bias:


V
applied
< 0

Under reverse bias the depletion region widens. This causes the electric field produced by the ions to
cancel out the applied reverse bias voltage. A small leakage current, Is (saturation current) flows
under reverse bias conditions. This saturation current is made up of electron-hole pairs being
produced in the depletion region. Saturation current is sometimes referred to as scale current
because of its relationship to junction temperature.
When the polarity of the supply is reversed, the potential within the device is effectively reinforced and
the depletion layer becomes wider. This is because the free electrons in the n-type are attracted
towards the positive terminal, away from the junction, while the electrons from the negative terminal of
the supply enter the p-type and migrate towards the junction. Current flow is extremely small and is
called reverse current. Note that this current is produced by minority carriers and the device is said to
be reverse biased.





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I V characteristic curve for silicon diode.




Diode Characteristics: I-V characteristic



In forward bias operation, the diode will not conduct significant current until the voltage reaches
about 0.7V. After that point large increases in current cause little change in voltage.


In reverse bias operation, the diode will not conduct significant current until some breakdown
threshold voltage which is typically quite large (e.g. 200V). This voltage must be somewhat greater
than the peak input voltage (PIV) rating of the diode. (Device dependent)


Threshold Voltage (Knee Voltage)
Definition : the minimum voltage for diode to ON (0.7 V for silicon and 0.3 V for Germanium)


Forward Current
Definition : current that flows under the application of a forward voltage


Reverse Current
Definition : small value of direct current that flows when a semiconductor diode has reverse bias (in
microampere scale)


Breakdown Voltage
Definition : the minimum reverse voltage to make the diode conduct in reverse


Burning Level
Definition : the voltage applied exceed the maximum diode voltage and may cause the diode to burn
and damage


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2.2 Diode applications as rectifier.
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses
direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The process is known as
rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc
valves, solid-state diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor switches.
Historically, even synchronous electromechanical switches and motors have been used. Early radio
receivers, called crystal radios, used a "cat's whisker" of fine wire pressing on a crystal of galena (lead
sulphide) to serve as a point-contact rectifier or "crystal detector".

Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as components of DC power supplies and
high-voltage direct current power transmission systems. Rectification may serve in roles other than to
generate direct current for use as a source of power. As noted, detectors of radio signals serve as
rectifiers. In gas heating systems flame rectification is used to detect presence of flame.

The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC characterized by pulsating voltages and
currents (although still unidirectional). Depending upon the type of end-use, this type of DC current
may then be further modified into the type of relatively constant voltage DC characteristically
produced by such sources as batteries and solar cells.

A device which performs the opposite function (converting DC to AC) is known as an inverter.

a) Half-wave rectifier





In a half wave rectifier only one half cycle of ac voltage is taking. The circuit is given. Here only one
diode is using. During the positive half cycle of ac voltage the diode conducts; so current flows
through load. During the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased .So no current flows through
the diode. This type of rectification needs only one diode. But the efficiency is not as good as that of
full wave rectifier.
When a single rectifier unit is placed in series with the load across an ac supply, it converts alternating
voltage into uni-directional pulsating voltage, using one half cycles of the applied voltage, the other
half cycles being suppressed because it conducts only in one direction. Unless there is an inductance
or battery in the circuit, the current will be zero, therefore, for half the time. This is called half-wave
rectification. As already discussed, diode is an electronic device consisting of two elements known as
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cathode and anode. Since in a diode electrons can flow in one direction only i.e. from cathode to
anode so the diode provides the unilateral conduction necessary for rectifica-tion. This is true for
diodes of all types-vacuum, gas-filled, crystal or semiconductor, metallic (copper oxide and selenium
types) diodes. Semiconductor diodes, because of their inherent advantages are usually used as a
rectifying device. However, for very high voltages, vacuum diodes may be employed.

The half-wave rectifier circuit using a semiconductor diode with a load resist-ance R
L
but no
smoothing filter is given in figure. The diode is connected in series with the secondary of the
transformer and the load resistance R
L
, the primary of the trans-former is being connected to the ac
supply mains.

Working of a Half wave rectifier:

The ac voltage across the secondary winding changes polarities after every half cycle. During the
positive half-cycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when upper end of the secondary winding is positive
w.r.t. its lower end, the diode is forward biased and therefore conducts current. If the forward
resistance of the diode is assumed to be zero (in practice, however, a small resistance exists) the
input voltage during the positive half-cycles is directly applied to the load resistance R
L
, making its
upper end positive w.r.t. its lower end. The waveforms of the output current and output voltage are of
the same shape as that of the input ac voltage.

During the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when the lower end of the secondary
winding is positive w.r.t. its upper end, the diode is reverse biased and so does not conduct. Thus
during the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage the current through and voltage across the load
remains zero if the reverse current, being very small in magnitude, is neglected. Thus for the negative
half cycles no power is delivered to the load.

Thus the output voltage developed across load resistance R
L
(V
L
) is a series of positive half cycles of
alternating voltage, with intervening very small constant negative voltage levels, It is obvious from the
figure that the output is not a steady dc, but only a pulsating dc wave. Since only half-cycles of the
input wave are used, it is called a half-wave rectifier.

The type of supply available from a half-wave rectifier is not satisfactory for general power supply.
This type of supply can be satisfactory for some particular purposes such as battery charging.
In half wave rectification, either the positive or negative half of the AC wave is passed, while the other
half is blocked. Because only one half of the input waveform reaches the output, it is very inefficient if
used for power transfer. Half-wave rectification can be achieved with a single diode in a one-phase
supply, or with three diodes in a three-phase supply. Half wave rectifiers yield a unidirectional but
pulsating direct current.
The output DC voltage of a half wave rectifier can be calculated with the following two ideal equations:

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b) Full-wave rectifier



In such a rectifier, the ac input is applied through a transformer, the anodes of the two diodes D
1

and D
2
(having similar characteristics) are connected to the opposite ends of the centre tapped
secondary winding and two cathodes are connected to each other and are connected also
through the load resistance RL and back to the centre of the transformer, as shown above.

When the top of the transformer secondary winding is positive, say during the first half-cycle of
the supply, the anode of diode D
1
is positive w.r.t. cathode, and anode of diode D
2
is negative
w.r.t. cathode. Thus only diode D
1
conducts, being forward biased and current flows from cathode
to anode of diode D
1
through load resistance R
L
and top half the transformer secondary making
cathode end of load resistance RL positive. During the second half-cycle of the input voltage the
polarity is reversed, making the bottom of the secondary winding positive w.r.t. centre tap and
thus diode D
2
is forward biased and diode D
1
is reverse biased. Consequently during this half-
cycle of the input only the diode D
2
conducts and current flows through the load resistance R
L
and
bottom of the transformer secondary make the cathode end of the load resistance R
L
positive.
Thus the direction of flow of current through the load resistance RL remains the same during both
halves of the input/supply voltage. Thus the circuit showed acts as a full-wave rectifier.

The half-wave rectifier is very simple and does work, it is not very efficient. It only uses half of the
incoming ac cycle, and wastes all of the energy available in the other half. For greater efficiency,
we would like to be able to utilize both halves of the incoming ac. One way to accomplish this is to
double the size of the secondary winding and provide a connection to its centre. Then we can use
two separate half-wave rectifiers on alternate half-cycles, to provide full-wave rectification. The
circuit is shown to the right.

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Because both half-cycles are being used, the DC component of the output waveform is now
2Vp/ = 0.6366vp, where Vp is the peak voltage output from half the transformer secondary
winding, because only half is being used at a time.

This rectifier configuration, like the half-wave rectifier, calls for one of the transformer's secondary
leads to be grounded. In this case, however, it is the center connection, generally known as the
center tap on the secondary winding.

The full-wave rectifier can still be configured for a negative output voltage, rather than positive. In
addition, as shown to the right, it is quite possible to use two full-wave rectifiers to get outputs of
both polarities at the same time.

The full-wave rectifier passes both halves of the ac cycle to either a positive or negative output.
This makes more energy available to the output, without large intervals when no energy is
provided at all. Therefore, the full-wave rectifier is more efficient than the half-wave rectifier. At
the same time, however, a full-wave rectifier providing only a single output polarity does require a
secondary winding that is twice as big as the half-wave rectifier's secondary, because only half of
the secondary winding is providing power on any one half-cycle of the incoming ac.

Actually, it is not all that bad, because the use of both half-cycles means that the current drain on
the transformer winding need not be as heavy. With power being provided on both half-cycles,
one half-cycle does not have to provide enough power to carry the load past an unused half-
cycle. Nevertheless, there are some occasions when we would like to be able to use the entire
transformer winding at all times, and still get full-wave rectification with a single output polarity.

The average and root-mean-square output voltages of an ideal single phase full-wave rectifier
can be calculated as:





Full wave rectifier circuit consist of 2 half wave rectifier circuits and connected to ensure
only one diode operates at one cycle. Centre-tap transformer is used to ensure both AC
voltage phases are opposition to each other.

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c) Bridge rectifier
























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When the upper end of the transformer second-ary winding is positive, say during first half-cycles
of the input supply, diodes D1 and D3 are forward biased and current flows through arm AB,
enters the load at positive terminal, leaves the load at negative terminal, and returns back flowing
through arm DC. Dur-ing this half of each input cycle, the diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased
and so the current is not allowed to flow in arms AD and BC. The flow of current is indicated by
solid arrows in the figure. In the second half of the input cycle the lower end of ac supply
becomes positive, diodes D2 and D4 become forward biased and current flows through arm CB,
enters the load at the positive terminal, leaves the load at negative terminal and returns back
flowing through arm DA. Flow of current has been shown by dotted ar-rows in the figure. Thus the
direction of flow of cur-rent through the load resistance RL remains the same during both half
cycles of the input supply voltage.

With the availability of low-cost, highly reliable and small-sized silicon diodes bridge rectifier is
becoming more and more popular in comparison to centre-tap rectifier. It has many advantages
over a centre-tap rectifier, as given below.

1. No centre tap is required in the transformer secondary so in case of a bridge rectifier the
transformer required is simpler. If stepping up or stepping down of voltage is not required,
transformer can be eliminated even.

2. The PIV is one half that of centre-tap rectifier. Hence bridge rectifier is highly suited for high
voltage applications.

3. Transformer utilisation factor, in case of a bridge rectifier, is higher than that of a centre-tap
rectifier.

4. For a given power output, power transformer of smaller size can be used in case of the bridge
rectifier because current in both (primary and secondary) windings of the supply transformer flow
for the entire ac cycle.

The main drawback of a bridge rectifier is that it needs four diodes, two of which conduct in
alternate half-cycles. Because of this the total voltage drop in diodes becomes double of that in
case of a centre-tap rectifier. An-other drawback of bridge rectifier is that the load resistor RL and
the supply source have no common point which may be earthed.










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2.3 Diode Clipper and Clamper circuit.
Clipper
There are a variety of diode networks called clippers that have the ability to clip off a portion of
the input signal without distorting the remaining part of the alternating waveform. The half wave
rectifier is an example of the simplest form of diode clipper one resistor and diode. Depending
on the orientation of the diode, the positive or negative region of the input signal is clipped off.
There are two general categories of clippers: series and parallel. The series configuration is
defined as one where the diode is in series with load, while the parallel variety has the diode in a
branch parallel to the load.




Clampers

Clampers have the ability to clamp a signal to a different DC level. The network must have a
capacitor, a diode and a resistive element.
clamper is an electronic circuit that prevents a signal from exceeding a certain defined magnitude
by shifting its DC value. The clamper does not restrict the peak-to-peak excursion of the signal,
but moves it up or down by a fixed value. A diode clamp (a simple, common type) relies on a
diode, which conducts electric current in only one direction; resistors and capacitors in the circuit
are used to maintain an altered dc level at the clamper output.
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The clamping network is one that will clamp a signal to a different dc level. The network must
have a capacitor, a diode and a resistive element, but it can also employ an independent dc
supply to introduce an additional t = RC is large enough to ensure that the voltage across the
capacitor does not discharge significantly during the interval the diode is nonconducting.
Throughout the analysis we will assume that for all practical the capacitor will fully charge or
discharge in five time constants.

General function
A clamping circuit (also known as a clamper) will bind the upper or lower extreme of a waveform
to a fixed DC voltage level. These circuits are also known as DC voltage restorers. Clampers can
be constructed in both positive and negative polarities. When unbiased, clamping circuits will fix
the voltage lower limit (or upper limit, in the case of negative clampers) to 0 Volts. These circuits
clamp a peak of a waveform to a specific DC level compared with a capacitively coupled signal
which swings about its average DC level (usually 0 V).



Clamp circuits are categorised by their operation; negative or positive and biased and unbiased.
A positive clamp circuit outputs a purely positive waveform from an input signal; it offsets the
input signal so that all of the waveform is greater than 0 V. A negative clamp is the opposite of
this - this clamp outputs a purely negative waveform from an input signal.
A bias voltage between the diode and ground offsets the output voltage by that amount.
For example, an input signal of peak value 5 V (V
IN
= 5 V) is applied to a positive clamp with a
bias of 3 V (V
BIAS
= 3 V), the peak output voltage will be
V
OUT
= 2V
IN
+ V
BIAS

V
OUT
= 2 * 5 V + 3 V
V
OUT
= 13 V



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Positive Clamper

The circuit for a positive clamper is shown in the figure. During the negative half cycle of the input
signal, the diode conducts and acts like a short circuit. The output voltage V0 = 0V. The
capacitor is charged to the peak value of input voltage Vm. and it behaves like a battery. During
the positive half of the input signal, the diode does not conduct and acts as an open circuit.
Hence the output voltage Vo = Vm + Vm. This gives a positively clamped voltage.

Negative Clamper

During the positive half cycle the diode conducts and acts like a short circuit. The capacitor
charges to peak value of input voltage Vm. During this interval the output Vo which is taken
across the short circuit will be zero. During the negative half cycle, the diode is open. The output
voltage can be found by applying KVL.
-Vm Vm Vo = 0
Vo = -2Vm
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2.4 Zener Diode







Schematic symbol and physical structure of Zener diode

A Zener Diode is a special kind of diode which permits current to flow in the forward direction as
normal, but will also allow it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain
value - the breakdown voltage known as the Zener voltage. Zener diode is specifically designed
to operate under reverse breakdown conditions. These diodes have a very accurate and specific
reverse breakdown voltage. The Zener voltage of a standard diode is high, but if a reverse
current above that value is allowed to pass through it, the diode is permanently damaged. Zener
diodes are designed so that their zener voltage is much lower - for example just 2.4 Volts. When
a reverse current above the Zener voltage passes through a Zener diode, there is a controlled
breakdown which does not damage the diode. The voltage drop across the Zener diode is equal
to the Zener voltage of that diode no matter how high the reverse bias voltage is above the Zener
voltage.

Zener model can be employed for the ON and OFF state.




ON state - the output voltage is equal to the output voltage of the zener diode, Vz
OFF state - the output voltage is less than zener diode, Vz but greater than 0 V


A Zener diode transfers current forward and backward, while traditional diodes are only capable
of transferring current forward. Many different electronic systems use Zener diodes to control their
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circuits voltage levels. While there are several ways of doing this, Zener diodes provide efficient
voltage regulation without damaging the diode itself.

How Zener Diodes Work

For the most part, a Zener diode acts like a regular diode as current moves in a forward direction
in its circuit. However, when a large enough voltage is applied to the diode in the reverse
direction, it travels against the current from the output to the input. Generally, this produces a
current build-up that eventually damages the diode. However, Zener diodes can limit the amount
of current that passes through them so that the voltage going backward limits the voltage going
forward.

Applications

Zener diodes are used in a number of electronic devices but are exclusively used to control
voltage levels within an electrical circuit. They are especially used in power supplies where
alternating current is converted into direct current. These types of power supplies typically
transfer very large voltages and must limit the voltage before it is transferred to an electronic
device. These devices are often referred to as rectifiers and either a Zener diode or several
transistors can control them. However, in the case of one-chip regulators, transistors are too large
and a single Zener diode can perform the same function.

Advantages

Zener diodes are very small and can be integrated into virtually any electronic device, especially
small circuits that cannot accommodate other forms of voltage regulation technology. Zener
diodes are also relatively inexpensive and are compatible with most other systems, making them
the preferred voltage regulation device. Zener diodes can be used as a reference voltage where
it will provide a level for comparison against other voltages and as voltage regulator diode.

Disadvantages

Zener diodes cancel out voltages by applying even larger voltages in the reverse direction,
wasting electricity in the process. Additionally, Zener diodes have a relatively poor regulation ratio
and are generally not as good as transistors.

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I-V Characteristic of Zener Diode


Zener Diodes are used in the "REVERSE" bias mode, i.e. the anode connects to the negative
supply and from its I-V characteristics curve above, we can see that the Zener diode has a region
in its reverse bias characteristics of almost a constant voltage regardless of the current flowing
through the diode. This voltage across the diode (it's Zener Voltage, Vz) remains nearly constant
even with large changes in current through the diode caused by variations in the supply voltage
or load. This ability to control itself can be used to great effect to regulate or stabilise a voltage
source against supply or load variations. The diode will continue to regulate until the diode current
falls below the minimum Iz value in the reverse breakdown region.


2.5 The other type of Diodes
a) Light emitting diode (LED)
b) Photodiode
c) Laser Diode







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