Name : _________________________________________________ Group No.

: _____
Subject/Sec : ____________________________ Schedule : ____________________ Score : _____
Instructor : _____________________________________________ Date Performed : ___________

Laboratory Experiment No. : 2

DIODE FAMILIARIZATION

OBJECTIVES :

1. To be able to know the effect of forward and reverse bias voltage on a semiconductor diode.
2. To be able to differentiate between the silicon and germanium diodes in terms of their voltage
capacity.
3. To graph the characteristic curve of a silicon diode.

BACKGROUND INFORMATIONS :

A diode is a device used primarily to control the flow of current in a circuit ( switch ). It may also
be used for rectification, and wave shaping.
A diode is formed using an n-type and p-type materials. At the instant the two types of materials
are joined, the electron and holes in the region of the junction will combine resulting in a lack of carriers
in the region near the junction. This region is called the depletion region or barrier potential which 0.7 V
for silicon and 0.3 V for germanium.
To overcome this barrier potential, a bias voltage should be applied across a diode. To forward bias
a diode, a positive potential is applied at the p-type material which is the anode of the diode and a
negative potential should be connected to the n-type material which is the cathode of the diode.

ID

1
A K

R1 2
330
V1
3

Figure 1

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MATERIALS/EQUIPMENTS :

DC Power Supply
DMM
Diode :
1 1N4001 Si or equivalent
1 1N34A Ge or equivalent
Resistor :
1 330 ( W )

LABORATORY PROCEDURES :

I. Forward and Reverse Bias Measurements

1. Construct the circuit shown in Figure 1.

2. From 0 V, increase the output of the power supply until the voltage across the silicon diode is 0.7 V.
Measure and record the diode current.
3. Reconstruct the circuit so that the diode is now reverse-biased. Do not adjust the variable DC supply
as set in step 2.
4. Measure and record the voltage across and the current through the reverse-biased diode.
5. Repeat steps 1 4 using the germanium diode and record the results.

FORWARD BIAS
DC Resistance
VAK ID ( VAK / ID )
Si
Ge

Table 1.1

REVERSE BIAS
DC Resistance
VAK ID ( VAK / ID )
Si
Ge

Table 1.2

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II. Characteristic Curve

1. With the diode forward biased in Figure 1, set the voltage source to 0 V, measure the diode current
and record it in the Table below.

FORWARD BIAS
0V 0.1 V 0.2 V 0.3 V 0.4 V 0.5 V 0.6 V 0.7 V 0.8 V

ID
RDC

Table 2.1

2. Measure the diode current for every increase of voltage as indicated in the table. Also calculate the
DC resistance of the forward biased diode.

3. Same procedure shall be followed to obtain the data for Table 2.2, this time diode is reverse-biased.

REVERSE BIAS
0V 0.1 V 0.2 V 0.3 V 0.4 V 0.5 V 0.6 V 0.7 V 0.8 V

ID
RDC

4. From the values obtained in Table 2.1 and table 2.2, plot the voltage along the x-axis and the current
readings along the y-axis.

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OBSERVATIONS :

CONCLUSION :