Electronic Devices and Circuits: Arunai Engineering College Tiruvannamalai

ARUNAI ENGINEERING COLLEGE
TIRUVANNAMALAI
ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CIRCUITS
UNIT I: PN DIODE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

PN junction diode - VI characteristics – Rd, temperature effects – Drift and diffusion
currents – switching – Rectifiers: HWR, FWR, BR, filters - Zener diode – VI
characteristics, Regulators (series and shunt), LED, LCD characteristics and applications.
UNIT II: BJT AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Junction transistor – Transistor construction – Input and output characteristics – CE, CB
and CC configurations – hybrid model – Analytical expressions – switching – RF
application – Power transistors – Opto couplers.
UNIT III: FET AND ITS APPLICATIONS

FET – VI characteristics, VP, JFET – small signal model – LF and HF equivalent circuits
– CS and CD amplifiers –cascade and cascade – Darlington connection – MOSFET -
Characteristics – enhancement and depletion
UNIT IV: AMPLIFIERS AND OSCILLATORS

Differential amplifiers: CM and DM – condition for ofc-feedback amplifiers – stability –
Voltage / current, series / shunt feedback – oscillators – LC, RC, crystal
UNIT V: PULSE CIRCUITS

RC wave shaping circuits – Diode clampers and clippers – Multivibrators – Schmitt
triggers – UJT based saw tooth oscillators.
TEXT BOOKS:
1. Paynter, ―Introductory electronic devices and circuits, 2006, PHI
2. David Bell ―Electronic Devices and Circuits‖ 2007, PHI
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C.Kannan. ME/Assistant Professor /EEE/Arunai Engineering College
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UNIT I: PN DIODE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

PN junction diode-VI characteristics – Rd, temperature effects – Drift ad diffusion
currents – switching – Rectifiers: HWR, FWR, BR, filters - Zener diode – VI
characteristics, Regulators (series and shunt), LED, LCD characteristics and applications.
PN junction diode:
 The p-n junction forms a popular semiconductor device called p-n junction
diode. The p-n junction has two terminals called electrodes, one each from
P-region and n-region. Due to the two electrodes it is called diode i.e. di +
electrode.
 To connect the n and p regions to the external terminals, a metal is

applied to the heavily doped n and p type semiconductor regions. Such a
contact between a metal and a heavily doped semiconductor is called
ohmic contact. Such an ohmic contact has two important properties,
1. It conducts current equally in both the directions.

2. The drop across the contact is very small, which do not affect the
performance of the device.
Thus ohmic contacts are used to connect n and p type regions to the electrodes.
 The Fig.(a) shows schematic arrangement of p-n junction diode while
the Fig.(b) shows the symbol of p-n junction diode.
 The p-region acts as anode while the n-region acts as cathode. The
arrowhead in the symbol indicates the direction of the conventional
current, which can flow when an external voltage is connected in a specific
manner across the diode.
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Biasing of PN Junction Diode
 Applying external DC voltage to any electronic device is called biasing. There
is no current in the unbiased p-n junction at equilibrium. The usefulness of p-n
junction lies in the fact that it allows current flow only in one direction,
under biased condition.
 Depending upon the polarity of the DC voltage externally applied to it, the
biasing is classified as forward biasing and Reverse biasing.
 The behavior of a p-n junction under these two biasing conditions.
1. Forward Biasing of PN Junction Diode

2. Reverse Biasing of PN Junction Diode.
 If an external DC voltage is connected in such a way that the p -region

terminal is connected to the positive of the DC voltage and the n-region is
connected to the negative of the DC voltage, the biasing condition is called
forward biasing. The p-n junction is said to be forward biased.
 The Fig (a) shows the connection of forward biasing of a p-n junction. To
limit the current, practically a current limiting resistor is connected in
series with the p-n junction diode.
 The Fig (b) shows the symbolic representation of a forward biased diode.
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Operation of Forward Biased Diode
 When the p-n junction is forward biased as long as the applied voltage is less
than the barrier potential, there cannot be any conduction. When the applied
voltage becomes more than the barrier potential, the negative terminal of
battery pushes the free electrons against barrier potential from n to p region.
 Similarly positive terminal pushes the holes from p to n region. Thus holes get
repelled by positive terminal and cross the junction against barrier potential. Thus
the applied voltage overcomes the barrier potential.
 This reduces the width of depletion region. As forward voltage is increased, at
a particular value the depletion region becomes very much narrow such
that large number of majority charge carriers can cross the junction.
 The large number of majority carriers constitutes a current called forward
current. Once the conduction electrons enter the p-region, they become
valence electrons.
 Then they move from hole to hole towards the positive terminal of th e
battery. The movement of valence electrons is nothing but movement of
holes in opposite direction to that of electrons, in the p-region.
 So current in the p-region is the movement of holes which are majority
carriers. This is the hole current. While the current in the n-region is
the movement of free electrons which are majority carriers.
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 This is the electron current. Hence the overall forward current is due to the
majority charge carriers. The action is shown in the Figure. These majority
carriers can then travel around the closed circuit and a relatively large
current flow.
 The direction of flow of electrons is from negative to positive of the battery.
While direction of the conventional current is from positive to negativ e of
the battery as shown in the Figure.
Effect on the Depletion Region
 Due to the forward bias voltage, more electrons flow into the depletion region,
which reduces the number of positive ions. Similarly flow of holes reduces the
number of negative ions. This reduces the width of the depletion region. This is
shown in the image.
Effect of the Barrier Potential:

 Under the influence of applied forward bias voltage, the free electrons get
the energy equivalent to the barrier potential so that they can easily
overcome the barrier, which is a sort of a hill, and cross the junction.
 While crossing the junction, the electrons give up the amount of energy
equivalent to the barrier potential. This loss of energy produces a
voltage drop across the p-n junction which is almost equal to the barrier
potential.
 Due to the internal resistance, there is additional small voltage drop across the
diode.
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Thus the total voltage drop across a p-n junction diode in a forward biased
condition is Vf and it is made up of
1. Drop due to barrier potential

2. Drop due to internal resistance.
The total Vf is of the order of 0.7 V for silicon and 0.3 V for the germanium
Reverse Biasing of p-n Junction Diode:
 If an external DC voltage is connected in such a way that the p-region
terminal of a p-n junction is connected to the negative of the battery and the
n-region terminal of a p-n junction is connected to the positive terminal of
the battery, the biasing condition is called reverse biasing of a p-n junction.
 Reverse biasing means connecting p-region to -ve and n-region to +ve of

the battery.
The Fig (a) shows the connection of a reverse biasing of a p-n junction while
the Fig (b) shows the symbolic representation of a reverse biased diode.
Operation of Reverse Biased Diode
 When the p-n junction is reverse biased the negative terminal attracts the
holes in the p-region, away from the junction. The positive terminal attracts
the free electrons in the n-region away from the junction.
 No charge carrier is able to cross the junction. As electrons and holes both
move away from the junction, the depletion region widens. This creates
more positive ions and hence more positive charge in the n -region and
more negative ions and hence more negative charge in the n-region.
 This is because the applied voltage helps the barrier potential. This is shown in
the below image.
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 As depletion region widens, barrier potential across the junction also

increases. However, this process cannot continue for long time. In the
steady state, majority current ceases as holes and electrons stop moving
away from the junction.
 As depletion region widens, barrier potential across the junction also increases.
However, this process cannot continue for long time. In the steady state,
majority current ceases as holes and electrons stop moving away from the
junction.
 The polarities of barrier potential are same as that of the applied voltage. Due
to increased barrier potential, the positive side drags the electrons from p -
regions towards the positive of battery.
 Similarly negative side of barrier potential drags the hole from n – region
towards the negative of battery. The electrons on p-side and holes on n-side are
minority charge carriers, which constitute the current in reverse biased
condition.
 Thus reverse conduction take place. The reverse current flows due to minority
chare carriers which are small in number. Hence reverse current is always very
small.
 The generation of minority charge carriers depends on the temperature and not
on the applied reverse bias voltage. Thus the reverse current depends on the
temperature i.e. Thermal generation and not on the reverse voltage applied.
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VI - CHARACTERISTICS: (voltage and current characteristics)
The general expression for current in the PN junction diode is given by
ή = 1 for Germanium and 1 or2 for Silicon. For Silicon, It will be less than that for
Germanium.
VT = 26mV.
 If V is much larger than VT can be neglected. So it increases exponentially with
forward bias voltage V. In the case of reverse bias, if the reverse voltage –V>>VT
–V/VT
then e can be neglected and so reverse current is –I0 and remains constant
independent of V.
 So the characteristics are as shown in image, and not like theoretical
characteristics. The difference is that the practical characteristics are plotted at
different scales.
 If plotted to the same scale, (reverse and forward) they may be similar to the
theoretical curves.
 Another point is, in deriving the equations the breakdown mechanism is not
considered. As V increases Avalanche multiplication sets in. So the actual current
is more than the theoretical current.
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Cut in voltage Vγ :
 In the case of silicon and germanium, diodes there is a cut in or threshold or off
set or break point voltage, below which the current is negligible. Its magnitude is
0.2V for germanium and 0.6V for silicon as shown in image below.
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DIODE RESISTANCE (RD):
 The static resistance (R) of a diode is defined as the ratio of V/I of the diode.
Static resistance varies widely with V and I. The dynamic resistance or
incremental resistance is defined as the reciprocal of the slope of the volt –
ampere characteristic dV/ dI. This is also not a constant but depends upon V and
I.
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS:
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 Experimentally it is found that reverse saturation current increases ≈ 7% / oC for
both Silicon and Germanium or for every 100 C rise in temperature, IO gets
doubled.
 The reverse saturation current increases if expanded during the increasing portion.
Thus for every 10°C rise in temp Io for Silicon and Germanium gets doubled.
DRIFT AND DIFFUSION CURRENTS:

Drift Current In An N-Type Semiconductor:
 Within a semiconductor, intrinsic or impure, because of the thermal energy,

covalent bonds are broken and electrons and holes move in random directions.
These collide with lattices, get deflected and move in a different direction, till
they collide with another carrier. Such a random motion is defined as mean free
pat" length ― l ‖, the distance a carrier travels between collisions and the average
time between collisions ― t ‖.
 The average velocity of motion v = 1 / t. Over a period oftime which is >> ― 1 ‖,
average movement is zero or net current is zero. But when electric field is applied
all the electrons are aligned in a particular direction and move towards the
positive electrode and holes in the opposite direction. The resulting current is
called Drift Current.
 Let the semiconductors be 'n' type. Now using a battery, electric field is applied,
under the influence of the electric field, all the free electrons move towards the
positive electrode and enter the metal of the positive electrode as shown in image.
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 The donor atoms have thus lost their free electrons. So the donor atoms linear the
positive electrode pull electrons from the electrode, exactly equal in number to the
free electrons which have entered the electrode.
 So the semiconductors remains electrically neutral. The voltage applied results in
voltage drop across semiconductor. If the battery is removed, the number of free
electrons and holes is same as before the application of field, since semiconductor
has taken equal number of electrons from the positive electrode.
 When the free electron contributed by phosphorus donor atom goes into the
positive electrode, the donor atom loses one electron.
 Therefore it will pull one more electron from the positive electrode and hence the
number of free electrons in the semiconductors remains the same.
Drift Current In P-Type Semiconductor:

 The mechanism is the same to as N – type semiconductor, the holes in the
capceptor type semiconductor moves towards the negative electrode and enter
into it, pulling out one electron from the negative electrode from the acceptor
atoms, the hole has moved away, i.e. it has acquired an electron.
 So electrical neutrality or of its original condition is disturbed. This results in a

electrons from the acceptor atom being pulled away. These free electrons enter
the positive electrode.
 The acceptor atoms having lost one electron steal another electron from the
adjoining atom resulting in a new hole. The new holes created thus drift towards
negative electrode.
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DIFFUSION CURRENT:
 This current result due to difference in the concentration gradients of charge
carriers. That is, free electrons and holes are not uniformly distributed all over the
semiconductor. In one particular area, the number of free electrons may be more,
and in some other adjoining region, their number may be less. So the electrons
where the concentration gradient is more move from that region to the place
where the electrons are lesser in number.
 This is true with holes also. Let the concentration of some carriers be as shown in
the image. The concentration of carriers is not uniform and varies as shown along
the semiconductor length. Area A1 is a measure of the number of carriers between
X1 and X2. Area A2 is a measure of the number of carriers between X2 and X3.
 Area Al is greater than Area A2. Therefore number of carriers in area Al is greater
than the number of carriers in A2. Therefore they will move from Al to A2. If these
charge carriers are free electrons, then electron current directions is from C to A
( therefore Electrons move from A to C).
 If these are holes then current direction is from A to C. This current is called
diffusion current. It is independent of any applied field. So in semiconductors, at
room temperature itself, though no electric field is applied, if the device is
connected in a circuit, there will be very small current flowing through, which is
cal1ed Diffusion Current.
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SWITCHING:
Diode Switching Times:
When the bias of a diode is changed from forward to reverse or viceversa. the current
takes definite time to reach a steady state value.
Forward Recovery Time (TFR )
Suppose a voltage of 5V is being applied to the diode. Time taken by the diode to reach
from 10% to the 90% of the applied voltage is called as the forward recovery time t fr. But
usually this is very small and so is not of much importance. This is shown in image.
Diode Reverse Recovery Time (trr)

When a diode is forward biased, holes are injected into the 'n' side. The variation of
concentration of holes and electrons on n-side and p-side is as shown in image. Pno is the
thermal equilibrium concentration of holes on n-side. Pn is the total concentration of holes
on 'n '-side.
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Storage And Transition Times:
 Suppose the input given to the circuit is as shown in image (i). During 0 – t1, the
diode is forward biased. Forward resistance of the diode is small compared to RL .
Since all the voltage drop is across RL itself, the voltage drop across the diode is
small.
 Therefore IF = V F / R L
 This is shown in image (ii) and voltage across the diode in image (iii) up to t1.
Now when the forward voltage is suddenly reversed, at t = t1, because of the
Reverse Recovery Time, the diode current will not fall suddenly.
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 Instead, it reverses its direction and ≈ VR / RL (RL is small compared to reverse
resistance of the diode).
 At t = t2 , the equilibrium level of the carrier density at the junction takes place.
So the voltage across the diode falls slightly but not reverses and increases to VR
after time t3. The current also decreases and reaches a value = reverse saturation
current I0.
 The interval time (t1 – t2) for the stored minority charge to become zero is called
Storage Time ts. The time (t2 – t3) when the diode has normally recovered and the
reverse current reaches I0 value is called Transition Time tt. These values range
from few milli-seconds to a few micro-seconds.
RECTIFIERS:
 Rectifier is a circuit which offers low resistance to the current in one direction and
high resistance in the opposite direction. Rectifier converts sinusoidal signal to
unidirectional flow and not pure DC Filter converts unidirectional flow into pure
DC If the input to the rectifier is a pure sinusoidal wave, the average value of such
a wave is zero, since the positive half cycle and negative half cycle are exactly
equal.
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HALFWAVE RECTIFIER (HWR):
 A circuit which uses single diode to converts AC voltage into a pulsating DC
voltage using positive half – cycle of the applied AC voltage, during negative half
cycle the diode does not conduct, this is known as ―HALF WAVE RECTIFIER‖.
 It consists of step down transformer, semiconductor diode and the load resistance
RL. The diode can be used to convert the AC into pulsating DC. A half wave
rectifier and its input, output wave form are shown in the figure.
Operation:
 During the positive half cycle of secondary AC voltage, terminal (A)
becomes positive with respect to terminal (B). The diode is forward
biased and the current flows in the circuit in the clockwise direction, as
shown in the image (a).
 The current will flow for almost full positive half cycle. This current is
also flowing through load resistance RL hence denoted as IL, the load
current.
 During negative half cycle when terminal (A) is negative with respect to
terminal (B), diode becomes reverse biased. Hence no current flows in the
circuit as shown in the image (b).
 Thus the circuit current, which is also the load current, is in the form of half
sinusoidal pulses.
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 The load voltage being the product of load current and load resistance, will also
be in the form of the half sinusoidal pulses. The different waveforms are shown
in the above image.
 The DC output waveform is expected to be a straight line but the half wave
rectifier gives output in the form of positive sinusoidal pulses, and hence the
output is called pulsating DC. It is discontinuous in nature. Hence it is necessary
to calculate the average value of load current and average value of output voltage.
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AVERAGE DC LOAD CURRENT (IDC)
 The average or DC value of alternating current is obtained by integration, for
finding out the average value of an alternating waveform such that to determine
the area under the curve over one complete cycle i.e. from 0 to 2π and then
dividing it by the base i.e. 2π.
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Ripple factor (γ)
 The output of the half wave rectifier is not pure DC but a pulsating DC. The
output contains pulsating components called Ripples. Ideally there should not be
any ripples in the rectifier output. The measure of such ripples present in the
output is with the help of ripple factor, it is denoted by γ.
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER (FWR):

 The full wave rectifier conducts during both positive and negative half cycles of
input AC supply. In order to rectify both the half cycles of AC input two diodes
are used in this circuit. The diodes feed a common load RL with the help of a
center tap transformer. The AC voltage is applied through a suitable power
transformer with proper turn’s ratio.
The full wave rectifier circuit is shown in the below image.
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For proper operation of full wave rectifier, a center tap on the secondary winding of the
transformer is essential.
Operation:
 Consider the positive half cycle of AC input voltage in which terminal (A) is
positive and terminal (B) is negative. The diode D1 will be forward biased and
hence will conduct while the diode D2 will be reverse biased and will act as an
open circuit and will not conduct. This is illustrated in the below image.
The diode D1 supplies the load current, IL = Id1. Thus current is flowing through
upper half of secondary winding while the lower half of secondary winding of the
transformer carries no current since diode D2 is reverse biased and acts as an open
circuit. In the next half cycle of AC voltage polarity reverses and terminal (A)
becomes negative and (B) becomes positive. The diode D2 supplies the load
current i.e. IL = Id2.
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Now the lower half of the secondary winding carries the current but the upper half does
not. It is noted that the load current flows in both the half cycles of AC voltage and in the
same direction through the load resistance. Hence to get rectified output across the load,
the load current is sum of individual diode currents flowing in corresponding half cycles.
It is also noted that the two diodes do not conduct simultaneously but in alternate half
cycles. The individual diode currents and load currents are shown in below image.
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BRIDGE RECTIFIER:
The bridge rectifier circuits are mainly used as,
1. A power rectifier circuit for converting ac. power to DC power, and
2. A rectifying system in rectifier type AC meters, such as AC voltmeter, in
which the AC voltage under measurement is first converted into DC and
measured with conventional meter. In this system, the rectifying elements
are either copper oxide type or selenium type.
The image shows the bridge rectifier circuit.
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 The bridge rectifier circuit is essentially a full-wave rectifier circuit, using four
diodes, forming the four arms of an electrical bridge. To one diagonal of
the bridge, the AC voltage is applied through a transformer if necessary, and
the rectified DC voltage is taken from the other diagonal of the bridge.
 The main advantage of this circuit is that it does not require a centre tap on
the secondary winding of the transformer. Hence wherever possible, AC
voltage can be directly applied to the bridge.
Operation
 Consider the positive half of ac input voltage. The point A of secondary
becomes positive. The diodes D I and D 2 will be forward biased, while D 3
and D 4 reverse biased. The two diodes D I and D 2 conduct in series with
the load and the current flows as shown in below image.
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Advantages of Bridge Rectifier Circuit
1. The current in both the primary and secondary of the power transformer flows
for the entire cycle and hence for a given power output, power transformer of a
small size and less cost may be used.
2. No centre tap is required in the transformer secondary. Hence, wherever possible,
AC voltage can directly be applied to the bridge.
3. The current in the secondary of the transformer is in opposite direction in two half
cycles. Hence net DC component flowing is zero which reduces the motes and
danger of saturation.
4. Due to pure alternating current in secondary of transform the transformer gets
utilized effectively and hence the circuit is suitable for applications where large
powers are required.
5. As two diodes conduct in series in each half cycle, inverse voltage appearing
across diodes gets shared. Hence the circuit can be used for high voltage
applications. Such a peak reverse voltage appearing across diode is called peak
inverse voltage rating (P/V) of diode.
Disadvantages of Bridge Rectifier

The only disadvantage of bridge rectifier is the use of four diodes as compared to two
diodes in normal full wave rectifier. This causes additional voltage drop as indicated by
term 2Rf present in expression of IM instead of Rf. This reduces the output voltage.
Applications
1. Used as rectifier in power circuits to convert AC to DC.
2. In rectifier type meters, to convert an voltage to be measured to DC.
3. In power supply circuits.
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FILTER CIRCUITS:
 It is seen that the output a half wave or full wave rectifier circuit is not pure
DC but it contains fluctuations or ripple, which are undesired. To minimize
the ripple content in the output, filter circuits are used. These circuits are
connected between the rectifier and load, as shown in the below image.
 An AC input is applied to the rectifier. At the output of the rectifier, there

will be DC and ripple voltage present, which is the input to the filter.
Ideally the output of the filter should be pure DC Practically the filter
circuit will try to minimize the ripple at the output, as far as possible.
 Basically the ripple is AC, i.e. varying with time, while DC is a constant
with respect to time. Hence in order to separate DC from ripple, the
filter circuit should use components which have widely different
impedance for AC and DC Two such components are inductance and
capacitance.
 Ideally, the inductance acts as a short circuit for DC, but it has large
impedance for AC Similarly, the capacitor acts as open for DC and
almost short for AC if the value of capacitance is sufficiently large enough.
Since ideally, inductance acts as short circuit for DC, it cannot be placed in
shunt arm across the load otherwise the DC will be shorted. Hence, in a filter
circuit, the inductance is always connected in series with the load.
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The inductance used in filter circuits is also called "choke".
 Similarly, since the capacitance is open for DC i.e. it blocks DC hence it

cannot be connected in series with the load.
 Thus filter is an electronic circuit composed of capacitor, inductor or
combination of both and connected between the rectifier and the load so as
to convert pulsating DC to pure DC.
There are basically two types of filter circuits,

1. Capacitor input filter.
2. Choke input filter.
Capacitor Input Filter

 The block schematic of capacitor input filter is shown in the below image.
Looking from the rectifier side the first element in filter is a capacitor
Operation of the filter with half wave rectifier:
 The image shows a half wave rectifier with a capacitor input filter. The
filter uses a single capacitor connected in parallel with the load,
represented by the resistance R L.
 In order to minimize the ripple in the output, the capacitor C used in the
filter circuit is quite large, of the order of tens of microfarads.
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 During the positive quarter cycle of the input signal e s, the diode is
forward biased. This charges the capacitor C to peak value of input i.e.
Esm. Practically the capacitor C charges to (E sm — 0.7) V, due to diode
forward voltage drop. This initial charging happens only once,
immediately when the power is turned on.
 When the input starts decreasing below its peak value, the capacitor
remains charged at Esm and the ideal diode gets reverse biased. This is
because the capacitor voltage which is cathode voltage of diode becomes more
positive than anode. So during the entire negative half cycle and some part of
the next positive half cycle, capacitor discharges through RL as shown in below
image.
 The discharging of capacitor is decided by R LC time constant which is very

large and hence capacitor discharges very little from ESM. In the next positive
half cycle, when es becomes more than capacitor voltage, the diode becomes
forward biased and charges the capacitor C back to ESM. This is shown in below
image.
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 The capacitor charging at point B where es exceed the capacitor voltage which is
slightly less than ESM, so from B onwards the capacitor starts charging again and
gets charged ESM. The discharging of the capacitor is from A to B.
 The capacitor voltage is same as the output voltage as it is in parallel with RL. It
can be seen that the diode conducts only from point B till capacitor gets charged
back to ESM. Thus diode conducts only for part of the positive half cycle.
 From point A to B, the diode remains Non – conducting and conducts only for
the period from B to C. This is shown in the below image.
 When the diode is Non – conducting the capacitor supplies the load current. As
the time required by the capacitor is very small to charge while it’s discharging
time constant is very large, the ripple in the output gets reduced considerably.
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Operation of the filter with full wave rectifier:
The image shows the full wave rectifier with capacitor input filter.
 When the power turn ON the capacitor C gets charged through forward
biased diode D 1 to E sm during first quarter cycle of the rectified output
voltage. In the next quarter cycle from π/2 to π, the capacitor starts
discharging through RL.
 Once capacitor gets charged to E sm the diode D1 become reverse biased and
stops conducting. So during period π/2 to π, the capacitor C supplies the load
current. It discharges to point B as shown in image.
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 At point B, lying in the quarter π to 3π/2 of the rectified output voltage, the input
voltage exceeds capacitor voltage, making D2 forward biased. This charges
capacitor back to Esm at point C.
 The time required by capacitor C to charge to Esm is quite small and only for
this period, diode D2 is conducting. Again at point C, diode D2 stops
conducting and capacitor supplies load and starts discharging upto point D in the
next quarter cycle of the rectified output voltage as shown in below image.
At this point the diode D1 conducts to charge capacitor back to E sm. The diode
currents are shown in below image.
Advantages:
The advantages of capacitor input filter are,
1. Less number of components.
2. Low ripple factor hence low ripple voltage.
3. Suitable for high voltage at small load currents.
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Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of capacitor input filter are,
1. Ripple factor depends on load resistance.
2. Not suitable for variable loads as ripple content increases as RL decreases.
3. Regulation is poor.
ZENER DIODE:
 The zener diode is a silicon p-n junction semiconductor device, which is
generally operated in its reverse breakdown region. The zener diodes are
fabricated with precise breakdown voltages, by controlling the doping
level during manufacturing.
 The zener diodes have breakdown voltage range from 3 V to 200 V. In 1934, a
physicist Carl Zener investigated the breakdown phenomenon in the p-n junction
diode
 The image (a) shows the symbol of zener diode. The DC voltage can be applied to
the zener diode so as to make it forward biased or reverse biased. This is shown in
image (b) and (c). Practically zener diodes are operated in reverse biased mode.
Characteristics of Zener diode:
 In the forward biased condition, the normal rectifier diode and the zener diode
operate in similar fashion. But the zener diode is designed to be operated in the
reverse biased condition. In reverse biased condition, the diode carries reverse
saturation current till the reverse voltage applied is less than the reverse breakdown
voltage.
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 When the reverse voltage exceeds reverse breakdown voltage, the current through
it changes drastically but the voltage across it remains almost constant. Such a
breakdown region is a normal operating region for zener diode. The normal
operating regions for a rectifier diode and a zener diode are shown in below image
(a) and (b).
 The breakdown characteristic for a zener diode is significantly important,

as it is an operating region for the diode. When the reverse voltage
applied to a zener diode is increased, initially the current through it is very
small, of the order of few μA or less. This is the reverse leakage current of
the diode, denoted by I O .
 At a certain reverse voltage, current through zener diode increases rapidly.

The change from a low value to large value of current is very sharp and
well defined. Such a sharp change in the reverse characteristics is
called knee or zener knee of the curve.
 At this knee, a breakdown is said to occur in the device. The reverse bias
voltage at which the breakdown occurs is called zener breakdown voltage,
denoted as VZ. The voltage VZ is set by carefully controlling the doping
level during manufacturing process.
 The current corresponding to a knee point is called zener knee current

and it is a minimum current zener must carry to operate in reverse
breakdown region. It is denoted as IZK or Izmin.
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 From the bottom of the knee, the zener breakdown voltage remains almost
constant, though it increases slightly as the zener current Iz, increases.
The current at which the nominal zener breakdown voltage is specified is
called zener test current, denoted as I ZT.
 This value and corresponding zener voltage V z are specified on a

datasheet of a zener diode. Every zener diode has a capacity to carry
current. As current increases, the power dissipation P z = V z Iz increases. If
this dissipation increases beyond certain value, the diode may get damaged.
 The maximum current a zener diode can carry safely is called zener
maximum current and is denoted as IZM or IZMAX. In practical circuits to
limit the zener current between I zmin and I z max , a current limiting resistor
is used in series with the zener diode.
Zener breakdown:
 The zener breakdown mechanism can be described qualitatively as follows,
 The application of reverse bias, voltage (6 V or less) causes a field across the
depletion region, at p-n junction, of the order of 3 x 10 5 V/cm. An
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electric field of such high magnitude exerts a large force on the valence
electrons of the atom, tending to separate them from their respective nuclei.
 Actual breaking of the covalent bonds occurs when the electric field
intensity becomes more than 3 x 10 5 V/cm. Hence, electron-hole pairs are
generated in large numbers and a sudden increase of current is observed.
 If a limiting resistance in the circuit does not prevent the current from
increasing to high value, the diode may be destroyed because of excessive
heating at the junction.
 In zener breakdown, the value of breakdown voltage decreases as p-n
junction temperature increases, thus such diodes have negative temperature
coefficient.
Application of zener diode:
1. As a voltage regulating elements in voltage regulators.
2. In various protection circuits.
3. In zener limiters i.e. clipping circuit which are used to clip off the unwanted
portion of the voltage waveform.
REGULATORS:
The voltage regulator consists of,
1. Voltage reference, VR.
2. Error amplifier.
3. Feedback network.
4. Active series or shunt control element.
 The voltage reference generates a voltage level which is applied to the

comparator circuit, which is generally error amplifier. The second input
to the error amplifier is obtained through feedback network.
 Generally using the potential divider, the feedback signal is derived by
sampling the output voltage. The error amplifier converts the
difference between the output sample and the reference voltage into an
error signal.
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 This error signal in turn controls the active element of the regulator
circuit, in order to compensate the change in the output voltage. Such
an active element is generally a transistor. Thus the output voltage of the
regulator is maintained constant.
Types of Voltage Regulators
There are two types of voltage regulators available namely,

1. Shunt voltage regulator.
2. Series voltage regulator.
Shunt voltage regulator:
 The heart of any voltage regulator circuit is a control element. If such a

control element is connected in shunt with the load, the regulator circuit is
called shunt voltage regulator.
 The image shows the block diagram of shunt voltage regulator circuit. The
unregulated input voltage V in , tries to provide the load current. But part
of the current is taken by the control element, to maintain the constant
voltage across the load.
 If there is any change in the load voltage, the sampling circuit provides a
feedback signal to the comparator circuit. The comparator circuit
compares the feedback signal with the reference voltage and generates a
control signal which decides the amount of current required to be
shunted to keep the load voltage constant.
 For example, if load voltage increases then comparator circuit decides

the control signal based on the feedback information, which draws
increased shunt current Ish value.
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 Due to this, the load current IL decreases and hence the load voltage
decreases to its normal. Thus control element maintains the constant
output voltage by shunting the current hence the regulator circuit is called
voltage shunt regulator circuit.
 As seen from the block diagram, only part of the load current required to be
diverted, passes through the control element. Thus the control element is
low current, high voltage rating component. The efficiency depends on the
load current I L.
 Hence shunt regulators are not preferred for varying load conditions.
Series voltage regulator:

 If in a voltage regulator circuit, the control element is connected in series
with the load, the circuit is called series voltage regulator circuit. The image
shows the block diagram of series voltage regulator circuit.
 The unregulated d.c. voltage is the input to the circuit. The control element
controls the amount of the input voltage that gets to the output.
 The sampling circuit provides the necessary feedback signal. The

comparator circuit compares the feedback with the reference voltage to
generate the appropriate control signal.
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 For example, if the load voltage tries to increase, the comparator generates
a control signal based on the feedback information. This control signal causes
the control element to decrease the amount of the output voltage. Thus the
output voltage is maintained constant.
 Thus, control element which regulates the load voltage, based on the
control signal is in series with the load and hence the circuit is called series
voltage regulator circuit.
 In series regulators, the entire current passes through the control element
and hence control element is high current, low voltage rating component.
As input current and load current are same, the efficiency depends on
output voltage.
 It provides good regulation than shunt regulators. It can be used for

fixed voltage as well as variable voltage requirements. To compensate
for the drop across the control element, input voltage V., must be at least 2
to 3 V more than output voltage.
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LED CHARACTERISTICS AND APPLICATIONS:
 The LED is an optical diode, which emits light when forward biased. The
image shows the symbol of LED which is similar to p-n junction diode
apart from the two arrows indicating that the device emits the light energy.
Operation:
 Whenever a p-n junction is forward biased, the electrons cross the p-n
junction from the n-t ype semiconductor material and recombine with
the holes in the p -t ype semiconductor material.
 The free electrons are in the conduction band while the holes are present in
the valence band.
 Thus the free electrons are at higher energy level with respect to the holes.
When a free electron recombines with hole, it falls from conduction band to a
valence band.
 Thus the energy level associated with it changes from higher value to lower
value.
 The energy corresponding to the difference between higher level and lower
level is released by an electron while travelling from the conduction band to
the valence band. In normal diodes, this energy released is in the form of
heat.
 But LED is made up some special material which releases this energy in
the form of photons which emit the light energy. Hence such diodes are
called light emitting diodes. The image shows the basic principle of this
process.
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 The energy released in the form of light depends on the energy

corresponding to the forbidden gap. This determines the wavelength of the
emitted light.
 The wavelength determines the colour of the light and also determines
whether the light is visible or invisible (infrared). The various impurities
are added during the doping process to control the wavelength and colour
of the emitted light.
 For normal silicon diode, the forbidden energy gap is 1.1 eV and
wavelength of the emitted light energy corresponds to that of infrared light
spectrum hence in normal diodes the light is not visible. The infrared light is
not visible.
Materials and Colours:

The LEDs use mixtures of Gallium (Ga), Arsenic (As) and Phosphorous (P). The colour
of emitted light is decided by its wavelength which depends on forbidden energy
gap. This gap is different for different mixtures. Hence different mixtures give t he
different colours.
Sr. No. M i x t u r e u s ed S y mb o l Colour

1. Gallium arsenide GaAs Infrared, Invisible
2. Gallium phosphate GaP Red or green
3. Gallium arsenide GaAsP Red or yellow
phosphate
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Construction of LED
 One of the methods used for the LED construction is to deposit three
semiconductor layers on the substrate as shown in the image. In between
p type and n type, there exists an active region.
 This active region emits light, when an electron and hole recombine.
When the diode is forward biased, holes from P type and electrons from N type,
both get driven into the active region. And when recombine, the light is emitted.
 In this particular structure, the LED emits light all the way around the layered
structure. Thus the basic layered structure is placed in a tiny reflective cup so
that the light from the active layer will be reflected towards the desired exit
direction.
 Consider a source connected to LED, through a resistor as shown in below image
the outward arrows associated with a diode indicate that it is LED.
 The resistor RS is the current limiting resistor, due to this resistor the current
through the circuit is limited and prevented from exceeding the maximum current
rating of the diode. When forward biased, as forward current increases, the light
output also increases.
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The graph of output light in mW against forward current IF in mA as shown in image.
When forward biased, the voltage drop across conducting LED is about 2 to 3 V which
is considerably greater than that across a normal silicon or germanium diode.
Advantages of LED
The various advantages of LED are,
1. LEDs are small in size, and hence can be regarded as point source of light.
Because of their small size, several thousand LEDs can be packed in one sq.
meter area.
2. The brightness of light emitted by LED depends on the current flowing
through LED. Hence the brightness of light can be smoothly controlled
by varying the current. This makes possible to operate LED displays
under different ambient lighting conditions.
3. LEDs are fast operating devices. They can be turned on and off in time
less than 1 microsecond.
4. The LEDs are light in weight.
5. The LEDs are available in various colours.
6. The LEDs have long life.
7. The LEDs are cheap and readily available.
8. The LEDs are easy to interface with various other electronic circuits.
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9. Some LEDs radiate infrared light which is invisible but still useful
in some applications like burglar alarm systems.
10. LEDs are useful for the applications which are subjected to frequent on-off
cycling. The fluorescent lamps burn out more quickly when cycled.
11. LEDs can be easily dimmed using pulse width modulation or by
controlling the forward current.
12. LEDs are shock resistant and difficult to damage due to external shocks.
13. LEDs do not contain toxic material like mercury which is used in
fluorescent lamps.
Disadvantages of LED:
1. It draws considerable current requiring frequent replacement of battery in low
power battery operated device.
2. Luminous efficiency of LEDs is low which is about 1.5lumen/watt.
3. The characteristics are affected by temperature.
Applications of LEDs:
1. Visual displays i.e. seven segment displays and alpha numeric displays.
2. In the optical devices such as optocouplers.
3. As ON-OFF indicator in various types of electronic circuits.
4. Some LEDs are radiated infrared light which is invisible. But such LEDs are
useful in remote controls and applications like burglar alarm.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD):
 The liquid crystals are one of the most fascinating material systems in
nature, having properties of liquids as well as of a solid crystal. The terms
liquid crystal refers to the fact that these compounds have a crystalline
arrangement of molecules, yet they flow like a liquid.
 Liquid crystal displays do not emit or generate light, but rather alter
externally generated illumination.
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 Their ability to modulate light when electrical signal is applied has made them
very useful in flat panel display technology.
 The crystal is made up of organic molecules which are rod like in shape with
a length of -20 °A - 100 °A. The orientation of the rod like molecule defines
the "director" of the liquid crystal.
The different arrangements of these rods like molecules lead to three main
categories of liquid crystals.
1. Smectic
2. Nematic
3. Cholesteric
Smectic
 The image (a) shows smectic structure of liquid crystals. In this structure
the rod like molecules are arranged in layers, and within each layer there is
orientational order over a long range. Thus in a given layer, the rods are all
oriented in the same direction.
 Also, in the smectic liquid crystals the molecules of different layers are
ordered as shown in image (a). Thus both orientation order and positional
order is present in the smectic crystals.
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Nematic
 The image (b) shows nematic structure of liquid crystals. In the nematic
structure the positional order between layers of molecules is lost, but the
orientation order is maintained.
Cholesteric
 The image (c) shows cholesteric structure of liquid crystals. In these crystals the
rod like molecules in each layer are oriented in a different angle within
each layer. Orientation order is maintained in each layer.
 The cholesteric liquid crystal is related to the nematic crystal, with the
difference being the twist of the molecules as one goes from one layer to
another. The optical activity of the crystal depends upon the orientation
and the twist of the molecules as one goes from one layer to another.
There are two types of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) according to the theory
of operation
1. Dynamic scattering LCD.
2. Field effect LCD.
Dynamic Scattering LCDs

 The image shows the construction of a typical liquid crystal cell. It consists of a
layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched between glass sheets with
transparent metal film electrodes.
 Usually, an optically thin (about 50 nm) layer of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)
on each surface acts as an electrode to allow a voltage to be held across the cell.
The aligning treatment is then applied on the top of ITO.
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 When the cell is not activated, the liquid crystal is transparent. When it is
activated, the molecular turbulence causes the light to be scattered in all
directions so that the activated areas appear bright.
 This phenomenon is known as dynamic scattering.
 With both glass sheets transparent, the cell is known as a transmittive type
cell. When only one glass sheet is transparent and other has a reflective
coating, the cell is termed reflective type.
Transmittive Type Cell:
 When not activated, cell will simply transmit rear or edge lighting through
the cell in straight lines. In this condition the cell will not appear bright.
 When the cell is activated, the incident light scatters and cell appears quite
bright. This is illustrated in image.
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Reflective type cell:
 The reflective type cell operates from light incident on its front surface.
When it is not activated, light is reflected in the usual way from the mirror
surface, and the cell does not appear bright.
 When it is activated, the dynamic scattering occurs and cell appears bright.
This is illustrated in image.
Field Effect LCD:

 The image shows the field effect liquid crystal cell. It consists of two glass
plates, a liquid crystal fluid, polarizer’s and transparent conductors.
 The liquid crystal fluid is sandwiched between two glass plates.
 Each glass plate is associated with light polarizer. The light polarizer’s are
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placed at right angle to each other. In the absence of electrical excitation,
the light coming through the front polarizer is rotated through 90 0 in the
fluid and passed through the rear polarizer.
 It is then reflected to the viewer by the back mirror as shown in image (a).
 On the application of electrostatic field, the liquid crystal fluid molecules

get aligned and therefore light through the molecules is not rotated by 90°
and it is absorbed by the rear polarizer as shown in image (b).
 This causes the appearance of dark digit on a light background as shown in
image (c).
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Advantages of LCDs:
1. Less power consumption.
2. Low cost.
3. Uniform brightness with good contrast.
4. Low operating voltage and current.
Disadvantages of LCDs:
1. Poor reliability.
2. Limited temperature range.
3. Poor visibility in low ambient temperature.
4. Slow speed.
5. Requires and AC drive.
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Electronic Devices and Circuits: Arunai Engineering College Tiruvannamalai

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Electronic Devices and Circuits: Arunai Engineering College Tiruvannamalai

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ARUNAI ENGINEERING COLLEGE

UNIT I: PN DIODE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

UNIT II: BJT AND ITS APPLICATIONS

UNIT III: FET AND ITS APPLICATIONS

UNIT IV: AMPLIFIERS AND OSCILLATORS

UNIT V: PULSE CIRCUITS

UNIT I: PN DIODE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

 To connect the n and p regions to the external terminals, a metal is

1. It conducts current equally in both the directions.

1. Forward Biasing of PN Junction Diode

 If an external DC voltage is connected in such a way that the p -region

Effect of the Barrier Potential:

1. Drop due to barrier potential

 Reverse biasing means connecting p-region to -ve and n-region to +ve of

Operation of Reverse Biased Diode

 As depletion region widens, barrier potential across the junction also

DRIFT AND DIFFUSION CURRENTS:

 Within a semiconductor, intrinsic or impure, because of the thermal energy,

Drift Current In P-Type Semiconductor:

 So electrical neutrality or of its original condition is disturbed. This results in a

Diode Reverse Recovery Time (trr)

FULL WAVE RECTIFIER (FWR):

Disadvantages of Bridge Rectifier

1. Used as rectifier in power circuits to convert AC to DC.

2. In rectifier type meters, to convert an voltage to be measured to DC.

3. In power supply circuits.

 An AC input is applied to the rectifier. At the output of the rectifier, there

 Similarly, since the capacitance is open for DC i.e. it blocks DC hence it

There are basically two types of filter circuits,

Capacitor Input Filter

Operation of the filter with half wave rectifier:

 The discharging of capacitor is decided by R LC time constant which is very

The advantages of capacitor input filter are,

1. Less number of components.

2. Low ripple factor hence low ripple voltage.

3. Suitable for high voltage at small load currents.

The disadvantages of capacitor input filter are,

1. Ripple factor depends on load resistance.

2. Not suitable for variable loads as ripple content increases as RL decreases.

 The breakdown characteristic for a zener diode is significantly important,

 At a certain reverse voltage, current through zener diode increases rapidly.

 The current corresponding to a knee point is called zener knee current

 This value and corresponding zener voltage V z are specified on a

 The voltage reference generates a voltage level which is applied to the

There are two types of voltage regulators available namely,

Shunt voltage regulator:

 The heart of any voltage regulator circuit is a control element. If such a

 For example, if load voltage increases then comparator circuit decides

Series voltage regulator:

 The sampling circuit provides the necessary feedback signal. The

 It provides good regulation than shunt regulators. It can be used for

 The energy released in the form of light depends on the energy

Materials and Colours:

Sr. No. M i x t u r e u s ed S y mb o l Colour

The graph of output light in mW against forward current IF in mA as shown in image.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD):

Dynamic Scattering LCDs

Transmittive Type Cell:

Reflective type cell:

Field Effect LCD:

 On the application of electrostatic field, the liquid crystal fluid molecules

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