V-I CHARACTERISTICS OF A DIODE

Aim:
To plot an I-V graph for a silicon diode.

EQUIPMENT
Variable dc source, multimeter digital type, silicon diode, IN4001,
1kΩ resistor, 1kΩ potentiometer and circuit construction board.

PROCEDURE:
Note the ratings of the given diode from data sheets.
0. IDENTIFY THE LEADS OF THE DIODE USING A MM

1. Construct the circuit shown in Fig. 2-2 . The MM is used to measure

different circuit voltages. It must be moved to different locations to
observe these voltages.
R
1
1

DIODE
V POT
2
2

Fig 1

2. Turn on the dc voltage source and adjust it to produce 10 V(or 5 v) as

measured across the 1-kΩ potentiometer. This voltage will appear
across the two side terminals (1 and 3) of the potentiometer. The source
voltage (Vs) for the circuit is a variable value that is adjusted by the
potentiometer .Vs will appears at terminals 1 and 2 of the potentiometer.
In this activity. You are directed to adjust potentiometer to produce a
specific voltage across the diode (V F). Then measure the voltage across
the series resister (R) and the circuit source voltage across
potentiometer, Vs. Note down these values in data table 1.

3. The first part of this experiment is designed to measure the forward I-V
characteristics of a diode. Note that only voltage values are called for in
procedure. Forward current (IF) is determined by calculation.

4. Adjust Vs to produce a VF of 0 V across the diode, measure and record

the values of Vs and VR.
 5. Adjust the value of Vs to produce a VF of 0.1 V across the diode.
Measure the values of Vs and VR in forward bias tabular column.

6. Repeat step 4 for each of the V values of Data Table 1. Note: The VF
voltage of the silicon diode is generally considered to be 0.7 V. In an
operating circuit this may vary from 0.5 to 0.7 V according to the
amount of the current flowing through the diode. As a rule, a larger V F
will appear across a diode only when the value of I F has been increased
significantly. In this circuit the value of IF is kept at a rather low value.
With some diode the upper values of V F may not be obtained. If this
occurs, use only the values that can be achieved by the circuit. Do not
try to reach the upper values by increasing the power source voltage.

7. Calculate the IF and RF values for each of the measured VF values.

8. Turn off the power source and remove the 1N4001 diode from the
circuit. Reverse the two leads and return it to the circuit so that it is
connected in the reverse bias direction. The voltmeter will be used to
measure reverse voltage values across the diode, resistor voltage (V R),
and the voltage source (VS).The reverse current IR and reverse
resistance RR are calculated from these values.

1N4001 1N4001
Forward bias Reverse bias
Calculate
Measured Calculated Measured
d
Voltage Voltage
Voltage Voltage
across across
across
resistor VS IF RF across
resistor VS IR RR
diode VF diode
VR VR
0 0
0.10 2.0
0.20 4.0
0.30 6.0

9. For reverse bias you may now remove the potentiometer since you
want to vary the voltage in steps of volts. Turn on the variable dc power
 source and adjust it to 0 V measured across terminals of the power
supply . Repeat steps 2 through 5 for the reverse connected diode. The
values of VR are indicated in table 2 . Note that these values are much
larger than the previous VF values.

10.Using the VF and IF data from table 1, plot a forward conduction curve
on the graph sheet. Choose appropriate scale.

11.Using the VR and IR data from table 2, plot a reverse conduction curve
on the graph sheet. Choose appropriate scale

NOTE: Use appropriate units in the heading column of the observation table.

Result :