Diodes : Current vs Voltage

In a practical diode, there

is very little forward
current until the barrier
voltage is reached.
When reverse biased,
only a small amount of
current flows as long as
the reverse voltage is less
than the breakdown
voltage of the device.
Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode
Circuits

Power Supply Applications

Nearly all computers have some sort of power
supply.
Power supply circuits must:
Convert the ac line voltage into a dc voltage
required by the circuit.
Reduce the ac voltage to a lower value.
Continuously adjust the dc output voltage to
keep it constant under varying load conditions.
Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode
Circuits

Circuit Operation
During the positive alternation, the diode is
forward biased and the full applied voltage is
dropped across the load resistor.
During the negative alternation, the diode is
reverse biased and acts like an open circuit. No
voltage is present across the load resistor.
The output voltage is actually pulsating dc.
An application for a half-wave rectifier is shown
on the following slide.
Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode
Circuits

Circuit Operation

Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode

Circuits

Special Diodes
There are many diodes that have special
properties that are useful in electronic
circuits.
A zener diode is much like a standard diode
in many respects, except it is designed to
operate in the reverse breakdown region of
its operating curve.
Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode
Circuits

Basic Zener Characteristics

Zener diodes are operated
in their reverse
breakdown mode to
provide voltage regulation
in a circuit.
The point where the
reverse current begins to
increase is called the knee
voltage. The current at
this point is the knee
current.

Chapter 9 - Diodes and Diode

Circuits

Zener Voltage Regulator

Varactor Diodes
Junction capacitance is present in all reverse
biased diodes because of the depletion region.
Junction capacitance is optimized in a varactor
diode and is used for high frequencies and
switching applications.
Varactor diodes are often used for electronic
tuning applications in FM radios and televisions.
They are also called voltage-variable
capacitance diodes.

Schottky Diodes
While varactor diodes are designed to optimize the
effect of junction capacitance, Schottky diodes are
designed to minimize the junction capacitance.
Schottky diodes are able to switch between
conducting and non-conducting states much faster
than conventional diodes.
This fast switching speed is the identifying
characteristic of a Schottky diode. They are also
referred to as hot-carrier diodes.

Zener regulator

When the circuit is working properly, the

output voltage equals the zener voltage and
the resistor current is constant. When the
output current increases the zener current
decreases. If too much current is drawn
from the output, the zener current goes to
zero, the zener turns off and the output
voltage drops below the zener voltage.

Zener regulator design

Power dissipated in the zener
is Iz times Vz. It is a maximum
when the output current is zero.

The smaller R, the more output current the

circuit can provide. The minimum R is
determined by the maximum power that can
be dissipated in the zener.
There is a tradeoff between power dissipation
and output current.

Example 3.3
Using a zener diode and any number of available resistors, design
a voltage-reduction circuit that will permit a portable radio normally
powered by a standard 9-V battery to be powered instead from a
12-V car battery. The maximum power that can be dissipated
by the zeners that are available is 1W. The radio requires a
maximum at of 0.5W of power full volume. Note that the voltage
from a car battery may actually vary over the range 12 to 13.6V,
depending on the battery condition and the total current drawn
by the car. The value 13.6V represents the true open-circuit
voltage of a six-cell lead-acid battery

Example 3.3
Iout max = 0.5W/9V = 56mA
Set Iz equal to 1mA when the
output current is maximum.
Ir = Iout + Iz = 56 + 1 = 57mA
IrR = Vin - Vout = 12 - 9 = 3V
R = 3V/57mA = 53 Ohms
Let R = 51 Ohms (Standard value)

Vin = 13.6 - 12V

Vz = 9V

The maximum power dissipated in the zener is

Vz*Iz max = Vz*(Vin max - Vz) / R = 9(13.6-9)/51 = 0.81 W
OK - 0.81W is less than the maximum zener dissipation allowed.

Zener problem
What is the maximum output
current at 5V?
How much power must the
zener diode dissipate?

Zener problem

Sketch the output voltage vs output current.

Label your axes.