EE231: Electronics-1

Lecture 4-6
 Zener Region
• The Zener region is in the diode’s reverse-bias
region.
• At some point the reverse bias voltage
becomes so large that the diode breaks down
and the reverse current increases
dramatically.
• The voltage that causes a diode to enter the
Zener region of operation is called the Zener
Voltage (Vz).
– Avalanche Breakdown – Covalent bonds break
due to kinetic energy of drift current.
– Zener Breakdown – Covalent bonds break
because of large electric field.
• The maximum reverse voltage that can be
applied before entering into Zener region is
called the Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) or Peak
Reverse Voltage (PRV).
 Ge, Si and GaAs
• In the forward bias region The
centre of knee of curve is
 0.3V for Ge
 0.7V for Si
 1.2V for GaAs
• Ge also has greater reverse
saturation current due to its
greater temperature sensitivity
• Ge also breaks down quickly as
compared to Si
 Thus, Ge’s characteristics are
least desirable
 Temperature Effects
• In the forward bias region, the characteristics of a
silicon diode shift to left at a rate of 2.5mV per
centigrade rise in temperature
– Higher temperature means excited majority carries
– Hence, lesser external energy required to cross the
barrier
• In the reverse bias region, the reverse saturation
current of a silicon diode doubles for every 10
degree centigrade rise in temperature
– The reverse breakdown voltage however, will either
increase or decrease with temperature depending upon
the doping level ….(To be discussed later)
Temperature Effects
 Ideal Vs Practical
• The diode behaves in a manner similar to a
mechanical switch in that it can control whether
current will flow between its two terminals or not

• However, the diode is different from a mechanical

switch in the sense that when the switch (diode)
is closed it’ll only permit the current flow in one
direction
• At any current level on the vertical line, the
voltage across the ideal diode is 0 V and the
resistance is 0 Ω.
• The current is 0 mA anywhere on the
horizontal line, the resistance is ∞ Ω at any
point on the axis
 Resistance Levels
• Along the curve of diode’s V-I characteristics
– The ratio of voltage to current at any operating point gives the
resistance value at that point
– As the operating point of diode moves from one region to
another the resistance of diode will also change due to non-
linear shape of the characteristic curve

• Type of applied signal (DC or AC) will also determine the

resistance level of interest

• We have three types of resistance levels

– DC or Static Resistance
– AC or Dynamic Resistance
– Average AC Resistance
 DC or Static Resistance
• The resistance which is a function of a DC
voltage and DC current on the V-I curve of
diode
– This resistance will not change with time but will
only change when the current and voltage
change- hence the name DC or Static Resistance
– The resistance at any operating point can be found
by simply finding the corresponding levels of
current and voltage
– Mathematically
• DC resistance levels at the knee
and below will be greater
– Because current value is much
smaller and resistance is inversely
proportional to current
• DC resistance levels along the
vertical rise section of the
characteristic curve will be lower
– Because current value is much
larger
• DC resistance levels in the reverse-
bias region will naturally be quite
high
• Conclusion: higher current through
diode means lower level of DC
resistance
 Example 1.2, Pg: 22
• Determine the DC resistance levels for the
diode having following characteristics
(a) ID = 2mA (low level)
(b) ID = 20mA (high level)
(c) VD = -10V (reverse-biased)
 AC or Dynamic Resistance
• If a sinusoidal input (AC voltage)
in applied to the diode
– The operation point will move up
and down along the V-I
characteristic curve between a
specific range
• Thus, resistance will change and will
not be constant- hence the name
Dynamic resistance
– Mathematically

– In the figure, Q-point is the

operating point under only DC
conditions (no AC applied yet)
• Q-point is derived from the word
quiescent
– Quiescent means still or unvarying
• Dynamic resistance can be
determined by
– Drawing a straight line which is tangent
to the curve at Q-point
– A triangle can be drawn which can be
used to calculate the dynamic
resistance rd
• AC resistance is written in small alphabets
– Steeper slope means
• Lower value of ∆Vd for the same change in
∆Id and hence lower will be the resistance
• AC resistance in the vertical rise region is
quite small
• But AC resistance is much higher at lower
currents
• Conclusion: lower Q-point of
operation means lower current and
higher ac resistance
 Example 1.3, Pg: 24
• For V-I characteristics shown,
determine
(a) AC resistance at Id = 2mA
(b) AC resistance at Id = 25mA
(c) Compare the results with the
dc resistances
• The derivative of a function at a
point is equal to the slope of the
tangent line drawn at that point
– Hence finding the derivative of the
function at Q-point on V-I curve will
give us the dynamic or AC resistance
– We can thus find the derivative of
the general function or the
Shockley’s equation by
differentiating the current ID w.r.t VD
and then inverting the final ratio to
find rd VD
I D  I s (e nVT  1)

A
• Hence, dynamic resistance or ac resistance can be
found by simply substituting the quiescent value
of the diode current into equation-A
– Note that the previous equation is accurate only for
the values of ID in vertical rise section of curve
– For lower values of ID (around the knee of the curve)
• Take n = 2 (for silicon)and value of rd obtained must be
multiplied by this factor of 2
– For small values of ID below the knee of the curve,
equation-A becomes inappropriate
• The resistance values determined so far
– Only included the pn-junction
• It did not include the resistance of the semiconductor
material itself (called the body resistance)
• And it also did not include the resistance introduced by
the connection between the semiconductor material
and the external metallic conductor (called the contact
resistance)
– This additional resistance can be added to equation A

• rB can typically range from 0.1Ω for high power

devices to 2 Ω for some low-power, general
purpose diodes
 Example 1.3 and AC resistance
• At 25mA, rd = 2Ω
• At 2mA, rd = 27.5Ω
– Use equation-A to
compute the value of rd
and find the contribution
of rB towards the total
dynamic resistance in each
case
• The technological improvements are resulting in much
lower values of rB
• Also rB is of much lower magnitude compared to rd at
low currents
• Other resistive elements connected in series with the
diode may also have much larger magnitude as
compared to rB
– Hence, for this text, we will ignore rB unless stated
otherwise
• In reverse-bias we shall assume that change in current
IS is negligibly small from 0V to Zener voltage
– Thus the resulting AC resistance is sufficiently high to
assume an open circuit approximation
 Average AC Resistance
• Calculated when the input
signal is sufficiently large
to produce a broad swing
– Determined by drawing a
straight line through the V-I
curve that intersects the
curve at maximum and
minimum points of the
input signal
– Mathematically
• Looking at the graph
I d  17 mA  2mA  15mA
Vd  0.725V  0.65V  0.075V
Vd 0.075V
rav    5
I d 15mA
– At 2mA
• AC resistance would be
more than 5Ω (low current)
– At 17mA
• AC resistance would be less
– In between rav will make a
transition from high value
at 2mA to low value at
17mA
• The equation for average resistance can be
used for a wide range of the characteristics
along the curve
– This will be useful in future for defining equivalent
circuits for a diode in later sections

• Conclusion: As with the dc and ac resistance

levels, the lower the level of currents used to
determine the average ac resistance, the
higher is the resistance value
 Diode Equivalent Circuits
• An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements
properly chosen to best represent the actual terminal
characteristics of a device or system in a particular
operating region
– Once the equivalent circuit is defined, the device symbol
can be removed from the schematic
– An equivalent circuit can be inserted in its place without
severely affecting the behavior of the actual system
• The resultant network can often be solved using traditional circuit
analysis techniques

• There are three equivalent circuits

– Piecewise-Linear equivalent circuit
– Simplified equivalent circuit
– Ideal equivalent circuit
Piecewise-Linear Equivalent Circuit
• Piecewise modeling is a technique
to approximate non-linear
functions or circuits by using
straight line functions
• We can approximate the diode
characteristics by straight line
segments
– The resulting equivalent circuit will
be called piecewise-linear
equivalent circuit
• However, straight-line segments
do not result in exact duplication
of the actual curve especially in
the knee region
• Since the resulting straight segments are sufficiently close to the
original curve
– We can establish our first approximation to the actual behavior of the
device
• The average AC resistance rav is introduced next to the actual device
which defines the resistance level of the device during ON state
• An ideal diode is included to establish that there is only one direction
of conduction through this device
– A reverse-bias will result in open-circuit state
• Since an Si diode does not conduct in forward direction until VD
reaches 0.7V, therefore a battery VK (barrier-potential) opposing the
conduction direction also appears in our piecewise-linear circuit
model
– The voltage of applied bias must be greater than the value of VK in order
to cause conduction through diode

VK
• A specified operating point can usually help to
approximate the value of rav
– If for an Si diode, IF = 10 mA {IF is forward current
through diode} at 0.8V
– Then for Si, a shift from 0.7V is required before
the V-I curve can rise
– Hence
Vd 0.8V  0.7V
rav    10
I d 10mA  0mA
 Simplified Equivalent Circuit
• For most applications, the value of rav
is sufficiently small and can be
ignored
• The result is:
– A straight line parallel to the current
axis and
– A simplified equivalent circuit
without rav

VK = 0.7V

VK = 0.7V
 Ideal Equivalent Circuit
• We can not only ignore rav but can also ignore the barrier-potential
of 0.7V in comparison to the applied voltage
• In this case the equivalent circuit will be reduced to that of an ideal
diode
– This approximation does not cause any serious loss in accuracy of our
calculations
• Ideal diode means
– Short-circuit in forward direction
– Open-circuit in reverse direction
Where, VT = VK
 Reverse Recovery Time
• In forward bias
– Electrons (majority carrier in n-type) flow from n-type in to p-type
• Note that these electrons are minority carrier in p-type
– Holes (majority carrier in p-type) flow from p-type into n-type
• Note that these holes are minority carrier in n-type
• If polarity is reversed to establish reverse bias or OFF state
– Electrons that came into p-type previously and holes that came
into n-type previously begin to reverse their direction
– But due to previous forward bias state, these electrons (as minority
carriers) in p-type are quite large in number
– Similarly the holes (as minority carriers) in n-type are quite large in
number
• Therefore, initially the reverse current has quite high magnitude known
as Ireverse for an interval ts
– Hence diode did not enter into OFF state immediately rather remained a short
circuit in opposite direction
– ts is the amount of time these carriers take to return back to their majority carrier
state in their parent materials and this phase is called storage phase
• When the storage phase is passed
– Current gets reduced to the level of
non-conduction state
• This second period of time is denoted by
tt called transition level
– It is during this time when diode makes a
transition from a short (ON) to open (OFF)
state
• Mathematically
– Reverse recovery time trr is the sum of
these two intervals
• trr = ts + tt
• This is an extremely important factor
to be considered for high speed
switching applications
– A higher value of trr corresponds to
poor switching speed
– Commercially available diodes have a
trr value in the range of few
nanoseconds to 1μs
 Transition & Diffusion Capacitance
• A pn-junction diode has two different
types of capacitances in parallel with it
– Transition capacitance CT
– Diffusion capacitance CD
• The effect of these capacitances can be
observed at higher frequencies
• Capacitive reactance = Xc = 1/2πfC
– Higher frequency means lower capacitive
reactance
– Hence diode’s effect (V-I characteristics)
on the circuit operation may not be up to
the mark
• In the reverse-bias region we have the
transition or depletion-region
capacitance (CT), while in the forward-
bias region we have the diffusion (CD) or
storage capacitance
– CT will also be present in forward bias
region but its effect will be over
shadowed by CD
 Semiconductor Diode Notation
• For most diodes, any marking such as dot or a
band appears at cathode end
– Cathode is the negative end or n-type
– Anode is the positive end or p-type
 Zener Diodes
• A slight slope in the Zener region suggests that
there is a level of resistance to be associated
with the Zener diode
• In Zener diode direction of current is opposite
to that of the bold arrow symbol
• In forward bias, a Zener diode behaves in a
manner similar to any other forward biased
diode
• The doping level will decide which kind of
break down mechanism will the Zener diode
experience
– Heavily doped
• Zener breakdown at a lower negative voltage
– Lightly doped
• Avalanche breakdown at a higher negative
voltage
• An important property of a Zener diode is to
keep the voltage across it constant at its
reverse breakdown voltage Conduction Direction in Zener Diode and
– This feature of Zener diode has many ordinary Semiconductor Diode
applications in circuit designing
 Zener Equivalent Circuit: (a)
Complete and (b) Approximate

rz = r d

• For most of the applications in our course, we

can ignore the resistance rz and the reduced
equivalent model is just a battery of Vz volts
 Avalanche Breakdown
• Lightly doped
– Wider depletion region
– Less dense
– A high negative field can generate enough momentum in
an electron to strike against other electrons and break
their bonds
• Less dense means more space for electron to gain greater velocity
– A chain reaction starts and a flood of electrons begin to
flow across the junction
• This breakdown typically occurs at negative voltages
above 5V and occurs outside the depletion region
 Temperature & Avalanche Breakdown
• The device is lightly doped and is thus less dense
– Increase in temperature means increase in vibration of
electrons
– This results in increased collisions between electrons
• Energy gained from the applied voltage is wasted
• Electron strikes against another high energy vibrating electron
before gaining its full velocity
– Hence higher applied voltage is required to cause
conduction
– Therefore Zener diodes that are designed for Avalanche
breakdown (at high negative voltage) have a positive
temperature coefficient
• Higher temperature means greater value of Vz to cause
conduction in reverse direction
 Zener Breakdown
• The location of Zener region (or Zener breakdown voltage) can be
controlled by varying the doping levels
– Increase in doping level means high density of impurity atoms
– A denser device
– Narrow depletion region
– Not enough acceleration for electrons to cause impact ionization, i.e;
to strike against other electrons and break the bonds
• Denser device means lesser space and hence lesser velocity or acceleration
– But direction of electric field in thin depletion region and the electric
field of battery energize the electrons to move from valence to
conduction band
• E = V/d ; average electric field between two points is the voltage divided by
the distance between those points
• Narrow depletion region means lesser distance and hence greater electric field
in the narrow depletion region is present to pull the electrons out of the
valence band in to the conduction band
• Zener breakdown typically occurs below negative 5V and occurs
within the depletion region
 Temperature & Zener Breakdown
• Increase in temperature means greater number
of minority carries in both p and n regions at
room temperature
• Higher temperature means excited charge
carriers
– Hence a field of lesser magnitude is required to pull
electrons out of valence band into conduction band
– Therefore Zener diodes that are designed for Zener
breakdown (low negative voltage) have a negative
temperature coefficient
 Temperature Coefficient
• The temperature coefficient specifies the percent
change in Zener voltage for each degree Celsius
change in temperature
• For example, a 12V Zener diode with a positive
temperature coefficient of 0.01%/oC will exhibit a
1.2mV increase in VZ when the junction
temperature increases one degree Celsius
• Mathematically
– ∆VZ = VZ x TC x ∆T
• VZ is the nominal Zener voltage at the reference temperature
of 25oC
• TC is the temperature coefficient
• ∆T is the change in temperature from the reference
temperature
• A positive TC means that the Zener voltage
increases with an increase in temperature or
decreases with a decrease in temperature
• A negative TC means that the Zener voltage
decreases with an increase in temperature or
increases with a decrease in temperature
• In some cases, the temperature coefficient is
expressed in mV/oC rather than %/oC
– For these cases, ∆VZ is calculated as
• ∆VZ = TC x ∆T
 Specification Sheet of a typical Zener
Diode
• The sheet is for a 10V, 500mW and 20% zener diode
 20% means the Zener voltage can be expected to vary by
10V ± 20%

Pzmax = 4IZTVZT
Pzmax = 4 (12.5mA)(10V) = 500mW
 Example 1.4
• A 10V Zener diode has a positive temperature
coefficient of 0.072%. What is the Zener voltage
at 100oC
– Note that for ∆T, reference temperature is 25oC
unless specified otherwise
 Chapter 2
1. DC Lode-line Analysis
2. Series & Parallel Combinations of
Diodes
 DC Load-Line Analysis
• The straight line intersecting the
diode’s V-I characteristic curve is called
load-line
– It’s called load-line because
intersection on the vertical axis is
defined by the value of the applied
load R
• Hence, the analysis is called load-line
analysis
• The intersection of these two lines define
a solution for the network and also define
the current and voltage levels (or
operating point) for the device (i.e; diode)
– To find the load-line, we need the
characteristic curve for the device
under consideration
– The load-line is usually a straight line
representing the response of the Linear
part of a non-linear circuit
• Applying KVL to the circuit in figure
(a) results in the following equation
• E = VD + IDR
• Any where on vertical axis
– VD = 0
– Hence

• Any where on horizontal axis

– ID = 0
– Hence

• A straight line drawn between these

two points will define the load-line
• Changing the level of R (i.e; the load) will change the point
of intersection on vertical axis
– This results in a change in the slope of load line with a different
point of intersection between the load-line and the device
characteristics

• The load-line is defined by the network (i.e; KVL equation)

• Whereas, the characteristic curve is defined by the device

• The point of intersection between these two points is the

point of operation for this circuit
– The voltage at this point is called quiescent voltage VDQ
– The current at this point is called quiescent current IDQ
• The point of intersection is referred to as Quiescent point or Q-point
in short
 Example 2.1
• For the following series diode
configuration, find
– VDQ & IDQ
– VR
Load-Line for Example 2.1
 Example 2.2 and 2.3
• Solving example 2.1 using approximate
(simplified) model and ideal model
Approximate model Ideal model

• IDQ = 18.5mA and VDQ = 0.7V • IDQ = 20mA and VDQ = 0V

 Series Diode Configurations
• The forward resistance of a diode is usually so small compared to
the other series elements of the network that it can be ignored
– We can use this fact to construct approximate model and an ideal
model for a diode
ON state

OFF state

ON state

OFF state
• If the direction of current through a series diode
matches that of the arrow in diode symbol
– The conduction through diode will occur and diode is
said to be in ON state
– We can either replace the diode with a 0.7V battery or
simply write 0.7V drop across a diode

• On the other hand if the current direction from battery

doesn’t match that of the diode’s arrow head
• No conduction will occur and the diode is said to be
reverse biased
• In such a case, the diode can be replaced with an open
circuit
 Example 2.4, Pg: 67
• For the series diode configuration, determine
– VD
– VR
– ID
• What if diode is reverse biased?
• Another notation that is commonly used while
solving circuits containing active devices such
as diodes, transistors etc is shown below
– The symbol for the applied battery voltage is
removed and its magnitude is simply shown at
one of the terminals of the device
– This is a very common industry standard
 Example 2.6, Pg: 68
• For the series diode, determine
– VD
– VR
– ID
 Example 2.7, Pg: 69
• Determine Vo and ID
• Note: For the forward drop across different
LEDs, refer to Table 1.8
 Example 2.9, Pg: 70
• Determine I, V1, V2 and Vo
Parallel & Series-Parallel
Configurations
Voltage Source and its Maximum value
• Any voltage source of a particular magnitude takes
some time to reach its maximum value.
• This period may be in milliseconds or microseconds
– e.g; a voltage source of 20V connected across any
element (resistor, diode, transistor etc) will build up
from 0 to 20V in an extremely small period of
milliseconds or micro seconds
• This property of voltage build up has certain uses
in the operation of circuits with active devices like
diodes etc
– Especially when the devices are connected in parallel
– The following examples will illustrate this build up of
voltage from 0 to a higher value
 Example 2.10, Pg: 71
• Find Vo, I1, ID1, ID2
 Example 2.11 (Case-1)
• Green LED is ON when
supply is positive
• RED LED is ON when supply
is negative (w.r.t green LED)
• Reverse breakdown voltage
for both the LEDs is 3V
• Average turn-ON voltage
for both the LEDs in
forward direction is 2V
– Find the value of R to
ensure a current of 20mA
 Example 2.11 (Case-2)
• Green LED is replaced with a Blue LED
• Average turn-ON voltage for a Blue LED is 5V
– Higher VD for Blue LED would mean lower value of R for a
current of 20mA
E  VD
R 
I
• But as the voltage develops across the parallel combination
of LEDs, it gets locked at 3V
– Because reverse breakdown voltage of the Red LED is 3V
– Hence Blue LED never gets turned ON and remains open at 3V
– So none of the two LEDs emit light as LED emits light only under
a forward biased condition
– High current in reverse breakdown can damage an LED and it is
not advised to use an LED in reverse breakdown region
• Protection should be provided in the form of an ordinary diode in
series with a reverse biased LED
• LEDs have a very low reverse breakdown voltage
 Example 2.11 - Solution to Case-2
• Use standard resistors
• Use ordinary diodes with a
standard breakdown voltage of
20V connected in series with
each LED
– A breakdown voltage higher than
the applied battery voltage would
prevent the entire battery voltage
to appear across any reverse
biased LED
– Higher currents in reverse
breakdown can damage an LED
– Since 8V is less than breakdown of
20V of standard Si diode
• Thus, both the Si diode and the Red
LED will be OFF
• Same holds true for a reverse
polarity across the Blue LED