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ELECTRONICS LABORATORY
EXPERIMENT 2
DIODE CHARACTERISTICS
PURPOSE
The purpose of this lab is to study the characteristics of the diode. Some of the
characteristics that will be investigated are the I-V curve and the rectification
properties.
THEORY
Diode
The diode is a device formed from a junction of n-type and p-type
semiconductor material. The lead connected to the p-type material is called the
anode and the lead connected to the n-type material is the cathode. In general,
the cathode of a diode is marked by a solid line on the diode (see Figure 1.1).
When a real diode is reverse biased a minuscule leakage current flows through
the device. This current can be effectively ignored as long as the reverse
breakdown voltage of the diode is not exceeded (see Figure 1.4). At potentials
greater than the reverse breakdown voltage, charge is pulled through the p-n
junction by the strong electric fields in the device and a large reverse current
flows. This usually destroys the device. There are special diodes that are
designed to operate in breakdown. Such diodes are called zener diodes and used
as voltage regulators.
The voltage current relationship of semiconductor diode is expressed as
ID =Is (e VD / nVT -1). The relationship given in this equation is valid for both
forward and reverse bias; however, it fails to be valid when the reverse bias
voltage reaches a value that causes breakdown. This value of reverse bias
voltage is called zener voltage. The parameters Is and n can be found
experimentally. For this purpose the straight line portion of iv curve on a
semilogarithmic plot is extrapolated to intercept the current axis at VD=0 (figure
1-4). IS is read from the graph and n is calculated using the following expression:
n = (VD1-VD2) / (VT ln (ID1/ID2)). Real diodes have internal resistance Rd which
V
can be found as following; Rd= .
I
PRE-LAB
1) Study the operation of the diode full-wave bridge circuit in Figure 1-5.
Given Vs=12sin(2 Pi f t), f=60 Hz, R=10 K and silicon diodes, sketch Vs
and VR(t) for t between 0 and 35msec.
2 )Study the piecewise model of diodes.Find a mathematical expression for
internal resistance of a diode?
Figure 1.6
a) By using the circuit in Figure 1.6 (R= 1 Kohm , diode: 1N4007)
plot the ID - VD forward characteristics for the diode up to 12 mA.
Find the device parameters n and Is.
b) Obtain the piecewise linear model of the diode at the circuit .
c) Find the zener voltage of the diode at the circuit.
Figure 1-7
The half- wave rectifying properties of the diode can be displayed using the
circuit shown in Figure1-7 (R= 10 Kohm, diode: 1N4007).
a) Set the input voltage source to the circuit to an 4V p-p 1kHz sine wave.
b) Measure and capture the waveforms for the input and output voltages, the
diode voltage and the resistor current.