Power Electronics






Lecture 2: The Power Diode

Erasmus Mundus Master Course in

Sustainable Transportation
and Electrical Power Systems
Dr. Giulio De Donato
The pn-Junction Power Diode

taxial layer

• Heavily doped n-type substrate + a lightly doped n- epitaxial layer. The

pn-junction is formed by diffusing a heavily doped p-type p+ region.
• The cross-sectional area of the diode varies according to the amount of
current it must carry (up to several cm2 for several kA).
• the n- layer is called the drift region; it absorbs the depletion layer of the
reverse-biased p+n- junction. It establishes the value of VBD.

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Breakdown Voltage of Non-Punch-Through Diodes

• If the length Wd of the drift region is longer than the depletion layer at
breakdown, the diode is a non-punch-through diode.
• The breakdown voltage is equal to:
!BV ⇡ ✏EBD
2
⇡
1.3 ⇥ 1017
BD
! 2qN D Nd
• The depletion layer width (in cm) of the step junction is:
!W W (BVBD ) ⇡
2BVBD
= 10 5
BVBD
!d EBD
• Large breakdown voltages require lightly doped regions, at least on
one side;
• The drift layer must be fairly long in high-voltage devices to
accomodate the long depletion layers.
• For example, for BVBD = 1000V, Nd < 1014 cm-3 and Wd>100µm

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Breakdown Voltage of Punch-Through Diodes (1/2)

• In punch-through diodes, the drift region

length is shorter and in reverse bias, the
deletion region can extend all the way
across the drift region.
• E1 is due to the ionized donors in the drift
region: qNd Wd
E1 =
✏
• The area under the triangular component
represents a voltage V1: 2
qNd Wd
! V1 =
2✏
• The area under the rectangular
component is a voltage V2: V2 = E2 Wd

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Breakdown Voltage of Punch-Through Diodes (2/2)
• When the junction breaks down:
E1 + E2 = EBD BVBD = V1 + V2
• By substitution:
qNd Wd2
BVBD = EBD Wd
2✏
• If the doping is much less than for a NPT
diode, then V1 will be much less than V2
and:
BVBD
Wd ⇡
EBD
• For the same value of breakdown voltage,
the drift region is about one half of that of
a NPT diode.
• The low doping density means that the ohmic resistivity of the PT drift

region is >> than that of the NPT drift region.
• This has no effect on the operation of the diode due to conductivity

modulation in the on-state; PT diodes have lower on-state voltages.
• Cannot be used in majority-carrier devices because there is no

conductivity modulation in the on-state operation of these devices.

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Depletion Layer Boundary Control

• Junctions usually have some degree of curvature, depending on the

diffusion process. Fringing electric fields at the semiconductor-air
boundary can also cause a curvature in the depletion layer boundary.
• This lead to smaller VBD compared to plane parallel junctions!
• The radius of curvature of the depletion layer boundary must be > 6
times the depletion layer thickness at breakdown to be within 90% of
the parallel junction VBD.
• Bevelling and glass passivation are one method used to control the
electric fields at the surface and to provide protection from
environmental agents. Guard rings and field plates can also be used.

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I-V Power Diode Characteristic

• On-state diode voltage drop: V ⇡ Vj + Ron I

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On State Behaviour
• The forward biased pn-junction
injects holes into the drift region.
• at high injection levels (δp>nn0),
the hole space charge is large
enough to attract electrons from
the n+ region into the drift region.
• This leads to the injection of
electrons across the n-n+ interface
into the drift region with densities
δp=δn (double injection).
• if L>Wd the distribution of excess
carriers in the drift region will be
fairly flat (na>>nn0)

• The conductivity of the drift region will be greatly enhanced. This effect is
called conductivity modulation.
• Current in drift region: IF ⇡ q(µn + µp )na AVd
Wd

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Turn On Behaviour

• Two physical processes occur in sequence:

1. The space charge stored in the depletion layer must be removed;
2. Once the junction is forward biased, the excess-carrier density in the
drift region must grow towards the steady state value that can be
sustained by the forward current.
• The over-voltage is due to the ohmic resistance of the drift region and the
inductance of the silicon wafer and bonding wires attached to it. It is not
present in signal diodes. IF the di/dt is large, the peak value can reach
300 V!!!

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Turn Off Behaviour(1/2)

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Schottky Power Diode
• Electrons in n-type semiconductor
have higher potential energy than
electrons in the anode metallization.
• Flow of electrons from the
semiconductor to the metal is >> than
from metal to semiconductor.
• The metal will become negatively
charged and the semiconductor will
acquire a positive charge by forming a
depletion layer adjacent to the
interface.
• Eventually the potential barrier gets
large enough so that there is no net
current flow across the interface and
thermal equilibrium is established.
• no minority carriers are involved - Schottky diodes are majority carrier
devices. Faster switching times!
• lower on-state voltage (0.3-0.4V)!!

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