PN JUNCTION DIODE:

Definition: A PN Junction diode is a 2-terminal semiconductor electronic On/Off switch that

allows current flow in only one direction. The circuit symbol is shown below. The terminals are
called the Anode (A) and the Cathode (K). The state of the diode switch (open or closed) is
determined by the polarity of the voltage across it.

Working of PN Diode:
(a)Forward Bias: If an external voltage is connected in such a way that the P region
terminal is connected to the positive of DC voltage and the N region is connected to the negative
of the DC voltage, the biasing condition is called forward biasing.

When we apply an external voltage more than the barrier potential, the negative terminal
of battery pushes the electrons against barrier from N to P region. Similarly positive terminal
pushes the holes from P to N region. Thus holes get repelled by positive terminal and cross the
junction against barrier potential. This reduces the width of depletion region. As forward voltage
increased, at a particular value the depletion region becomes very much narrow such that large
number of charge carriers can cross the junction.
In this way the flow of charge increases through the diode by increasing the applied
voltage. The motion of charge particles can be observed in above picture
(b)Revers Bias: If P region of battery is connected to the negative terminal of the battery
and N region is connected to the positive terminal of the battery, the biasing condition is called
reverse biasing of a P-N junction.

In reverse bias, the negative terminal attracts the holes in the P region away from the
junction. The positive terminal attracts the free electrons in the N region and no charge carrier is
able to cross the junction. In this way the depletion width increases highly and acts as a resistor,
but it does not exist for more time. In steady state, majority current ceases the holes and electrons
stop moving away.
In this way there is a reverse current flow due to minority charge carriers which are small
in number.
PN Junction Diode V-I Characterisitcs:
The experimental setup for finding the characterisitcs of a PN junction diode is shown in below
figure.

The response of a diode can be easily indicated using the characteristics which called as V-I
characteristics of diode.

(a) Forward Bias Characteristics: When the diode is forward biased, anode positive with
respect to the cathode, a forward or positive current passes through the diode and
operates in the top right quadrant of its I-V characteristics curves as shown. Starting at
the zero intersection, the curve increases gradually into the forward quadrant but the
forward current and voltage are extremely small.

The forward voltage at which the diode current increses rapidly is known as cut-in voltage or
knee voltage. This knee voltage for silicon diode is 0.7V and for a germanium diode, it is 0.3V
When the forward voltage exceeds the diodes P-N junctions internal barrier voltage, avalanche
occurs and the forward current increases rapidly for a very small increase in voltage producing a
non-linear curve.
(b) Reverse Bias Characteristics:

OP-AMP :
An operational amplifier (or an op-amp) is an integrated circuit (IC) that operates as a voltage
amplifier. An op-amp has a differential input. That is, it has two inputs of opposite polarity. An
op-amp has a single output and a very high gain, which means that the output signal is much
higher than input signal. An op-amp is often represented in a circuit diagram with the following
symbol:

These amplifiers are called "operation" amplifiers because they were initially designed as an
effective device for performing arithmetic operations in an analog circuit. The op-amp has many
other applications in signal processing, measurement, and instrumentation.

Ideal Characteristics of OP-AMP:

Infinite voltage gain
Infinite input impedance
Zero output impedance
Infinite bandwidth
Zero input offset voltage (i.e., exactly zero out if zero in)