APPROXIMATIONS ON DIODES

Abstract- The objective of this experiment is to

understand the approximations of the diode in a
circuit that serves as a switch. In this experiment,
silicon diode is used. The current supplied is
adjusted from the range of 31.2 to 50.1 that
provided a value of 0.579 and 0.657 as the
minimum and maximum voltages attained. The
bulk resistance which is quite noticeable is taken
into account having a value of 5.56 and 2.28 ohms.

Keywords- diode approximations, silicon diode,

circuits, current, resistance
I. OBJECTIVES
To accurately identify which diode
approximation is feasible and is applicable in the
experiment. And to validate the effectiveness via
laboratory data calculations.
The second approximation, the diode is seen
as a diode that needs voltage in order to turn on. For
a silicon diode, the diode needs about 0.7V in order
to turn on. When the voltage fed into the diode
forward biased is 0.7V or greater, the diode switches
on. When the voltage is less than 0.7V, the diode
turns off. Figure 2 shows the characteristics and
equivalent circuit of the diode.

II. INTRODUCTION

Diode is a two-terminal electronic

component that conducts primarily in one direction
(asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero)
resistance to the current in one direction, and high
(ideally infinite) resistance in the other.The most
common function of a diode is to allow an electric
current to pass in one direction (called the diode's
forward direction), while blocking current in the
opposite direction (the reverse direction).Diode
approximations are a way to analyze diodes in The third approximation, the diode is seen as
circuits. The diode acts as a switch in all a diode that consumes 0.7V (for silicon diode) and
approximations. voltage across the internal bulk resistance of the
diode. When forward voltage is more than 0.7 V,
The first approximation is viewing the diode then the diode conducts and the voltage drop across
as an ideal diode. The diode acts as a perfect switch the diode becomes 0.7 V and it offers resistance Rf
that doesn't consume any voltage and doesn't have (slope of the current)
any internal resistance. Figure 1 shows the
characteristics and equivalent circuit of the diode. VD= 0.7 + ID Rf
 Figure 3 shows the output characteristics and
equivalent circuit of the diode.
III. EXPERIMENTAL
A power source is prepared for this
experiment. A resistor and a diode is plotted on a
bread board following the circuit design provided by
the instructor. The source is adjusted from 31.2 mA
to 50.1 mA, the diode voltage is then measured and
recorded for every increment. The knee voltage is
then recorded as the voltage dissipated by the diode
of voltage from 31.2 mA. Bulk resistance is then
finally measured aa the change in the current.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Voltage supplied to the circuit was adjusted
to achieve ranges of currentflow from the minimum
of 31.2 mA to maximum of 50.1 (maximum that the
power source can achieve). The voltages across the
diode is measured and is presented in table 1.
Table1: voltage across the diode on forward curve
Current (mA) Voltage (V)
31.2 0.579
41.8 0.638
50.1 0.657
Calculating for the bulk resistance is given by the
formula
𝑉2 − 𝑉1
𝑅𝐵 =
𝐼2 − 𝐼1
By substituting the values from table 1 to the
equation for the bulk resistance gives 5.56 ohms for
current range of 31.2 to 41.8 mA and 2.28 ohms for
current range of 41.8 to 50.1 mA.
The first approximation holds true for the
trouble shooting for it assumes that the diode voltage
drop is 0. Thus the diode is treated as an ideal diode
and does not consume any voltage across it. The
second approximation that the diode needs some
voltage to function.
In the experiment, the highest voltage
achieved is 0.657 V which is close enough to the
theoretical value of the silicon diode of 0.7 V which
means that the diode is off because the 0.7 value is
not yet achieved. And thus, the third approximation
holds true in this situation. The resistor used in this
experiment has a value of 220 ohm which is quite
small and suggests that the bulk resistance should be
considered.