Electrical Technology II

Experiment No.8

Experiment Title: Diode Characteristics

Lab Instructor: Eng Malek Albadarneh

Student Names and IDs:

Name ID Total Grade

1

Results and Discussion:

Part 1

Table 1: Part 1
State Voltage Resistance
Forward Bias 0.5728V 38KΩ
Reverse Bias Zero Infinite

Part 2
Table 2: Part 2 Results
Vs VD1 Itotal
0.0 V 0.0998V -0.0004
0.1 V 0.449V -0.0004
0.2 V 0.500V -0.0004
0.3 V 0.501V -0.0004
0.4 V 0.503V 0.00001
0.5 V 0.504V 0.00009
0.6 V 0.504V 0.00017
0.7 V 0.504V 0.00025
0.8 V 0.500V 0.00036
0.9 V 0.0480V 0.00053
1.0 V 0.480V 0.00062
1.1 V 0.453V 0.00072
1.2 V 0.412V 0.00082
1.3 V 0.0357V 0.00139
1.4 V 0.291V 0.00188
1.5 V 0.043V 0.00235
2.0 V -0.0284V -0.00005
2.5 V -0.0895V -0.00005
3.0 V -0.154V -0.00005

ID (x-axis) vs VD
Introduction
The purpose of this experiment is to study the characteristics of the diode and to implement
the rectifier circuits.
Diodes
A diode is an electrical device allowing current to move through it in one direction with far
greater ease than in the other. The most common type of diode in modern circuit design is the
semiconductor diode, although other diode technologies exist. Semiconductor diodes are
symbolized in schematic diagrams as such:

Diodes are used most commonly in circuits that convert ac voltages and current into dc
voltages and currents (e.g., ac/dc power supply). Diodes are also used in voltage-multiplier
circuits, voltage-shifting circuits, voltage-limiting circuits, and voltage-regulator circuits.
There is an equation describing the exact current through a diode, given the voltage dropped
across the junction, the temperature of the junction, and several physical constants. It is
commonly known as the diode equation: ID =Is (e V D / nVT
-1).

A diode’s one-way
gate feature does not work all the time. That is, it takes a minimal voltage to turn it on when it
is placed in forward-biased direction. Typically for silicon diodes, an applied voltage of 0.6 V
or greater is needed; otherwise, the diode will not conduct. This feature of requiring a specific
voltage to turn the diode on may seem like a drawback, but in fact, this feature becomes very
useful in terms of acting as a voltage-sensitive switch. Germanium diodes, unlike silicon
diodes, often require a forward-biasing voltage of only 0.2 V or greater for conduction to
occur. Following figure shows how the current and voltage are related for silicon and
germanium diodes.

Procedure

Firstly, in order to plot diode’s I-V characteristics curve, Vs voltage was increased step by
step. Then, the diode voltage VD and diode current ID were measured for each values of VS.
By using these values, the I-V forward characteristics curve was plotted. In addition,
saturation current Is and emission coeffient η were calculated by given formulas. Also, the
piecewise linear model of the diode was drawed to compare with ideal diode model of the
circuit. In the second step, the half-wave rectifier circuit was implemented. Connected the
A.C. voltage source to the circuit’s input, the half wave rectefier was analysed with
comparing input/output waveforms. Also, the diode voltage and resistor current were
measured. Thirdly, the full-wave rectifier circuit was built. A.C. voltage source was
connected its input, then how the output waveforms were occured was studied. Also a filter
circuit was constructed with connecting a capasitor its output.

Discussion
Diode is a two terminal device consisting of a P-N junction formed either in Ge or Si crystal.
A P-N junction is illustrated in fig. shows P-type and N-type semiconductor pieces
before they are joined. P-type material has a high concentration of holes and N-type
material has a high concentration of free electrons and hence there is a tendency of holes
to diffuse over to N side and electrons to P-side. The process is known as diffusion. For
the forward bias of a P-N junction, P-type is connected to the positive terminal while the
N-type is connected to the negative terminal of a battery. The potential at P-N junction
can be varied with the help of potential divider. At some forward voltage (0.3 V for Ge
and 0.7V for Si) the potential barrier is altogether eliminated and current starts flowing.
This voltage is known as threshold voltage (Vth) or cut in voltage or knee voltage. It is
practically same as barrier voltage VB. For V<Vth the current flow is negligible. As the
forward applied voltage increases beyond threshold voltage, the forward current rises
exponentially.

For the reverse bias of p-n junction, P-type is connected to the negative terminal while N-type
is connected to the positive terminal of a battery. Under normal reverse voltage, a very
little reverse current flows through a P-N junction. But when the reverse voltage is
increased, a point is reached when the junction break-down with sudden rise in reverse
current. The critical value of the voltage is known as break down (VBR). The break
down voltage is defined as the reverse voltage at which P-N junction breakdown with
sudden rise in reverse current.
Summary:
In this experiment we studied the diode characteristics and compared the relationship
between diode current and diode voltage. Also, we implemented the rectifier circuits with
filtering output signal. In the first part of experiment, we connected a simple diode, resistor
and A.C. voltage source serially. In order to obtain I-V curve, we increased the input voltage
of the circuit, then measured the diode current I D and the diode voltage VD for all the values
of VS. In addition plotting I-V curve, we also calculated the saturation current I S and
emission coeffient η . We observed that the diode voltage V D was almost constant when the
forward-biasing voltage was forced to exceed. In the second part of experiment, we
implemented a half-wave rectifier circuit which are used to convert A.C. signal to D.C. We
proved that the negative pulses are absorbed and the positive pulses are passed by diodes
when the forward-biasing voltage is exceeded. Finally, we constructed a full-wave bridge
rectifier which provides us to convert negative pulses to positive pulses additinally. In this
circuit, two diodes work at the same alternance, so the voltage drop on the output is doubled.
In addition, connecting a capasitor at the output, we filtered the D.C. signal and analysed how
the smooth is changing for distinct capasitor values. To sum up, we learned that how to
measure and how to calculate the diode’s characteristics properties, and compared different
kinds of rectification methods.