PN Junction Diode

Simple electronic circuit elements can be divided into two fundamental groups by their terminal
characteristics:
• Linear devices – devices that can be described by linear algebraic equations or linear differential
equations;
• Non-linear devices – those devices that are described by non-linear equations.
The diode is the most basic of the non-linear electronic circuit elements. It is a simple two-terminal
device whose name is derived from DI(two) and electrODE. The two terminals are named as anode
and cathode. The knowledge of P-type and N-type semiconductor are required for studying the diode.
When pure or intrinsic semiconductor material is doped with a pentavalent or trivalent material, the
doped material is called N- or P-type based on the majority carrier. The electrical charge of each type
is neutral because each atom contributes an equal number of protons and electrons. A basic use for P-
and N-type semiconductor materials is in diodes. The diode structure is continuous from one end to the
other. It is one complete crystal of silicon. The PN-junction does not represents a mechanical joint, the
junction of a diode is that part of the crystal where the P-type material ends and the N-type material
begins. In practice, this junction is formed in fabrication process. As the diode is a continuous crystal,
free electrons can move across the junction. The electrons and holes that drift are referred to as mobile
charges. An atom when gains an electron, it has more electrons than protons and assumes a negative
charge. Similarly, the atom that loses an electron has more protons than electrons and therefore assumes
a positive charge. These individual charged atoms are called positive or negative ion.

A basic pn junction diode just before diffusion of charge carriers is shown in Fig. 1.The n-type material
has high concentration of free electrons, while the p-type material has high concentration of holes. An
external voltage applied to the two terminals is referred to as a bias. There will be three situations of
biasing: zero bias (where the external voltage is zero), reverse bias (where the external voltage is
applied such that the anode is negative relative to the cathode) and forward bias (where the external
voltage is such that the anode is positive relative to the cathode).

Figure 1:pn junction diode

Zero Bias:

This condition is generated is just after the formation of pn junction. The n-type material has high
concentration of free electrons, while the P-type material has high concentration of holes. At the n-side,
due to repulsive force among electrons, and due to the concentration gradient between the p-type and
n-type semiconductor, there is a tendency for the free electrons to diffuse over to the p-side. This process
is called diffusion. The pn junction after diffusion process is shown in Fig. 2. The electrons of JB region
( as shown in figure) of n side diffuse and combine with the free holes in JA region and neutralize them.
Similarly, the free holes of JA region diffuse into the JB region of n side and neutralize them. As a result
ions are created around the junction.
 Fig. 2: pn junction after diffusion process

In the figure, AB region devoid (depleted) of mobile charges and is left with charged immobile −ve
acceptor ions in JA side and +ve donor ions in JB side. This charge devoid region (AB) is depletion
region and therefore it is of high resistance region. This depletion region behaves like insulator. After
formation of the depletion region, it will not allow further movement of electrons or holes.
After donating the electrons, the atoms of the n-type came a positive ion. In the p-side, the diffused
electron combines with the excess holes. After accepting the electrons, the atoms of the p-side became
a negative ion. Hence, a net positive charge is developed in the p-side and a net negative charge is
developed in n-side. As a consequence of the induced electric field across the depletion layer, an
electrostatic potential difference is established between P- and N-regions, which is called the potential
barrier, junction barrier, diffusion potential, or contact potential. The magnitude of the barrier
potential varies with temperature and doping concentration. At room temperature, the barrier potential
for Silicon is 0.6-0.7V and for Germanium is 0.3V.

Forward Bias:

When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the p-type and negative terminal to the n-type
of the PN junction diode, the bias applied is known as forward bias. In the circuit shown (Fig. 3), the
negative terminal of the voltage source is connected to the N-type material. The applied potential with
external battery acts in opposition to the internal potential barrier and disturbs the equilibrium. The
external voltage forces electrons away from the terminal, toward the P–N junction. The free electrons
that accumulate on the P side of the junction are attracted by the positive terminal. This action cancels
the negative charge on the P side; the barrier voltage is eliminated, and a current is able to flow. Current
flow occurs only if the external voltage is greater than the barrier voltage.

Under forward-bias condition, the V–I characteristics of a PN junction diode are shown in Fig. 4. As
the forward voltage (VF) is increased, for VF < VO, the forward current IF is almost zero (region OA)
because the potential barrier prevents the holes from P-region and electrons from N-region to flow
across the depletion region in the opposite direction.
For VF > VO, the potential barrier at the junction completely disappears and, hence, the holes cross the
junction from P-type to N-type and the electrons cross the junction in the opposite direction, resulting
in relatively large current flow in the external circuit. A feature worth to be noted in the forward
characteristics shown in Fig. 2.3 is the cut in or threshold voltage (Vr) below which the current is very
small. It is 0.3 V and 0.7 V for germanium and silicon, respectively. At the cut-in voltage, the potential
barrier is overcome and the current through the junction starts to increase rapidly.
In this condition, a small amount of current flows in opposite direction of the current flows through the
voltage source. This current is due is due to minority charge carriers of the P and N-side which is
generated due to the thermal energy. This current is very less in quantity nearly in nA range. It is called
as reverse saturation current (Is).
Figure .3 Figure 4

The current through a diode during forward biasing mode can be approximated as:

𝐼𝑑 = 𝐼𝑠 (𝑒 𝑘𝑉𝐷 ⁄𝑇𝐾 − 1)
𝐼𝑑 =Current through the diode
𝐼𝑠 =Reverse saturation current
𝑞 11600
k= =
𝜂𝐾 𝜂
𝐾=Boltzman’s constant(1.38 X 10-23JK-1)
𝑞=charge constant(1.6 X 10-19)
𝜂=ideality factor( 1 for Ge and 2 for Si)
𝑇𝐾 =Temperature in degree kelvin

Reverse Bias:

When the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the P-type and positive terminal of the battery
is connected to the N-type of the PN junction, the bias applied is known as reverse bias. Under the
action of external battery source, the free electrons in the n-type material are attracted toward the
positive terminal of the external voltage source. It increases the number of positive ions in the area of
the p–n junction, which increases the width of the depletion region on the n side of the junction. The
negative terminal of the battery source is connected to the p-side. So eelectrons from the negative
terminal of voltage source also enters at the p-side of semiconductor region. As a result the electrons
combines with the holes(majority carrier) of the p-type semiconductor. Due to that, many trivalent
atoms become a negative ion which causes increase in width of depletion layer on p-side. The p side
becomes more in negative change and n side becomes more in positive charge. Due to this, the barrier
potential voltage is increasing. The width of the depletion layer stops growing when its difference of
the battery voltage equals the barrier potential. When this happens, electrons and holes stop moving
away from the junction. During revers bias condition, the current through the diode due to the majority
charge carriers is zero.

Figure 5: Reverse bias circuit of a pn junction diode

In this biasing conditions, a small amount of current flows from the n-side to p-side which is due to the
minority charge carriers in the p-side. This current is in micro ampere range. The Current-voltage
(I-V) characteristic curve under the reverse biasing condition is shown in Fig. 6

Figure 6: I-V characteristic of a PN junction diode

Breakdown Voltage of a PN Junction diode:
For large applied reverse bias, the free electrons from the N-type moving towards the positive terminal
of the battery acquire sufficient energy to move with high velocity to dislodge valence electrons from
semiconductor atoms in the crystal. These newly liberated electrons, in turn, acquire sufficient energy
to dislodge other parent electrons. Thus, a large number of free electrons are formed which is commonly
called an avalanche of free electrons. This leads to the breakdown of the junction leading to very large
reverse current. The reverse voltage at which the junction breakdown occurs is known as breakdown
voltage or zener voltage. The maximum reverse-bias potential that can be applied before entering the
Zener region is called the peak inverse voltage (referred to simply as the PIV rating) or the peak reverse
voltage (denoted by PRV rating of a diode).

Figure 7: Breakdown voltage of a diode

Effect of the barrier potential with temperature:

The junction temperature is the temperature inside a diode, and the ambient temperature is the
temperature of the air outside the diode. The barrier potential depends on the junction temperature. An
increase in junction temperature creates more free electrons and holes in the doped regions. As these
charges diffuse into the depletion layer, it becomes narrower. This means that there is less barrier
potential at higher junction temperatures .From different study, it is estimated that the barrier potential
of a silicon diode decreases by 2 mV for each degree Celsius rise.
V
 (2mV / 0C )
T
V  (2mV / 0C )T
V
stands for change in voltage to change in temperature.
T

Effect of the reverse saturation current with temperature:

The higher the junction temperature, the greater the saturation current. A useful approximation to
remember is this: IS doubles for each 10°C rise of temperature. The saturation current increases 7
percent for one Celsius degree of change of temperature.

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒  𝛥𝐼𝑠 = 100% 𝑓𝑜𝑟 100  𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒

𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒  𝛥𝐼𝑠 = 7% 𝑝𝑒𝑟 0 𝐶 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒

Review Questions
1. What is a PN junction? How is it formed?
2. Explain the formation of depletion region in a PN junction.
3. Describe the action of PN junction diode under forward bias and reverse bias.
4. Explain how unidirectional current flow is possible through a PN junction diode.
5. Explain V–I characteristics of a PN junction diode.
6. Write the volt–ampere equation for a PN diode. Give the meaning of each symbol.
7. What are the factors governing the reverse saturation current in a PN junction diode?
8. Determine the forward-bias voltage applied to a silicon diode to cause a forward current of 10
mA and reverse saturation current, Io = 25 × 10–7 A at room temperature.
9. The reverse saturation current Io in a germanium diode is 6 mA. Calculate the current flowing
through the diode when the applied forward bias voltages are 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 V at room
temperature.
10. Explain peak inverse voltage of a diode
11. A silicon diode has a saturation current of 5 nA at 25°C. What is the saturation current at 100°C?
and 50?
12. A designer will be using a silicon diode over a temperature range of 0° to 75°C. What are the
minimum and maximum values of barrier potential?

Questions for Self-Assessment. Answer it in (T/F)

1. A junction diode is doped with both P and N-type impurities.

2. The depletion region is formed by electrons crossing over the P-type side of the junction to
fill holes on the N-type side of the junction.
3. The barrier potential prevents all the electrons from crossing the junction and filling all the
holes.
4. The depletion region is a good conductor.
5. Once the depletion region forms, it cannot be removed.
6. Forward bias expands the depletion region.
7. Reverse bias collapses the depletion region and turns on the diode.
8. A reverse-biased diode may show a little leakage current because of minority carrier action.
9. High temperatures will increase the number of minority carriers and diode leakage current.
10. A silicon diode does not begin conducting until 0.3V of forward bias is applied.