Chapter9:

DiodesandDiodeCircuits

DiodeCharacteristics
Adiodeissimplyapnjunction,butits
applicationsareextensiveinelectroniccircuits.
Threeimportantcharacteristicsofadiodeare:
Forwardvoltagedrop.
Reversevoltagedrop.
Reversebreakdownvoltage.

Chapter9Diodesan

DiodeElements

Adiodehastwoleads
connectedtotheexternal
circuit.
Sinceadiodebehaves
differentlydepending
uponforwardorreverse
bias,itiscriticaltobe
abletodistinguishthe
leads.
Theanodeconnectstothe
ptypematerial,the
cathodetothentype
materialofthediode.

Chapter9Diodesan

IdealDiodes
Inanidealdiode,currentflowfreelythroughthe
devicewhenforwardbiased,havingnoresistance.
Inanidealdiode,therewouldbenovoltagedrop
acrossitwhenforwardbiased.Allofthesource
voltagewouldbedroppedacrosscircuitresistors.
Inanidealdiode,whenreversebiased,itwould
haveinfiniteresistance,causingzerocurrentflow.

Chapter9Diodesan

PracticalDiodes
Apracticaldiodedoesoffersomeresistancetocurrent
flowwhenforwardbiased.
Sincethereissomeresistance,therewillbesome
powerdissipatedwhencurrentflowsthrougha
forwardbiaseddiode.Therefore,thereisapractical
limittotheamountofcurrentadiodecanconduct
withoutdamage.
Areversebiaseddiodehasveryhighresistance.
Excessivereversebiascancausethediodetoconduct.
Chapter9Diodesan

PracticalDiode

Chapter9Diodesan

CurrentversusVoltage
Inapracticaldiode,there
isverylittleforward
currentuntilthebarrier
voltageisreached.
Whenreversebiased,only
asmallamountofcurrent
flowsaslongasthe
reversevoltageislessthan
thebreakdownvoltageof
thedevice.
Chapter9Diodesan

PowerSupplyApplications
Nearlyallcomputershavesomesortofpower
supply.
Powersupplycircuitsmust:
Converttheaclinevoltageintoadcvoltage
requiredbythecircuit.
Reducetheacvoltagetoalowervalue.
Continuouslyadjustthedcoutputvoltageto
keepitconstantundervaryingloadconditions.
Chapter9Diodesan

Halfwave
Rectifier
Thetermrectifyisusedto
describetheconversionof
acintodc.
Inthecircuitshown,only
onehalfoftheinput
waveformisallowedto
passthroughtotheoutput.
Thisiscalledhalfwave
rectification.
Chapter9Diodesan

CircuitOperation
Duringthepositivealternation,thediodeisforwardbiased
andthefullappliedvoltageisdroppedacrosstheload
resistor.
Duringthenegativealternation,thediodeisreversebiased
andactslikeanopencircuit.Novoltageispresentacross
theloadresistor.
Theoutputvoltageisactuallypulsatingdc.
Anapplicationforahalfwaverectifierisshownonthe
followingslide.

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CircuitOperation

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FullwaveRectifier
Afullwaverectifierappliesbothhalvesofanac
waveformtotheoutput.
Thecircuitshowniscalledabiphasehalfwave
rectifierandacentertappedrectifiercircuit.
Operationofafullwaverectifierisdemonstrated
inthefigureshownonthefollowingslide.

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Fullwave
Rectifier

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BridgeRectifier
Abridgerectifierismore
widelyusedthanthe
centertappedrectifier.
Circuitoperationisbest
understoodbyexamining
thecurrentpathsofthe
forwardandreverse
biaseddiodesduringeach
halfcycleoftheinput
waveform.
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FilterNetworks
Mostelectronic
applicationsrequire
smoothdccurrentto
operateproperly.
Filteringpulsatingdc
circuitsaccomplishesthis.
Addingacapacitortothe
outputofahalfwave
rectifierfiltersthe
pulsatingdcintosmooth
dc.
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Fullwave
Rectifier
withFilter
Acapacitivefilteraddedtothe
outputofafullwavebridge
rectifierisshownattheright.
Onedrawbackofahalfwave
rectifieristhehigherlevelof
ripplevoltageafterfiltering.
Fullwaverectificationreduces
thisripplevoltage.

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OtherTypesofFiltering
Simplecapacitorfilteringisadequateformany
electronicapplications.
Inmorecriticalapplications,morecomplexfilter
networksarerequiredtoreduceoreliminateripple
voltage
Examplesofmorecomplexfiltersare:
Lfilters.
Pifilters.
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MiscellaneousDiodeApplications

Therearemanypracticalapplicationsfordiodesbeyondpower
supplies.
Someoftheseapplicationsinclude:

Clippercircuitsthatservetoprotectcircuitsfromdamageasaresultof
overvoltageconditions.
Clippersarecommonincomputercircuits.

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MiscellaneousDiodeApplications
Isolationdiodesareusedtoisolatevarioussectionsof
circuitsfromanother.
Anexampleofthisisthebatterybackupforcomputer
memory.

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MiscellaneousDiodeApplications
DiodescanbeusedtocreateanRCcircuitthathas
differenttimeconstantsforchargeanddischarge.
Thisprincipleiscalledasymmetricaltimeconstants.

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Miscellaneous
Diode
Applications
Diodescanalso
beusedasAM
(amplitude
modulation)
detectorcircuits
inradio
receivers.
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SpecialDiodes
Therearemanydiodesthathavespecialproperties
thatareusefulinelectroniccircuits.
Azenerdiodeismuchlikeastandarddiodein
manyrespects,exceptitisdesignedtooperatein
thereversebreakdownregionofitsoperating
curve.

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BasicZener
Characteristics

Zenerdiodesare
operatedintheirreverse
breakdownmodeto
providevoltage
regulationinacircuit.
Thepointwherethe
reversecurrentbeginsto
increaseiscalledthe
kneevoltage.The
currentatthispointisthe
kneecurrent.

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ZenerVoltage
Regulator

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VaractorDiodes
Junctioncapacitanceispresentinallreverse
biaseddiodesbecauseofthedepletionregion.
Junctioncapacitanceisoptimizedinavaractor
diodeandisusedforhighfrequenciesand
switchingapplications.
Varactordiodesareoftenusedforelectronic
tuningapplicationsinFMradiosandtelevisions.
Theyarealsocalledvoltagevariablecapacitance
diodes.
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SchottkyDiodes
Whilevaractordiodesaredesignedtooptimizethe
effectofjunctioncapacitance,Schottkydiodesare
designedtominimizethejunctioncapacitance.
Schottkydiodesareabletoswitchbetween
conductingandnonconductingstatesmuchfaster
thanconventionaldiodes.
Thisfastswitchingspeedistheidentifying
characteristicofaSchottkydiode.Theyarealso
referredtoashotcarrierdiodes.
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CurrentRegulator
Diodes
Currentregulatordiodes
aredesignedtoprovide
arelativelyconstant
forwardcurrentovera
widerangeofvoltages.
Thediodefunctionsasa
constantcurrentsource.
Theforwardresistance
ofacurrentregulator
diodeisveryhigh,from
250ktoover20M.

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TunnelDiodes
Tunneldiodesareanotherdevicedesignedtobe
operatedatveryhighfrequencies.
Thepnjunctionisdopedmuchmoreheavilythan
othertypesofdiodes.
Tunneldiodesareusedintheforwardbiasedstate
andexhibitswhatisknownasnegativeresistance.

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PINDiodes
PINdiodesareanotherdeviceintendedforuseat
extremefrequencies(100MHz100GHz).
Alayerofptypematerialisseparatedfroma
layerofntypematerialbyalayerofintrinsicor
verylightlydopedsilicon.
Thissemiconductorsandwichofptype,intrinsic,
andntypematerialsgivesthisdiodeitsname.

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SteprecoveryDiodes
Steprecoverydiodesarecharacterizedbyvery
fastswitchingtimes.
Theyareprimarilyusedincommunicationcircuits
above1GHz.
Steprecoverydiodesaredopeddifferentlythan
othertypesofdiodes,withlessdopingatthepn
junctionthanawayfromit.

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TroubleshootingDiodeCircuits
Becausediodesaresocommonintheelectronics
industry,itisimportanttobeabletotroubleshoot
andrepairsystemsthatemploydiodes.
Diodedefectsinclude:

Anodetocathodeshort.
Anodetocathodeopen.
Lowfronttobackratio.
Outoftoleranceparameters.
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TroubleshootingDiodeCircuits
Teststhatcanperformedondiodestocheckfor
theiroperationare:
Voltagemeasurements.
Ohmmetertests.
Diodetesters.

Rectifierdiodedefectsfallintooneoftwoclasses:
Powersupplyisdefective,butnovisibledamageand
nofusesareblown.
Therectifiercircuitshowsdamageorafuseisblown.
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