Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department

Electronics Laboratory
Experiment : The Semiconductor Diode
A Semiconductor Junction Diode is made from a piece of P-type and a piece of N-type semiconductor joined
together. If a voltage is applied across the two terminals, the Diode will conduct electricity. The amount of
current depends on the size and polarity of the applied voltage.

Fig 1. Diode Symbol

Determining Diode Polarity
Construct the circuit as shown in figure 2 . Note that the resistor limits the current to a safe value.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Set the power supply control to give 10 V on the meter and record the current as shown in figure 4.
Circuit
Figure 2
Figure 3

Current (mA)

Figure 4
Now, switch off the power supply and reverse the 1N4007 diode to give the circuit of figure 3.
Switch on the power supply and readjust the voltage to 10 V. Read the new value of diode current and record it
in the second row of your table.

Questions
1 Which side of a diode should be connected to the positive voltage supply to make it conduct current?
2 When the diode was connected the opposite way round was the current?
a) slightly smaller
b) much smaller
or c) too small to measure
Forward/Reverse Biased Connections
When a diode is connected so as to conduct, it is FORWARD BIASED. When a diode is connected so as NOT
to conduct, it is REVERSE BIASED. Figure 5 shows the two methods of connecting diodes.

a) Forward Bias

b) Reverse Bias

Figure 5 Diode Bias

The Characteristics of Forward Biased Diodes
As shown in the diagram for this practical, construct the circuit of figure 6.

Figure 6 Test Circuit

Note
Vd = Vs - Vr and Vr = If x 100

If = (Vr / 100) A
= (Vr / 100) A x 1000mA

If = 10 Vr mA
Turn the potentiometer of the supply to zero: fully anticlockwise. Adjust slightly the potentiometer to set Vs to
0V, 0.1V, 0.2V, etc up to 1.0V. Note Vr for each setting and enter in the table below.

Vs (V)

Vr (V)

Vd=Vs-Vr (V)

If = 10Vr (mA)

Caculate Vd and If and enter these in the table. Plot Vd against If on the same axes of the graph.
Questions
At what approximate value of Vd does the current If begin to rise noticeably?
Does Vd rise much above this value for larger values of If ?
Is it a germanium or silicon diode?

P.L
Aug 2009