Non-Ideal Diode Behavior

Diode junction capacitance

An ideal diode is completely characterized by its I-V curve. It conducts current in the
forward direction and essentially no current in the reverse direction. Its behavior is the
same independent of frequency. In addition to this static behavior, there are additional
effects in real diodes due to two charge storage mechanisms. The first charge storage
mechanism is charge storage in the depletion region of the P-N junction and in the neutral
regions adjacent to the depletion region. The circuit manifestation of stored charge is
capacitance. The capacitance associated with the P-N junction depletion region is called
junction capacitance and is in parallel with the ideal diode. Recall that capacitance relates
an increase in voltage to the charged stored (Q = C V). The junction capacitance is not
important when the diode is forward biased for two reasons. The first reason is that the
voltage across the diode and thus junction capacitance is essentially constant (0.7V) and
thus no current flows through the capacitance. The second reason is that what little
current does go through the junction capacitance is much smaller than the forward current
and thus can be neglected. On the other hand, the junction capacitance can be important
when a diode is reversed biased for two reasons. The first reason is that the reverse diode
voltage is not in general constant. The second reason is that the reverse leakage current
through a diode is very small and thus the current through the junction capacitance can be
much larger than the reverse leakage current. The junction capacitance is important in
power electronic circuits when the diode turns off due to the very fast changes in reverse
voltage, square waves ideally have infinite dV / dt at their edges. Also, including junction
capacitance in Spice models reduces convergence problems.The capacitance of a P-N
junction is not a constant (unlike capacitors you are used to) but depends on the reverse
bias voltage on the junction. This is because the positive and negative charge in the
depletion region is not all separated by the same distance as in a conventional capacitor.
As the depletion region grows, the added positive and negative charge is further and
further apart. Thus, the capacitance of a P-N junction is a function of the P-N junction’s
reverse voltage and it decreases as the reverse voltage increases (distance between the
charge increases ). The junction capacitance of a reversed biased junction as
a function of the reverse bias voltage is given by

(1)

Note that it takes three numbers (constants) to specify the junction capacitance (CJO, VJ,
and m) rather than the one number required for a conventional capacitor (C). Here CJO
has the units of Farads and is the zero bias (VR = 0V) junction capacitance. It is
proportional to the area of the diode so that high current diodes have more capacitance
than low current diodes. The junction potential VJ has the units of Volts and is sometimes
called the built in potential. The junction potential’s value is about 0.7V for silicon (Si)
junctions. Its value for Si changes slightly from the 0.7V value depending on the doping
levels on both sides of the junction. Its value changes significantly from one
semiconductor material to another. The grading coefficient m is a unit-less number and
typically about 0.5. Its value depends on the nature of the P-N junction. If the P region
changes abruptly (a step change) to the N region at the junction, m = 0.5 (square root)
and the junction is called an abrupt P-N junction. If the P region changes linearly into the
N region (graded junction) at the junction, m = 0.333 (cubed root). High voltage power
diodes often go from P to intrinsic semiconductor to N semiconductor (PIN diode) in
which case m is close to 0, a constant capacitance. The parameter m is found by plotting
the log of the capacitance versus the log of the voltage (m is the slop of this curve for
voltages >>Vj).

The circuit in Fig. 1 can be used to measure the junction capacitance of a diode
(P-N junction) as a function of its reverse bias voltage. The diode is reverse biased by
using a DC source to which is added a relatively small sinusoidal AC signal. The DC
voltage is called the bias voltage while the AC voltage is called the incremental voltage.
The word incremental implies the AC voltage is small. With a known value and
frequency of the AC voltage, the diode’s reverse current (it’s a sinusoidal current) is
measured to determine the junction capacitance at the DC value of reverse voltage.

Fig. 1

Diode reverse recovery

The second charge storage mechanism at a P-N junction is charge stored in the neutral
regions adjacent to the junction. The amount of charge stored is proportional to the
forward current and the proportionality constant is called the transit time and has the units
of seconds.

(2)

The transit time varies from µ s to about 10’s of ns depending on junction processing.
This charge storage mechanism is very nonlinear leading to a very nonlinear capacitance.
The stored charge is significant for forward bias and nearly zero for reverse bias. This
charge storage has a significant effect when the diode is supposed to turn off, delaying
the diode turn off. This turn off delay is called reverse recovery and the delay time is
called the reverse recovery time. This effect is very important in power electronic
circuits. The reverse recovery time is close in value to the transit time, but not exactly
equal to it. The reverse recovery time depends on the circuit the diode is used in while the
transit time is a characteristic of the diode. The basic diode rectifier circuit shown in Fig.
2 can be used to study diode reverse recovery. The resistor Rsense can be thought of as the
load for the circuit or as a resistor used to sense the current in the diode. Ideally the
voltage across the resistor can never go negative. With a real diode the voltage can go
negative for a short time called the reverse recovery time.

Fig. 2