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 P type and N type semiconductors, taken
separately are of very limited use.

If we join a piece of P type material to a piece

of N type material such that the crystal
structure remains continuous at the boundary,,
….. A PN JUNCTION is formed

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What is a PN Junction?

A PN junction is a device formed by

joining p-type ( doped with B, Al)
with n-type (doped with P, As, Sb)
semiconductors and separated by a thin
junction is called PN Junction diode or
junction diode.
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 In PN junction diode, N is at right and P is at left.
 Majority carriers
N region -- electrons
P region -- holes

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Formation of depletion layer
NO external connections:
the excess electrons in the N region cross the junction
and combine with the excess holes in the P region.
N region loses its electrons ……becomes + vly charged
P region accepts the electrons ……becomes -vly charged

At one point , the migratory action is stopped.

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Due to electric field, the minority
carriers from n side(holes) will
cross the junction and moves
towards p side and becomes
majority carriers

 N e t current will be zero.

a creation of a thin layer of each side of the junction
……….which is depleted (emptied) of mobile charge
carriers…. This is known as DEPLETION LAYER
..Thickness is of the order of 10-6meter

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 T h e depletion layer contains no free and
mobile charge carriers but only fixed and
immobile ions.
 I t s width depends upon the dopinglevel..

 H e a v y doped……..thin depletion layer

 lightly doped……..thick depletionlayer

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PN junction can basically work in two modes, (A
battery is connected to the diode )
 forward bias mode ( positive terminal
connected to p-region and negative terminal
connected to n region)

 reverse bias mode ( negative terminal

connected to p-region and positive terminal
connected to n region)
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Forward biased PN junction

 It forces the majority charge carriers to move

across the junction ….decreasing the width of
the depletion layer.

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 O n c e the junction is crossed, a number of electrons
and the holes will recombine .
 F o r each hole in theP section that combines with an
electron from the N section, a covalent bond breaks
and an electron is liberatyed which enters the positive
terminal

 T h u s creating an electron holepair.

 Current in the N region is carried by ….electrons

 Current in the P region is carried by …. Holes.

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 Reverse biased pn junction
 I f the + of the battery is connected to the n-type and the –
terminal to the p-type,

the free electrons and free holes are

moved back towards the battery, hence
back from the depletion layer, hence the
depletion layer grows.

Thus a reverse biased pn junction does not conduct current

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 O n l y the minority carriers cross
the junction constituting very low
reverse saturation current.

 T h i s currentis of the order of

micro ampere.

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VOLTAGE –CURRENT (V-I)
CHARACTERISTICS OF PN JUNCTION
DIODE

 T h e curve drawn between voltageacross

the junction along X axis and current
through the circuits along the Y axis.

 T h e y describe the d.c behavior of the

diode.
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 W h e n it is in forward bias, no current
flows until the barrier voltage (0.3 v
for Ge) is overcome.

 T h e n the curve has a linear rise and the

current increases, with the increase in
forward voltage like an ordinary
conductor.
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 A b o v e 3 v , the majority carriers passing
the junction gain sufficient energy to
knock out the valence electrons and raise
them to the conduction band.

 Therefore , the forward current

increases sharply .
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 W i t h reverse bias,
 potential barrier at the junction increased. …
junction resistance increase…and prevents
current flow.
 However , the minority carriers are
accelarated by the reverse voltage resulting a
very small current (REVERSE CURRENT)
….in the order of micro amperes.

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 W h e n revrese voltage is increased beyond a
value ,called breakdown voltage,the
reverse current increases sharply and the
diode shows almost zero resistance .It is
known as avalanche breakdown.

 Reverse voltage above 25 v destroys the

junction permanentaly.

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 V-I Characteristics

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 Diode current equation
The current flowing through diode is given by
𝑉ൗ
η𝑉𝑇
𝐼 = 𝐼0 𝑒 −1
𝐼0 =Reverse saturation current
V= Applied voltage
η= Material constant
1 for Germanium
2 for silicon
𝑉�𝑇= Volt equivalent of temperature.
𝑇
𝑉�𝑇=
11,600
At room temperature (300° k) 𝑉�𝑇= 26mV= 0.026V
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 Diode current equation
• For positive values of VD (forward bias), the first term
grows
quickly and overpowers the second term. So,

• For large negative values of VD (reverse bias), the first

term drops much below the second term. So,
ID ≈ –Io

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 Diode Equivalent Circuit

Diode is often replaced by its equivalent circuit during

circuit analysis and design.

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 Diode Equivalent Circuit

As further approximation, we can neglect

the slope of the characteristic i.e., RF = 0

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 Diode Equivalent Circuit

As third approximation, even the cut-in

voltage can be neglected (Ideal diode)

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Diode resistances
Two types of resistances are defined for a diode :
Static or DC resistance:
It is simply the ratio of diode voltage and diode current
when DC voltage is applied.

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Dynamic or AC resistance
• Often sinusoidal voltages are applied to diode
• So the instantaneous operating point moves up and
down in the characteristic curve
• So DC resistance is not a suitable parameter
Instead, AC resistance is used
• It is the change in the diode voltage divided by the
corresponding change in the diode current, where the
change is as small as possible

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 Dynamic or AC resistance

• It is defined as the reciprocal of the slope

of the volt-ampere characteristic.
rd=dv/di

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Load line analysis

• A Load line is a line drawn on the characteristic curve.

• It represents the constraint put on the voltage and
current in the nonlinear device by the external circuit.

The curve shows the diode

response (I versus VD) while
the straight line shows the
behaviour of the linear part
of the circuit: I=(VDD-VD)/R.
The point of intersection
gives the actual current and
voltage.
Load line analysis

• The points where the characteristic curve and the load line
intersect are the possible operating point or Q point of the
circuit.
• The characteristic curve, representing the current I through
the diode for any given voltage across the diode VD, is an
exponential curve.
• The load line represents the relationship between current
and voltage due to Kirchhoff's voltage law applied to the
resistor and voltage source, is
VDD-IR-VD=0
 Diffusion and Transition capacitances

In depletion region, the electric charges (positive and

negative ions) do not move from one place to another
place.
However, they exert electric field or electric force.
Therefore, charge is stored at the depletion region in the
form of electric field.
Diffusion and Transition capacitances
• The ability of a material to store electric charge is called
capacitance.
• Thus, there exists a capacitance at the depletion region.
Diffusion capacitance(CD)
• Diffusion capacitance occurs in a forward biased p-n
junction diode. Diffusion capacitance is also sometimes
referred as storage capacitance. It is denoted as CD.
• In a forward biased diode, diffusion capacitance is
much larger than the transition capacitance. Hence,
diffusion capacitance is considered in forward biased
diode.
 Diffusion and Transition capacitances

The diffusion capacitance occurs due to stored charge of

minority electrons and minority holes near the depletion
region.
Diffusion capacitance is directly proportional to the
electric current or applied voltage.
If large electric current flows through the diode, a large
amount of charge is accumulated near the depletion
layer. As a result, large diffusion capacitance occurs.
 Diffusion and Transition capacitances

When the width of depletion region decreases, the diffusion

capacitance increases.
The formula for diffusion capacitance is
CD = dQ / dV
Where,
CD = Diffusion capacitance
dQ = Change in number of minority carriers stored
outside the depletion region
dV = Change in voltage applied across diode
 Diffusion and Transition capacitances

The diffusion capacitance value will be in the range of nano

farads (nF) to micro farads (μF).
Transition capacitance(CT):
When a P-N junction is reverse biased the depletion region
acts like an insulator or dielectric material while the P and N
type regions on either side have a low resistance and act as
the plates.
Thus P-N junction may be considered as a parallel plate
capacitor.
 Diffusion and Transition capacitances

The junction capacitance is termed as space charge

capacitance or transition capacitance and is denoted by CT.
The transition capacitance can be mathematically written as,
CT = ε A / W
Where,
ε = Permittivity of the semiconductor
A = Area of plates or p-type and n-type regions
W = Width of depletion region