ADDIS ABAB UNIVERSITY
ADDIS ABABA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
CENTER OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
LABORATORY REPORT
COURSE NUMBER: ECEG 2205
EXPERIMENT NO.: 1
Title: semiconductor diode characteristics
Group members [Link].
1. Abiy Sibhat ATR/9215/10
2. Awol Demlie ATR/8125/10
3. Daniel Yilma ATR/1213/10
4. Bereketab Demelash ATR/4777/10
5. Sisay zewede ATR/9432/10
6. Zemenu Begosew ATR/3130/10
7. Kefale Aytegeb ATR/1755/10
Date of experiment: 15-04-2012
Date of submission: 01-05-2012
OBJECTIVE
A. To determine the V-I characteristics of a junction diode;
B. To verify the Boltzmann diode equation experimentally;
C. To observe an oscillogram of the characteristics of a zener diode.
USED EQUIPMENT
NO. Description Code/lab reference Quantity
1 Dc source - 1
2 Dual channel - 1
Oscilloscope
3 Multi-meter - 1
USED COMPONENTS
NO. Description Type Quantity
1 Resistor 4
2 Rectifier Diode 2
3 Zener Diode 1
THEORY
Semiconductor junction diodes are a special kind of two‐terminal circuit elements
constructed by attaching a P‐type semiconductor with an N‐type semiconductor.
Junction‐type diodes consist of a junction of two different kinds of semiconductor
material. For instance, the Zener diode is a special junction‐type diode, using silicon, in which
the voltage across the junction is independent of the current through the junction. Because of this
characteristic, Zener diodes are used as voltage regulators. Another special junction‐type diode is
used in solar cells; a voltage appears spontaneously when the junction is illuminated. In light‐
emitting diodes (LEDs), on the other hand, a voltage applied to the semiconductor junction
results in the emission of light energy. LEDs are used in numerical displays such as those on
electronic digital watches and pocket calculators.
D1 R1
02BZ2.2 1kΩ
D2 R2
D3
02BZ2.2 1kΩ R3 5V
1kΩ
R4
1kΩ
Figure 1: procedural diagram
The operating principles of diodes resides in the electrical properties of extrinsic
semiconductors which are tetravalent element such as silicon doped with or mixed with either a
trivalent element such as boron or a pentavalent element such as arsenic.
In theory, the special current – Voltage relationships can be used to regulate the output of
the circuit. Especially the cut in voltages for the forward biased condition and the breakdown
voltages for the reverse biased condition.
If an external potential of V volts is applied across the p‐n junction such that the positive
terminal is connected to the n‐type material and the negative terminal is connected to the p ‐type
material, the number of uncovered positive ions in the depletion region of the n‐type material
will increase due to the large number of “free” electrons drawn to the positive potential of the
applied voltage. For similar reasons, the number of uncovered negative ions will increase in the
p‐type material.
A semiconductor diode is forward‐biased when the association p‐type and positive and n ‐
type and negative has been established. The application of a forward‐bias potential VD will
“pressure”
electrons in the n‐type material and holes in the p‐type material to recombine with the ions near
the boundary and reduce the width of the depletion region.
Procedure:
1. The network for the procedure was set up according to ‘Figure 1’.
2. The oscilloscope was set up in such a way that point F was connected to the vertical scope,
and the point E to the horizontal scope.
3. The Leybold AC source was supplied to the circuit.
4. Then, the volts/division of the horizontal and the vertical scope were manipulated in the
following manner.
H : 1V/Div V : 20mV/Div
H : 0. 1V/Div V : 20mV/Div
H : 1V/Div V : 20mV/Div, and Leybold source set to 6Vrms and display was connected
to 10Ω
5. And lastly, the vertical scope of the oscilloscope was connected in parallel to the zener diode,
hereby displaying its properties and they were recorded.
6. Then, the voltage variation was recorded at specified currents of: 1.0, 1.6, 0.25, 0.40, 0.60, and
0.80(A), while making sure that the top limit current of 1A was not surpassed.
Calculation:
All of the necessary calculations required can be summarized as follows:
I = Is(ekv/tk-1)
And note that: static resistance = V/I
Static resistance (RS) = 0.2/2mA
= 0.1K or 100 Ω
Dynamic Resistance = ΔV/ΔI
= 4-2/20mA-10mA
= 2V/10mA = 0.2K Ω or 200 Ω
Results:
After completing setting up the circuit, the voltage measurements at the points specified on the
procedure were measured, here is the values obtained by measuring the voltage while varying the
current.
Result for A3
Current(mA 1.0 2. 3.0 4.0 6.0 10 16 25 40 60 80 100 250 400 600
) 0
Voltage(v) 0.4 0. 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7
5 5 2 5 7 9 1 2 4 5 6 8 0 2 5
Result for A4
voltag current
e
2 0μA
4 0μA
6 0μA
8 0μA
10 0μA
Conclusion:
Upon completion of the laboratory session, many observations were made; these
observations have been
dealt with here under their own subheading.
Observations made from Analysis of the voltage – current relationships.
For the Forward biased condition, the voltage and current do indeed relate
exponentially to one other once the “cut‐in” voltage has been passed.
And in the reverse biased condition, the current flow will be greatly limited once the
stage of “Breakdown” is surpassed. This is represented by an almost straight vertical
line in the current‐voltage graph in the breakdown region.
Changing the voltage per division values of the Cathode Ray Oscilloscope doesn’t affect
the breakdown or the cut in voltage values, but a change in the appearance of the graph
displayed on the oscilloscope may change also the slopes of the lines may change, but
quantitatively speaking, all of the graphs represent the exact same phenomenon.
Errors encountered during the procedure:
The leads are not of Zero Resistance; this is because of factors like: Temperature
change, corrosion,
