OSTIM TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
MICROELECTRONICS LAB.
TEST 01 – DIODE CHARACTERISTICS
Name – Surname – Student ID:........................................................................................................
Lab Date:..........................................................................................................................................
PURPOSE:
Be able to examine and understand the voltage and current characteristics of various diodes on the
application.
1.1 TOOLS AND COMPONENTS:
Electronics education set (Module Y-0016 or EL-1001 or equivalent)
Multimeters (2 of them)
Silicon Rectifier diode (1N4002 or 1N4007 or equivalent)
Resistors (330 Ω, 1 kΩ)
1.2 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE:
Diodes are circuit components passing the electric current in one direction only. The arrow in the
symbol indicates the direction of the flow of the current. The positive end (terminal) of the diode is called
the anode, and the negative end is called the cathode.
Anode Cathode Anode Cathode
Figure 1-1 The structure and symbol of a semiconductor diode.
A semiconductor diode is composed of p-type and n-type semiconducting materials which form a
junction when they are brought together. The characteristics of diodes vary depending upon the impurities in
the p and n type materials as well as the junction surface area. The area is larger in diodes that carry high
currents in rectifying circuits and smaller in small signal elements.
The relationship between the voltage and current in a diode can be expressed as follows:
1
VD
ID = IS (e V -1)
T (Eq 1-1)
In this equation, VD is the voltage between the diode terminals and ID is the diode current. VT is
determined by the equation VT = kT/q where k is Boltzmann constant (1,38*10-23 Joule/Kelvin), T is
absolute temperature (Kelvin), q is the size of the electronic discharge (1,6*10 -19). VT value is approximately
26mV at 2900K (room temperature). I0 is the reverse saturation current and its value is between 10 -15 and 10-
13
Amps.
The diode is a two-terminal device. The application of a voltage across its terminals leaves three
possibilities: no bias (VD=0 V), forward bias (VD > 0 V), and reverse bias (VD < 0 V).
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 1-2 a) Ideal diode I-V characteristic b) Reverse biased diode model
c) Forward biased diode model
The ideal diode behaves like an open circuit, when reverse polarity occurs and no current flows
through the circuit (Figure b). In the case of forward bias, the ideal diode behaves like a short circuit and
turns on (Figure c). Thus, it transmits the current exactly without any voltage loss.
200 200 200
150 150 150
I (mA)
I (mA)
I (mA)
100 100 100
50 50 50
0 0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4
V (V) V (V) V (V)
Real Diode Piecewise linear
Offset Voltage Model Ideal model
model
Figure 1-3 The ideal and linearized voltage-current characteristics of a diode and the corresponding equivalent
circuits.
2
Typically, for a silicium diode, the reverse current can be as high as milliamps when V D 0.6 V. In
practice, it is accepted to be zero below that threshold voltage. Figure 1-3 shows the voltage-current graph of
a physical diode, various idealized equivalent circuits and their voltage-current graphs. In manual
calculations on the electronic circuits, these idealized circuits are used. The real voltage-current relationship
is non-linear and only used in computer-aided calculations. SPICE is one of the software packages that can
facilitate the use of the non-linear relationship.
1.3 PRELIMINARY WORK: (40p.)
1. (OPTIONAL) Calculate the current Id is flowing through diode for given Vd voltages over diode
and draw I-V curve on your report for this diode. (Use Eq 1.1 for calculation.)
Assume IS = 2.5 x 10-14.
Vd(V) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75
Id(mA) for
Silicon diode
I-V graph should be put here.
I-V graph can be drawn with by hand or with Excel etc.
3
2. LTSpice simulation:
Draw the circuit in LTSpice and perform simulation, then put I-V curve for diode from simulation
to your report.
Use DC swap simulation with V_in from -5 to 5 Volts
I-V graph should be put here.
I-V graph can be drawn with LTSpice.
3. OR gate:
4
Use LTSpice to simulate an OR gate circuit and put Input 1, Input 2 and Output waveforms on your Report.
Hint: Use 5V for High and GND (0V) for Low.
5
OR gate circuit is made with diodes.
Put waveforms to here.
Input 1
Input 2
Output ?
6
1.4 PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT: (40p.)
The diode on the circuit is a 1N4007 High voltage rectifying diode.
1. Set up the circuit above.
2. V_in is connected to variable voltage source.
3. Connect the multimeters in ammeter and voltmeter configurations as shown in the circuit diagram.
4. Take the measurements and write the results below table.
5. Draw the I-V curve of diode via these measurements to your report!
6. Forward bias (Vd and V_in are positive):
V_in(V) 0 1 2 3 4 5
Vd(V)
(Voltage difference between
the diode legs)
Id(mA)
(Current which is passing
through the diode)
7
V_in(V) 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5
Vd(V)
(Voltage difference between
the diode legs)
Id(mA)
(Current which is passing
through the diode)
7. Reverse bias (Vd and V_in are negative):
8.
Set up the circuit as shown on the right figure.
Then fill the table below.
V1 V2 V_out
5V is
HIGH HIGH
HIGH LOW
LOW HIGH
HIGH, 0V (GND) is LOW
LOW LOW
Neglect the voltage drop was caused by
FORWARD BIAS
I-V graph should be put here.
I-V graph can be drawn with by hand or with Excel etc.
diodes.
8
REVERSE BIAS
I-V graph should be put here.
I-V graph can be drawn with by hand or with Excel etc.
1.5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: (20p.)
Compare the Theoretical, Simulation and Experimental results and compare them with each other. Then prepare a
report as PDF format and upload it to lms system.
On report should include:
1. Diode theoretical (hand drawn), simulation (can be taken from LTSpice) and Experimental (hand drawn) I-V
curves.
2. Simulation Waveforms from LTSpice and Truth table from experimental part for OR gate circuit.
3. Comparison of results, how much the difference between Theo., Sim. and Exp. results are occurred.
You can simply write gathered results from lab exercise and put to your report.
References
Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith. 2007. Microelectronic Circuits Revised Edition (5th ed.). Oxford University
Press, Inc., New York, NY, USA.
