DIODE APPROXIMATIONS

Quindra Kyle V. Bagabaldo, Ysabella C. Ebora, Ivy M. Galamiton, Chayl Jhuren F. Lopez, Chiara P. Patriana
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering 4
Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan
chaylmanalili@gmail.com
Abstract - To familiarize the
usage and the approximations
of the diode in a circuit is the
main objective of this
experiment. And in this
experiment, the silicon diode
is used.
Keywords- diode
approximations, silicon diode,
circuit
I. INTRODUCTI
ON
Diode is a two-
Current (mA)
29.7
40.3
50.3
terminal electronic
component that conducts
primarily in one direction
(asymmetric conductance); it
has low (ideally zero)
resistance to the current in
one direction, and high
(ideally infinite) resistance in
the other. The most common
function of a diode is to allow
an electric current to pass in
one direction (called the
diode's forward direction),
while blocking current in the
opposite direction (the
reverse direction). Diode
approximations are a way to
analyze diodes in circuits.
The diode acts as a switch in
all approximations.
The first
approximation is viewing the
diode as an ideal diode. The
diode acts as a perfect switch
that doesn't consume any
voltage and doesn't have any
internal resistance. Figure 1
shows the characteristics and
equivalent circuit of the
diode.
Voltage (V)
0.564
0.623
0.642
The second
approximation, the diode is
seen as a diode that needs
voltage in order to turn on.
For a silicon diode, the diode
needs about 0.7V in order to
turn on. When the voltage fed
into the diode forward biased
is 0.7V or greater, the diode
switches on. When the
voltage is less than 0.7V, the
diode turns off. Figure 2
shows the characteristics and
equivalent circuit of the
diode.
The third
approximation, the diode is
seen as a diode that consumes
0.7V (for silicon diode) and
voltage across the internal
bulk resistance of the diode.
When forward voltage is
more than 0.7 V, then the
diode conducts and the
voltage drop across the diode
becomes 0.7 V and it offers
resistance Rf (slope of the
current)
VD= 0.7 + ID Rf
Figure 3 shows the output
characteristics and equivalent
circuit of the diode.
II. OBJECTIVES
To identify the accurate diode
approximation that is
applicable in the experiment.
III. EXPERIMENT
AL
A power source is prepared
for this experiment. A resistor
and a diode is plotted on a
bread board following the
circuit design provided by the
instructor. The source is
adjusted from 29.7 mA to
50.3 mA, the diode voltage is
then measured and recorded
for every increment. The knee
voltage is then recorded as
the voltage dissipated by the
diode of voltage from 29.7
mA. Bulk resistance is then
finally measured aa the
change in the current.
IV. RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION
This experiment aims to
identify accurate
approximations that is to be
used in diode circuits. Voltage
supplied to the circuit was
adjusted to achieve ranges of
current flow from the
minimum of 29.7 mA to
maximum of 50.3 (maximum
that the power source can
achieve). The voltages across
the diode is measured and is
presented in table 1.
Table1: voltage across the
diode on forward curve
Calculating for the bulk
resistance is given by the
formula
Substituting the values from
table 1 to the equation for the
bulk resistance gives 5.566
ohms for current range of
29.7 to 40.3 mA and 1.9 ohms
for current range of 40.3 to
50.3 mA. The first
approximation holds true for
the trouble shooting for it
assumes that the diode
voltage drop is 0. Thus the
diode is treated as an ideal
diode and does not consume
any voltage across it. The
second approximation that the
diode needs some voltage to
function. In the experiment, a
silicon diode is used and is
known to have a 0.7 V
theoretical value. And in the
experiment, the highest
voltage achieved is 0.642V
which is close enough to the
theoretical value. This entails
that the diode is off because
the 0.7 value is not yet
achieved. And thus, the third
approximation holds true in
this situation. The resistor
used in this experiment has a
value of 220 ohm which is
quite small and sudgests that
the bulk resistance should be
taken into account.

CONCLUSION
(see individual conclusions
attached)