V-I Characteristics of Diodes
Starts conducting at 0.6V for silicon diode and 0.2V for germanium in forward bias. Voltage above this large current
flows and exponential in nature. Current is due to majority carrier.
Very small current, constant (saturation)
and almost negligible in reverse bias.
Current is due to minority carrier.
Breakdown at large potential difference
and voltage is constant
V-I characteristics of P-N diode
Observation :-
* Cut-in voltage for Si & Ge diodes are 0.6 and 0.2v respectevely.
* Breakdown voltage of silicon diode is higher that that of the Ge diode. So SI. Diodes can withstand to a higher reverse voltage.
* The reverse saturation current Io for a Ge diode is few µA at room tempreture.