Parameters of semiconductor diodes

The following operating parameters of a junction diode can be specified:

1) the maximum rectified current not causing diode damage (due to overheating) during long-term operation;

2) the peak reverse voltage not causing a non-recoverable breakdown during long-term operation;

3) the DC voltage drop across a diode at the maximum rectified current;

4) the reverse current at the peak reverse voltage.

The differential parameters of semiconductor diodes are used when analysing of electric circuits. They link the current little variations to independent variables. Virtually, the current into a diode is a two-independent-variables function– voltage V and temperature T:

.

Thus, the current differential has two components:

.

The partial derivatives, which are placed in front of the differentials dV and dT, are the differential parameters of a semiconductor diode. If we substitute for , and for we will get:

| const is the differential slope of a diode characteristic, .

const is the differential temperature sensitivity of a diode current, .

Have in mind that the differential parameters specify a diode only in a given point. If the condition of diode operation changes, the parameters will change considerably. The diode resistance for the continuous current is defined at this point as:

,

where - is the point on a diode characteristic.