Electronics

Basic, Analog, and Digital with PSpice

Nassir H. Sabah

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351834490
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Electronics: Basic, Analog, and Digital with PSpice does more than just make unsubstantiated assertions about electronics. Compared to most current textbooks on the subject, it pays significantly more attention to essential basic electronics and the underlying theory of semiconductors.

In discussing electrical conduction in semiconductors, the author addresses the important but often ignored fundamental and unifying concept of electrochemical potential of current carriers, which is also an instructive link between semiconductor and ionic systems at a time when electrical engineering students are increasingly being exposed to biological systems.

The text presents the background and tools necessary for at least a qualitative understanding of new and projected advances in microelectronics. The author provides helpful PSpice simulations and associated procedures (based on schematic capture, and using OrCAD® 16.0 Demo software), which are available for download. These simulations are explained in considerable detail and integrated throughout the book. The book also includes practical, real-world examples, problems, and other supplementary material, which helps to demystify concepts and relations that many books usually state as facts without offering at least some plausible explanation.

With its focus on fundamental physical concepts and thorough exploration of the behavior of semiconductors, this book enables readers to better understand how electronic devices function and how they are used. The book's foreword briefly reviews the history of electronics and its impact in today's world.

***Classroom Presentations are provided on the CRC Press website. Their inclusion eliminates the need for instructors to prepare lecture notes. The files can be modified as may be desired, projected in the classroom or lecture hall, and used as a basis for discussing the course material.***

1

Basic Diode Circuits

Semiconductor diodes are by far the most important examples of passive, two-terminal, nonlinear devices, as evidenced by their wide use in a variety of important applications in electric and electronic circuits. Some of the more basic applications of diodes are considered in this chapter, treating the diode as a circuit element having a specified current-voltage characteristic. This approach is essentially an extension of circuit analysis to circuits having nonlinear elements. The basic principles underlying the operation of semiconductor devices are covered in Chapter 2 and are applied to various types of semiconductor diodes in Chapter 3.

Just as linear passive elements are idealized in order to highlight their salient characteristics and the way they affect circuit responses, diodes are idealized for the same reasons. However, this idealization can take several forms, depending on the diode circuit under consideration. It is essential, therefore, to appreciate the nature and implications of the approximations inherent in these idealizations. This is true of electronic circuits in general so that gaining insight into the behavior of these circuits is particularly important. Except in relatively few cases, “exact” solutions are usually tedious and unwarranted, considering the usual tolerances on electronic devices. One should therefore strive to acquire a “feel” for electronic circuits in order to make “judicious” approximations. For more accurate results, simulations are usually resorted to. In this and the following chapters on electronic circuits, approximations and shortcuts are emphasized. More exact solutions are mentioned mainly to appreciate the fundamental principles involved and the nature of the approximations made.

Learning Objectives

❖ To be familiar with:

• The terminology associated with semiconductor diodes and their circuits.

❖ To understand:

• The implications of the characteristics of ideal diodes and pn junction diodes.

• The principles of operation of rectifier circuits and the methods used to smooth the output.

• The application of zener diodes to voltage regulation.

• The basic operation of voltage limiters, dc restorers, and voltage multipliers.

1.1 Ideal and Practical Diodes

Ideal Diode

Definition: An ideal diode is a two-terminal device that behaves as a short circuit for current flow in one direction (the forward direction) and as an open circuit for current flow in the opposite direction (the reverse direction).

The ideal diode behaves like an ideal switch that is controlled by the direction of current flow, much like a one-way, or no-return, valve that allows fluid to flow in one direction but not in the opposite direction.

The symbol used in this book for an ideal diode switch has an unfilled arrowhead (Figure 1.1.1a), the forward direction being that of the arrow, with the assigned positive directions of diode current and voltage as indicated. The i–v characteristic has the right-angled shape depicted in Figure 1.1.1b, and represents an ideal unilateral element, that is, an element that conducts in one direction only. The diode terminals are denoted as anode and cathode, the direction of forward current through the diode being from anode to cathode. This terminology dates back to one of the earliest forms of diodes, the vacuum-tube diode (see Introduction).

Although...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Brief Contents
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Convention for Symbols
• Chapter 1 Basic Diode Circuits
• Chapter 2 Basic Principles of Semiconductors
• Chapter 3 pn Junction and Semiconductor Diodes
• Chapter 4 Semiconductor Fabrication
• Chapter 5 Field-Effect Transistors
• Chapter 6 Bipolar Junction Transistor
• Chapter 7 Two-Port Circuits, Amplifiers, and Feedback
• Chapter 8 Single-Stage Transistor Amplifiers
• Chapter 9 Multistage and Feedback Amplifiers
• Chapter 10 Differential and Operational Amplifiers
• Chapter 11 Power Amplifiers and Switches
• Chapter 12 Basic Elements of Digital Circuits
• Chapter 13 Digital Logic Circuit Families
• Appendix A: Reference Material
• Appendix B: Basic PSpice Models
• References and Bibliography
• Index