Which of the following PN junction has the most asymmetric current with respect to forward and reverse bias?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The prompt asks which PN junction exhibits the greatest asymmetry between forward and reverse bias currents.
Option analysis:
- Option: P/N junction
  This is the standard PN junction with a typical diode I-V characteristic showing some asymmetry between forward and reverse bias, but its asymmetry is moderate. Under forward bias, current rises exponentially with voltage once the barrier is overcome, while under reverse bias the current is small due to the depletion region widening, and only tiny leakage flows. However, compared to heavily doped variants, the asymmetry is not maximized here.
- Option: P+/N junction
  In this case the P-side is heavily doped (P+), increasing injection on forward bias somewhat and altering the depletion region. Yet, the asymmetry relative to a lightly doped PN junction is not as extreme as when both sides are heavily doped, and the qualitative I-V shape remains somewhat similar to the standard PN diode, just with changed turn-on characteristics. The current under forward bias still grows rapidly, and reverse leakage remains limited, but the asymmetry is not maximized.
- Option: P/N+ junction
  Here the N-side is heavily doped (N+). This configuration changes the diode’s characteristics by altering the barrier and the carrier concentrations across the junction, but, like P+/N, it does not inherently produce the largest possible forward-reverse current asymmetry. The forward conduction can be enhanced, and the reverse leakage can be affected, but it does not produce the extreme asymmetry claim typically discussed.
- Option: P+/N+ junction
  With both sides heavily doped (P+ on the p-side and N+ on the n-side), the depletion region becomes very narrow, and the forward-biased current increases dramatically at a lower voltage due to high injection levels. The reverse current can also become relatively larger due to breakdown mechanisms and increased leakage paths in heavily doped junctions, but the overall I-V curve becomes highly asymmetric, especially in forward bias where current can surge much more than in reverse bias. In many treatments, this configuration yields the most pronounced difference between forward and reverse currents because of the altered carrier concentrations and injection dynamics.
Conclusion synthesis: The highly doped P+/N+ junction tends to exhibit the strongest forward-reverse current asymmetry among the listed options because both sides contribute to enhanced forward conduction and elevated leakage paths, leading to a pronounced disparity between forward and reverse current levels.
Note on evaluation: While real devices also depend on geometry and breakdown mechanisms, the argument that P+/N+ shows the most asymmetry aligns with the intuition that heavy doping on both sides intensifies the divergence between forward and reverse current responses compared with junctions where only one side is heavily doped or neither side is heavily doped.

EESM5200 (L1) Part I: Topic 6 - Carrier Actions in a PN Junction

Which of the following PN junction has the most asymmetric current with respect to forward and reverse bias?

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