IntrinsicSemiconductors

Ideally100%purematerial
Elementalsemiconductors
Silicon(Si)
Mostcommonsemiconductorusedtoday

Germanium(Ge)
Firstsemiconductorusedinpndiodes

Compoundsemiconductors
GalliumArsenide(GaAs)

Silicon(Si)

Covalent bonding of one Si atom with four other Si atoms to

form tetrahedral unit cell.
Valence electrons available at edge of crystal to bond to
additional Si atoms.

EffectofTemperature

At 0K, no bonds are broken.

Si is an insulator.

As temperature increases, a bond can

break, releasing a valence electron and
leaving a broken bond (hole).
Current can flow.

EnergyBandDiagram

Ev Maximumenergyofavalenceelectronorhole
Ec Minimumenergyofafreeelectron
Eg Energyrequiredtobreakthecovalentbond

MovementofHoles
A valence electron in a
nearby bond can move to
fill the broken bond,
making it appear as if the
hole shifted locations.

ExtrinsicSemiconductors
Impurityatomsreplacesomeoftheatomsin
crystal
ColumnVatomsinSiarecalleddonorimpurities.
ColumnIIIinSiatomsarecalledacceptorimpurities.

Phosphorous DonorImpurityinSi

Phosphorous (P) replaces a Si atom and forms four covalent bonds with
other Si atoms.
The fifth outer shell electron of P is easily freed to become a conduction
band electron, adding to the number of electrons available to conduct
current.

Boron AcceptorImpurityinSi

Boron (B) replaces a Si atom and forms only three covalent bonds with
other Si atoms.
The missing covalent bond is a hole, which can begin to move through
the crystal when a valence electron from another Si atom is taken to form
the fourth B-Si bond.

ElectronandHole
Concentrations
n=electronconcentration
p=holeconcentration

n-type:

n n p
2
i

n = ND, the donor concentration

p ni2 / N D

p-type:
p = NA, the acceptor concentration

n n / NA
2
i

DriftCurrents

Electrons and hole flow in opposite directions when under the

influence of an electric field at different velocities.
The drift currents associated with the electrons and holes are in
the same direction.

DiffusionCurrents

Both electrons and holes flow from high concentration to low.

The diffusion current associated with the electrons flows in the
opposite direction when compared to that of the holes.

p-n Junctions
A simplified 1-D sketch of a p-n
junction (a) has a doping profile
(b).
The 3-D representation (c) shows
the cross sectional area of the
junction.

BuiltinPotential
This movement of
carriers creates a
space charge or
depletion region
with an induced
electric field near
x = 0.
A potential
voltage, vbi, is
developed across
the junction.

ReverseBiasedpnjunction

Increase in space-charge width, W, as VR increases to VR+VR.

Creation of more fixed charges (-Q and +Q) leads to junction
capacitance.

ForwardBiasedpnJunction

Applied voltage, vD, induces an electric field, EA, in the opposite

direction as the original space-charge electric field, resulting in a
smaller net electric field and smaller barrier between n and p
regions.
Animated tutorial on PN junction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyC02DWq3mI

MinorityCarrierConcentrations

Gradients in minority carrier concentration generates

diffusion currents in diode when forward biased.

CurrentVoltage(IV)
Characteristics
The p-n junction only
conducts significant
current in the forwardbias region.
iD is an exponential
function in this region.
Essentially no current
flows in reverse bias.

Diode Equation
A fit to the I-V characteristics of a diode yields the
following equation, known as the ideal diode
equation:
qv

I D I s (e

nkT

1)

kT/q is also known as the thermal voltage, VT.

VT = 25.9 mV when T = 300K, room temperature.

I D I s (e

vD
VT

1)

DiodeEquation
log e
log(iD )
vD log( I s )
nVT
The y intercept is equal to IS.
The slope is proportional to 1/n.
When n = 1, iD increased by ~ one
order of magnitude for every 60-mV
increase in vD.

CircuitSymbol
Anode

Cathode

Anode

Cathode

Conventional current direction and polarity of voltage

drop is shown

BreakdownVoltage
The magnitude of the
breakdown voltage (BV)
is smaller for heavily
doped diodes as
compared to more lightly
doped diodes.
Current through a diode
increases rapidly once
breakdown has occurred.

TransientResponse

Short reverse-going current pulse flows when the diode is

switched from forward bias to zero or reverse bias as the excess
minority carriers are removed.
It is composed of a storage time, ts, and a fall time, tf.

DCModelofIdealDiode
Equivalent Circuits

Assumes vbi = 0.
No current flows when reverse biased (b).
No internal resistance to limit current when forward biased (c).

HalfWaveDiodeRectifier

Diode only allows current to flow through the resistor when

vI 0V. Forward-bias equivalent circuit is used to determine
vO under this condition.

LoadLineAnalysis
The x intercept of the load line is
the open circuit voltage and the
y intercept is the short circuit
current.
The quiescent point or Q-point is
the intersection of diode I-V
characteristic with the load line.
I-V characteristics of diode must
be known.

PiecewiseLinearModel
Two linear
approximations are
used to form piecewise
linear model of diode.

DiodePiecewiseEquivalent
Circuit

The diode is replaced by a battery with voltage, V, with a a

resistor, rf, in series when in the on condition (a) and is
replaced by an open when in the off condition, VD < V.
If rf = 0, VD = V when the diode is conducting.

Qpoint

The x intercept of the load line is the open circuit voltage and the
y intercept is the short circuit current.
The Q-point is dependent on the power supply voltage and the
resistance of the rest of the circuit as well as on the diode I-V
characteristics.

LoadLine:ReverseBiasedDiode

The Q-point is always ID = 0 and VD = the open circuit voltage

when using the piecewise linear equivalent circuit.

EquivalentCircuits

When ac signal is small, the dc operation can be decoupled from

the ac operation.
First perform dc analysis using the dc equivalent circuit (a).
Then perform the ac analysis using the ac equivalent circuit (b).

SmallSignalEquivalentModel
Simplified model,
which can only be
used when the
diode is forward
biased.
Complete model

ExcessCarriers
Valenceelectronsmayacquiresufficientenergyto
breakcovalentbondsandbecomefreeelectrons (eg.
duetointeractionwithphotonsoracquiringheat)
n=no+n
p=po+p
Where,
noandpo arethermalequilibriumconcentrationofelectrons
andholes
nandpareexcesselectronandholeconcentration

Electronholerecombination>Steadystate
(excesscarrierlifetime)

IntrinsicCarrierConcentration

ni BT e
32

Eg
2 kT

B coefficient related to specific semiconductor

T temperature in Kelvin
Eg semiconductor bandgap energy
k Boltzmanns constant

ni ( Si,300 K ) 1.5 x10 cm

10

ElectronandHoleConcentrations
n=electronconcentration
p=holeconcentration

n-type:

n n p
2
i

n = ND, the donor concentration

p ni2 / N D

p-type:
p = NA, the acceptor concentration

n n / NA
2
i

DriftCurrentDensities
Jn=qnvdn=qn(nE)=+qnnE
Jp=qnvdp=qn(+pE)=qnpE
J=Jn +Jn =E
Where,
Jn=Driftcurrentdensityofelectrons(A/cm2)
Jp=Driftcurrentdensityofholes(A/cm2)
q=Magnitudeofelectroniccharge(1.6021019 C)
n=Electronconcentration(/cm3)
p=Holeconcentration(/cm3)
Vdn=Driftvelocityofelectrons(cm/s)
Vdp=Driftvelocityofholes(cm/s)
n=Mobilityofelectron(1350cm2/Vs)
n=Mobilityofelectron(480cm2/Vs)
=Conductivity

DiffusionCurrentDensities
Jn=qDn(dn/dx)
Jn=qDp(dp/dx)
Dn/n=Dp/p=kT/q0.026V
Where,
Jn=Diffusioncurrentdensityofelectrons
Jn=Diffusioncurrentdensityofholes
Dn=Electrondiffusioncoefficient
Dp=Holediffusioncoefficient

p-n Junctions
A simplified 1-D sketch of a
p-n junction (a) has a doping
profile (b).

Builtinpotentialbarrier
Vbi=(kT/e)ln(NaNd/ni2)=VT ln (NaNd/ni2)
=0.7V(Si)or0.3V(Ge)
Where
VT=0.026Visthermalvoltage

Diode Equation
A fit to the I-V characteristics of a diode yields the
following equation, known as the ideal diode
qv D
equation:

I D I s (e

nkT

1)

IS is reverse bias saturation current (10-15 to 10-13)

n is emission co-efficient (due to recombination of electrons and holes in space
charge region). n=2 for low current and n=1 at higher current
vd is diode drop (0.7V for forward bias, or -0.7V for reverse bias)
vD

I D I s (e

VT

1)

ACDiodeCircuitAnalysis

Combination of dc and sinusoidal input voltages

modulate the operation of the diode about the Q-point.

EquivalentCircuit(DC)

When ac signal is small, the dc operation can be decoupled from

the ac operation.
First perform dc analysis using the dc equivalent circuit (a).
Then perform the ac analysis using the ac equivalent circuit (b).

DiodebasedThermometer
Use of temperature dependence of the
forward-bias characteristics to design a
simple electronic thermometer.

ZenerDiode
IVCharacteristics
Circuit Symbol

Usually operated in reverse bias

region near the breakdown or
Zener voltage, VZ.
Note the convention for current
and polarity of voltage drop.

Zener Diode Circuit

VPS VZ
I
R
VPS VZ
R
I
PZ I ZV Z

Diodepackages

Through-hole packages
(medium to high ID)

Surface mount packages

(low to medium ID)