MMSU College of Industrial Technology

OBJECTIVES:

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of the module, you should be able to:

Understand the principles of operations of semiconductor devices.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

Upon completion of the module, you should be able to:

1. Describe how semiconductor devices are made.

2. Identify the types of semi-conductor devices.

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

GLOSSARY OF TERMS:

BIASING process of applying external voltage to the diode.

DIODE a device that is manufactured to allow current to flow

in only one direction and block the other direction.

DOPING process of adding impurities to a semi-conductor

material.

PENTAVALENT a type of impurities that has five valence electrons.

SEMI-CONDUCTOR materials whose characteristics are midway between a

good insulator and conductor.

TRIVALENT a type of impurities that has three valance electrons.

HOLES majority charge carrier in a P-type material.

ELECTRONS heavy negatively-charge particles in an atom. Majority

charge carrier in an N-type material.

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

INPUT 1:

SEMI-CONDUCTOR DIODE:
MATERIALS AND CHARACTERISTICS.

Semi-conductor materials have characteristics that fall between those

of insulators and conductors. Three pure semiconductors element are carbon
(C), germanium (Ge), and silicon (Si). Those suitable for electronic application
are germanium and silicon; both these materials are hard, brittle crystals.
They have a type of structure known as a lattice (Fig. 1).

Semi-conductors have the ability

to control almost instantly the
movement of charges of electricity. In
addition semi-conductor devices
elec
have many important advantages:

elec
➢ Small in size and weight.
➢ Low power consumption at low
voltage.
➢ High efficiency.
➢ Great reliability. Fig. 1, Germanium crystal lattice showing the
➢ Ability to operate in hazardous bonding of electrons and the sharing with adjacent
atoms.
environments.
➢ Instant mass production.

DIS-ADVANTAGES OF SEMI-CONDUCTORS INCLUDES:

• Great susceptibility to charges in temperature.

• Extra components required for stabilization.
• Easily damaged by exceeding power limits, by reversing polarity of
operating voltage, by excess heat when soldering into a circuit.

SEMI-CONDUCTOR DIODE CHARACTERISTICS:

Pure semi-conductor has a poor conductivity at ordinary room

temperature, but if carefully controlled, amount of impurity materials are
added, conductivity is improved. This process of adding impurities to a semi-
conductor material is called doping.

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

There are two types of doped semi-conductor, namely; the N-type and
the P-type.

Semi-conductor that losses its

extra electrons easily, and in so doing
increases the conductivity of the
material by contributing a free electron
is called N-type. This type of impurity
has five valence electrons and is called a
pentavalent impurity. Arsenic,
antimony, bismuth and phosphorus are
pentavalent impurities because these
materials give up or donate one electron
Fig. 2, Donor impurity added
to the material, they are also called
donor impurities.

In N-type crystal negative electrons are the majority charge carrier.

Semi-conductor that tends to

compensate for its deficiency of one valence
electron or containing mainly of holes is
called the P-type. Impurities of this type have
only three electrons and are called trivalent
impurities. Because these materials accept
one electron from the material, they are also
called acceptor impurities. Aluminum,
indium, gallium and boron are trivalent
impurities.
Fig. 3, An acceptor impurity added.

In a P-type crystal, the positive holes are the majority charge carrier.

Semi-conductors that have no

impurities are called intrinsic semi-
conductor (silicon and Germanium).
Semi-conductors that have either
acceptor or donor impurities are called
extrinsic semi-conductor. Impurities are
added to change its electrical properties.
N-type material Is an extrinsic
material formed by adding donor
impurities such as pentavalent (with 5
valence electrons). Elements with 5

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

valence electrons are Antimony(Sb51),

Arsenic(As33) and Phophorus(P15)
P-type material an extrinsic
semiconductor material formed by
adding acceptor impurities such as
trivalent (with 3 valence electrons)
such as Boron(B5), Gallium(Ga31) and
Indium(In49)

Taken individually, the N-type or

the P-type semi-conductor has very little Fig. 4, Hole movement

use in electronics circuit. However, by

combining in various ways, a lot of useful
devices could be created.

When N-type and P-type semi-

conductor materials are combined
together to form a single long crystal, a
solid-state-diode is formed. It is the
simplest semi-conductor device.
Fig. 5, N-type and P-type crystal.

Using common schematic symbol,

the arrowhead points to the source of
electrons. It also shows the permitted
direction of conventional current flow.

The point at which p-type and n-

type semi-conductor are joined is called a
PN junction or simply a junction. It
controls the flow of charge carriers.

At the instant the diode is

manufacture with a depletion layer (or
junction barrier) in volts formed which
block continuous movement of carriers
across the junction.

The magnitude of the barrier

potential depends on the semi-
conductor material used.

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

Note: For silicon, the barrier potential is

about 0.7 volt, while that of
germanium is about 0.3 volt.

Connecting an external voltage

across the PN junction diode will affect
the width of the depletion layer. This
process of applying external voltage to
the diode is called biasing.

The junction diode has a very high

resistance to current flow in one direction
and a very low resistance to current flow
in the other direction.

A junction may be forward biased

or reverse biased.

When the positive terminal of a

battery (or any dc source) is connected to
the P section and the negative terminal to
the N section, the diode is said to be in
forward bias. At this state, diode internal
resistance is very low and said to be
conducting.

Increasing the forward applied

voltage to a diode decreases the depletion
layer width. In effect, this causes the
internal resistance of the diode also to
decrease and permit higher current to
flow proportionately.

If battery connection is reversed, such

that the negative terminal of the battery
is connected to the P-section (anode)
and the positive terminal at the N-
section (cathode), the diode is said to be
reversed bias. In this state, the diode
possess a very high resistance, thus,
preventing high current flow and said to
be not conducting.

Module I Semi-conductor devices

MMSU College of Industrial Technology

Increasing further the reversed

applied voltage will reach to a point called
breakdown voltage. Causing the diode to
change its current conducting mode from
leakage current to higher reverse current
called Avalance current.

Module I Semi-conductor devices