1

Module -1

Semiconductor devices

1.1 Semiconductor materials and properties

1.1.1 Based on the electrical conductivity all the materials in nature are classified as
insulators, semiconductors, and conductors.

● Insulator: An insulator is a material that offers a very low level (or negligible) of conductivity
when voltage is applied. Eg: Paper, Mica, glass, quartz.
● Typical resistivity level of an insulator is of the order of 1010 to 1012 Ω-cm.
● The energy band structure of an insulator is shown in the fig.1.1. Band structure of a material
defines the band of energy levels that an electron can occupy.
● For an insulator, as shown in the fig.1.1 there is a large forbidden band gap of greater than 5ev.
Because of this large gap there a very few electrons in the CB and hence the conductivity of
insulator is poor.
Insulator Semiconductor Conductor

CB
CB CB

o
Forbidden band Eo =≈1eV
gap Eo ≈6eV

VB
VB
VB

FiG:1.1 Energy band diagrams insulator, semiconductor and conductor

● Conductors: A conductor is a material which supports a generous flow of charge when a voltage is
applied across its terminals. i.e. it has very high conductivity. Eg: Copper, Aluminum, Silver, Gold.
● The resistivity of a conductor is in the order of 10-4 and 10-6 Ω-cm. The Valance and conduction bands
overlap (fig1.1) and there is no energy gap for the electrons to move from valance band to conduction
band.
● Semiconductor: A semiconductor is a material that has its conductivity somewhere between the
insulator and conductor. The resistivity level is in the range of 10 and 104 Ω-cm.
● Two of the most commonly used are Silicon (Si=14 atomic no.) and germanium (Ge=32 atomic no.).
Both have 4 valance electrons. The forbidden band gap is in the order of 1eV. For eg., the band gap
energy for Si, Ge and GaAs is 1.21, 0.785 and 1.42 eV, respectively at absolute zero temperature
(0K).
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1.1.1Semiconductor Types
● A pure form of semiconductors is called as intrinsic semiconductor. Conduction in

intrinsic semiconductor is either due to thermal excitation or crystal defects.

● Si and Ge are the two most important semiconductors used. Other examples include
Gallium arsenide GaAs, Indium Antimonide (InSb) etc.
● Let us consider the structure of Si. A Si atomic no. is 14 and it has 4 valance electrons.
These 4 electrons are shared by four neighboring atoms in the crystal structure by
means of covalent bond. Fig. 1.2a shows the crystal structure of Si at absolute zero
temperature (0K). Hence a pure semiconductor acts has poor conductivity (due to lack
of free electrons) at low or absolute zero temperature.

Covalent bond
Valence bond
Free electron
Valance electron
hole

Fig. 1.2a crystal structure of Si at 0K Fig. 1.2b crystal structure of Si at room temperature

● At room temperature some of the covalent bonds break up to thermal energy as shown in fig 1.2b.
The valance electrons that jump into conduction band are called as free electrons that are available
for conduction.
● The absence of electrons in covalent bond is represented by a small circle usually referred to as
hole which is of positive charge. Even a hole serves as carrier of electricity in a manner similar to
that of free electron.
● When a bond is incomplete so that a hole exists, it is relatively easy for a valance electron in the
neighboring atom to leave its covalent bond to fill this hole.
● An electron moving from a bond to fill a hole moves in a direction opposite to that of the
electron. This hole, in its new position may now be filled by an electron from another covalent
bond and the hole will correspondingly move one more step in the direction opposite to the
motion of electron.
● In a pure semiconductor, the number of holes is equal to the number of free electrons.
ni as the intrinsic carrier concentration for the concentration of the free electrons, as well
as that of the holes. The equation for ni is as follows:

where B is a coefficient related to the specific semiconductor material, Eg is the bandgap energy (eV),
T is the temperature (K), k is Boltzmann’s constant (86 × 10−6 eV/K).Semiconductor constants
listed below.
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1.1.2 Extrinsic Semiconductor

● Intrinsic semiconductor has very limited applications as they conduct very small amounts of current at
room temperature.
● The current conduction capability of intrinsic semiconductor can be increased significantly by adding
a small amounts impurity to the intrinsic semiconductor. By adding impurities it becomes impure or
extrinsic semiconductor. This process of adding impurities is called as doping. The amount of
impurity added is 1 part in 106 atoms.
● N type semiconductor: If the added impurity is a pentavalent atom then the resultant semiconductor
is called N-type semiconductor. Examples of pentavalent impurities are Phosphorus, Arsenic,
Bismuth, Antimony etc.
● A pentavalent impurity has five valance electrons. Fig 1.3 shows the crystal structure of N-type
semiconductor material where four out of five valance electrons of the impurity atom(antimony)
forms covalent bond with the four intrinsic semiconductor atoms.
● The fifth electron is loosely bound to the impurity atom. This loosely bound electron can be easily
excited from the valance band to the conduction band by the application of electric field or increasing
the thermal energy. The energy required to detach the fifth electron from the impurity atom is very
small of the order of 0.01ev for Ge and 0.05 eV for Si.

5th valance electron of SB

Fig. 1.3 crystal structure of N type SC

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● At room temperature almost all the fifth electrons from the donor impurity atom are raised to
conduction band and hence the number of electrons in the conduction band increases significantly.
Thus every antimony atom contributes to one conduction electron without creating a hole.
● In the N-type semiconductor the no. of electrons increases and the no. of holes decreases compared to
those available in an intrinsic semiconductor. The reason for decrease in the no. of holes is that the
larger no. of electrons present increases the recombination of electrons with holes. Thus current in N
type semiconductor is dominated by electrons which are referred to as majority carriers. Holes are the
minority carriers in N type semiconductor.
● P type semiconductor: If the added impurity is a trivalent atom then the resultant semiconductor is
called P-type semiconductor. Examples of trivalent impurities are Boron, Gallium , indium etc.
● The crystal structure of p type semiconductor is shown in the fig1.4. The three valance electrons of
the impurity (boon) forms three covalent bonds with the neighboring atoms and a vacancy exists in
the fourth bond giving rise to the holes. The hole is ready to accept an electron from the neighboring
atoms. Each trivalent atom contributes to one hole generation and thus introduces a large no. of holes
in the valance band. At the same time the no. electrons are decreased compared to those available in
intrinsic semiconductor because of increased recombination due to creation of additional holes.

hole

Fig. 1.4 crystal structure of P type semiconductor

● Thus in P type semiconductor, holes are majority carriers and electrons are minority carriers. Since
each trivalent impurity atoms are capable accepting an electron, these are called as acceptor atoms.
● The conductivity of N type semiconductor is greater than that of P type semiconductor as the
mobility of electron is greater than that of hole.
● For the same level of doping in N type semiconductor and P type semiconductor, the conductivity
of an N type semiconductor is around twice that of a P type semiconductor.

1.2 PN Junction Diode

1.2.1 PN Junction With No Applied Voltage Or Open Circuit Condition:
● In a piece of semiconductor if one half is doped by p type impurity and the other half is doped
by n type impurity, a PN junction is formed.
● The n type material has high concentration of free electrons, while p type material has high concentration
of holes.
● Therefore at the junction there is a tendency of free electrons to diffuse over to the P side and the holes to
The N side. This process is called diffusion.
● As the free electrons move across the junction from N type to P type, the donor atoms become
positively charged. Hence a positive charge is built on the N-side of the junction. The free electrons that
cross the junction uncover the negative acceptor ions by filing the holes. Therefore a negative charge
is developed on the p –side of the junction.

● This net negative charge on the P side prevents further diffusion of electrons into the P side. Similarly
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the net positive charge on the N side repels the hole crossing from P side to N side. Thus a barrier is
set up near the junction which prevents the further movement of charge carriers as shown in fig 1.6.
As a consequence of induced electric field across the depletion layer.
● An Electrostatic potential difference is established between P and N regions, which are called the
potential barrier or contact potential, Vbi. The magnitude of the contact potential Vbi varies with
doping levels and temperature. Vbi is 0.3V for Ge and 0.72 V for Si.
● The built-in potential barrier, or built-in voltage, is given by

Fig 1.5 Symbol of PN Junction Diode

Fig 1.6

1.2.2 Forward Biased PN Junction Diode

● When a diode is connected in a Forward Bias condition, a negative voltage is applied to the N- type
material and a positive voltage is applied to the P-type material shown in fig 1.7.
● If this external voltage becomes greater than the value of the potential barrier, approx. 0.7 volts for
silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium, the potential barriers opposition will be overcome and current
will start to flow shown in fig 1.7.
● This is because the negative voltage pushes or repels electrons towards the junction giving them the
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energy to cross over and combine with the holes being pushed in the opposite direction towards the
junction by the positive voltage.
● This results in a characteristics curve of zero current flowing up to this voltage point, called the
"knee" on the static curves and then a high current flow through the diode with little increase in the
external voltage as shown in fig 1.8.

Fig 1.7 Diode Forward Bias

Fig 1.8 Diode Forward Characteristics

● Since the diode can conduct "infinite" current above this knee point as it effectively becomes a short
circuit, therefore resistors are used in series with the diode to limit its current flow. Exceeding its
maximum forward current specification causes the device to dissipate more power in the form of
heat than it was designed for resulting in a very quick failure of the device.

1.2.3 PN Junction Under Reverse Bias Condition: Reverse Biased Junction Diode
● When a diode is connected in a Reverse Bias condition, a positive voltage is applied to the
N-type material and a negative voltage is applied to the P-type material shown fig 1.9.
● The positive voltage applied to the N- type material attracts electrons towards the positive electrode and
away from the junction, while the holes in the P-type end are also attracted away from the junction towards
the negative electrode.
● The net result is that the depletion layer grows wider due to a lack of electrons and holes and presents a
high impedance path, almost an insulator. The result is that a high potential barrier is created thus
preventing current from flowing through the semiconductor material.
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Fig 1.9 Diode Reverse Bias

● This condition represents a high resistance value to the PN junction and practically zero current
flows through the junction diode with an increase in bias voltage.
● However, a very small leakage current does flow through the junction which can be measured
in microamperes, (μA).
● If the reverse bias voltage VR applied to the diode is increased to a sufficiently high enough
value, it will cause the PN junction to overheat and fail due to the avalanche effect around the
junction.
● This may cause the diode to become shorted and will result in the flow of maximum
circuit current, and this shown as a step downward slope in the reverse static characteristics curve
in Fig 1.10.

Fig 1.10 Diode Reverse Characteristics

● A capacitance is associated with the pn junction when a reverse-bias voltage is applied. This
junction capacitance, or depletion layer capacitance, can be written in the form

where Cjo is the junction capacitance at zero applied voltage.

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1.2.4 VI Characteristics And Their Temperature Dependence

Diode terminal characteristics equation for diode junction current:
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1.3 Diode Circuits

1.3.1 DC Analysis Circuits and models

Consider, for example, the circuit shown in Figure 1.14, with a dc voltage VPS applied across a
resistor and a diode. Kirchhoff’s voltage law applies both to nonlinear and linear circuits, so we
can write

Fig 1.13

(i)

which can be rewritten as

The diode voltage VD and current ID are related by the ideal diode equation as

----(ii)
where IS is assumed to be known for a particular diode.
Combining Equations (i) and (ii), we obtain

Let us consider

● The equation(i) is referred to as the circuit load line, and is usually plotted on a graph with the current
ID as the vertical axis and the voltage VD as the horizontal axis. From Equation (i), we see that if ID = 0,
then VD = VPS which is the horizontal axis intercept. Also from this equation, if VD = 0, then ID = VPS/R
which is the vertical axis intercept. The load line can be drawn between these two points. The slope of
the load line is −1/R.
● The diode load line characteristics for the circuit shown below

Fig1.14
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● The intersection of the load line and the device characteristics curve provides the dc current Id
through the diode and the dc voltage Vd across the diode. This point is referred to as the quiescent
point, or the Q-point.

1.3.2 Diode Equivalent Circuits

● An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements properly chosen to best represent the actual
terminal characteristics of a device, system, or such in a particular operating region.
● In other words, once the equivalent circuit is defined, the device symbol can be removed from a
schematic and the equivalent circuit inserted in its place without severely affecting the actual
behavior of the system. The result is often a network that can be solved using traditional circuit
analysis techniques.

1.3.2.1 Ideal Diode

● An ideal diode has the characteristics shown in Figure 1.15(a). When a reverse-bias voltage
is applied, the current through the diode is zero (Figure 1.15(b))
● when forward bias is applied ,current through the diode is greater than zero, the voltage across the diode
is zero (Figure 1.15(c)). An external circuit connected to the diode must be designed to control the
forward current through the diode.

Fig 1.15

1.3.2.2 Piecewise-Linear Equivalent Circuit

● One technique for obtaining an equivalent circuit for a diode is to approximate the characteristics of
the device by straight-line segments, as shown in Fig. 1.16.
● The resulting equivalent circuit is naturally called the piecewise-linear equivalent circuit. It should be
obvious that the straight-line segments do not result in an exact duplication of the actual
characteristics, especially in the knee region.
● However, the resulting segments are sufficiently close to the actual curve to establish an equivalent
circuit that will provide an excellent first approximation to the actual behavior of the device.
● The ideal diode is included to establish that there is only one direction of conduction through the
device, and a reverse-bias condition will result in the open- circuit state for the device.
● Since a silicon semiconductor, diode does not reach the conduction state until V D reaches 0.7 V with a
forward bias (as shown in Fig. 1.16), a battery V D opposing the conduction direction must appear in
the equivalent circuit as shown in Fig. 1.17.
● The battery simply specifies that the voltage across the device must be greater than the threshold
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battery voltage before conduction through the device in the direction dictated by the ideal diode can
be established. When conduction is established, the resistance of the diode will be the specified value
of rf.

Ω
Fig: 1.16 Diode piecewise-line

Fig: 1.17 Diode piecewise-linear model equivalent circuit

● The approximate level of rav can usually be determined from a specified operating point on the
specification sheet. For instance, for a silicon semiconductor diode, if IF I D=10 mA (a forward
conduction current for the diode) at V D =0.7 V, we know for silicon that a shift of 0.7 V is
required before the characteristics rise. Different diode equivalent models shown in fig 1.18.

Fig 1.18 Diode equivalent circuits(models)

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1.4 Break Down Mechanisms

There are two mechanisms by which breakdown can occur at a reverse biased P-N junction:
1. avalanche breakdown and
2. Zener breakd.

1.4.1Avalanche breakdown
● The minority carriers, under reverse biased conditions, flowing through the junction acquire a
kinetic energy which increases with the increase in reverse voltage.
● At a sufficiently high reverse voltage (say 5 V or more), the kinetic energy of minority carriers
becomes so large that they knock out electrons from the covalent bonds of the semiconductor
material.
● As a result of collision, the liberated electrons in turn liberate more electrons and the current
becomes very large leading to the breakdown of the crystal structure itself. T
● his phenomenon is called the avalanche breakdown. The breakdown region is the knee of the
characteristic curve. Now the current is not controlled by the junction voltage but rather by the
external circuit.

1.4.2 Zener breakdown

● Under a very high reverse voltage, the depletion region expands and the potential barrier
increases leading to a very high electric field across the junction.
● The electric field will break some of the covalent bonds of the semiconductor atoms leading to a
large number of free minority carriers, which suddenly increase the reverse current. This is called
the Zener effect.
● The breakdown occurs at a particular and constant value of reverse voltage called the
breakdown voltage, it is found that Zener breakdown occurs at electric field intensity of about 3
x 107 V/m.

Fig 1.19 Diode characteristics with breakdown

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● Either of the two (Zener breakdown or avalanche breakdown) may occur independently, or both
of these may occur simultaneously.
● Diode junctions that breakdown below 5 V are caused by Zener effect. Junctions that experience
breakdown above 5 V are caused by avalanche effect.
● Junctions that breakdown around 5 V are usually caused by combination of two effects. The
Zener breakdown occurs in heavily doped junctions (P-type semiconductor moderately doped
and N-type heavily doped), which produce narrow depletion layers.
● The avalanche breakdown occurs in lightly doped junctions, which produce wide depletion
layers. With the increase in junction temperature Zener breakdown voltage is reduced while the
avalanche breakdown voltage increases.
● The Zener diodes have a negative temperature coefficient while avalanche diodes have a
positive temperature coefficient.
● Diodes that have breakdown voltages around 5 V have zero temperature coefficient. The
breakdown phenomenon is reversible and harmless so long as the safe operating temperature is
maintained.
1.5AC equivalent Circuits
● In the circuit shown in Figure 1.20(a), the voltage source vi is assumed to be a sinusoidal,
or time-varying, signal. The total input voltage vI is composed of a dc component VPS and an
ac component vi superimposed on the dc value.

Fig 1.20
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● Here, IDQ is the dc quiescent diode current. In addition, the diode voltage will contain a dc value
with an ac signal superimposed, as shown in Figure 1.20(c).The relationship between the diode
current and voltage can be written as

------(i)

where VDQ is the dc quiescent voltage and vd is the ac component.

We are neglecting the −1 term in the diode equation , equation (i) can be
rewritten as

-------------------(ii)

If the ac signal is “small,” then vd /VT , and we can expand the exponential function
into a linear series, as follows:

The diode current–voltage relationship from Equation (ii) can then be written as

where id is the ac component of the diode current. The relationship between the ac
components of the diode voltage and current is then

Or
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● This equation tells us that the incremental resistance is a function of the dc bias current
IDQ and is inversely proportional to the slope of the I–V characteristics curve, as shown in
Figure 1.20(d).
1.6 Types of diodes
1.6.1 Solar Cell
● A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly
into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.
● The voltage induced by the PV cell depends on the intensity of light incident on it. The electrons
of the semiconductor material are joined together by the covalent bond. The electromagnetic
radiations(light) are made of small energy particles called photons. When the photons are incident
on the semiconductor material, then the electrons become energized and starts emitting.

● The energized electron is known as the Photoelectrons. And the phenomenon of emission of electrons is
known as the photoelectric effect. The working of the Photovoltaic cell depends on the photoelectric effect.
Construction Of Photovoltaic Cell
● The semiconductor materials like arsenide, indium, cadmium, silicon, selenium and gallium are used for
making the PV cells.
● A solar cell consists of a layer of p-type silicon placed next to a layer of n-type silicon . In the n-type layer,
there is an excess of electrons, and in the p-type layer, there is an excess of positively charged holes.The
metal rings are placed around p-type and n-type material which acts as their positive and negative output
terminals respectively.
Working of PV cell
● The light incident on the semiconductor material may get absorbed or reflected through it. The PV cell is
made of the semiconductor material which is neither a complete conductor nor an insulator.
● This property of semiconductor material makes it more efficient for converting the light energy into electric
energy. When the semiconductor material absorbs light, the electrons of the material will get excited.
● This happens because the light consists small energize particles called photons. When the electrons absorb
the photons, they become energized and starts moving into the material. Because of the effect of an electric
field, the particles move only in the one direction and develops current.
● The semiconductor materials have the metallic electrodes through which the current goes out of it. Consider
the figure given which shows the PV cell made of silicon and the resistive load is connected across it.The
PV cell consists the P and N-type layer of semiconductor material. These layers are joined together to form
the PN junction.
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Fig 1.21

1.6.2 Photo diode

● When external light energy is supplied to the p-n junction photodiode, the valence electrons in the depletion
region gains energy.
● If the light energy applied to the photodiode is greater the band-gap of semiconductor material, the valence
electrons gain enough energy and break bonding with the parent atom. The valence electron which breaks
bonding with the parent atom will become free electron.
● Free electrons move freely from one place to another place by carrying the electric current. When the valence
electron leave the valence shell an empty space is created in the valence shell at which valence electron left.
This empty space in the valence shell is called a hole.
● Thus, both free electrons and holes are generated as pairs. The mechanism of generating electron-hole pair
by using light energy is known as the inner photoelectric effect.
● The minority carriers in the depletion region experience force due to the depletion region electric field and
the external electric field.
● The strong depletion region electric field and the external electric field increase the drift velocity of the free
electrons.

Fig 1.22
● Because of this high drift velocity, the minority carriers (free electrons and holes) generated in the
depletion region will cross the p-n junction before they recombine with atoms. As a result, the minority
carrier current increases. When no light is applied to the reverse bias photodiode, it carries a small reverse
current due to external voltage. This small electric current under the absence of light is called dark current.

1.6.3 Light Emitting Diode

● Light Emitting Diodes are made from exotic semiconductor compounds such as Gallium
Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Phosphide (GaP), Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP), Silicon Carbide (SiC)
or Gallium Indium Nitride (GaInN) all mixed together at different ratios to produce a distinct wavelength of
colour.
● Different LED compounds emit light in specific regions of the visible light spectrum and
therefore produce different intensity levels.
● The exact choice of the semiconductor material used will determine the overall wavelength of the
photon light emissions and therefore the resulting colour of the light emitted.
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● Light emitting diodes are available in a wide range of colours with the most common being RED,
AMBER, YELLOW and GREEN and are thus widely used as visual indicators and as movinglight displays.
● Recently developed blue and white coloured LEDs are also available but these tend to be much more
expensive than the normal standard colours due to the production costs of mixing together two or
more complementary colours at an exact ratio within the semiconductor compound and also by injecting
nitrogen atoms into the crystal structure during the doping process.
Light Emitting Diode Colours:
● From the table shown below we can see that the main P-type dopant used in the manufacture of Light
Emitting Diodes is Gallium (Ga, atomic number 31) and that the main N-type dopant used is Arsenic (As,
atomic number 33) giving the resulting compound of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystalline structure.
● The problem with using Gallium Arsenide on its own as the semiconductor compound is that it radiates large
amounts of low brightness infra-red radiation (850nm-940nm approx.) from its junction when a forward
current is flowing through it.
● An LED may be integrated into an optical cavity to produce a coherent photon output with a very narrow
bandwidth. Such a device is a laser diode, which is used in optical communications applications.
● The LED can be used in conjunction with a photodiode to create an optical system such as that shown in
Figure 1.40. The light signal created may travel over relatively long distances through the optical fiber,
because of the low optical absorption in high-quality optical fibers.

Working of Light Emitting Diode

LED is nothing but a diode made of semiconductors having a P-N junction. LED is based on the phenomenon of
recombination of electrons with holes. When LED is forward biased, the electrons from the N-region cross the P-N
junction and recombine with the holes existing in P-region. For the electrons to recombine with holes existing in P-
region, they must give some of their energy. When recombination occurs, the recombining electrons release energy
in the form of heat and light.

1.6.4 Schottky barrier diode

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● In a normal p-n junction diode, a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor are used to
form the p-n junction. When a p-type semiconductor is joined with an n-type semiconductor, a
junction is formed between the P-type and N-type semiconductor. This junction is known as P-N
junction.
● In schottky diode, metals such as aluminum or platinum replace the P-type semiconductor.
Schottky diode is also known as schottky barrier diode, surface barrier diode, majority carrier device,
hot-electron diode, or hot carrier diode. Schottky diodes are widely used in radio frequency (RF) applications.

● When aluminum or platinum metal is joined with N-type semiconductor, a junction is formed between
the metal and N-type semiconductor. This junction is known as a metal-semiconductor junction or M-S
junction.
● A metal-semiconductor junction formed between a metal and n-type semiconductor creates a barrier or
depletion layer known as a schottky barrier.
● Schottky diode can switch on and off much faster than the p-n junction diode. Also, the schottky diode
produces less unwanted noise than p-n junction diode.
● These two characteristics of the schottky diode make it very useful in high-speed switching power circuits.
When the metal is joined with the n-type semiconductor, the conduction band electrons (free electrons) in
the n-type semiconductor will move from n-type semiconductor to metal to establish an equilibrium state.
● We know that when a neutral atom loses an electron it becomes a positive ion similarly when a neutral atom
gains an extra electron it becomes a negative ion. The conduction band electrons or free electrons that are
crossing the junction will provide extra electrons to the atoms in the metal.
● As a result, the atoms at the metal junction gains extra electrons and the atoms at the n-side junction lose
electrons
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Forward biased schottky diode

● If the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the metal and the negative terminal of the
battery is connected to the n-type semiconductor, the schottky diode is said to be forward biased.
● When a forward bias voltage is applied to the schottky diode, a large number of free electrons are generated
in the n-type semiconductor and metal. However, the free electrons in n-type semiconductor and metal
cannot cross the junction unless the applied voltage is greater than 0.2 volts.

● If the applied voltage is greater than 0.2 volts, the free electrons gain enough energy and overcomes the
built-in-voltage of the depletion region. As a result, electric current starts flowing through the schottky
diode. If the applied voltage is continuously increased, the depletion region becomes very thin and finally
disappears.
Reverse bias schottky diode
● If the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the metal and the positive terminal of the
battery is connected to the n-type semiconductor, the schottky diode is said to be reverse biased.
● When a reverse bias voltage is applied to the schottky diode, the depletion width increases. As a result, the
electric current stops flowing. However, a small leakage current flows due to the thermally excited electrons
in the metal.

● If the reverse bias voltage is continuously increased, the electric current gradually increases due to the weak
barrier. If the reverse bias voltage is largely increased, a sudden rise in electric current takes place. This
sudden rise in electric current causes depletion region to break down which may permanently damage the
device. V-I characteristics of schottky diode
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● The V-I (Voltage-Current) characteristics of schottky diode is shown in the below figure. The vertical
line in the below figure represents the current flow in the schottky diode and the horizontal
line represents the voltage applied across the schottky diode.
● The V-I characteristics of schottky diode is almost similar to the P-N junction diode. However, the
forward voltage drop of schottky diode is very low as compared to the P-N junction diode. The
forward voltage drop of schottky diode is 0.2 to 0.3 volts whereas the forward voltage drop of silicon P-N
junction diode is 0.6 to 0.7 volts.
● If the forward bias voltage is greater than 0.2 or 0.3 volts, electric current starts flowing through the
schottky diode. In schottky diode, the reverse saturation current occurs at a very low voltage
as compared to the silicon diode.

Applications of schottky diodes

• Schottky diodes are used as general-purpose rectifiers.
• Schottky diodes are used in radio frequency (RF) applications.
• Schottky diodes are widely used in power supplies.
• Schottky diodes are used to detect signals.
• Schottky diodes are used in logic circuits.

1.6.5 ZENER DIODES

● The Zener diode is like a general-purpose signal diode consisting of a silicon PN junction. When
biased in the forward direction it behaves just like a normal signal diode passing the rated current, but
as soon as a reverse voltage applied across the zener diode exceeds the rated voltage of the device,
the diodes breakdown voltage VB is reached at which point a process called Avalanche Breakdown
occurs in the semiconductor depletion layer and a current starts to flow through the diode to limit this
increase in voltage.
● The current now flowing through the zener diode increases dramatically to the maximum circuit value
(which is usually limited by a series resistor) and once achieved this reverse saturation current
remains fairly constant over a wide range of applied voltages. This breakdown voltage point, VB is
called the "zener voltage" for zener diodes and can range from less than one volt to hundreds of volts.
● The point at which the zener voltage triggers the current to flow through the diode can be very
accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of the diodes semiconductor
construction giving the diode a specific zener breakdown voltage, (Vz) for example, 4.3V or 7.5V.
This zener breakdown voltage on the I-V curve is almost a vertical straight line.
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Fig 1.19 : Zener diode characteristics

● The Zener Diode is used in its "reverse bias" or reverse breakdown mode, i.e. the diodes
anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics curve above, we can see
that the zener diode has a region in its reverse bias characteristics of almost a constant
negative voltage regardless of the value of the current flowing through the diode and remains
nearly constant even with large changes in current as long as the zener diodes current remains
between the breakdown current IZ(min) and the maximum current rating IZ(max).
● This ability to control itself can be used to great effect to regulate or stabilize a voltage source
against supply or load variations. The fact that the voltage across the diode in the breakdown
region is almost constant turns out to be an important application of the zener diode as a
voltage regulator. The function of a regulator is to provide a constant output voltage to a load
connected in parallel with it in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage or the variation in the
load current and the zener diode will continue to regulate the voltage until the diodes current
falls below the minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse breakdown region.
22

Diffusion current
23

Drift Current