CHAPTER-2

SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES AND RECTIFIERS

Multiple-choice Questions

1. An active component is
a) transistor c) capacitor
b) resistor d) inductor

2. An active device is
a) transformer b) silicon controlled rectifier
c) electric bulb d) loudspeaker

3. The process of adding impurities to a pure semiconductor is

a) diffusing b) drift
c) doping d) mixing

4. A passive component is
a) semiconductor device b) vacuum tube device
c) inductor d) all of the above

5. A passive component used in electronic circuit is

a) tunnel diode c) field effect transistor
b) resistor d) vacuum diode

6. A Germanium atom contains

a) two electron orbits b) three valence electrons
c) four protons d) four valance electron

7. The atomic weight of an atom is found by the

a) number of electrons c) number of protons and neutrons
b) number of protons d) the number of electrons and protons

8. The number of protons in an atom is

a) isotope number b) atomic number
c) atomic weight d) none of the above

9. The maximum number of electrons in third orbit is

a) 3 b) 32
c) 9 d) 18

10. Valence electrons are the

a) loosely packed electrons b) mobile electrons
c) electrons present in the outermost orbit d) all the above.

11. The element that does not have three valence electrons is
 a) boron b) aluminium
c) germanium d) gallium
12. The element having four valence electrons is
a) silicon b) germanium
c) both (a) and (b) above d) none of the above

13. The forbidden energy gap for silicon is

a) 1.12 eV b) 0.32 eV
c) 0.72 eV d) 7.2 eV

14. The forbidden energy gap for germanium is,

a) 0.12 eV b) 0.32 eV
c) 0.72 eV d) 0.92 eV

15. The resistivity of a semi-conductor

a) increases as the temperature increases
b) decreases as the temperature increases
c) remains constant even when temperature varies
d) none of the above

16. Semiconductors have

a) zero temperature coefficient of resistance
b) positive temperature coefficient of resistance
c) negative temperature coefficient of resistance
d) none of the above

17. The donor impurity element is

a) aluminum b) boron
c) phosphorous d) indium

18. The acceptor impurity element is

a) antimony b) gallium
c) arsenic d) phosphorous

19. The element which does not have five valence electrons is
a) antimony b) arsenic
c) gallium d) phosphorous

20. A PN junction diode

a) has high resistance in both forward and reverse directions
b) has low resistance in forward direction
c) has high resistance in forward direction
d) has low resistance in reverse direction
21. If a PN junction diode is not biased, the junction current at equilibrium is
a) zero as no charges cross the junction
b) zero as equal number of carriers cross the barrier
c) mainly due to diffusion of majority carriers
d) mainly due top diffusion of minority carriers

22. In PN junction , the potential barrier is due to the charges on either side of the
junction, which consists of
a) fixed donor and acceptor ions
b) majority carriers only
c) minority carriers only
d) both majority and minority carriers

23. In PN junction, the region containing the uncompensated acceptor and donor ions
is called,
a) transition zone b) depletion region
c) neutral region d) active region

24. In a forward biased PN junction diode, the

a) positive terminal of the battery is connected to P side and the negative side to
the N side.
b) positive terminal of the battery is connected to N side and the negative side to
the P side.
c) N side is connected directly to the P side
d) Junction is earthed

25. The resistivity of a semiconductor depends on

a) shape of the semiconductor b) atomic nature semiconductor
c) width of semiconductor d) length of semiconductor

26. When holes leave the p-material to fill electrons in the n-material, the process is
called
a) mixing b) depletion
c) diffusion d) none of the above

27. The drift current in a diode is due to

a) chemical energy b) heat energy
c) voltage d) crystal formation

28. The depletion region in a PN diode is due to

a) reverse biasing b) forward biasing
c) an area created by crystal doping d) an area void of current carriers
29. When a diode is forward biased,
a) barrier potential increases
b) barrier potential decreases
c) majority current reduces
d) minority current reduces

30. Clamping network shifts a signal to a different

a) d.c. level b) a.c. level c) both (a) and (b) d) none of the above

31. Rectifier is used to

a) convert a.c. voltage to d.c. voltage
b) convert d.c. voltage to a.c. voltage
c) both (a) and (b)
d) convert voltage to current

32. The ripple factor of half wave rectifier is

a) 1.21 b) 0.482 c) 0.406 d) 0.121

33. The peak inverse voltage of half wave rectifier is

a) Vm b) 2Vm c) Vm / 2 d) 3Vm

34. The efficiency of half wave rectifier is

a) 40.6% b) 81.2% c) 1.12% d) 48.2%

35. The ripple factor of full wave rectifier is

a) 1.21 b) 0.482 c) 0.406 d) 0.121

36. The peak inverse voltage of full wave rectifier is

a) Vm b) 2Vm c) Vm / 2 d) 3Vm

37. The efficiency of full wave rectifier is

a) 40.6% b) 81.2% c) 1.12% d) 48.2%

38. The peak inverse voltage of bridge rectifier is

a) Vm b) 2Vm c) Vm / 2 d) 3Vm

39. The bridge rectifier requires

a) 2 diodes b) 3 diodes c) 4 diodes d) 8 diodes

40. The diode used in voltage regulator is

a) PN junction diode b) schottky diode
c) zenen diode d) gunn diode
 41. In a clipper, R =

a) b) c) d)

42. The ripple factor of an inductor filter is

a) b) c) d)

43. The other name for Esaki diode is

a) zener diode b) tunnel diode c) varactor diode d) photo diode

44. Hall coefficient RH is

a)1 / ρ b) 1 / σ c) ρw d) σwr

State Whether the Following Statements are True (T) or False (F)

45. Silicon and germanium are semiconductors with a valence of 4.

46. Hole current is the movement of negative charges in the opposite direction from
the electron flow.

47. Doping with phosphorous makes Silicon P- type, wit majority electron charges
and minority hole charge.

48. A drift current request a difference of potential, but diffusion current requires only
a difference in charge density.

49. Phosphorous with an atomic number 15 has 5 valence electrons.

50. Hole current into an electrode is considered the positive direction of current.

51. The internal barrier potential at a PN junction for Silicon is approximately 9 V.

52. Atoms of the impurity element in a doped semiconductor provide fixed ion
charges.

53. Drift current in flow of charge carrier is due to an applied electric field.

54. Diffusion current flows due to difference in carrier concentration.

55. A depletion layer consists of free charge carriers.

56. An N-type semi conductor has free electrons, while a P-type has hole charges.

57. The Zener diode is used as a constant voltage source in regulator.

58. A hole has the same amount of positive charge as a proton, equal to an electron
but with opposite polarity.

59. The proton is a stable charge in the nucleus that is not free to move.

60. A hole is a positive charge outside the nucleus present only in semiconductors
because of unfilled covalent bond.

61. The forward current of a PN junction can be controlled to provide amplification.

62. The diffusion current results a difference in concentration of the charge carriers in
adjacent areas of the crystal lattice in a solid semi conductors.

63. Gallium is generally used for germanium as donor impurity element.

64. Phosphorous in its purest form acts as an intrinsic semiconductors.

65. Gallium is generally used an acceptor impurity for germanium.

66. The conductivity of an intrinsic semi conductor is .

67. LASER diodes are a form of PN diodes.

68. The ripple factor of half wave rectifier is 2.31.

69. The peak factor of full wave rectifier is .

70. Clamping circuits are also called voltage limiters.

71. The diode current equation is

72. Varactor diode is also called as voltage variable capacitor.

73. The tunnel diode exhibits positive resistance under low forward bias conditions.

74. The Esaki diode can be used as a logic memory storage device.

75. The photodiode converts electrical signals into light signals.

76. The Hall effect can be used to find carrier concentration.

 ANSWERS

01. a 02. b 03. c 04. c 05. b 06. d 07. c 08. b 09. d 10. c
11. d 12. c 13. a 14. c 15. b 16. c 17. c 18. b 19. c 20. b
21. b 22. a 23. b 24. a 25. d 26. c 27. c 28. a 29. b 30. a
31. a 32. a 33. a 34. a 35. b 36. b 37. b 38. a 39. c 40. c
41. b 42. c 43. b 44. a 45. T 46. F 47. F 48. T 49. T 50. T
51. F 52. T 53. T 54. T 55. F 56. T 57. T 58. T 59. T 60. T
61. T 62. T 63. F 64. F 65. T 66. T 67. T 68. F 69. T 70. F
71. F 72. T 73. F 74. T 75. F 76. T