MODULE II

SEMICONDUCTORS
Energy band in solids
Valance band-Electrons in outer most orbit are known
as valance electrons. The band which contain the
valance electrons is called valance band
Conduction band-some valance electrons are loosely
attached to the nucleus and are known as free or
valance electrons. The energy band which contain free
electrons is known as conduction band
Empty conduction band means conduction not
possible ie insulator
Forbidden energy gap-The energy gap between
valance band and conduction band is known as
forbidden energy gap
Energy band diagram of solids
semiconductors
Substance whose conductivity lies between conductors
and insulator
Eg –carbon, silicon ,germanium
Two types of semiconductors are intrinsic
semiconductor and extrinsic semiconductor
Semiconductor in pure form is known as intrinsic semi
conductor
At absolute zero temperature ,all electrons of
semiconductor are held tightly by their nucleus
No free electrons are available and semiconductor acts as
insulator
Above absolute zero temperature the temperature of
semiconductor increases and covalent bond breaks which
results in free electrons
When temperature of semiconductor is raised the heat
energy supplied will lift some of the valance electrons to
the conduction band
Whenever an electron is jumped to conduction band ,a
hole is created in the valance band
Absence of an electron or vacancy of electrons is
called as a Hole
Hole acts as positive charge and has the tendency to
attract electrons
The merging free electrons and holes is called
recombination
Conduction through intrinsic semiconductor
When a voltage is applied across intrinsic
semiconductor current conduction takes place by two
kinds of charge carriers electrons and holes
Free electrons in conduction band start drifting
towards the positive terminal and holes start drifting
towards the negative terminal
Drift current
The flow of current in the semiconductor due to the
drift of electrons in the conduction and holes in the
valance band due external energy supplied to them is
known as drift current
Extrinsic Semiconductor
At room temperature intrinsic semiconductor conducts
a little current
To make semiconductor conductive a small amount of
impurities is added and is called Extrinsic
semiconductor
The process of adding impurities to the semiconductor
is called as Doping
Depending up on the type of impurity added, extrinsic
semiconductor is classified into
N type semiconductor and P type semiconductor
N type semiconductor
When pentavalent impurities such as Antimony, Arsenic,
Phosphorus are added to pure semiconductor we get N
type semiconductor
Pentavalent impurity have five valance electrons in its
outer most orbit
Ge or Si has four valance electrons
When arsenic is added to silicon atom four of the five
valance electrons of arsenic atom forms covalent bond
with surrounding four silicon atom and fifth electron is
free to move about the crystal
N type semiconductor
N type semiconductor
N type semiconductor
Here each arsenic atom one free electron
Small amount of impurity has a large number of atoms, it
provides millions of free electrons for conduction
Since it donates electrons it is called as donar atom
Since there is more number of negatively charged
electrons compared to holes this material is called N type
semiconductor
In N type semiconductor current conduction is due to
free electrons available
Therefore electrons are the majority carriers and holes
are the minority carriers
P type semiconductor
When a small amount of trivalent impurity such as
Gallium Indium Boron is added to pure semiconductor
we get P type semiconductor
When Boron is added to Si each atom of impurity
forms covalent bond with neighboring three Si atom
The fourth neighboring Si atom is unable to form
covalent bond with impurity atom because impurity
atom doesn’t have fourth valance electron
P type semiconductor
This vacancy electron in the fourth bond is called as
Hole
Hole is positively charged and has the tendency to
attract electrons from the neighboring atom
This tendency is so great that an electron in the
adjacent covalent bond can jump to occupy the vacant
position
P type semiconductor
Here each atom of trivalent impurity gives a free Hole
which can accept an electron and this type of impurity
is called as called as acceptor
In P type semiconductor current conduction is due to
Holes
Therefore Holes are the majority carrier and electrons
are the minority carriers
P type semiconductor
N type semiconductor
Mobile charge carriers and immobile ions
N type semiconductor is formed by adding pentavalent
elements
Addition of such atom results in free electrons
As the electron moves away from parent atom ,the
atom acquires a positive charge and is known as donor
ions
These ions are known as immobile ions
Thus N type semiconductor consist of
electrons(majority carriers),Holes(minority
carriers),and positive donor ions
P type semiconductor is formed by adding trivalent
impurity and result in Hole in the crystal
As the hole moves from parent atom it acquires a
negative charge and is known as acceptor ion
This ion is immobile and cannot take part in
conduction
Thus P type semiconductor consist of Holes(majority
carriers), electrons (minority carriers),and negative
acceptor ions
 PN junction
P type and N type semiconductor joined together we
get PN junction
Such a PN junction is called as semiconductor diode
Special fabrication techniques is used to prepare PN
junction
 PN Junction
The moment they form PN junction, some of the
conduction electrons from n-type material diffuse to
the p-type material and undergo electron–hole
recombination
Similarly holes from p-type material diffuse to n-type
material and undergo electron–hole recombination
This process is called diffusion
 PN Junction
As electron moves from n-type to p-type ,leaving
positive donor ions
This establishes a positive charge on N side
As holes moves from p-type to n-type, leaving
negative acceptor ions
The diffusion of holes and electron takes place because
there is a difference in their concentration in the two
region
 PN Junction
The diffusion of holes and electron takes place for a
short period
After a few recombination, a restraining force is set up
automatically
This force is called barrier
Every recombination eliminates a hole and a electron
In this process the negative acceptor ion in the P
region and positive donor ions in the N region in the
neighbourhood of the junction are left uncompensated
 PN Junction
Additional holes trying to diffuse into the N region are
repelled by the uncompensated donar ions
Electrons trying to diffuse into the P region are
repelled by the uncompensated acceptor ions
As a result total recombination cannot occur
PN Junction
PN Junction
 PN Junction
The region containing uncompensated acceptor and
donor ions is called depletion region
Since this region has immobile ions which are
electrically charged it is called space charge region
The electric field between acceptor and donar ions is
called a barrier
For silicon PN junction the barrier potential is 0.7v and
for germanium it is 0.3v
 PN Junction with forward bias
Positive side of the battery is connected to P side and
negative side of the battery is connected to the N side,
PN junction is said to be forward biased
Holes are repelled by the positive terminal and move
towards the junction
Electrons are repelled by the negative terminal and
move towards the junction
Thus width of the depletion region reduces and
majority carriers diffuse across the junction
This result in increased current through the PN junction
This current is due to the majority carriers
PN Junction with forward bias
 PN junction with reverse bias
Positive terminal of the battery is connected to N side
and negative terminal of the battery is connected to P
side then PN junction is said to reverse biased
Holes in the P region are attracted towards the negative
terminal
Electrons in the N region are attracted towards positive
terminal
This increases the width of depletion region and
increases the barrier potential
 PN junction with reverse bias
The increased barrier potential makes it difficult for
the majority carriers to diffuse across the junction
So there is no current due to majority carriers
Minority carriers crosses the junction and there is
small current due to minority carriers
This current is called reverse saturation current or
leakage current
Generation of minority carriers depends on
temperature
PN junction with reverse bias
 V-I characteristics of Diode
The P region is called anode and N region is called
cathode
Anode is connected to positive of battery and cathode
is connected to negative of battery through a resister
The diode is forward biased
In the V-I characteristics the voltage at which current
starts to increase rapidly is called knee voltage or cut
in voltage
Knee voltage is 0.7v for silicon and 0.3 for germanium
PN Junction with forward bias
PN junction with reverse bias
V-I characteristics of Diode
 Drift and Diffusion current
The drift current is defined as the flow of electric current
due to the motion of the charge carriers under the
influence of an external electric field.
In a semiconductor material the change carriers have the
tendency to move from the region of higher concentration
to that of lower concentration of the same type of charge
carriers. Thus the movement of charge carriers takes place
resulting in a current called diffusion current.
 

.
Static and Dynamic resistance
When forward biased diode offers a definite resistance
in the circuit and is called dc or static resistance
R=V/I
The resistance offered by the diode to the AC signal is
called dynamic or ac resistance
r=change in resistance/resulting change in current
r=∆V/∆I or r=∆v2-∆v1/∆i2-∆i1
Static and Dynamic resistance
Zener break down
When a diode is heavily doped the deplesion layer is
very narrow
When reverse voltage across the diode is increased,
large number of electrons are pulled out from the
covalent bond
A large number of hole-electro pair are thus formed
and reverse current increases sharply
This is known as Zener effect
Avalanche effect
The external applied voltage increase the velocity of
minority carriers
The high velocity minority carriers collide with new
atom creating new carriers which are again accelerated
to high velocities
This process continues which result in large number of
electrons and thus increases reverse current
V-I characteristics of Zener diode
The forward characteristics is same as ordinary diode
In reverse characteristics when voltage is increased a
small reverse (leakage) current flows
This current remains constant until certain voltage is
reached
When voltage is further increased the current increases
rapidly to a high value and is known as break down
voltage.
V-I characteristics of Zener diode
Zener voltage regulator
Zener diode is used as voltage regulator.
The unregulated dc voltage is connected to zener diode
through Rs .
The zener diode is reverse biased.
If the input voltage increases the current through and
zener diode also increases.
This increases the voltage drop across Rs without any
change in the voltage across zener diode.
If the input voltage decreases the current through Rs
and zener diode decreases
The voltage drop across RS decreases without any change in
voltage across the zener diode.
Thus the zener diode acts as voltage regulator
Symbol of varactor and tunnel diode

Varacto
r

Tunnel diode
 Varactor diode
It is also known as varicap or voltage variable capacitor.
In a pn junction the depletion region act as a dielectric
medium or insulator.
P and N material act as two plates of capacitor
Hence all PN junction possess junction capacitance
When PN junction is reversed biased width of depletion
region increases and this decreases the junction capacitances
A varactor is a specially manufactured pn junction with
suitable impurity concentration and operated under reverse
bias so as to produce to junction C=€A/d

C=€A/d
€= the permittivity of depletion region .
A= area of junction, D = width of depletion of region
Application of varactor diode
Used in TV receiver ,FM receiver , automobile radios.
Tunnel diode is used in high speed switch ,microwave
oscillator, relaxation oscillator ,converter ,mixer