EE105 – Fall 2015

Microelectronic Devices and Circuits

Prof. Ming C. Wu
wu@eecs.berkeley.edu
511 Sutardja Dai Hall (SDH)

6-1

pn Junction

•  p-type semiconductor in contact with n-type

•  Basic building blocks of semiconductor devices
–  Diodes,
–  Bipolar junction transistors (BJT),
–  Metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET)

6-2

1
 Built-in Voltage
Example: A pn junction with
n-doping of 1017 cm −3 and
p-doping of 1018 cm −3
"N N %
V0 = VT ln $ A 2 D ' = 0.88 V
# ni &
• At pn junction, free electrons from n-side
"recombine" with free holes from p-side.
• "Depletion region" has no electrons or holes,
but has fixed (immobile) charges from
donor and acceptor ions
• The fixed charges establish an electric field,
and create a potential difference between p-
and n-sides.
• This potential is called "built-in potential"
!N N $
V0 = VT ln # A 2 D &
" ni %
VT : thermal voltage (= 26 mV at room temp)
N A : acceptor concentration on p-side
N D : donor concentration on n-side
ni : intrinsic carrier concentration
(=1.5 ×1010 cm −3 at room temp)
6-3

Electrostatic Analysis of pn Junction (1)

"$ −qAN , −x < x < 0
A p
Charge density: q(x) = #
%$ qAN D , 0 < x < xn

!" !!" Q ε S = 11.7ε 0

Gauss Law: #∫ E ⋅ dA = ε S
,
ε 0 = 8.854 ×10 −14 F/cm
In one dimension:
−qAN A (x + x p )
E(x)A − E(−x p )A =
εS
E(−x p ) = 0 (in charge neutral region, N A = p)
" −qN (x + x )
A p
$ , −x p < x < 0
$ εS
E(x) = #
$ qN D (x − xn ) , 0 < x < xn
$ εS
%
Note: N A x p = N D xn (charge equality)
Maximum electrical field occurs at x = 0 (junction)
Electric Field
qN x qN x
Emax = − A p = − D n
Emax εS εS
6-4

2
 Electrostatic Analysis of pn Junction (2)
" −qN (x + x )
A p
$ , −x p < x < 0
$ εS
E(x) = #
$ qN D (x − xn ) , 0 < x < xn
$ εS
%
x
V (x) = − ∫ E(x ')dx '
− xp

" qN A 2
$
$ 2ε S
(x + xp ) , −x p < x < 0
V (x) = #
$ q N x 2 + N x 2 − qN D ( x − x )2 , 0 < x < x
$ 2ε S ( A p D n)
2ε S
n n
%
Electric Field q
V (x n ) =
2ε S
( N A x 2p + N D xn2 ) = V0
Emax ND NA
xp = W, xn = W
NA + ND NA + ND

2eS ' 1 1 *
W= ) + ,V0 : Depletion Width
q ( NA ND +

6-5

Depletion Width Under Bias

2eS ! 1 1 $
W= # + & (V0 −V )
q " NA ND %
V is the applied voltage to the pn junction,
it's positive for forward bias and negative for reverse bias.
Depletion width is widened in reverse bias
6-6

3
 Current-Voltage (I-V) Characteristics

Under forward bias, minority carriers Similarly, electron diffusion current density in p-side
at the edge of depletion region is boosted dn p (x) D
J n = qDn = q n n p0 ( eV /VT −1)
up by (eV /VT −1) : dx x=− x p Ln
x−xn
−
Lp Total current :
pn (x) = pn0 + pn0 ( eV /VT −1) ⋅ e
" D D %
L p : hole diffusion length in n-type I = ( J p + J n ) A = A $$ q p pn0 + q n n p0 '' ( eV /VT −1)
# Lp Ln &
Hole diffusion current density on n-side
" D D %
dp (x) D I = I S ( eV /VT −1) where I S = Aqni2 $$ p + n ''
J p = −qDp n = q p pn0 ( eV /VT −1)
dx x=xn Lp # L p N D Ln N A &
6-7

I-V Curve

I = I S ( eV /VT −1)
where
" D D %
I S = Aqni2 $$ p + n ''
# L p N D Ln N A &

6-8

4
 Total charge Ain depletion width at V = -VR
Capacitance in pn NA
QJ = AqN D xn = AqN D W
Junction (1): NA + ND
Depletion Capacitance 2eS ! 1 1 $
W= # + & (V0 +VR )
(Mainly Reverse Bias) q " NA ND %
As bias voltage change, the amount of charge in
the junction change. This is a "nonlinear" capacitor.
The capacitance value is
dQJ N N 2eS ! 1 1 $ d
Cj = = Aq D A # + & (V0 +VR )
dVR NA + ND q " N A N D % dV

εS q ! N A N D $ 1 εS A
Cj = A # & Note: Cj =
2 " NA + ND % (V0 +VR ) W
At zero bias, VR = 0
εS q ! N A N D $ 1
Cj0 = A # &
2 " N A + N D % V0
In comparision, for a "linear" Cj0
Therefore at V = -VR , Cj =
(normal) capacitor: VR
1+
Q V0
C = is a constant
V This is a variable capacitor, controllable by voltage !
6-9

Capacitance in pn Junction (2):

Diffusion Capacitance (Forward Bias)
Qp = Aq × shaded area under pn (x)
Extra minority carriers ∞ −
x−xn
Lp
stored outside junction Qp = Aq ∫ pn0 ( eV /VT −1) ⋅ e dx
under forward bias xn

L2p
Qp = AqL p pn0 ( eV /VT −1) = I p = τ pI p
Dp
L2p
has unit of time, its physical meaning is
Dp
L2p
minority carrier lifetime: τp =
Dp
Similarly, Qn = τ n I n
Total charge stored : Q = τ p I p + τ n I n = τ T I
τ T is mean transit time
These stored charges correspond to another
nonlinear capacitor call "diffusion capacitance":
dQ d (τ T I ) dI 'τ *
Cd = = = τT ⇒ Cd = ) T , I
dV dV dV ( VT +
6-10

5
 Summary of pn Junction
!N N $
Built-in potential : V0 = VT ln # A 2 D &
" ni %
Under forward bias :
I-V curve : I = I S ( eV /VT −1)
!τ $
Diffusion capacitance : Cd = # T & I
" VT %
Under revserse bias :
Negligible current, I = −I S
Cj0
Depletion capacitance : C j =
VR
1+
V0
Other important parameter :
2eS ! 1 1 $
Depletion Width: W = # + & (V0 −V )
q " NA ND %

6-11

Detailed Derivation of pn Junction Potential

" −qN (x + x )
A p
$ , −x p < x < 0
$ εS
E(x) = #
$ qN D (x − xn ) , 0 < x < xn
$ εS
%
x
V (x) = − ∫ E(x ')dx '
− xp

x x x '=x
qN A (x '+ x p ) qN A 2 qN A 2
(1) for − x p < x < 0 :V (x) = − ∫ E(x ')dx ' = ∫ ε
dx ' =
2ε
( x '+ x p ) =
2ε S
(x + xp )
− xp − xp S S x '=− x p

(2) for 0 < x < xn : Because E(x) has different expression for x < 0 and x > 0, the integration should
be performed in two separate ranges, first from − x p to 0, and then from 0 to x. We can use V (x = 0)
from the above equation for the first intgration. Therefore,
x x
qN A 2 qN D (x '− xn ) qN A 2 qN D (x '− xn )2
V (x) =
2ε S
xp − ∫ εS
dx ' =
2ε S
xp −
2ε S
0 0

qN A 2 ' qN D (x − xn )2 qN D xn2 * qN A 2 qN D xn2 qN D (x − xn )2

= xp − ) − ,= xp + −
2ε S ( 2ε S 2ε S + 2ε S 2ε S 2ε S
q
Built-in potential : V0 = V (x n ) =
2ε S
( N A x 2p + N D xn2 )
6-12