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Introduction
The outermost electrons of an atom i.e. those in the shell furthermost from the nucleus
are called valence electrons and have the highest energy or least binding energy. It is these
electrons which are most affected when a number of atoms are brought very close together as
during the formation of a solid. The states of lower-energy electrons orbiting in shells nearer to
the nucleus are little, if at all, affected by this atomic proximity.
The band of energy occupied by the valence electrons is called the valence band and is,
obviously, the highest occupied band. It may be completely filled or partially filled with
electrons but never empty.
The next higher permitted energy band is called the conduction band and may either be empty or
partially filled with electrons. In fact, it may be defined as the lowest unfilled energy band. In
conduction band, electrons can move freely and hence are known as conduction electrons. The
gap between these two bands is known as the forbidden energy gap.
It may be noted that the covalent force of the crystal lattice have their source in the valence band.
If a valence electron happens to absorb enough energy, it jumps across the forbidden energy gap
and enters the conduction band (Fig. ). An electron in the conduction band can jump to an
adjacent conduction band more readily than it can jump back to the valence band from where it
had come earlier. However, if a conduction electron happens to radiate too much energy, it will
suddenly reappear in the valence band once again.
1. conduction electrons are found in and freely flow in the conduction band ;
2. holes exist in and flow in the valence band ;
3. conduction electrons move almost twice as fast as the holes.
Fig. (a) shows the energy band diagram of an unexcited silicon atom (Z = 14) with its electronic
distribution. When silicon crystal is given thermal or light energy from outside [Fig.(b)], some
electrons gain sufficient energy to jump the gap from the valence band into the conduction band
thereby becoming free electrons [Fig. (c)]. For every electron which jumps to conduction band, a
hole is created in the valence band. In this way, an electron-hole pair is created.
This is shown in Fig. (a). For conduction to take place, electrons must be given sufficient energy
to jump from the valence band to the conduction band. Increase in temperature enables some
electrons to go to the conduction band which fact accounts for the negative resistance-
temperature coefficient of insulators.
Examples are : Paper , Rubber
(ii) Conductors. Put in a simple way, conducting materials are those in which plenty of free
electrons are available for electric conduction.
Examples are : Copper and Aluminium.
In terms of energy bands, it means that electrical conductors are those which have overlapping
valence and conduction bands as shown in Fig.(b).
In fact, there is no physical distinction between the two bands. Another point worth noting is that
in the absence of forbidden energy gap in good conductors, there is no structure to establish
holes. The total current in such conductors is simply a flow of electrons.
(iii) Semiconductors. A semiconductor material is one whose electrical properties lie in between
those of insulators and good conductors.
Examples are : germanium and silicon.
In terms of energy bands, semiconductors can be defined as those materials which have almost
an empty conduction band and almost filled valence band with a very narrow energy gap (of the
order of 1 eV) separating the two.
At 0ºK, there are no electrons in the conduction band and the valence band is completely filled.
However, with increase in temperature, width of the forbidden energy bands is decreased so that
some of the electrons are liberated into the conduction band. In other words, conductivity of
semiconductors increases with temperature. Moreover, such departing electrons leave behind
positive holes in the valence band (Fig. C). Hence, semiconductor current is the sum of electron
and hole currents flowing in opposite directions.
Types of Semiconductors
1. Intrinsic semiconductor
2. Extrinsic Semiconductor
(i) N-type semiconductors and (ii) P-type semiconductors.
Extrinsic Semiconductor are those intrinsic semiconductors to which some suitable impurity or
doping agent or dopant has been added in extremely small amounts.
The usual doping agents are :
1. pentavalent atoms having five valence electrons (arsenic, antimony, phosphorus) or
2. trivalent atoms having three valence electrons (gallium, indium, aluminium, boron).
Pentavalent doping atom is known as donor atom because it donates or contributes one electron
to the conduction band of pure germanium. The trivalent atom, on the other hand, is called
acceptor atom because it accepts one electron from the germanium atom.
N-type Extrinsic Semiconductor. This type of semiconductor is obtained when a pentavalent
material like antimonty (Sb) is added to pure germanium crystal.
N-type semiconductors, electrons are the majority carriers while holes constitute the minority
carriers.
P-type Extrinsic Semiconductor. This type of semiconductor is obtained when traces of a
trivalent like boron (B) are added to a pure germanium crystal.
In this case, the three valence electrons of boron atom form covalent bonds with four
surrounding germanium atoms but one bond is left incomplete and gives rise to a hole.
P-type semiconductors, holes are the majority carriers while electrons constitute the minority
carriers.
PN junction diode
A single piece of a semiconductor material half of which is doped by P-type impurity and the
other half
by N-type impurity. The plane dividing the two zones is called junction.
It is found that following three phenomena take place :
1. A thin depletion layer or region (also called space-charge region or transition region) is
established on both sides of the junction and is so called because it is depleted of free charge
carriers. Its thickness is about 10 m.
2. A barrier potential or junction potential is developed across the junction.
3. The presence of depletion layer gives rise to junction and diffusion capacitances .
The procedure of forming pn the dynamic equilibrium of drift and diffusion movements for
carriers in the silicon.
In detail, there are 4 steps:
1. Diffusion
a) Both the majority carriers diffuse across the boundary between p-type and
n-type semiconductor.
b) The direction of diffusion current is from p side to n side.
3. Drift
4. Equilibrium
Two opposite currents across the junction is equal in magnitude.
No net current flows across the pn junction.
Equilibrium conduction is maintained by the barrier voltage.
VI characteristics
There are two operating regions and three possible "biasing" conditions for the standard
Junction Diode and these are:
1. Zero Bias - No external voltage potential is applied to the PN-junction.
2. Forward Bias - The voltage potential is connected positive, (+ve) to the P-type material and
negative, (-ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Decreasing the
PN-junction width.
3. Reverse Bias - The voltage potential is connected negative, (-ve) to the P-type material and
positive, (+ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Increasing the
PN-junction width.
Z
ero Biased Junction Diode
The potential barrier that now exists discourages the diffusion of any more majority carriers
across the junction. However, the potential barrier helps minority carriers (few free electrons in
the P-region and few holes in the N-region) to drift across the junction. Then an "Equilibrium" or
balance will be established when the majority carriers are equal and both moving in opposite
directions, so that the net result is zero current flowing in the circuit. When this occurs the
junction is said to be in a state of "Dynamic Equilibrium".
The expression for the reverse saturation current as a function of temperature can be
approximated as
where Ki= 0.15/°C ( for silicon) and T1 and T2 are two arbitrary temperatures.
AC or Dynamic Resistance
It is obvious from Eq. 1 that the dc resistance of a diode is independent of the shape of the
characteristic in the region surrounding the point of interest.
Load line
Diode characteristic
Q is the intersect point
Visualization
Now that rav has been removed from the equivalent circuit let us take it a step further and
establish that a 0.7-V level can often be ignored in comparison to the applied voltage level. In
this case the equivalent circuit will be reduced to that of an ideal diode as shown in Fig. with its
characteristics.
Zener Region:There is a point where the application of too negative a voltage will result in a
sharp change in the characteristics, as shown in Fig. The current increases at a very rapid rate in
a direction opposite to that of the positive voltage region. The reverse-bias potential that results
in this dramatic change in characteristics is called the Zener potential and is given the symbol
VZ. As the voltage across the diode increases in the reverse-bias region, the velocity of the
minority carriers responsible for the reverse saturation current Io will also increase.
Eventually, their velocity and associated kinetic energy will be sufficient to release additional
carriers through collisions with otherwise stable atomic structures. That is, an ionization process
will result whereby valence electrons absorb sufficient energy to leave the parent atom. These
additional carriers can then aid the ionization process to the point where a high avalanche current
is established and the avalanche breakdown region determined. The avalanche region (VZ) can
be brought closer to the vertical axis by increasing the doping levels in the p- and n-type
materials. However, as VZ decreases to very low levels, such as _5 V, another mechanism, called
Zener breakdown, will contribute to the sharp change in the characteristic. It occurs because
there is a strong electric field in the region of the junction that can disrupt the bonding forces
within the atom and ―generate‖ carriers. Although the Zener breakdown mechanism is a
significant contributor only at lower levels of VZ, this sharp change in
the characteristic at any level is called the Zener region and diodes
employing this unique portion of the characteristic of a p-n junction
are called Zener diodes.
The maximum reverse-bias potential that can be applied before
entering the Zener region is called the peak inverse voltage (referred
to simply as the PIV rating) or the peak reverse voltage (denoted
by PRV rating). If an application requires a PIV rating greater than
that of a single unit, a number of diodes of the same characteristics can
be connected in series. Diodes are also connected in parallel to increase
the current-carrying capacity.
RECTIFIER:
Any electrical device which offers a low resistance to the current in one direction but a high
resistance to the current in the opposite direction is called rectifier. Such a device is capable
of converting a sinusoidal input waveform, whose average value is zero, into a unidirectional
waveform, with a non-zero average component.
A rectifier is a device which converts a.c. voltage (bi-directional) to pulsating d.c. voltage
(Uni-directional).
Characteristics of a Rectifier Circuit:
1. Load currents: They are two types of output current. They are average or d.c. current
and RMS currents.
i) Average or DC current:
The average current of a periodic function is defined as the area of one cycle of the curve
divided by the base.
It is expressed mathematically as
2. Load Voltages:
There are two types of output voltages. They are average or D.C. voltage and R.M.S.
voltage.
i) Average or DC Voltage:
The average voltage of a periodic function is defined as the areas of one cycle of the
curve divided by the base.
It is expressed mathematically as
(or)
(or)
3. Ripple Factor (γ ): It is defined as ration of R.M.S. value of a.c. component to the d.c.
component in the output is known as “Ripple Factor”.
4. Efficiency (η ): It is the ratio of d.c output power to the a.c. input power. It signifies,
how efficiently the rectifier circuit converts a.c. power into d.c. power.
It is given by
5. Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV):It is defined as the maximum reverse voltage that a diode
can withstand without destroying the junction.
6. Regulation: The variation of the d.c. output voltage as a function of d.c. load current is
called regulation. The percentage regulation is defined as
Using one or more diodes in the circuit, following rectifier circuits can be designed.
1. Half - Wave Rectifier
2. Full – Wave Rectifier
3. Bridge Rectifier
Half-Wave Rectifier:
A Half – wave rectifier is one which converts a.c. voltage into a pulsating voltage using
only one half cycle of the applied a.c. voltage.
The half-wave rectifier circuit shown in above figure consists of a resistive load, a rectifying
element i.e., p-n junction diode and the source of a.c. voltage, all connected is series.
The a.c. voltage is applied to the rectifier circuit using step-down transformer.
The input to the rectifier circuit,
V =Vm sin ωt
Where Vm is the peak value of secondary a.c. voltage.
Operation:
For the positive half-cycle of input a.c. voltage, the diode D is forward biased and hence it
conducts. Now a current flows in the circuit and there is a voltage drop across RL.
For the negative half-cycle of input, the diode D is reverse biased and hence it does not conduct.
Now no current flows in the circuit i.e., i=0 and Vo=0. Thus for the negative half cycle no power
is delivered to the load.
Analysis:
In the analysis of a HWR, the following parameters are to be analyzed.
i) DC output current ii) DC Output voltage iii) R.M.S. Current iv) R.M.S. voltage
v) Rectifier Efficiency (η) vi) Ripple factor (γ) vii) Regulation viii) Peak Factor (P)
viii) Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF):
The d.c. power to be delivered to the load in a rectifier circuit decides the rating of the
transformer used in the circuit. So, transformer utilization factor is defined as
TUF = Pdc/Pacrated
The factor which indicates how much is the utilization of the transformer in the circuit is
called Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF).
The a.c. power rating of transformer = Vrms Irms
The secondary voltage is purely sinusoidal hence its rms value is ½ times maximum
while the current is half sinusoidal hence its rms value is ½ of the maximum.
Operation:
During positive half of the input signal, anode of diode D1 becomes positive and at the same
time the anode of diode D2 becomes negative. Hence D1 conducts and D2 does not conduct. The
load current flows through D1 and the voltage drop across RL will be equal to the input voltage.
During the negative half cycle of the input, the anode of D1 becomes negative and the anode of
D2 becomes positive. Hence, D1 does not conduct and D2 conducts. The load current flows
through D2 and the voltage drop across RL will be equal to the input voltage.
It is noted that the load current flows in the both the half cycles of ac voltage and in the
same direction through the load resistance.
Analysis:
Let a sinusoidal voltage Vi be applied to the input of a rectifier.
It is given by Vi=Vm sinωt
The current I1 though D1 and load resistor RL is given
i1=Im sinωt for 0≤ ωt ≤ π
i1= 0 for π ≤ ωt ≤ 2π
Therefore, the total current flowing through RL is the sum of the two currents i1 and i2.
i.e., iL=i1+i2.
1. Average Value:
4.Ripple Factor
5. Regulation:
The variation of d.c. output voltage as a function of d.c. load current is called regulation.
6.Rectification Efficiency:
7. TRANSFORMER UTILIZATION FACTOR (TUF)
8. PIV = 2 Vm
9. Advantages
1) Ripple factor = 0.482 (against 1.21 for HWR)
2) Rectification efficiency is 0.812 (against 0.405 for HWR)
3) Better TUF (secondary) is 0.574 (0.287 for HWR)
4) No core saturation problem
Disadvantages:
1) Requires center tapped transformer.
Bridge rectifier
A bridge rectifier makes use of four diodes in a bridge arrangement to achieve full-wave
rectification. This is a widely used configuration, both with individual diodes wired as shown
and with single component bridges where the diode bridge is wired internally.
The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in "series pairs" with only two diodes conducting
current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2
conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the
load as shown below.
The Positive Half-cycle
During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1
and D2 switch of as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the
same direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle
As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the
load is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore
the average DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax and the ripple frequency is now twice the
supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply)..
4. Compare HWR,FWR,Bridge rectifier.
Filters
The main function of a filter circuit (Fig.) is to minimize the ripple content in the rectifier output.
As seen, output of various rectifier circuits is pulsating. It has a dc value and some ac
components called ripples. This type of output is not useful for driving sophisticated electronic
circuits/ devices. In fact, these circuits require a very steady dc output that approaches the
smoothness of a battery’s output.
A circuit that converts a pulsating output from a rectifier into a very steady dc level is known as
filter because it filters out or smoothens out the pulsations in the output.
We will consider the following popular filter circuits :
1. Shunt capacitor filter, 2. series inductor filter, 3. L-C filter (or L-type), 4. R-C filter, 5. R-L-C
filter.
Shunt Capacitor Filter
In this circuit, a suitable single capacitor C is connected across the rectifier and in parallel with
the load RL to achieve filtering action. This type of filter is known as capacitor input filter. This
filter circuit depends for its operation on the property of a capacitor to charge up (i.e. store
energy) during conducting half-cycle and to discharge (i.e. deliver energy) during the non-
conducting half-cycle. In simple words, a capacitor opposes any change in voltage. When
connected across a pulsating d.c. voltage, it tends to smoothen out or filter out the voltage
pulsations (or ripples). The filtering action of the simple capacitor filter when used in a half-
wave rectifier can be understood with the help of Fig.
(a) Circuit Analysis
When positive half-cycle of the ac input is applied, the diode is forward-biased and hence is
turned ON.
This allows C to quickly charge up to peak value of input voltage Vip [point b in Fig. (b)]
because charging time constant is almost zero. It is so because there is no resistance in the
charging path except diode forward resistance which is negligible. Hence, capacitor follows the
charging voltage as shown. After being fully charged, the capacitor holds the charge till input ac
supply to the rectifier goes negative. During the negative half-cycle, the capacitor attempts to
discharge. However, it cannot discharge through diode which, being now reversebiased, is OFF.
Hence, it discharges through RL from point b to c in Fig (c) and its voltage decreases somewhat.
The discharging time constant (= CRL) is usually 100 times more than the charging time. Hence,
C does not have sufficient time to discharge appreciably.
times.
The filtering action of this simple capacitor filter on a full-wave rectifier is shown in Fig. . It is
seen that as compared to a HW rectifier.
For finding the ripple factor, we will calculate the dc as well as ac drop over RL. If we neglect
choke resistance (RC), then the entire dc component of filter output is available across RL and its
value is Vdc = 2 Vip /π.
It is seen that ripple decreases as RL decreases or load current increases (just the opposite of
what happens in the case of shunt capacitor filter).
The Choke Input or L-C Filter
It is a combination of two filters considered in fig. and provides a lower ripple than is possible
with either L or C
alone. As is known, in an inductor filter, ripple increases with RL but decreases
in a capacitor filter. The combination of L and C (i.e. L−section)
filter makes the ripple
independent of RL. Fig. a shows
the filter and (b) the
voltage variations.
Ripple Factor
If choke resistance RC is neglected, then dc voltage
available across RL = 2 Vip
/π. The ac drop over RL is the same as across C. Since XC « RL, the parallel
combination of RL and XC has impedance =XC. The second harmonic voltage ( 4 Vip /3π) cos
2ωt can be assumed to drop over the LC series combination because RL is effectively not there.
Maximum value of ac drop over C is
The C-L-C or Pi
Filter
As shown in Fig. it
Zener diode
It is a reverse-biased heavily-doped silicon (or germanium) P-N junction diode which is
operated in the breakdown region where current is limited by both external resistance and power
dissipation of the diode. Silicon is perferred to Ge because of its higher temperature and current
capability.
As seen from fig, when a diode breaks down, both Zener and avalanche effects are present
although usually one or the other predominates depending on the value of reverse voltage. At
reverse voltages less than 6 V, Zener effect predominates whereas above 6 V, avalanche effect is
predominant. Strictly speaking, the first one should be called Zener diode and the second one as
avalanche diode but the general practice is to call both types as Zener diodes.
Zener breakdown occurs due to breaking of covalent bonds by the strong electric field set up in
the depletion region by the reverse voltage. It produces an extremely large number of electrons
and holes which constitute the reverse saturation current (now called Zener current, Iz) whose
value is limited only by the external resistance in the circuit. It is independent of the applied
voltage. Avalanche breakdown occurs at higher reverse voltages when thermally-generated
electrons acquire sufficient energy to produce more carriers by collision.
VI characteristics
A typical characteristic is shown by Fig. in the negative
quadrant. The forward characteristic is simply that
of an ordinary forward-biased junction diode.
An electronic voltage regulator is essentially a controller used along with unregulated power
supply to stabilize the output dc voltage against three major disturbances
a. Load current (IL)
b. Supply voltage (Vi)
c. Temperature (T)
Zener Diode Shunt Regulator
Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilised voltage output with low ripple under varying
load current conditions. By passing a small current through the diode from a voltage source, via a
suitable current limiting resistor (RS), the zener diode will conduct sufficient current to maintain
a voltage drop of Vout. We remember from the previous tutorials that the DC output voltage
from the half or full-wave rectifiers contains ripple superimposed onto the DC voltage and that
as the load value changes so to does the average output voltage. By connecting a simple zener
stabiliser circuit as shown below across the output of the rectifier, a more stable output voltage
can be produced.
The resistor, RS is connected in series with the zener diode
to limit the current flow through the diode with the
voltage source, VS being connected across the
combination. The stabilised output voltage Vout is
taken from across the zener diode. The zener diode
is connected with its cathode terminal
connected to the positive rail of the DC
supply so it is reverse biased and will be
operating in its breakdown condition.
Resistor RS is selected so to limit the maximum
current flowing in the circuit. With no load connected to the circuit, the load current will be zero,
( IL = 0 ), and all the circuit current passes through the zener diode which inturn dissipates its
maximum power. Also a small value of the series resistor RS will result in a greater diode
current when the load resistance RL is connected and large as this will increase the power
dissipation requirement of the diode so care must be taken when selecting the appropriate value
of series resistance so that the zeners maximum power rating is not exceeded under this no-load
or high-impedance condition. The load is connected in parallel with the zener diode, so the
voltage across RL is always the same as the zener voltage, ( VR = VZ ). There is a minimum
zener current for which the stabilization of the voltage is effective and the zener current must
stay above this value operating under load within its breakdown region at all times. The upper
limit of current is of course dependant upon the power rating of the device. The supply voltage
VS must be greater than VZ. One small problem with zener diode stabiliser circuits is that the
diode can sometimes generate electrical noise on top of the DC supply as it tries to stabilise the
voltage. Normally this is not a problem for most applications but the addition of a large value
decoupling capacitor across the zeners output may be required to give additional smoothing.
Transistor Series Voltage Regulator
The circuit is shown in Fig. It is also called emitter-follower
regulator because the voltage at the emitter follows the base
voltage. In this set-up, the transistor behaves like a variable
resistor whose resistance is determined by the base current. It
is called pass transistor because total current to be regulated
passes through it.
Now, electrons are in the higher conduction band on the N-side whereas holes are in the lower
valence band on the P-side. During recombination, some of the energy difference is given up in
the form of heat and light (i.e. photons). For Si and Ge junctions, greater percentage of this
energy is given up in the form of heat so that the amount emitted as light is insignificant. But in
the case of other semiconductor materials like gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium phosphide
(GaP) and gallium- arsenide-phosphide (GaAsP), a greater percentage of energy released during
recombination is given out in the form of light. If the semiconductor material is translucent, light
is emitted and the junction becomes a light source i.e. a light-emitting diode (LED) as shown
schematically in Fig.. The colour of the emitted light depends on the type of material used as
follows.
1. GaAs — infrared radiation (invisible).
2. GaP — red or green light.
3. GaAsP — red or yellow (amber) light.
LEDs that emit blue light are also available but red is the most common. LEDs emit no light
when reverse-biased.
In fact, operating LEDs in reverse direction will quickly destroy them.
(b) Construction
Broadly speaking, the LED structures can be divided into two categories :
1. Surface-emitting LEDs : These LEDs emit light in a direction perpendicular to the PN
junction plane.
2. Edge-emitting LEDs : These LEDs emit light in a direction parallel to the PN junction plane.
(d) Applications
1. LEDs are used in burglar-alarm systems;
2. for solid-state video displays which are rapidly replacing cathode-ray tubes (CRT);
3. in image sensing circuits used for ‘picturephone’;
4. in the field of optical fibre communication systems where high-radiance GaAs diodes are
matched into the silica-fibre optical cable;
5. in data links and remote controllers;
6. in arrays of different types for displaying alphanumeric (letters and numbers) or supplying
input power to lasers or for entering information into optical computer memories;
7. for numeric displays in hand-held or pocket calculators.
A seven-segment display consists of seven rectangular LEDs which can form the digits 0 to 9.
The seven LED segments
are labelled ‘a’ to ‘g’. Each of this segments is controlled through one of the display LEDs.
Seven-segment displays come in two types, common-cathode and common-anode type. In the
common-cathode type, all the cathodes of the diodes are tied together as shown in Fig. (b). This
makes it possible to light any segment by
forward-biasing that particular LED. For example, to light number 5, segments a, f, g, c and d
must be forward-biased. Since the cathodes are tied to ground, only 5 volt is to be applied to the
anode of these segments to light them.
LCD characteristics and applications.
Liquid Crystals Displays
(a) General
A liquid crystal is a material (usually, an organic compound) which flows like a liquid at room
temperature but whose molecular structure has some properties normally associated with solids
(examples of such compounds are : cholesteryl nonanoate and p-azoxyanisole).
As is well-known,the molecules in ordinary liquids have random orientation but in a liquid
crystal they are oriented in a definite crystal pattern. Normally, a thin layer of liquid crystal is
transparent to incident light but when an electric field is applied across it, its molecular
arrangement is disturbed causing changes in its optical properties.
When light falls on an activated layer of a liquid crystal, it is either absorbed or else is scattered
by the disoriented molecules.
(b) Construction
As shown in Fig.a. a liquid crystal ‘cell’ consists of a thin layer (about 10 μm) of a liquid crystal
sandwiched between two glass sheets with transparent electrodes deposited on their inside faces.
With both glass sheets transparent, the cell is known as transmittive type cell. When one glass is
transparent and the other has a reflective coating, the cell is called reflective type. The LCD does
not produce any illumination of its own. It, in fact, depends entirely on illumination falling on it
from an external source for its visual effect.
(c) Working
The two types of display available are known as (i) field-effect display and (ii) dynamic
scattering display.
When field-effect display is energized, the energized areas of the LCD absorb the incident light
and, hence give localized black display. When dynamic scattering display is energized, the
molecules of energized area of the display become turbulent and scatter light in all directions.
Consequently, the activated areas take on a frosted glass appearance resulting in a silver display.
Of course, the un-energized areas remain translucent.
As shown in Fig.(b), a digit on an LCD has a segment appearance. For example, if number 5 is
required, the terminals 8, 2, 3, 6 and 5 would be energized so that only these regions would be
activated while the other areas would remain clear.
(d) Advantages
An LCD has the distinct advantage of extremely low power requirement (about 10-15 μW per 7-
segment display as compared to a few mW for a LED). It is due to the fact that it does not itself
generate any illumination but depends on external illumination for its visual effect (colour
depending on the incident light). They have a life-time of about 50,000 hours.
(e) Uses
1. Field-effect LCDs are normally used in
watches and portable instruments where
source of energy is a prime consideration.
2. Thousands of tiny LCDs are used to
form the picture elements (pixels) of the
screen in one type of B & W pocket TV
receiver.
3. Recent desk top LCD monitors.
4. Note book computer display
5. Cellular phone display, to display data on personal digital assistant (PDAs) such as Palm Vx
etc.