Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EEE2202
By
Manegene
Course content
• Conduction in solids, gases and vacuum.
• Semiconductor materials;
– p n junction,
– zener diode,
– tunnel diodes,
– photodiodes,
– bipolar junction transistors (BJT),
– field effect transistors (FET),
– junction field effect transistors (JFET)
– metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors(MOSFET).
– Transistor parameters;
• transistor biasing,
• characteristics in common emitter, common base and common collector configuration.
• Alternating current (AC)power.
– Rectification:
– filtering and zener regulation.
Books
• Mehta: Principles of electronics
• RK Singh: Basic electronic engineering and devices
• J Bird: Electrical and electronic principles
• Hughes: electrical-and-electronic-technology-10th-edition
• Schaum: Theory and Problems of Electronic Devices and Circuits -
2nd.pdf
• Albert Malvino: Electronic Principles
• Robert Boylestad: Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory 7th Edition
• Thomas L. Floyd: Electronic Devices 9th edition
• Donald A. Neamen: Semiconductor Physics And Devices Basic
Principles
• Sinclair&Dunton: Practical Electronics Handbook
Definition of Electronics
• Comes from Greek words Electron &
Mechanism
• It’s the study of electrons mechanisms
At Room Temp
Above absolute zero
• When the temperature is raised, some of the covalent bonds in the
semiconductor break due to the thermal energy supplied.
• The breaking of bonds sets those electrons free which are engaged
in the formation of these bonds. The result is that a few free
electrons exist in the semiconductor.
• These free electrons can constitute a tiny electric current if
potential difference is applied across the semiconductor crystal
• current through a semiconductor is too small to be of any practical
value.
• As the temperature is raised, some of the valence electrons acquire
sufficient energy to enter into the conduction band and thus
become free electrons.
• It may be noted that each time a valence electron enters into the
conduction band, a hole is created in the valence band.
• holes also contribute to current.
Types of semiconductors
• Intrinsic Semiconductor
– A semiconductor in an extremely pure form is known as an intrinsic semiconductor.
• Extrinsic Semiconductor
– The intrinsic semiconductor has little current conduction capability at room temperature. To be useful in
electronic devices, the pure semiconductor must be altered so as to significantly increase its conducting
properties. This is achieved by adding a small amount of suitable impurity to a semiconductor.
– The process of adding impurities to a semiconductor is known as doping. The amount and type of such
impurities have to be closely controlled during the preparation of extrinsic semiconductor.
– Generally, for 108 atoms of semiconductor, one impurity atom is added.
• Doping is done to increase either the number of free electrons or holes in the semiconductor
crystal.
• if a penta-valent impurity (having 5 valence electrons) is added to the semiconductor, a large
number of free electrons are produced in the semiconductor.
• addition of trivalent impurity (having 3 valence electrons) creates a large number of holes in the
semiconductor crystal.
• Depending upon the type of impurity added, extrinsic semiconductors are classified into:
1. n-type semiconductor
2. p-type semiconductor
n-type Semiconductor
• When a small amount of pentavalent impurity is added to a pure semiconductor, it
is known as n-type semiconductor.
• The addition of pentavalent impurity provides a large number of free electrons in
the semiconductor crystal.
• Typical examples of pentavalent impurities are arsenic (At. No. 33) and antimony
(At. No. 51).
• they donate or provide free electrons to the semiconductor crystal.
• To explain the formation of n-type semiconductor, consider a pure germanium
crystal.
– We know that germanium atom has four valence electrons. When a small amount of
pentavalent impurity like arsenic is added to germanium crystal, a large number of free
electrons become available in the crystal. Arsenic is pentavalent i.e. its atom has five valence
electrons. An arsenic atom fits in the germanium crystal in such a way that its four valence
electrons form covalent bonds with four germanium atoms. The fifth valence electron of
arsenic atom finds no place in co-valent bonds and is thus free as
– Therefore, for each arsenic atom added, one free electron will be available in the germanium
crystal.
– Though each arsenic atom provides one free electron, an extremely small amount of arsenic
impurity provides enough atoms to supply millions of free electrons.
n-type Semiconductor
• The addition of pentavalent impurity has produced a number of
conduction band electrons i.e., free electrons.
• The four valence electrons of pentavalent atom form covalent bonds with
four neighbouring germanium atoms.
• The fifth left over valence electron of the pentavalent atom cannot be
accommodated in the valence band and travels to the conduction band.
• The following points may be noted carefully :
– Many new free electrons are produced by the addition of pentavalent
impurity.
– Thermal energy of room temperature still generates a few hole-electron pairs.
– However, the number of free electrons provided by the pentavalent impurity
far exceeds the number of holes. It is due to this predominance of electrons
over holes that it is called n-type semiconductor (n stands for negative)
n-type conductivity.
61
Volt-Ampere Characteristics
• Zero external voltage.
– When the external voltage is zero, i.e. circuit is open
at K, the potential barrier at the junction does not
permit current flow
• Forward bias.
– With forward bias to the pn junction i.e. p-type
connected to positive terminal and n-type connected
to negative terminal, the potential barrier is reduced.
At some forward voltage (0.7 V for Si and 0.3 V for
Ge), the potential barrier is altogether eliminated and
current starts flowing in the circuit
Volt-Ampere Characteristics
• Reverse bias.
– With reverse bias to the pn junction i.e. p-type
connected to negative terminal and n-type connected
to positive terminal, potential barrier at the junction is
increased.
– The junction resistance becomes very high and
practically no current flows through the circuit.
– in practice, a very small current (of the order of μA)
flows in the circuit with reverse bias
– This is called reverse saturation current (Is) and is due
to the minority carriers
Volt-Ampere Characteristics
• If reverse voltage is increased continuously, the kinetic energy of
electrons (minority carriers) may become high enough to knock out
electrons from the semiconductor atoms.
• At this stage breakdown of the junction occurs, characterised by a
sudden rise of reverse current and a sudden fall of the resistance of
barrier region.
• This may destroy the junction permanently.
Note
• The forward current through a pn junction is due to the majority
carriers produced by the impurity.
• reverse current is due to the minority carriers produced due to
breaking of some co-valent bonds at room temperature.
*Reverse Bias: dc voltage negative terminal connected to the p region
and positive to the n region. Depletion region widens until its
potential difference equals the bias voltage, majority-carrier current
ceases.
65
*Reverse Bias:
majority-carrier current ceases.
* However, there is still a very
small current produced by
minority carriers.
66
Important Terms
• Breakdown voltage.
– It is the minimum reverse voltage at which pn
junction breaks down with sudden rise in reverse
current.
– Under normal reverse voltage, a very little reverse
current flows through a pn junction.
– However, if the reverse voltage attains a high
value, the junction may break down with sudden
rise in reverse current.
* Reverse Breakdown: As reverse voltage reach certain value,
avalanche occurs and generates large current.
68
Important Terms
• Forward current.
– It is the current flowing through a forward biased diode.
• Peak inverse voltage.
– It is the maximum reverse voltage that a diode can
withstand without destroying the junction.
• Reverse current or leakage current.
– It is the current that flows through a reverse biased diode.
– This current is due to the minority carriers. Under normal
operating voltages, the reverse current is quite small.
– Its value is extremely small (< 1µ A) for silicon diodes but it
is appreciable (100 µA) for germanium diodes.
Important Terms
• Knee voltage.
– It is the forward voltage at which the current through the
junction starts to increase rapidly.
– When a diode is forward biased, it conducts current very slowly
until we overcome the potential barrier.
• For silicon pn junction, potential barrier is 0.7 V
• whereas it is 0.3 V for germanium junction.
– in order to get useful current through a pn junction, the applied
voltage must be more than the knee voltage.
• Note.
– The potential barrier voltage is also known as turn-on voltage.
– This is obtained by taking the straight line portion of the forward
characteristic and extending it back to the horizontal axis.
The Diode Characteristic I-V Curve
71
Limitations in the Operating
Conditions of pn Junction
1. Maximum forward current
It is the highest instantaneous forward current that a pn
junction can conduct without damage to the junction.
2. Peak inverse voltage (PIV)
It is the maximum reverse voltage that can be applied to
the pn junction without damage to the junction.
3. Maximum power rating.
It is the maximum power that can be dissipated at the
junction without damaging it. The power dissipated at
the junction is equal to the product of junction current
and the voltage across the junction.
Types of diodes
• Rectifier diode
• Zener diode
• Light emitting
• Photosensor
• Tunnel
• Varactor
Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
• A light-emitting diode (LED) is a diode that gives off visible light when forward
biased.
• Light-emitting diodes are not made from silicon or germanium but are made by
using elements like gallium, phosphorus and arsenic.
• By varying the quantities of these elements, it is possible to produce light of
different wavelengths with colours that include red, green, yellow and blue.
• For example, when a LED is manufactured using gallium arsenide, it will produce a
red light. If the LED is made with gallium phosphide, it will produce a green light.
• Theory. When light-emitting diode (LED) is forward biased the electrons from the
n-type material cross the pn junction and recombine with holes in the p-type
material.
• Recall that these free electrons are in the conduction band and at a higher energy
level than the holes in the valence band.
• When recombination takes place, the recombining electrons release energy in the
form of heat and light. In germanium and silicon diodes, almost the entire energy
is given up in the form of heat and emitted light is insignificant.
• However, in materials like gallium arsenide, the number of photons of light energy
is sufficient to produce quite intense visible light.
symbol
Sample circuit
Light current
relationship
Advantages of LED
Multicolor operation
Photo-diode
• A photo-diode is a reverse-biased silicon or germanium pn junction in
which reverse current increases when the junction is exposed to light
• When light (photons) falls on the pn junction, the energy is imparted by
the photons to the atoms in the junction.
• This will create more free electrons (and more holes). These additional
free electrons will increase the reverse current.
• As the intensity of light incident on the pn junction increases, the reverse
current also increases.
• as the incident light intensity increases, the resistance of the device
(photo-diode) decreases.
• It is for this reason that semiconductor devices such as diodes and
transistors are usually enclosed in opaque case to protect them from light.
Those diodes or transistors which are used for light-detecting, on the
other hand, must be encased in transparent plastic or glass so that light
may fall on them.
Applications of Photo-diodes
1. Alarm circuit using photo-diode.
2. Counter circuit using photo-diode.
Tunnel Diode
• A tunnel diode is a pn junction that exhibits negative
resistance between two values of forward voltage (i.e.,
between peak-point voltage and valley-point voltage).
• A tunnel diode is always operated in the negative
resistance region eg oscillators
Tunneling effect.
• The tunnel diode is basically a pn junction with
heavy doping of p-type and n-type
semiconductor materials. About 1000 times as
heavily as a conventional diode.
• This heavy doping results in a large number of
majority carriers with most are not used during
the initial recombination that produces the
depletion layer.
• As a result, the depletion layer is very narrow
about 100 times narrower
Tunneling effect.
• The movement of valence electrons from the valence energy band
to the conduction band with little or no applied forward voltage is
called tunneling.
• Valence electrons seem to tunnel through the forbidden energy
band.
• As the forward voltage is first increased, the diode current rises
rapidly due to tunneling effect.
• Soon the tunneling effect is reduced and current flow starts to
decrease as the forward voltage across the diode is increased.
• The tunnel diode is said to have entered the negative resistance
region. As the voltage is further increased, the tunneling effect
plays less and less part until a valley-point is reached.
• From now onwards, the tunnel diode behaves as ordinary diode
i.e., diode current increases with the increase in forward voltage.
Varactor Diode
• A junction diode which acts as a variable
capacitor under changing reverse bias is
known as a varactor diode
• When a pn junction is formed, depletion layer is
created in the junction area. Since there are no charge
carriers within the depletion zone, the zone acts as an
insulator.
• Thus the diode may be considered as a capacitor with
n-region and p region forming oppositely charged
plates and with depletion zone between them acting as
a dielectric.
• A varactor diode is specially constructed to have high
capacitance under reverse bias
• The values of capacitance of varactor diodes are in the
picofarad (10−12 F) range.
• The equivalent capacitance can be found by
Application
1. Tuning circuits
Shockley Equation
* The Shockley equation is a theoretical result
under certain simplification:
vD
i D I s exp 1
n VT
where I s 10 -14 A at 300K is the (reverse) saturatio n
current, n 1 to 2 is the emission coefficien t,
kT
VT 0.026V at 300K is the thermal voltage
q
k is the Boltzman' s constant, q 1.60 10 -19 C
v
when v D 0.1V, i D I s exp D
n VT
This equation is not applicable when v D 0
87
Load-Line Analysis of Diode Circuit
dv di
We can use v iR, i C , v L ,...
dt dt
vD
but when there is a diode : i D I s exp 1
n VT
It is difficult to write KCL or KVL equations.
VSS R i D v D , i.e.,
2 1000 i D v D
perform load - line analysis
at the operating point
VDQ 0.70 V, i DQ 1.3 mA
89
Example 2 - Load-Line Analysis
For the circuit shown,
Given : Vss 10 V, R 10 k ,
the I - V curve of the diode
Find : the diode current and voltage
at the operating point
VSS R i D v D , i.e.,
10 10k i D v D
perform load - line analysis
at the operating point
VDQ 0.68 V, i DQ 0.93 mA
90
Zener-Diode Voltage-Regulator Circuits
The Zener Diode
* Zener diode is designed for operation in the reverse-breakdown region.
* The breakdown voltage is controlled by the doping level (-1.8 V to -200
V).
* The major application of Zener diode is to provide an output reference
that is stable despite changes in input voltage – power supplies,
voltmeter,…
91
Zener-Diode Voltage-Regulator Circuits
* Sometimes, a circuit that produces constant output voltage while
operating from a variable supply voltage is needed. Such circuits are
called voltage regulator.
* The Zener diode has a breakdown voltage equal to the desired output
voltage.
* The resistor limits the diode current to a safe value so that Zener diode
does not overheat.
92