Ed - 2022 - Chap 01

Chapter 1:
Semiconductor Theory
Semiconductor Materials: Ge, Si, and GaAs
Semiconductors are a special class of elements having a
conductivity between that of a good conductor and
that of an insulator.
• They fall into two classes : single crystal and compound
• Single crystal : Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si).
• Compound : gallium arsenide (GaAs),
cadmium sulfide (CdS),
gallium nitride (GaN),
gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP)
The three semiconductors used most frequently in the
construction of electronic devices are Ge, Si, and GaAs.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 2 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Group → 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
↓ Period
1 2
1
H He
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2
Li Be B C N O F Ne
11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18
3 N M
Al Si P S Cl Ar
a g
21
19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
4 S
K Ca Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
c
37
38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
5 R
Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
b
55 56 * 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
6
Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
87 88 ** 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
7
Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
* Lanthanides
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

** Actinides
Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
History
• Diode , in 1939 was using Ge
• Transistor, in 1947 was using Ge
• In1954 Si was used in Transistor because Si is less
temperature sensitive and abundantly available.
• High speed transistor was using GaAs in 1970 (which is 5
times faster compared to Si)
• Si, Ge and GaAs are the semiconductor of choice
Atomic Structure
Valence shell (4 valence electrons) Valence shell (4 valence electrons)
Valence
shells electron
Valence
+ electron
+
Nucleus
orbiting
electrons
orbiting
Germanium electrons
Silicon
32 orbiting electrons 14 orbiting electrons
(tetravalent) (Tetravalent)
• Valence electrons: electrons in the outermost shell.

• Atoms with four valence electrons are called tetravalent.
Atomic Structure
Valence shell (3 valence electrons) Valence shell (5 valence electrons)
Valence Valence
shells electron electron
shells
+ +
Nucleus orbiting
electrons
Nucleus orbiting
electrons
Gallium
Arsenic
31 orbiting electrons 33 orbiting electrons

(trivalent) (pentavalent)
• Atoms with three valence electrons are called trivalent, and

those with five are called pentavalent.
Covalent Bonding
Covalent bonding of Si crystal

This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of electrons,
is called covalent bonding
Covalent Bonding
There is sharing of
electrons, five electrons
provided by As atom and
three by the Ga atom.
Covalent bonding of GaAs crystal
Energy Levels
The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is the

energy state.
Energy Levels
An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb more energy than
one in the valence band of germanium to become a free carrier. [free
carriers are free electrons due only to external causes such as applied
electric fields established by voltage sources or potential difference.
n-Type and p-Type materials
n-Type Material
n-Type materials are created by
adding elements with five valence
electrons such as antimony, arsenic,
and phosphorous.
There is a fifth electron due to

the (Sb) atom that is relatively free
to move in the n-Type material.
The atoms (in this case is

antimony (Sb)) are called donor
atoms.
Doping with Sb, (antimony)
n-Type Material
The free electrons due to the added atoms have higher energy
levels and require less energy to move to conduction band.
p-Type Material p-Type materials are created by
adding atoms with three valence
electrons such as boron, gallium, and
indium.
In this case, an insufficient
number of electrons to complete the
covalent bonds.
The resulting vacancy is called a
“hole” represented by small circle or
plus sign indicating absence of a
negative charge.
The atoms (in this case boron(B))
Boron (B) are called acceptor atoms.
Majority and Minority carriers
Two currents through a diode:
Majority Carriers
•The majority carriers in n-type materials are electrons.
•The majority carriers in p-type materials are holes.
Minority Carriers
•The minority carriers in n-type materials are holes.
•The minority carriers in p-type materials are electrons.
p-n Junctions
One end of a silicon or germanium crystal can be doped as a p-

type material and the other end as an n-type material.
The result is a p-n junction.
p-n Junctions
At the p-n junction, the excess
conduction-band electrons on the
n-type side are attracted to the
valence-band holes on the p-type
side.
The electrons in the n-type

material migrate across the
junction to the p-type material
(electron flow).
The result is the formation of
The electron migration results in a a depletion region around
negative charge on the p-type side the junction.
of the junction and a positive
charge on the n-type side of the
junction.
Diodes
The diode is a 2-terminal device.
A diode ideally conducts in only

one direction.
• No bias
Diode Operating Conditions • Forward bias
• Reverse bias
Reverse bias Forward bias
Diode Operating Conditions
No Bias
• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0 V

• No current is flowing: ID = 0 A
• Only a modest depletion region exists
Reverse Bias
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in
the opposite polarity of the p- and n-type materials.
• The reverse voltage causes the

depletion region to widen.
• The electrons in the n-type material
are attracted toward the positive
terminal of the voltage source.
• The holes in the p-type material are
attracted toward the negative
terminal of the voltage source.
Forward Bias
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in
the same polarity as the p- and n-type materials.
• The forward voltage causes the

depletion region to narrow.
• The electrons and holes are pushed
toward the p-n junction.
• The electrons and holes have
sufficient energy to cross the p-n
junction.
Actual Diode Characteristics
Note the regions for no
bias, reverse bias, and
forward bias conditions.
Carefully note the scale
for each of these
conditions.
The reverse saturation
current is seldom more
than a few microamperes.
Diode equation
where
VT : is called the thermal voltage.
Is : is the reverse saturation current.
VD : is the applied forward-bias voltage across the diode.
n : is a factor function of operation conditions and physical
construction. It has range between 1 and 2. assume n=1 unless
otherwise noted.
K : is Boltzman’s constant =1.38 x 10-23
T: is temperature in kelvins = 273+temperature in C.
q : is the magnitude of electron charge = 1.6 x 10-19 C.
Zener Region
The Zener region is in the diode’s reverse-bias region.
At some point the reverse bias voltage is so large the
diode breaks down and the reverse current increases
dramatically.
• The maximum reverse voltage
that won’t take a diode into the
zener region is called the peak
inverse voltage (PIV) or peak
reverse voltage (PRV).
• The voltage that causes a diode
to enter the zener region of
operation is called the zener
voltage (VZ).
Forward Bias Voltage
The point at which the diode changes from no-bias condition to
forward-bias condition occurs when the electrons and holes are
given sufficient energy to cross the p-n junction. This energy
comes from the external voltage applied across the diode.
The forward bias voltage required for a:
• gallium arsenide diode  1.2 V

• silicon diode  0.7 V
• germanium diode  0.3 V
Comparison Ge, Si, GaAs
Temperature Effects
As temperature increases it adds energy to the diode.
• It reduces the required forward bias voltage for forward-bias
conduction.
• It increases the amount of reverse current in the reverse-bias
condition.
Germanium diodes are more sensitive to temperature variations
than silicon or gallium arsenide diodes.
Temperature Effects
Resistance Levels
Semiconductors react differently to DC and AC currents.
There are three types of resistance:
• DC (static) resistance
• AC (dynamic) resistance
• Average AC resistance
DC (Static) Resistance
For a specific applied DC voltage
V D, the diode has a specific current
I D, and a specific resistance R D.
VD
RD 
ID
AC (Dynamic) Resistance
The dynamic resistance is the resistance
offered by the diode to the AC signal. Is is
equal to the slope of the VI characteristics
(dV/dI or ΔV/ ΔI ) ,
change in voltage dV V
rD   
resulting change in current dI I
sin ce I D  I s e  V D / nV T
-1 , 
dI D

I s V D / nVT
dV D nV T
e
dI D 1 dI D ID
  I D  I s  , sin ce I D  I s , 
dV D nV T dV D nV T
dV D nV T
 rD 
dI D ID
for n=1, and at room temperature of 27o C, T=273+27=300K
VT 
KT

1.38 10 
 26mV
23
q 1.6 1019
26mV
rD 
ID
26 mV
In the forward bias region: rd   rB
ID
• The resistance depends on the amount of current (I D) in the diode.
• r D = 26 mV/ID is the resistance of the p-n junction and does not
include the resistance of the semiconductor material itself (the body
resistance).
• r B is added to account for body resistance and it ranges from a
typical 0.1  to 2 .
In the reverse bias region:

rd  
The resistance is effectively infinite. The diode acts like an open.
Average AC Resistance
ΔVd
rav  pt. to pt.
ΔId
AC resistance can be
calculated using the current
and voltage values for two
points on the diode
characteristic curve.
Diode Equivalent Circuit
Diode Specification Sheets
Data about a diode is presented uniformly for many different diodes.
1. Forward Voltage (VF) at a specified current and temperature

2. Maximum forward current (IF) at a specified temperature
3. Reverse saturation current (IR) at a specified voltage and
temperature
4. Reverse voltage rating, PIV or PRV or V(BR), at a specified
temperature
5. Maximum power dissipation at a specified temperature
6. Capacitance levels
7. Reverse recovery time, t rr (is the time required for a diode to stop
conducting once it is switched from forward bias to reverse bias)
8. Operating temperature range
Diode
Specification
Sheets
Diode Symbol and Packaging
The anode is abbreviated A

The cathode is abbreviated K
Diode Testing - Ohmmeter
An ohmmeter set on a low Ohms scale can be used
to test a diode. The diode should be tested out of
circuit.
Other Types of Diodes
Zener diode
Light-emitting diode
Diode arrays
Zener Diode
•A Zener diode is a type of diode that permits current
not only in the forward direction like a normal diode,
but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is larger
than the breakdown voltage known as "Zener voltage“
(VZ).
•Common Zener voltages are between 1.8 V and 200 V.
•Zener diode is used as regulator (circuits will be shown
in chapter 2).
Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
•An LED emits photons when it is forward biased.
•These can be in the infrared or visible spectrum.
•The forward bias voltage is usually in the range of 2 V to 5 V.
Light-Emitting Diodes
Color Construction Typical Forward
Voltage (V)
Amber AlInGaP 2.1
Blue GaN 5.0
Green GaP 2.2
Orange GaAsP 2.0
Red GaAsP 1.8
White GaN 4.1
Yellow AlInGaP 2.1
Diode Arrays
Multiple diodes can be
packaged together in an
integrated circuit (IC). Common Anode
A variety of combinations
exist.
Common Cathode

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Chapter 1:

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

• Valence electrons: electrons in the outermost shell.

31 orbiting electrons 33 orbiting electrons

• Atoms with three valence electrons are called trivalent, and

Covalent bonding of Si crystal

Covalent bonding of GaAs crystal

The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is the

There is a fifth electron due to

The atoms (in this case is

One end of a silicon or germanium crystal can be doped as a p-

The result is a p-n junction.

The electrons in the n-type

A diode ideally conducts in only

Reverse bias Forward bias

• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0 V

• The reverse voltage causes the

• The forward voltage causes the

The forward bias voltage required for a:

• gallium arsenide diode  1.2 V

There are three types of resistance:

In the reverse bias region:

1. Forward Voltage (VF) at a specified current and temperature

The anode is abbreviated A

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