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SEMICONDUCTOR

Any device whose action is based on the controlled flow of electrons through it is
called an electronic device. The branch of physics that deals with the study of these
electronic devices is called electronics. Electronic devices are the basic building
blocks of all the electronic circuits.

Semiconductors are the basic materials used in the present solid electronic devices
like junction diode (a 2-electrode device), transistor (a 3-electrode device) and
integrated circuits (ICs).

Some of the important features of the semiconductor devices are as follows:

1. In a semiconductor device, simple excitations like light, heat or small applied

voltage can change the number of charge carriers.

2. The charge carriers flow in the solid itself, no vacuum has to be created for the
flow of charges as required in vacuum tubes.

3. It does not require any cathode heating for the production of charge carriers. So it
starts operating as soon as it is switched on.

4. Semiconductor devices are small in size, consume low power and operate at low
voltages.

5. They have long life and high reliability.

6. Semiconductors have a much higher resistivity than metals.

7. Semiconductors have a temperature coefficient of resistivity that is both negative

and high. That is the resistivity of semiconductors decreases rapidly with temperature,
while that of metals increases.

8. Semiconductors have a considerably lower number density n of charge carriers

(charge carriers per unit volume) than metals.

Intrinsic semiconductors.

The pure semiconductors are called intrinsic semiconductors. The presence of the
mobile charge carriers (electrons and holes) is an intrinsic property of the material and
these charges are obtained

as a result of thermal excitation. Holes are essentially the electron vacancies with an
effective positive charge. In an intrinsic semiconductor, the number density of
electrons is equal to the number density of holes.
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Limitations of intrinsic semiconductors.

1. Intrinsic semiconductors have low intrinsic charge carrier concentration (of hole
and electrons). So, they have low electrical conductivity.

2. As intrinsic charge carriers are always thermally generated, so flexibility is not

available to control their number.

3. For intrinsic semiconductors, the number density of electrons is equal to the

number density of holes. They cannot have predominant hole or electron conduction.
This puts a limit to the usefulness of such materials.

DOPING

The process of deliberate addition of a desirable impurity to a pure semiconductor so

as to increase its conductivity is called doping. The impurity atoms added are called
dopants and the semiconductors doped with the impurity atoms are called extrinsic or
doped semiconductors.

Essential requirements for a doping process:

1. The semiconductor material should be of very high purity, 99.9999% or more.

2. The dopant atom should neatly replace the semiconductor atom.

3. The size of the dopant atom should be almost the same as that of the semiconductor
atom. For this the atoms of third and fifth group of the periodic table are most
suitable.

4. The dopant atoms should not distort the crystal lattice.

5. The concentration of dopant atoms should besmall, about 1 part per million.

Two types of dopants.

There are two types of dopants used in doping the tetravalent Si or Ge :

(i) Pentavalent dopants.
They have 5 valence electrons. For example, arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and
phosphorous (P).
(ii) Trivalent dopants.
They have 3 valence electrons. For example, indium (In), boron (B) and aluminium
(Al).
On doping Si or Ge with pentavalent and trivalent impurity atoms, we get two entirely
different types of semiconductors, called n-type and p-type semiconductors
respectively.
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Methods of doping:

1. By adding the impurity atoms to an extremely pure sample of a molten

semiconductor.

2. By heating the crystalline semiconductor in an atmosphere containing dopant atoms

or their molecules so that the dopant atoms diffuse into the semiconductor.

3. By bombarding the semiconductor with the ions of dopant atoms, the dopant atoms
can be implanted into the semiconductor.

Extrinsic semiconductors.

The semiconductors obtained by adding or doping the pure semiconductor with small
amounts of certain specific impurity atoms having valency different from that of the
host atoms are called extrinsic semiconductors. Doping drastically changes the
number density of mobile electrons and holes. The electrical conductivity of such
semiconductors is essentially due to the foreign atoms i.e., extrinsic in nature.

Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types:

1. n type semiconductors.

2. p-type semiconductors.

n-type semiconductor.

This semiconductor is obtained by doping the tetravalent semiconductor Si (or Ge)

with pentavalent impurities such as As, P or Sb of group V of the periodic table. The
electrons are the majority charge carriers and holes are the minority charge carriers.
As most of the current is carried by the negatively charged electrons, so the
semiconductors doped with donor type impurities are known as n-type
semiconductors.

For such semiconductors, ne>> nh, n>> p

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p-type semiconductor.

Such a semiconductor is obtained by doping the tetravalent semiconductor Si (or Ge)

with trivalent impurities such as In, B, Al or Ga. Holes are the majority charge carriers
and electrons are the minority charge carriers. The semiconductors doped with
acceptor type impurities are called p-type semiconductors, because most of the current
in these semiconductors is carried by holes which have effective positive charge. For
such semiconductors, ne<< nh, p>>n

It may be noted that doping does not disturb the overall charge neutrality of the
semiconductor.

ENERGY BANDS IN SOLIDS

An enormously large number of energy levels closely spaced in a very small energy
range constitute an energy band.

The highest energy band filled with valence electrons is called valence band.

The lowest unfilled allowed energy band next to valence band is called conduction
band.

The gap between top of valence band and bottom of the conduction band in which no
allowed energy levels for electrons can exist is called energy band gap or energy gap.

p-n junction.

It is a single crystal of Ge or Si doped in such a manner that one half portion of it acts
as p-type semiconductor and the other half as 1-type semiconductor. Here, the term
junction implies the boundary or region of transition between n-type and p-type
semiconductor materials.

A pn junction cannot be made just by placing a p-type semiconductor in close contact

with n-type semiconductor. The two separate semiconductors cannot have a
continuous contact at the atomic level. The junction will behave as a discontinuity for
the flowing charge carriers. So both acceptor and donor impurities must be grown in a
single Si or Ge crystal.
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The small region in the vicinity of the junction which is depleted of free charge
carriers and has only immobile ions is called depletion region.

The accumulation of negative charges in the p-region and positive charges in the
n-region sets up a potential difference across the junction. This acts as a barrier and is
called barrier potential.

The barrier potential V, depends on (i) the nature of the semiconductor, (in)
temperature, (iii) the amount of doping. The value of barrier potential is 0.7 V for Si
and 0.3 V for Ge semiconductors.

The barrier potential V sets up a barrier field in the direction n to p side.

The diffusion of majority charge carriers across the junction gives rise to an electric
current from p to n side and is called diffusion current.

In the depletion region, electron-hole pairs are continuously produced due to thermal
or electric field conditions. The electric field E, immediately pushes the electrons
towards the n-side and holes towards the p-side. This current set up by the barrier
field from n to p side is called drift current.

The drift current and diffusion current are in opposite directions. In equilibrium state,
the diffusion current is equal to the drift current and there is no net flow of charge
across the junction.

If the doping concentrations are large, the depletion layer width will be small and
the barrier field will be strong. Thus, by simply changing the doping levels, we can
obtain p-n junctions of different types.

FORWARD BIASING OF A p-n junction

A p-n junction diode is said to be in forward Biasing mode if it’s p side is at higher
potential as compared to its n side.

(I) The effective barrier potential decreases to ( VB - V) and hence the energy barrier
across the junction decreases.
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(ii) the majority charge carries i.e., holes from p-side and electrons from n-side begin
to flow towards the junction,

(iii) the diffusion of electrons and holes into the depletion layer decreases its width,
and

(iv) the effective resistance across the p-n junction decreases.

REVERSE BIASING OF A p-n junction

A p-n junction diode is said to be in reverse Biasing mode if it’s p side is at lower
potential as compared to its n side.

(II) The effective barrier potential increases to ( VB+ V) and hence the energy barrier
across the junction increases.

(ii) the majority charge carries i.e., holes from p-side and electrons from n-side begin
to flow away from the junction,

(iii) the diffusion of electrons and holes into the depletion layer increases its width,
and

(iv) the effective resistance across the p-n junction increases.

DYNAMIC RESISTANCE OF A JUNCTION DIODE

The resistance of the junction diode varies with the applied voltage. In such

cases, it is useful to define a quantity called dynamic or ac-resistance of the diode.

It is the ratio of the small change in applied voltage ΔV to the corresponding change
in current ΔI.

JUNCTION DIODE AS A RECTIFIER

Rectifier. The process of converting alternating current into direct current is called
rectification and the device used for this process is called rectifier.

Principle of a rectifier.

When a p- junction diode is forward biased, it offers less resistance and a current

flows through it; but when it is reverse biased, it offers high resistance and almost no
current flows through it. This unidirectional property of a diode enables it to be used
as a rectifier,
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The p-n junction can be used as

(I) a half wave rectifier

(II) A full wave rectifier

Filter circuits.

The output obtained from a junction diode rectifier is unidirectional but pulsating.
Such a signal can be considered as the sum of a d.c. signal superimposed with many
a.c. signals of different harmonic frequencies. We can obtain d.c. voltage by filtering
out the a.c. components.

Two simplest filter circuits,

(I) Series inductor filter.

(II) Shunt capacitor filter