PART II

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
 CHAPTER 3
𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 JUNCTION
 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction theory serves as the foundation of the physics
of semiconductor devices. 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction is used extensively in
electronic circuits, and it is also a key building block for most
semiconductor devices, especially for the bipolar transistor,
MOSFET, microwave devices, and photonic devices.
 In this chapter we consider:
 The basic semiconductor technology
 The band diagram of a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction at thermal equilibrium
 The behavior of the junction depletion layer under voltage
biases
 The current transport in a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction and the influence of
the generation and recombination processes
 The avalanche multiplication in a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction and its
impact on the maximum reverse voltage
 SILICON CRYSTAL GROWTH

SiO2 + SiC Si(solid) + SiO(gas) + CO(gas)

(sand, quartzite) (coal, wood chip) metallurgical-grade silicon(MGS, 98% pure)

𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑℃
Si(MGS)+3HCl(gas) SiHCl3(gas)+H2(gas)

fractional distillation

SiHCl3(purified)

+𝐇𝐇𝟐𝟐

Si(solid)+3HCl(gas)
electronic-grade silicon
(EGS, ppb impurity, polycrystal)
Polycrystalline silica in a silicon crucible
 CZOCHRALSKI CRYSTAL GROWTH
 Figure below shows a Czochralski crystal puller

Ingot

Sliced by diamond
saw into wafers

Polished on one side

 CZOCHRALSKI CRYSTAL GROWTH(Cont.)
 Figure 13 shows a 300mm
ingot and polished silicon wafer

Parameter 200mm(8”) 300mm(12”) 450mm(18”)

Diameter(mm) 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ± 𝟏𝟏 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 ± 𝟏𝟏 𝟒𝟒𝟓𝟓𝟎𝟎 ± 𝟏𝟏

Thickness(mm) 0.715-0.735 0.755-0.775 0.78-0.8

Surface orientation (𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏) ± 𝟏𝟏° same same

 FABRICATION OF 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 JUNCTION

1. Oxidize the Si sample ← 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑂

SiO 22
n-Si (100) ←(p.397)

← 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
2. Apply a layer of photoresist(PR)
n-Si ←(p.442)

← ℎ𝑣𝑣
3. Expose PR through Mask A ← 𝐴𝐴

n-Si

4. Remove unexposed PR n-Si

Mask A
↙ 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃
5. Use HF etch to remove ← 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑂
SiO22
n-Si
𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐎𝟐𝟐 in window
 FABRICATION OF 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 JUNCTION(Cont.)
diffused or implanted p region
6. Remove PR and diffuse or implant ↓ ← 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑂
SiO 22
boron through windows in SiO 𝟐𝟐 layer. ←(p.472)
n-Si

← 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
7. Evaporate Al onto the surface ← 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑂𝑂2
p n-Si

8. Using PR and mask B repeat ← 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴

steps 2-4 etch away Al except
p n-Si
in 𝒑𝒑 contact area

Mask B

9. Top view of above cross section

 THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM CONDITION

 Key characteristic of 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junctions: they rectify, i.e., they allow

current to flow easily in only one direction.
 Figure 1 shows the current-voltage characteristics of a typical
silicon 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction.
 THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM CONDITION
(Cont.)
 In “forward bias”, the current increases rapidly as V increases (< 𝟏𝟏V)

 In “reverse bias”, virtually no current flows initially.

At 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 (breakdown voltage), current suddenly increases.

𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 can vary from a few volts to thousands of volts.

e.g., 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏V

Si 𝒑𝒑+⎼𝒏𝒏 junctions at
= 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑V 300K
= 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐V
 BAND DIAGRAM
 Figure 2 shows the (a)Uniformly doped 𝒑𝒑-type and 𝒏𝒏-type semiconductors
before the junction is formed. (b)The electric field in the depletion region and
the energy band diagram of a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction in thermal equilibrium.

 The large carrier concentration gradients at the junction cause carrier

diffusion:
Holes diffuse from 𝒑𝒑-side to 𝒏𝒏-side (𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴− near the junction are uncompensated)
Electrons diffuse from 𝒏𝒏-side to 𝒑𝒑-side (𝑁𝑁𝐷𝐷+ near the junction are uncompensated)
+
 The space charges of 𝑵𝑵− 𝑨𝑨 in 𝒑𝒑-side and 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 in 𝒏𝒏-side create an electric field
which is in the direction opposite to the diffusion current.
 EQUILIBRIUM FERMI LEVEL
 At thermal equilibrium (no voltage is applied), 𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏 = 𝟎𝟎 and 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = 𝟎𝟎

𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = = 𝒑𝒑𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁
𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 − 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫
− 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝟎𝟎
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝓔𝓔 − 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 (1)
= 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊
− 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

= 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 1 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒒𝒒 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
− einstein
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 relation
= 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 Ch2.
𝒒𝒒 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅p.47−Eq.8
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 =𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅0
𝒒𝒒 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅− 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
einstein 𝒒𝒒relation
𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 ≡ 𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 p.55
Ch2. p.47 Eq.8
𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 ≡
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝝁𝝁
𝒒𝒒 𝒑𝒑
p.55𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
Ch2. p.47 Eq.8 Einstein relations , 𝐃𝐃𝐩𝐩 ≡𝒑𝒑 𝐪𝐪 𝛍𝛍𝐩𝐩 ,𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 p.55
𝑫𝑫 ≡
𝐤𝐤𝐤𝐤
𝒒𝒒

since 𝒑𝒑 = 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 (𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 )⁄𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 p.37 Eq.26 (2)

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 ∴ 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒑𝒑= 𝒑𝒑𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 𝒊𝒊 −𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬
𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭
𝑭𝑭
∴ =𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅− 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 − 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 ( −
𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒒𝒒 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒊𝒊
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒑𝒑
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 𝟏𝟏 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊
在這裡鍵入方程式。 − 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑𝑷𝑷 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬 −𝑭𝑭
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 𝒒𝒒𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅− 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 ( 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌−𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 ) 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒒𝒒 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
= 𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬
𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 𝑭𝑭
= 𝒖𝒖𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 ==𝟎𝟎 𝟎𝟎
𝝁𝝁𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
Therefore for 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑𝑱𝑱𝐩𝐩==𝟎𝟎 𝟎𝟎 , the Fermi level is independent of position
or Fermi level is constant at thermal equilibrium as shown in Fig.2b
(5)
𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬
𝒅𝒅𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭𝑭𝑭
Similarly for 𝑱𝑱𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏==𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 , ==𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
 ABRUPT 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 JUNCTION
 Figure 3 shows the (a) A 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction with abrupt doping changes at
the metallurgical junction. (b) Energy band diagram of an abrupt
junction at thermal equilibrium. (c) Space charge distribution. (d)
Rectangular approximation of the space charge distribution.
 ABRUPT 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 JUNCTION(Cont.)
Poisson’s equation for the electrostatic potential 𝝍𝝍 is
2
𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝝍𝝍𝒅𝒅 𝝍𝝍 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝝆𝝆 𝝆𝝆𝒒𝒒𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒
≡− ≡−
= − 𝒔𝒔==−− =
(𝑵𝑵 −− 𝑵𝑵 𝑵𝑵+ 𝒑𝒑−−𝑵𝑵𝒏𝒏)
𝑨𝑨 + 𝒑𝒑 − 𝒏𝒏 (assume 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 , 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 all ionized) (7)
2
𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝑫𝑫 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑨𝑨 𝑫𝑫
at large distance away from the junction
𝝆𝝆𝒔𝒔 = 𝟎𝟎 charge neutrality

𝒅𝒅2 𝝍𝝍
∴ = 0, 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 − 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 + 𝒑𝒑 − 𝒏𝒏 = 0
∴ 𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙2= 𝟎𝟎,

For 𝒑𝒑-type neutral region, 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟎𝟎, 𝒑𝒑 = 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨

∵ 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞[(𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 )⁄𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌]

1 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑵𝑵𝐴𝐴
𝝍𝝍 ≡ −𝟏𝟏 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 = − 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍
𝝍𝝍𝒑𝒑 ≡ − 𝒒𝒒 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 = − 𝒒𝒒
𝒑𝒑
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊

similar for 𝒏𝒏-type neutral region, 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝟎𝟎, 𝒏𝒏 = 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫

𝟏𝟏 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝝍𝝍𝒏𝒏 ≡1 − 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝑭𝑭 =
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌+ 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
𝝍𝝍𝒏𝒏 ≡ − 𝑬𝑬𝒒𝒒 − 𝑬𝑬
𝒊𝒊 𝑭𝑭 =+ 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊

The total electrostatic potential difference between 𝒑𝒑-side and 𝒏𝒏-side neutral region:
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝝍𝝍𝒏𝒏 − 𝝍𝝍𝒑𝒑 = 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 = built−in potential (12)
𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 2
 BUILT-IN POTENTIAL
 Figure 4 shows the electrostatic potentials on the 𝒑𝒑-side and 𝒏𝒏-side of abrupt
junctions in Si and GaAs as a function of impurity concentration.

 EXAMPLE 1

Calculate the built-in potential for a silicon 𝒑𝒑-𝒏𝒏 junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜−𝟑𝟑 and
𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜−𝟑𝟑 at 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 𝐊𝐊
SOLUTION From Eq. 12 we obtain
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝐕𝐕
𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 𝟐𝟐
Also From Fig.4,
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝝍𝝍𝒏𝒏 + 𝝍𝝍𝒑𝒑 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 𝐕𝐕 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 𝐕𝐕 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 𝐕𝐕
 DEPLETION REGION

 Depletion region (also called the space-charge region) is the

region where the mobile carriers are depleted (𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑 = 𝟎𝟎).

 Since the transition region (Fig.3c) is much smaller than the total
width of the depletion region , we can use the rectangular
approximation (Fig.3d).Equation 7 becomes

𝒅𝒅2 𝝍𝝍 𝒒𝒒
= 𝑵𝑵 − 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙2 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑨𝑨
 DEPLETION REGION (Cont.)
 To solve the above Poisson’s equation, we must know the impurity
distribution , i.e., 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒙𝒙 . The most important distribution is the
abrupt junction , i.e., a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction formed by shallow diffusion or low-
energy ion implantation . It can be approximated by an abrupt translation
of doping concentration between 𝒏𝒏-type and 𝒑𝒑-type regions .

 Figure 5 shows the doping profile of an abrupt junction.

 POISSON’S EQUATION
𝑵𝑵(𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑 )
1. space – charge Poisson’s equation
distribution
−𝑥𝑥𝑝𝑝
𝑁𝑁𝐷𝐷 𝑑𝑑 2 𝜓𝜓 𝜌𝜌𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑥𝑥 = − = −
𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛 𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥 2 𝜖𝜖𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑁𝑁𝐴𝐴

𝑑𝑑ℇ 𝜌𝜌𝑠𝑠
𝓔𝓔(𝐕𝐕/𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄) ∵ =
2. Electric field distribution 𝑊𝑊
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝜖𝜖𝑠𝑠
𝑥𝑥
𝜌𝜌𝑠𝑠
ℇ=� 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 𝜖𝜖𝑠𝑠

−ℰ𝑚𝑚
1
𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = ℰ 𝑊𝑊
2 𝑚𝑚
𝝍𝝍(𝒙𝒙)
3. Potential distribution
𝑉𝑉𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏
𝜓𝜓 = − � ℰ 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

−𝑥𝑥𝑝𝑝 0 𝑥𝑥𝑛𝑛

𝑬𝑬(𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆)

4. Energy – band diagram

𝐸𝐸𝐶𝐶
𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 = −𝑞𝑞𝜓𝜓
𝐸𝐸𝐹𝐹
∘
𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝜓𝜓 180
𝐸𝐸𝑉𝑉
 DEPLETION REGION WIDTH
 From space charge neutrality requirement

𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨𝑵𝑵𝒙𝒙𝑨𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑== 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 (15)
𝑾𝑾 ≡ 𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 + 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 =total depletion width
(16)
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙 + 𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑
𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 = − � 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = − ,
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙+𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑
−𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 ≤ 𝒙𝒙 < 0
𝝐𝝐
𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 = − ∫
𝒔𝒔
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = − 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 , −𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 ≤ 𝒙𝒙 < 𝟎𝟎
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵 𝒙𝒙 𝑫𝑫−𝒙𝒙−𝒙𝒙
𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 (17)
𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 = �𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 =𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 ∫ 𝝐𝝐= 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = ,, 𝟎𝟎 < 𝒙𝒙𝟎𝟎≤<𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏𝒙𝒙 ≤ 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵 𝒙𝒙 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 |𝒙𝒙=𝟎𝟎 = 𝑫𝑫 𝒏𝒏 =
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 𝝐𝝐𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵 𝒔𝒔 𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑
(18)
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 � = =
𝒙𝒙=𝟎𝟎 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒙𝒙 𝟎𝟎 𝒙𝒙
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = − ∫−𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = − ∫−𝒙𝒙 𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 − ∫𝟎𝟎 𝒏𝒏 𝓔𝓔 𝒙𝒙 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑

𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐𝒑𝒑 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏 𝟏𝟏

= + = 𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾 (19)
𝟐𝟐𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝟐𝟐𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝟐𝟐

From Eq. 15-19

𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 + 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
𝑾𝑾 = 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 (20)
𝒒𝒒 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
 ONE – SIDED ABRUPT JUNCTION
 A limiting case of an abrupt junction is the one – sided abrupt junction , i.e., the
doping concentration on one side of the junction is much higher than that of the
other side.
𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 ≫ 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒑𝒑+ 𝒏𝒏 𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 ≫ 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝒏𝒏+ 𝒑𝒑 𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋

 Assume 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 ≫ 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 as shown above

𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃
𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 ≈ 𝑾𝑾 =
𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 ≈ 𝑾𝑾 = 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 from 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
 ONE-SIDE ABRUPT JUNCTION (Cont.)
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑾𝑾
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 = From Eq.18
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
𝓔𝓔(𝒙𝒙) = 𝒙𝒙 − 𝑾𝑾
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒙𝒙
= −𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝟏𝟏 − From Eq.17
𝑾𝑾
𝒙𝒙
𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐
𝝍𝝍 𝒙𝒙 = − � 𝓔𝓔 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝒙𝒙 − + 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝟎𝟎
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 𝒙𝒙 𝒙𝒙
= 𝟐𝟐 − For 𝝍𝝍 𝒙𝒙 = 𝟎𝟎 = 𝟎𝟎
𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾
 EXAMPLE
For a silicon one-sided abrupt junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑 and 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑 ,
Calculate the depletion layer width and the maximum field at zero bias(𝑻𝑻 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝐊𝐊)
SOLUTION From Eqs. 12,21, and 23, we obtain
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟑𝟑. 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎−𝟓𝟓
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 0
𝑽𝑽
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 = 𝟗𝟗.
𝟎𝟎.𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔
𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 V 𝟗𝟗 𝟐𝟐
= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 𝐕𝐕 (𝛍𝛍𝐦𝐦)
x
× 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
Area = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 𝐕𝐕
𝟐𝟐𝜺𝜺𝒔𝒔𝟐𝟐𝜺𝜺
𝑽𝑽𝒔𝒔𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃
𝑾𝑾 ≅
𝑾𝑾 ≅ = 𝟑𝟑. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 um
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑫𝑫
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵

𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩𝒘𝒘𝑾𝑾 𝟓𝟓. 𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟒𝟒 𝐕𝐕/𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎≅≅ 𝝐𝝐𝑩𝑩 = 𝟓𝟓. 𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟒𝟒 V/cm
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒔𝒔
 DEPLETION-LAYER WIDTH

 If a positive voltage 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 is applied to the 𝒑𝒑-side with respect to the

𝒏𝒏-side, the 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction is forward biased, Fig.8b,and the total
electrostatic potential across the junction is reduced to 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 .
If a negative voltage −𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹 is applied to the 𝒑𝒑-side, the 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction
is reverse biased, and the total electrostatic potential will increase
to 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 + 𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹 .

𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 (𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽) V is positive for forward bias

𝑾𝑾 =
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 V is negative for reverse bias
 DEPLETION-LAYER WIDTH(Cont.)
Figure 8 shows the representations of depletion layer width and energy band diagrams
of a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction under various biasing conditions.(a) Thermal-equilibrium condition.
(b)Forward-bias condition. (c) Reverse-bias condition.
 DEPLETION CAPACITANCE
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝
 The depletion capacitance per unit area is 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋𝒋𝒋 ≡
≡
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
where 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 is the
𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝
incremental change in depletion-layer charge per unit area for an
incremental change in 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
 Consider a one-sided abrupt 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction

𝒑𝒑+ ● 𝑽𝑽 + 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 (a)

𝟎𝟎 𝑾𝑾
𝝆𝝆𝒔𝒔
𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫

𝒙𝒙 (b)
𝟎𝟎 𝑾𝑾

𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨
𝓔𝓔
𝟎𝟎

(c)
𝒙𝒙

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎
𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝝆𝝆𝒔𝒔
∵ = (𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐏𝐧𝐧′ 𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄. )
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝝆𝝆𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅(𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅. 𝐛𝐛)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = =
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
 DEPLETION CAPACITANCE(Cont.)
From Fig c : 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑾𝑾 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 = 𝑾𝑾 = 𝓔𝓔
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒎𝒎
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒎𝒎 = (𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅) 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = (𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒎𝒎 )
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
(𝓔𝓔 +𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 )(𝒘𝒘+𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅) 𝟏𝟏
∆𝑽𝑽== 𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎+ 𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎
∆𝑽𝑽
𝒎𝒎 )(𝑾𝑾 + 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
− − 1 𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾
𝟐𝟐2 𝟐𝟐 2

𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 + 𝓔𝓔
𝒅𝒅𝑾𝑾 +
𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝒎𝒎 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝒅𝒅𝑾𝑾
== + +
2 𝟐𝟐 2 𝟐𝟐 2
𝑾𝑾 (𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒎𝒎 )𝒎𝒎 𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎 𝓔𝓔𝝐𝝐𝒎𝒎
𝑾𝑾𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔 𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔)] = 𝑾𝑾 (𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒎𝒎) + 𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎 =𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝐖𝐖
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
== 𝟐𝟐
+ + [
𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
(𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎 (𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎
𝟐𝟐 ) = 𝟐𝟐 𝒎𝒎 + 𝑾𝑾𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒎𝒎𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅=𝒎𝒎𝑾𝑾
𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 = 𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔
𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔

∴ 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 ∴≡𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 ≡ = = = F/cm2
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
 The result is identical to the case of a parallel-plate capacitor.

𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝝐𝝐
𝜺𝜺𝒔𝒔 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋𝑪𝑪=
𝒋𝒋 =
𝒔𝒔
F/cm2
𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾
CAPACITANCE VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTIC

 For a one-sided abrupt junction 𝒘𝒘 𝑾𝑾== 𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 (𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽)/𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 ,

where 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 is the lightly doped concentration

therefore
𝟏𝟏
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 𝑪𝑪𝟐𝟐𝒋𝒋
𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 = = (𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑) ●

𝑾𝑾 𝟐𝟐(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 −𝑽𝑽) ●

𝟏𝟏
Slope ~
●

𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩
●

𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽)
𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 = (𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑)
𝑪𝑪𝟐𝟐𝒋𝒋 𝒒𝒒 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝑵𝑵𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩
𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐 0 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 𝑽𝑽
 CAPACITANCE VOLTAGE
CHARACTERISTIC (Cont.)
 EXAMPLE 4
For a silicon one-sided abrupt junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 and 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 .
Calculate the junction capacitance at zero bias and a reverse bias of 𝟒𝟒V(𝐓𝐓 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑K)
SOLUTION From Eqs.12, 27, and 34, we obtain at zero bias
𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 V
𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 𝟐𝟐

𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗

𝑾𝑾 � ≅ = = 𝟑𝟑. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 cm = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 μm
𝑽𝑽=𝟎𝟎 𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩

𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 � = = = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟖𝟖 𝐅𝐅/cm𝟐𝟐
𝑽𝑽=𝟎𝟎 𝑾𝑾|𝑽𝑽=𝟎𝟎 𝟐𝟐𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃

From Eqs. 27 and 34, we obtain at a reverse bias of 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒

𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 + 𝟒𝟒

𝑾𝑾 � ≅ −𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
= 𝟖𝟖. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 cm = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖μm
𝑽𝑽=−𝟒𝟒 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩

𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 � = = = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟖𝟖 F/cm2
𝑽𝑽=−𝟒𝟒 𝑾𝑾|𝑽𝑽=−𝟒𝟒 𝟐𝟐(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 −𝑽𝑽)
 EVALUTION OF IMPURITY DISTRIBUTION
 Figure 12 shows (a) 𝒑𝒑+⎼𝒏𝒏 junction with an arbitrary impurity distribution. (b)
Change in space charge distribution in the lightly doped side due to a change
in applied bias. (c) Corresponding change in electric-field distribution.
Metallurgical junction
𝒑𝒑+ 𝒏𝒏
(a)
●
𝑽𝑽 + 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝝆𝝆𝒔𝒔
𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

(b) 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒(𝑾𝑾)

𝒙𝒙
≈

𝒙𝒙

𝒅𝒅V
(c)

−ℰ
𝒅𝒅ℰ = 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅/𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
 EVALUTION OF IMPURITY DISTRIBUTION
(CONT.)
 For an arbitrary doping

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝑾𝑾
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝟏𝟏
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅𝑾𝑾𝟐𝟐
= 𝑪𝑪𝟐𝟐𝒋𝒋
𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
2
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
= 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅 / 2𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔
𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋
𝟏𝟏
Slope ~
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝝐𝝐 𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏 𝑵𝑵(𝑾𝑾)
==𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾 𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒔𝒔 /2𝝐𝝐
𝟐𝟐 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 𝟐𝟐 𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝑽

𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏
∴ 𝑵𝑵 𝑾𝑾 = W is obtained from Eq.33
𝒒𝒒𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝟏𝟏 (37)
𝒅𝒅 /𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 𝟐𝟐

 This is the C-V method of measuring the impurity profile, i.e., N(W) versus W.
 CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS

 Ideal characteristics

Four assumptions:

(1) Abrupt depletion layer.

(2) Carrier densities at the boundary are related to electrostatic
potential difference across the junction.
(3) Low injection, 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 ≪ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 (on 𝒏𝒏-side), 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 ≪ 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 (on 𝒑𝒑-side).
(4) No generation – recombination current in depletion region.
CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARACTERISTICS(Cont.)
 Figure14 shows the depletion region, energy band diagram and carrier distribution.(a)
Forward bias. (b) Reverse bias.
 I-V CHARACTERISTICS

 From Eq.12
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
∵ 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 = 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 = 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍 = 𝒍𝒍𝒍𝒍
𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑
𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑

∴ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒

𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒

similarly 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒)

𝟒𝟒𝟔𝟔

Thus, electron and hole densities at boundaries are related to 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃

 I-V CHARACTERISTICS (Cont.)
 When a voltage is applied to the 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 → (𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 )
for forward bias, or (𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 +𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹 ) for reverse bias
We have
𝟒𝟒𝟕𝟕 (Assumption 2)
𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃−𝑽𝑽)/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
Non equilibrium electron Non-equilibrium electron
density in 𝒏𝒏-side density in 𝒑𝒑-side

𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 ≈ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 (Assumption 3 for low-injection condition)

∴ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 =𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃−𝑽𝑽)/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

∴ 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒)

𝟒𝟒𝟖𝟖

𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 − 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 (𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏)

similarly 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒)

𝟒𝟒𝟗𝟗

𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝟎𝟎 (𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏)

 I-V CHARACTERISTICS(Cont.)

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝓔𝓔 𝐝𝐝𝒑𝒑𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝐧𝐧 𝐧𝐧
 In the neutral 𝒏𝒏-region, 𝓔𝓔 =
𝓔𝓔 = 0 , = =
𝟎𝟎, 0,
𝐆𝐆 𝑮𝑮
= =
𝟎𝟎,0, = = 0, the continuity
𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝 𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝 𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
equation Eq.60 becomes
𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝟎𝟎 = 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 −
𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑

𝒅𝒅𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏

𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 − = 𝟎𝟎 (𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓)
𝒅𝒅𝒙𝒙𝟐𝟐 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑

 The solution of Eq.50 with 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒙𝒙 = ∞ = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 is

𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆− 𝒙𝒙−𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 /𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑

𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 ≡ 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑
 I-V CHARACTERISTICS (Cont.)

At 𝒙𝒙 = 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 , there is only diffusion current (∵ ℰ = 𝟎𝟎 in the neutral region) :

𝒅𝒅𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 = −𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 � = 𝒆𝒆 − 𝟏𝟏 (𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑

𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙 − 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 = 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆−(𝒙𝒙−𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 )/𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟 𝒙𝒙 > 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 (𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓)

 Similarly, for the neutral 𝒑𝒑-region

𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 − 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 = 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆 𝒙𝒙+𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 /𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏 = 𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 𝝉𝝉𝒏𝒏

𝒅𝒅𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏 −𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 � = 𝒆𝒆 − 𝟏𝟏 (𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 −𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏

𝒙𝒙+𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 /𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏
𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏 𝒙𝒙 + 𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 = 𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏 −𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆 (𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓)
 MINORITY CARRIERS AND CURRENT
 Figure 15 shows the injected minority carrier distribution and electron and hole
currents. (a) Forward bias. (b) Reverse bias. The figure illustrates idealized currents.
In practical devices, the currents are not constant across the space charge layer.
Forward Reverse

Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓
Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓

Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓

Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓
Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓
 IDEAL DIODE EQUATION
 The Ideal Diode Equation is

J = 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 + 𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏 −𝒙𝒙𝒑𝒑 = 𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓

𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝟎𝟎 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊

𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 ≡ + ≈ 𝐪𝐪 + 𝒒𝒒
𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝝉𝝉𝒏𝒏 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨

 For 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 ≥ 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑/𝒒𝒒 𝑱𝑱𝑭𝑭 = 𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

∵ 𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐.𝟑𝟑 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐦𝐦𝐕𝐕�

𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝 𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝑱𝑱𝑭𝑭

∴ 𝟐𝟐. 𝟑𝟑 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌⁄𝒒𝒒 = 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝐦𝐦𝐕𝐕

𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦 �
�𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝
𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨
𝑱𝑱𝑭𝑭 𝑱𝑱𝑭𝑭

For 𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹 ≥ 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑/𝒒𝒒 𝑱𝑱𝑹𝑹 → 𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔

 IDEAL DIODE EQUATION(Cont.)

 Figure 16 shows the ideal current-voltage characteristics. (a)

Cartesian plot. (b) Semilog plot

2.3 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘�𝑞𝑞 = 60 mV

10
 EXAMPLE 5
 Calculate the ideal reverse saturation current in a Si 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction diode
with a cross-sectional area of 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟒𝟒 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝟐𝟐 .The parameters of the diode
are
𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 = 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 , 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 , 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 = 𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 cm−𝟑𝟑
2
𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦 𝟐𝟐 2
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 ⁄𝐬𝐬�𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦⁄𝐬𝐬� , 𝝉𝝉 = 𝝉𝝉 = 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟕𝟕 𝐬𝐬.
𝟐𝟐
𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏 = , 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝐬𝐬 𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏

SOLUTION From Eq. 55a and 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 = 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 , we can obtain

𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝟏𝟏 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝟏𝟏 𝑫𝑫𝒏𝒏

𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 = + = 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒊𝒊𝟐𝟐 +
𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝝉𝝉𝒏𝒏

−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × (𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 𝟐𝟐 𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

+ 𝟏𝟏
𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
= 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔=× 𝟏𝟏.
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟔𝟔−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
× 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
× (𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 � × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 ) ( −𝟕𝟕
+−𝟕𝟕
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟕𝟕
)
−𝟕𝟕
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= 𝟖𝟖. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 A ∕cm

From the cross-section area 𝑨𝑨 = 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟒𝟒 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝟐𝟐 , we obtain

𝑰𝑰𝑺𝑺 = 𝑨𝑨 × 𝑱𝑱𝑺𝑺 = 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟒𝟒 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 A
 GENERATION-RECOMBINATION AND
HIGH-INJECTION EFFECT
 For reverse bias, the dominate G-R processes in the depletion region
are electron and hole emission through Et :From Eq. 50 in Ch 2 with
𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 < 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 , 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 < 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊
𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 𝝈𝝈𝒏𝒏 𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕
𝑮𝑮 = −𝑼𝑼 =
𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 − 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 𝒏𝒏
𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 𝝈𝝈𝒏𝒏 𝑽𝑽𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 − 𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕
𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (56)
𝑮𝑮 = −𝑼𝑼 = 𝝈𝝈𝑬𝑬
𝒏𝒏 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞
−𝑬𝑬 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 −𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕 +𝒊𝒊 𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞
𝝈𝝈𝒏𝒏 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝒕𝒕 𝒊𝒊 +𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

If 𝝈𝝈𝒏𝒏 = 𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 = 𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐

𝐸𝐸𝑡𝑡 − 𝐸𝐸𝑖𝑖
cosh( )
𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝝈𝝈𝟎𝟎 𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊
𝑮𝑮 = 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 =
𝑬𝑬 − 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈
𝟐𝟐 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝒕𝒕
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
−𝟏𝟏
𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵−𝟏𝟏 𝒕𝒕
𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝑽𝑽𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝐸𝐸𝑡𝑡 −𝐸𝐸𝑖𝑖
where 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈 = 𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥 = 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊𝒕𝒕 − 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 ( )
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 cosh(
𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄(
𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕 −𝑬𝑬
) ) 0 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

 Therefore 𝑮𝑮 →maximum value when 𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕 = 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊

∴ 𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕 near the intrinsic Fermi level can contribute significantly to the

generation rate.
 G-R EFFECT(Cont.)
 Reverse Current
𝐖𝐖 𝑾𝑾 𝐪𝐪𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐢 𝐖𝐖 𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑾𝑾
𝐉𝐉𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 = ∫𝟎𝟎 𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪 ≅ 𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪𝐪 =
𝑱𝑱𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 = � 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 ≅ 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝛕𝛕𝐠𝐠 =
𝟎𝟎 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈

𝑱𝑱𝑹𝑹(total reverse current density) for a 𝒑𝒑+ 𝒏𝒏 junction

𝐃𝐃𝐩𝐩 𝐧𝐧𝟐𝟐𝐢𝐢 𝐪𝐪𝐧𝐧
𝟐𝟐𝐢𝐢 𝐖𝐖
= 𝐉𝐉𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 + 𝐉𝐉𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 = 𝐪𝐪 𝑫𝑫 + 𝒏𝒏
𝛕𝛕𝐩𝐩 𝐍𝐍𝐃𝐃 𝒑𝒑 𝒊𝒊𝛕𝛕𝐠𝐠 𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑾𝑾
= 𝑱𝑱𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 + 𝑱𝑱𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 = 𝒒𝒒 +
𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈

 If a semiconductor with large 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (e.g., Ge with 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 = 𝟐𝟐. 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 )
𝑱𝑱𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 ≫ 𝑱𝑱𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈

∴ 𝑱𝑱𝑹𝑹 ~𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 can follow the ideal diode equation, 𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 will saturate.

 If a semiconductor with small 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (e.g., Si with 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 = 𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 cm−𝟑𝟑 )

𝑱𝑱𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 may be smaller than 𝑱𝑱𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈

∴ 𝑱𝑱𝑹𝑹 ~𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑾𝑾

The reverse current will not saturate, because W will increase with reverse bias.
 EXAMPLE 6
 Consider the Si 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction diode in Example 5 and assume 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈 = 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 = 𝝉𝝉𝒏𝒏 , calculate
the generation current density for a reverse bias of 4V.
SOLUTION From Eq. 20, we obtain

𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 + 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝟐𝟐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 + 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫

𝑾𝑾 =𝑾𝑾 = 𝟐𝟐𝛜𝛜𝒔𝒔 (𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨+𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫)(𝑽𝑽
(𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 +
+ 𝑽𝑽)
𝑽𝑽) =
= )(𝑫𝑫 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥 𝒒𝒒𝑨𝑨 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥
𝟐𝟐𝛜𝛜𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 +𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
( 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵
𝑵𝑵 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫
+𝒏𝒏𝑽𝑽)
𝟐𝟐
+ 𝑽𝑽
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑵𝑵 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫
𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵
𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒 𝑵𝑵𝑨𝑨 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒒𝒒 𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 𝒊𝒊

𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= (𝟎𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥 + 𝑽𝑽)
𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 𝟐𝟐

= 𝟑𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 + 𝑽𝑽 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 cm

Hence the generation current density is

𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏 𝑾𝑾 𝟏𝟏.𝟔𝟔×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏×𝟗𝟗.𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝟗𝟗
𝑱𝑱 𝒔𝒔
𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑾𝑾𝒊𝒊 =
= 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 ××𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟑𝟑.𝟗𝟗 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 + 𝑽𝑽 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 𝐀𝐀⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐
𝑱𝑱 =
𝒔𝒔 𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈 = 𝟓𝟓×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟕𝟕 −𝟕𝟕 × 𝟑𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 + 𝑽𝑽 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟓𝟓 𝐀𝐀⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐
𝝉𝝉𝒈𝒈 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= 𝟏𝟏. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕 + 𝑽𝑽 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟕𝟕 𝐀𝐀⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐

For VR = 4V , the generation current density is 𝟐𝟐. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟕𝟕 𝐀𝐀⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐

 Recall the reverse saturation current density for this 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction in Example 5 is
𝟖𝟖. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐀𝐀⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐 , which is 5 orders of magnitude smaller. Therefore, 𝑱𝑱𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 ≫ 𝑱𝑱𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 for
Si 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction.
 G-R EFFECT(Cont.)
 For forward bias the dominant G-R process in the depletion region is the
capture process(carriers attempt to return to equilibrium by recombination)
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝟐𝟐 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
From Eq.49 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 = 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆 (60)
Substituting Eq.60 in Eq.50 of Ch 2, assuming 𝝈𝝈𝒏𝒏 = 𝝈𝝈𝒑𝒑 = 𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 ∶
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝟐𝟐 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (𝒆𝒆
− 𝟏𝟏) (61)
𝑼𝑼 =
𝑬𝑬 − 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊
𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 + 𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝒕𝒕
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
 If 𝑬𝑬𝒕𝒕 = 𝑬𝑬𝒊𝒊 (the most effective recombination center)

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒏𝒏 (𝒆𝒆 − 𝟏𝟏)
𝟐𝟐 𝒊𝒊 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝑼𝑼 =
= 𝝈𝝈
𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐𝑽𝑽
𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒊𝒊
𝒏𝒏 (𝒆𝒆 −𝟏𝟏) (62)
𝑼𝑼 𝒐𝒐 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒏𝒏
𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏+𝒑𝒑+𝒏𝒏 +𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏
𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 + 𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊
𝒊𝒊

 To find the maximum of U

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 −𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 +𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 +𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝟐𝟐 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 −𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏
= 𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝑽𝑽𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝟐𝟐𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒏𝒏 𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 + 𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏 𝒊𝒊= 𝟎𝟎
𝒅𝒅(𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏=
+𝒑𝒑𝝈𝝈) 𝒗𝒗 𝑵𝑵 𝒏𝒏
𝒏𝒏 𝒐𝒐 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝒕𝒕 𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 +𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 +𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐 = 𝟎𝟎 ∴ 𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = 𝟎𝟎
𝒅𝒅(𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 ) 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 + 𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐

𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐚 𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠𝐠 𝑽𝑽, 𝐄𝐄𝐄𝐄. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝒅𝒅𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = −𝒅𝒅𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = −𝒅𝒅∴ 𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 + 𝒑𝒑=𝒏𝒏 −𝒅𝒅
= 𝟎𝟎 = 𝒅𝒅𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = 𝒅𝒅𝒑𝒑
𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏
𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
Thus, 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏== 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 For maximum 𝐔𝐔
𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
 G-R EFFECT (Cont.)
 Since 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

∴ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 = 𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 = 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐 (𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 −𝟏𝟏)
𝑼𝑼 = 𝝈𝝈
𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎= 𝝈𝝈 𝒐𝒐 𝑽𝑽𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (𝒆𝒆
𝒊𝒊 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏)
𝒕𝒕 𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏 (𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 +𝟏𝟏)
𝑼𝑼𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝒗𝒗 𝑵𝑵
𝒐𝒐 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝒕𝒕 𝒊𝒊 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 (𝒆𝒆 + 𝟏𝟏)
𝟏𝟏
≈ 𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝒗𝒗𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵𝒕𝒕 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟𝐟 𝑽𝑽 > 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑�𝒒𝒒
𝟐𝟐
𝟏𝟏=𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊𝟏𝟏 𝒏𝒏𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒊𝒊 ⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 1 𝟏𝟏
= 𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓 = 𝒗𝒗 𝑵𝑵 = recombination lifetime
𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓 =
𝟐𝟐𝒆𝒆𝝉𝝉 𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐 𝒗𝒗𝝈𝝈𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝑵𝑵
𝟐𝟐 𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓 𝒓𝒓 𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 𝒕𝒕 𝒕𝒕

 The recombination current is

𝑾𝑾 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏
𝑾𝑾𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 ≈ 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏 𝒊𝒊 ⁄𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒊𝒊 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑱𝑱
𝑱𝑱𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 = ∫
𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 = ∫𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 ≈ 𝟐𝟐𝝉𝝉2𝝉𝝉
𝒆𝒆 𝒆𝒆 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
⁄2𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
(68)
𝒓𝒓
𝒓𝒓
For 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 ≫ 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽> 3𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
> 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑⁄�𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝑫𝑫𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐
𝒊𝒊𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒⁄𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝒊𝒊𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑱𝑱𝒓𝒓 =𝑱𝑱𝒓𝒓𝒒𝒒= 𝒒𝒒𝝉𝝉 𝑵𝑵𝝉𝝉 𝑵𝑵 + +𝟐𝟐𝝉𝝉𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏
𝒆𝒆 𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌⁄𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒆𝒆 𝒆𝒆 ⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
⁄𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
(69)
𝒑𝒑 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝑫𝑫 𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
~𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 where 𝜼𝜼 is the ideality factor.
~𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 where 𝜼𝜼 is the ideality factor.
𝜼𝜼𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
 G-R EFFECT(Cont.)
 Figure 17 shows the comparison of the forward current-voltage
characteristics of Si and GaAs diodes at 300K. Dashed lines
indicate slopes of different ideality factor η.

𝜼𝜼 = 𝟏𝟏 ideal diffusion current

𝜼𝜼 = 𝟐𝟐 recombination current dominate

𝟏𝟏 < 𝜼𝜼 < 𝟐𝟐 when diffusion current and

recombination current are
comparable
 IR DROP AND HIGH INJECTION EFFECT
 IR Drop
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒 𝑽𝑽−𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝑰𝑰𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒒𝒒𝑽𝑽 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄
𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊
𝑰𝑰 = 𝑰𝑰𝒔𝒔 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝒒𝒒 𝑽𝑽 − =
𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝒒𝒒 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝑰𝑰=
𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒒𝒒 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜
𝑰𝑰 = 𝑰𝑰𝒔𝒔 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞=
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 =
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒒𝒒 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 𝒒𝒒 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰
𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
Example 𝑹𝑹 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟓𝟓𝛀𝛀
At 𝟏𝟏mA 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟓𝟓mV
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
At 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏mA 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 = 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏V = 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒

 High Injection Level

If the injected minority carrier density is comparable to the majority carrier
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
density, we have high injection, 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 ≈ 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 , 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐==𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊 𝟐𝟐𝒊𝒊𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 — Eq.60

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
∴ 𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙 = 𝒙𝒙 = 𝒏𝒏 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞
∴𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 𝒙𝒙 =𝒏𝒏 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 =𝒊𝒊 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 as a boundary condition
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

Then 𝑰𝑰~ 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

 Both IR drop and high injection effect will cause the forward current to increase
at a slower rate.
 TEMPERATURE EFFECT

 For forward bias

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
= 𝟐𝟐
𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑𝑳𝑳𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓𝝉𝝉 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒊𝒊 𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒓𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ~ 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 −
𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈 −𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈 − 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 (72)
𝑰𝑰𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 = 𝟐𝟐 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑾𝑾 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 ~ 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 − 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝑰𝑰𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑾𝑾 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

as 𝑻𝑻 ↑ the current ratio ↑ and 𝜼𝜼 → 𝟏𝟏 even at low biases

 For reverse bias(𝒑𝒑+ 𝒏𝒏 junction), the diffusion current is

𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝟐𝟐
𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫
=𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝟎𝟎𝒏𝒏
𝟐𝟐𝒏𝒏
~𝒊𝒊 𝒊𝒊 ~ 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 −𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈
𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 = 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 ~ 𝑵𝑵~
𝑫𝑫 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 − 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

𝑰𝑰𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝒓𝒓 At lower temp 𝑰𝑰𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 dominates ~𝑾𝑾~ 𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹
=
𝑰𝑰𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 𝑾𝑾 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 At higher temp 𝑰𝑰𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 dominates 𝑰𝑰𝑹𝑹 saturated
 TEMPERATURE EFFECT(Cont.)

 Figure 18 shows the temperature dependence of the current-voltage

characteristics of Si diodes.(a)Forward bias. (b)Reverse bias.

𝑰𝑰𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅

𝑰𝑰𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈 ~ 𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹
Eq.𝟓𝟓𝟖𝟖
 CHARGE STORAGE
 Minority- carrier storage
From Fig. 15a and Eq. 51 , the stored charge in the neutral 𝒏𝒏 – region (holes)
∞∞ ∞ ∞
𝑸𝑸𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒 ∫𝒙𝒙 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝒒𝒒 ∫𝒙𝒙 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆(𝒙𝒙−𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 )/𝑳𝑳−(𝒙𝒙−𝒙𝒙
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒏𝒏 )/𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑
𝑸𝑸𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒 �
𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏 − 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝒏𝒏𝒒𝒒 � 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆 − 𝟏𝟏 𝒆𝒆 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 = 𝒒𝒒𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏
= 𝒒𝒒𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏 (75)

𝑸𝑸𝒏𝒏 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧𝐧 𝒑𝒑 − 𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫 , 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞

= 𝒒𝒒𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏 𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏

𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫
𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫
𝒒𝒒𝑫𝑫 𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑
𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
From Eq. 52 and 75 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 =
= 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑𝑳𝑳
𝒆𝒆−𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒆𝒆 𝟏𝟏 − 𝟏𝟏 (52)
(52)
𝒑𝒑
𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝟐𝟐𝒑𝒑𝟐𝟐 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝑫𝑫
𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑𝒙𝒙 = 𝝉𝝉 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏
𝒑𝒑
𝑸𝑸 = 𝒑𝒑𝑱𝑱 𝒙𝒙 = (76)
𝑸𝑸𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑= 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 =𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑 𝑱𝑱𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏 𝒑𝒑 = 𝝉𝝉𝒑𝒑 𝑱𝑱𝒑𝒑 𝒙𝒙𝒏𝒏
𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑 𝑫𝑫𝒑𝒑

Therefore the stored charge in the neutral region = product of the current
and the minority carrier lifetime.
 CHARGE STORAGE(Cont.)

 EXAMPLE 7

For an ideal abrupt silicon 𝒑𝒑+⎼𝒏𝒏 junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 ,
calculate the stored minority carriers per unit area in the neutral 𝒏𝒏-
region when a forward bias of 1V is applied. The diffusion length of
the holes is 5μm.

SOLUTION From Eq. 75, we obtain

𝑸𝑸𝒑𝒑 = 𝒒𝒒𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒆𝒆𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 − 𝟏𝟏

= 𝟐𝟐 𝟗𝟗 𝟗𝟗𝟏𝟏 𝟐𝟐
𝟐𝟐
𝟗𝟗.𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝟗𝟗. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔
𝟗𝟗.𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟗𝟗 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏
⁄𝟏𝟏)𝟎𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
= 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟒𝟒 ×× 𝟖𝟖×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏(𝒆𝒆𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 (𝒆𝒆(𝒆𝒆
𝒆𝒆
𝟎𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 −⁄𝟎𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝟎𝟎.𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 )
−−𝟏𝟏)𝟏𝟏
𝟖𝟖×𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= 𝟒𝟒. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟐𝟐 𝐂𝐂⁄𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦𝟐𝟐

 DIFFUSION CAPACITANCE
 Diffusion capacitance is due to the stored charge
𝒅𝒅𝑸𝑸
𝒅𝒅𝑸𝑸 𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑
𝑪𝑪𝒅𝒅 𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝. 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 ≡ 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 (A = cross sectional area)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝟐𝟐
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏
𝟐𝟐 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
= 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (79)
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

under reverse bias, 𝒆𝒆−𝒒𝒒|𝑽𝑽𝑹𝑹|/𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 is small . ∴ 𝑪𝑪𝒅𝒅 ≪ 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 (depletion capacitance)

under forward bias,
𝑪𝑪𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕 = 𝑨𝑨𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 + 𝑪𝑪𝒅𝒅
𝟐𝟐 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝟐𝟐 𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒒𝒒𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝑳𝑳𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
= 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 + 𝑨𝑨 + 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑨𝑨 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (for 𝒑𝒑+ 𝒏𝒏)
𝑾𝑾 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝝐𝝐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝒒𝒒𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
= 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝑾𝑾 + 𝑨𝑨
+ 𝑨𝑨 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒆𝒆
𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (for 𝒏𝒏+ 𝒑𝒑)
𝑾𝑾 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

 The diffusion capacitance is significant in forward bias, if the

stored minority carriers in the neutral region is large.
 SMALL-SIGNAL EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT
 Figure 19 shows the small signal equivalent circuit of a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction.

𝝐𝝐𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔
 We have 𝑪𝑪𝒋𝒋 = 𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣 𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 = 𝑨𝑨 𝑾𝑾 𝑨𝑨
𝑾𝑾
𝟐𝟐
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒𝟐𝟐𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒑𝒑
𝒑𝒑 𝒑𝒑𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 +
𝑪𝑪𝒅𝒅 = 𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝𝐝 𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜 = 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 (for 𝒑𝒑 𝒏𝒏)
𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌

Also the junction has a conductance

𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑮𝑮𝑮𝑮== ≈ ≈𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑱𝑱=𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝑱𝑱=+𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑱𝑱𝒔𝒔 ≅𝑱𝑱 + 𝑱𝑱 ≅ 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒔𝒔
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒔𝒔 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
where A is the device area
 JUNCTION BREAKDOWN
𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈
 Tunneling effect: 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 < 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 (For Si 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 < 𝟒𝟒. 𝟓𝟓V)
𝒒𝒒𝒒𝒒

due to electron penetration through the bandgap. For high dopings on both sides.
𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈𝒈𝒈
 Avalanche Multiplication: 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 > 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝒒𝒒 (For Si 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 > 𝟕𝟕V)
𝒒𝒒
due to generation of electron-hole pairs under applied high field.
𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬𝒈𝒈
𝒈𝒈
𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 𝒒𝒒 < 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 < 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝒒𝒒
𝒈𝒈
 Mixture of tunneling and avalanche:
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒
 Fig 22. shows the energy band diagrams under junction-breakdown
conditions.(a)Tunneling effect.(b)Avalanche multiplication.
 JUNCTION BREAKDOWN
 For avalanche multiplication, we define a multiplication factor
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 (𝑾𝑾) (81)
𝑴𝑴𝒏𝒏 ≡
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏

𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏 is the current incident at the left-hand side of the depletion region(𝒙𝒙 = 0)
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 (𝑾𝑾) is the current at 𝒙𝒙 = w.
Total current 𝑰𝑰 = 𝑰𝑰𝒑𝒑 + 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 ≠ 𝒇𝒇(𝒙𝒙)

From 𝒙𝒙 to 𝒙𝒙 + 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅, the incremental electron current = number of electron-

hole pairs generation/second in d𝒙𝒙

𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝑰𝑰𝒑𝒑

∴ 𝐝𝐝 = 𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 + 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 (82)
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝑰𝑰 − 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝛂𝛂 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝐝𝐝 = 𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 + 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒 𝒒𝒒

𝒅𝒅𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏
+ 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑 − 𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 = 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑 𝑰𝑰 (82a)
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
 JUNCTION BREAKDOWN
 If 𝜶𝜶 = 𝜶𝜶⍺
⍺n𝒏𝒏 = 𝒑𝒑 p= 𝜶𝜶
𝒅𝒅𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏
= 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝒘𝒘 𝒘𝒘
𝒅𝒅𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏
� = � 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶
𝟎𝟎 𝑰𝑰 𝟎𝟎
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝒘𝒘 𝒘𝒘
� = � 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶
𝑰𝑰 𝟎𝟎 𝟎𝟎

(𝟎𝟎)) 𝒘𝒘
𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 𝑰𝑰𝒘𝒘𝒏𝒏 𝒘𝒘−−𝑰𝑰 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒏𝒏(𝟎𝟎
== � 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶
𝑰𝑰 𝑰𝑰
𝟎𝟎 𝒘𝒘
𝟏𝟏
∵ 𝑰𝑰 = 𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏 (𝒘𝒘) ∴ 𝟏𝟏 − = � 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶 Where 𝑴𝑴𝐧𝐧 = 𝑰𝑰⁄𝑰𝑰𝒏𝒏(𝟎𝟎)
𝑴𝑴𝒏𝒏 𝟎𝟎

Avalanche breakdown voltage 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 is defined as the voltage at which 𝑴𝑴𝒏𝒏

approaches infinity.
𝒘𝒘
∴ � 𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶𝜶 = 𝟏𝟏 (84) avalanche breakdown condition
𝟎𝟎

 If ⍺n ≠ ⍺p , the avalanche breakdown condition is

𝒘𝒘
∫𝟎𝟎𝒘𝒘 ⍺𝒑𝒑 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒘
� 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑 𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞 − � 𝜶𝜶𝒑𝒑 − 𝜶𝜶𝒏𝒏 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅′ 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 = 𝟏𝟏
𝟎𝟎 𝟎𝟎
 MAXIMUM ELECTRIC FIELD

 The critical field ℰ𝒄𝒄 is the maximum electric field at breakdown (shown in
Fig.24)
once ℰ𝒄𝒄 is known, we can calculate the breakdown voltage ℰ
ℰ𝒄𝒄
For one-sided abrupt junction

𝜺𝜺 𝒘𝒘 𝜺𝜺𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄𝝐𝝐𝝐𝝐𝒄𝒄𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝝐𝝐𝜺𝜺𝜺𝜺𝒔𝒔𝒄𝒄𝓔𝓔
𝒘𝒘
𝜺𝜺𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒘𝒘 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝝐𝝐𝜺𝜺𝜺𝜺𝒔𝒔𝟐𝟐𝒄𝒄2𝒄𝒄𝓔𝓔𝟐𝟐𝒄𝒄
𝒄𝒄 𝒄𝒄 𝝐𝝐
𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩 == == == (𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩𝑵𝑵)𝑩𝑩−𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏 (85)
𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵
𝑩𝑩 𝑩𝑩 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐𝒒𝒒
x
0 w

 Since ℰ𝒄𝒄 is a slowly varying function of 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 , to a first order approximation

−𝟏𝟏
𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩 ~ 𝑵𝑵
𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩 −𝟏𝟏
 MAXIMUM ELECTRIC FIELD(Cont.)

 Figure 24 shows the critical field at breakdown versus background

doping for Si and GaAs one-sided abrupt junctions.
 AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE

 Figure 25 shows the breakdown voltage versus impurity concentration for

one-sided abrupt junction in Si , GaAs , and GaP

Onset of tunneling
 AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE

 Example 8
Calculate the breakdown voltage for a Si one-side 𝒑𝒑+⎼𝒏𝒏 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣𝐣 𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰𝐰
𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 5×1016 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑
SOLUTION
From Fig. 24,we see that the critical field at breakdown for a Si one-sided
abrupt junction is about 5.5×105 𝐕𝐕/𝐜𝐜𝐜𝐜. Then from Eq.85, we obtain

𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾 𝝐𝝐𝒔𝒔 𝓔𝓔𝟐𝟐𝒄𝒄 −𝟏𝟏

𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 (𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛𝐛 𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯𝐯) = = 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩
𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝟐𝟐
𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟓𝟓. 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟓𝟓 −𝟏𝟏
= 𝟓𝟓 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 V
 BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE FOR PUNCH –
THROUGH DIODES
 Figure 27 shows the breakdown voltage for 𝒑𝒑+-𝝅𝝅−𝒏𝒏+ and 𝒑𝒑+-𝝂𝝂−𝒏𝒏+ junctions.
𝑾𝑾 is the thickness of the lightly doped 𝒑𝒑-type(𝜋𝜋)or the lightly doped 𝒏𝒏-type(𝝂𝝂) 𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫𝐫.
 In Fig.25, it is assume that the semiconductor layer is thick enough to support the
reverse – biased depletion layer width 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 at breakdown.
If 𝑾𝑾 is less than 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 , the device will be punched through.

𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽 ′ 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝓔𝓔 𝑾𝑾 ⁄𝟐𝟐 − 𝓔𝓔𝓔 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 − 𝑾𝑾 ⁄𝟐𝟐
𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩’ =𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭𝐭 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢= 𝒄𝒄 𝒎𝒎
= 𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 = 𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 ⁄𝟐𝟐
𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽
𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩
𝓔𝓔
( 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 )
𝒎𝒎

𝓔𝓔𝓔
𝓔𝓔′ 𝑾𝑾 − 𝑾𝑾
𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎−𝑾𝑾
∵ 𝓔𝓔 = 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎
=
𝓔𝓔 𝒎𝒎 𝓔𝓔’

𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 ′ 𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 ⁄𝟐𝟐 − 𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 − 𝑾𝑾 𝟐𝟐 ⁄𝟐𝟐𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎

∴ 𝑽𝑽 = 𝓔𝓔𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 ⁄𝟐𝟐
𝑩𝑩

𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾
= 𝟐𝟐 −
𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 (87)
 PUNCH-THROUGH DIODES

 Punch-through occurs when 𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 is low, such as in a 𝒑𝒑+-𝝅𝝅−𝒏𝒏+ or 𝒑𝒑+-

𝝂𝝂−𝒏𝒏+ diode, where 𝝅𝝅 stands for a lightly doped 𝒑𝒑-type, and 𝛎𝛎 stands
for a lightly doped 𝒏𝒏-type semiconductor.

 EXAMPLE 9
For GaAs 𝒑𝒑+-𝒏𝒏 one sided abrupt junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 cm−𝟑𝟑 ,
calculate the depletion width at breakdown. If the 𝒏𝒏-type region of this
structure is reduced to 20𝐮𝐮𝐮𝐮, calculate the breakdown voltage.
 PUNCH-THROUGH DIODES(Cont.)

Solution
From Fig. 25, we can find that the breakdown voltage(𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 ) is about 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 𝐕𝐕,
which is much larger than the built-in voltage (𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 ). And from Eq. 27, we obtain

𝟐𝟐𝜺𝜺𝒔𝒔 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 − 𝑽𝑽 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏. 𝟒𝟒 × 𝟖𝟖. 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓

𝑾𝑾 = ≅
𝒒𝒒𝑵𝑵𝑩𝑩 𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 × 𝟖𝟖 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏

= 𝟐𝟐. 𝟗𝟗𝟗𝟗 × 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎−𝟑𝟑 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐. 𝟑𝟑um

When the 𝒏𝒏-type region reduces to 20𝐮𝐮𝐮𝐮, punch-through will occur first. From
Eq. 87, we can obtain

𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩𝑽𝑽′𝑩𝑩 ’ 𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚𝐚

𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊.𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂𝒂 𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅𝐅. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢
𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾
= = == ( )(2
𝟐𝟐 −− ),,
𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 ℇ𝒄𝒄 𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾⁄𝒎𝒎𝟐𝟐/𝟐𝟐
𝜺𝜺𝒄𝒄𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾
𝒎𝒎 𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾𝑾𝑾
𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎

𝑾𝑾 𝑾𝑾 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐
𝑽𝑽′𝐁𝐁 = 𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 𝟐𝟐 − = 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓 × 𝟐𝟐 − = 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 𝐕𝐕
𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 𝑾𝑾𝒎𝒎 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐. 𝟑𝟑 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐. 𝟑𝟑
 JUNCTION CURVATURE EFFECT

 Junction Curvature Effect: high field at the corners 𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥𝐥

breakdown voltage.
 Figure 28 shows (a)Planar diffusion process that forms junction
curvature near the edge of the diffusion mask, where 𝒓𝒓𝒋𝒋 is the radius
of curvature.(b) Cylindrical and spherical regions formed by
diffusion through a rectangular mask.
 JUNCTION CURVATURE EFFECT(Cont.)
 Figure 29 shows the breakdown voltage versus impurity concentration
for a one-sided abrupt doping profile with cylindrical and spherical
junction geometries, where 𝒓𝒓𝒋𝒋 is the radius of curvature indicated
in Fig.28.

Example, for 𝒑𝒑+⎼𝒏𝒏 junction with 𝑵𝑵𝑫𝑫 = 𝟏𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝐜𝐜𝐦𝐦−𝟑𝟑

𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 = 𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑𝟑 for plane(flat) junction , 𝒓𝒓𝐣𝐣 ∞
𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 = 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖 for cylindrical junction , 𝒓𝒓𝐣𝐣 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝑽𝑽𝑩𝑩 = 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 for spherical junction , 𝒓𝒓𝐣𝐣 = 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
 SUMMARY ON CHAPTER 3
 An understanding of 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction theory serves as the foundation to
understand other semiconductor devices.

 The most important characteristic of 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction is its rectifying behavior.

 We have derived the ideal I-V characteristic of 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction. At room

𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌
𝒌𝒌𝑻𝑻
temperature, for forward voltages 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 > 𝟑𝟑
𝟑𝟑 , , the current will increase 10
𝒒𝒒
𝒒𝒒
times for every 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦 increase in 𝑽𝑽𝑭𝑭 . For practical devices, there are G-R
in the depletion region, high-injection effect, and series-resistance effect.

 When a sufficiently large reverse voltage is applied to a 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction, the

junction break down, the breakdown voltage imposes an upper limit on
the reverse bias for 𝒑𝒑⎼𝒏𝒏 junction.