Basic Electricity and Electronics-PCE2103 A/Y-2016/17

CHAPTER THREE

Basic Semiconductor Theory

Introduction

A study of modern electronic devices like diodes, transistors and integrated circuits must begin
with a study of the materials from which those devices are constructed. Knowledge of the
principles of material composition at the level of the fundamental structure of matter is an
important prerequisite in the field of electronics. The vital concern of this field is predicting and
controlling the flow of the atomic charge. The study of electronic devices is now almost
synonymous with the study of semiconductor devices. The label semiconductor itself provides a
hint as to its characteristics. The prefix semi is normally applied to a range of levels midway
between two limits. So a Semiconductor is a material that has conductivity level somewhere
between the extremes of an insulator and conductor. Conductor is applied to any material that will
support a generous flow of charge when a voltage source of limited magnitude is applied across its
terminals. Insulator is a material that offers a very low level of conductivity under pressure from
an applied voltage source.
.
Resistivity

Inversely related to the conductivity of a material is its resistance to the flow of charge, or current.
That is, the higher the conductivity level, the lower the resistance level. In tables, the term
resistivity (ρ, Greek letter rho) is often used when comparing the resistance levels of materials.

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Note in Table1 the extreme range between the conductor and insulating materials for the 1-cm
length (1-cm2 area) of the material. Ge and Si have received the attention they have for a number of
reasons.
One very important consideration is the fact that they can be manufactured to a very high purity
level. In fact, recent advances have reduced impurity levels in the pure material to 1 part in 10
billion (1:10,000,000,000).
The ability to change the characteristics of the material significantly through this process, known
as “doping,” is yet another reason why Ge and Si have received such wide attention. Further
reasons include the fact that their characteristics can be altered significantly through the
application of heat or light—an important consideration in the development of heat- and light-
sensitive devices.

Atomic Theory

Some of the unique qualities of Ge and Si noted above are due to their atomic structure. The atoms
of both materials form a very definite pattern that is periodic in nature (i.e., continually repeats
itself). One complete pattern is called a crystaland the periodic arrangement of the atoms a lattice.
For Ge and Si the crystal has the three-dimensional diamond structure of Fig. 2

Figure.2.Ge and Si (Single-crystal structureSilicon Lattice)

Any material composed solely of repeating crystal structures of the same kind is called a single-
crystal structure. For semiconductor materials of practical application in the electronics field, this
single-crystal feature exists, and, in addition, the periodicity of the structure does not change
significantly with the addition of impurities in the doping process.

How the structure of the atom might affect the electrical characteristics of the material?

As you are aware, the atom is composedof three basic particles: the electron, the proton, and the
neutron. In the atomic lattice, the neutrons and protons form the nucleus, while the electrons
revolve aroundthe nucleus in a fixed orbit. The Bohr models of the two most commonly used
semiconductors; Germaniumand silicon are shown in Fig. 3

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Figure 3 Atomic structures: (a) germanium; Figure 4 Covalent bonding of the

(b) Silicon silicon atom
As indicated by Fig.3a, the germanium atom has 32 orbiting electrons, while silicon has 14
orbiting electrons. In each case, there are 4 electrons in the outermost (valence) shell. The potential
(ionization potential) required to remove any one of these 4 valence electrons is lower than that
required for any other electron in the structure. In a pure germanium or silicon crystal these 4
valence electrons are bonded to 4 adjoining atoms, as shown in Fig. 4 for silicon. Both Ge and Si
are referred to as tetravalent atoms because they each have four valence electrons.

A bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of valence electrons, is called covalent bonding.

Semiconductor Materials

Semiconductor materials are basically Intrinsic and Extrinsic semiconductor

Intrinsic Semiconductor

An intrinsic semiconductor is one, which is pure enough that impurities do not appreciably affect
its electrical behaviour. In this case, all carriers are created due to thermally or optically excited
electrons from the full valence band into the empty conduction band. Thus equal numbers of
electrons and holes are present in an intrinsic semiconductor. Electrons and holes flow in opposite
directions in an electric field, though they contribute to current in the same direction since they are
oppositely charged.

Hole current and electron current are not necessarily equal in an intrinsic semiconductor, however,
because electrons and holes have different effective masses (crystalline analogues to free inertial
masses).The concentration of carriers is strongly dependent on the temperature. At low
temperatures, the valence band is completely full making the material an insulator. Increasing the
temperature leads to an increase in the number of carriers and a corresponding increase in
conductivity. This characteristic shown by intrinsic semiconductor is different from the behaviour
of most metals, which tend to become less conductive at higher temperatures due to increased
phonon scattering.

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Extrinsic Semiconductor

The characteristics of semiconductor materials can be altered significantly by the addition of

certain impurity atoms into the relatively pure semiconductor material. These impurities, although
only added to perhaps 1 part in 10 million, can alter the band structure sufficiently to totally
change the electrical properties of the material.

A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the doping process is called an extrinsic
material.

Semiconductor Diodes and their Applications

Semiconductor Diodes and their Characteristics

A semiconductor diode is simply a pn junction that has two terminals: An anode and a cathode.
The circuit symbol for a diode is shown in Fig.5a and the diode volt-ampere characteristic is
displayed in Fig. 5b.

Figure 5 Semiconductor diode

As shown in Fig.5a, the voltage v D across the diode is referenced as positive from anode to
cathode. Similarly, the diode current i D is referenced as positive from anode to cathode.

Notice in the characteristics that if the voltage v D across the diode is positive, relatively large
amounts of current flow for small voltages. This condition is called forward bias.

Thus, current flows easily through the diode in the direction of the arrowhead of the circuit symbol
(conventional current).
On the other hand for moderately negative values of v D , the current i D is very small. This is called
the reverse-bias region, as shown on the diode characteristics.

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If a sufficiently large reverse-bias voltage is applied to the diode, its operation enters the reverse-
breakdown region of the characteristic, and currents of large magnitude flow. Provided that the
power dissipated in the diode does not raise its temperature too high, reverse-breakdown operation
is not destructive (helpful) to the device. In fact, we will see that diodes are often deliberately
operated in the reverse-breakdown region.

Application of Diode Circuits

Semiconductor diodes find many applications in electronics circuit designing. A major use is as a
rectifier in power supplies, to convert ac to dc, in radio frequency receivers; in some
instrumentation systems they are used in a similar manner to recover (detect) amplitude
modulation super imposed upon a carrier signal. They may be used as polarity sensitive dc
conductive devices (often called steering diodes) as such they pass dc of one polarity while
blocking dc of the opposite polarity. In clipping, limiting and clamping circuits they are used to
shape and alter signal profiles. Zener diodes are used as voltage regulating devices.

Varactor diodes serve as voltage tuned capacitors and find many applications in radio frequency
design. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are used as indicator lights and in displays, while light
sensitive photodiodes are used as optical detect
Rectification
Diodes are used as rectifiers in electronic power supplies. Rectification is the process by which
time varying voltages are converted to pulsating d.c voltages. DC power supplies are typically
produced by rectifying the sinusoidal voltage available from the a.c power mains. The initial
rectification process produced sinusoidal voltage pulses, i.e. still the rectified voltage is a time
varying signal. To obtain a d.c voltage, the rectified voltage (pulsating d.c voltage) must be
processed by a filter. When a very stable and pure d.c voltage is required the rectified and filtered
voltage may be further processed using a voltage regulator. Of course, there are different types of
circuits of each stage. For example there are many configurations of diodes that produce
rectification:
Half wave rectifier: which uses only one diode
Full wave rectifier: that uses two diodes and a centre - tapped transformer
Bridge rectifier: that uses four diodes

Power Supply Systems

Most electronic equipment requires d.c voltages for its operation. These can be provided by
batteries or by internal power supplies that convert alternating current as available at the home
electric outlet, into regulated d.c voltages. Thus, a power supply system may be defined as an
electronic circuit which converts an a.c input of 50/60 Hz line power to a d.c output voltage. A
power supply circuit is one of the most important diode circuits.
The first element in an internal d.c power supply is a transformer, which steps up or steps down the
input voltage to a level suitable for the operation of the equipment. The transformer is then
followed by a rectifier.
Fluctuations and ripples superimposed on the rectified DC voltage can be filtered out bya filter.
Finally to get more precise control over voltage levels and ripples can be achieved by a voltage
regulator. This whole process can be shown by the following block diagram.

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Transformer

Rectifier Filter Regulator VO

Fig.6 DC Power Supply System

Function of each part
a) Transformer
This block (the transformer) levels the amplitude to the desired amount, steps up and steps down
as well as it isolates the whole electronic elements from the line voltage.

Any
Desired amount
amount

b) Rectifier
The second block is the rectifier which changes a.c into pulsating d.c. Here the rectification result
is not pure d.c. It has got some a.c components and some d.c components, as it is shown in the
following figure and equation for full wave rectifier:

c) Filter
The third block reduces the ripple (a.c) components of the rectified output and thus smoothes, the
output d.c voltage.

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d)Voltage Regulator
The last block, the regulator, reduces the ripple component of the output of the filter and stabilizes
the output voltage against the variation of source and load. Thus it provides relatively a constant
output d.c voltage to the load despite a change in input voltage (Vin) and load current (IL).