UNIT- 9

ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Chapter at a Glance

➢ Electronic devices. Any device whose action is based on the controlled flow of electrons through
it is called an electronic device.

➢ Semiconductors. They have much higher resistivity than metals. Their temperature coefficient
of resistivity (a) is both negative and high. They have considerably lower number density of charge
carriers than metals. Semi- conductors may be elemental (Si, Ge) and compound (GaAs, CdS,etc.)

➢ Energy bands in solids. In an isolated atom, the electrons occupy well defined discrete energy
levels. But due to interatomic interactions in a crystal, the
electrons of the outer shells are forced to have energies
different from those in isolated atoms. Each energy level splits
into a number of energy levels forming a continuous band.

An enormously large number of energy levels closely

spaced in a very small energy range constitute an energy band.
The allowed energy bands are separated by regions in which
energy levels cannot exist. These forbidden regions are called
band gaps or energy gaps. The highest energy band occupied
by the valence electrons is called the valence band and the next
empty allowed band is called the conduction band.

➢ Distinction between metals, insulators and semiconductors on the basis of band theory.

(i) Metals. In metals, either the conduction band is partially filled or the valence and
conduction bands partly overlap. Here Eg = O.

(ii) Insulators. Here the conduction band is empty and the valence band is filled. The
forbidden energy gap is large (Eg > 3eV).

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 (iii) Semiconductors. The empty conduction band is separated from the filled valence band
by a small energy gap (Eg<3 eV).

➢ Intrinsic semiconductors. The pure semiconductors in which the electrical conductivity is

totally governed by the electrons excited from the valence band to the conduction band and in which no
impurity atoms are added to increase their conductivity are called intrinsic semiconductors. In an
intrinsic semiconductor,
ne = nh = ni
Where,
ne = the free electron density in conduction band,
nh = the hole density in valence band, and
ni = the intrinsic carrier concentration.
➢ Doping. The process of deliberate addition of a desirable impurity to a pure semiconductor so
as to increase tis conductivity is called doping. The impurity atoms added are called dopants.

Dopants are of two types:

(i) Pentavalent dopants such as As, Sb and P. These are also called donors.
(ii) Trivalent dopants such as In, B and Al. These are also called acceptors.

➢ Extrinsic semiconductors. A semiconductor doped with suitable impurity atoms so as to

increase its conductivity is called an extrinsic semiconductor. Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types:

(i) n-type semiconductors, and

(ii) p-type semiconductors.

➢ n-type semiconductors. The pentavalent impurity atoms are called donors because they donate
electrons to the host crystal and the semiconductor doped with donors is called n-type semiconductor In
n-type semiconductors, electrons are the majority charge carriers and holes are the minority charge
carriers. Thus

ne = N D  nh

➢ p-type semiconductors. The trivalent impurity atoms are called acceptors because they create
holes which can accept electrons from the nearby bonds. A semiconductor doped with acceptor type
impurities is called a p-type semiconductor. In p-type semiconductor, holes are the majority carriers and
electrons are the minority charge carriers. Thus

n h = N A  ne
In any semiconductor, ne nh = ni2
Moreover, the material on the whole is electrically neutral.

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➢ Holes. The vacancy or absence of electron in the bond of a covalently bonded crystal is called a
hole.

➢ Mobility. The drift velocity acquired by a charge carrier in a unit electric field is called its
electrical mobility and is denoted by µ.
v
=
E

The mobility of an electron in the conduction band is greater than that of the hole (or electron) in the
valence band.

➢ 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 other half functions as n-type semiconductor. As soon as a p-n junction
is formed, the holes from the p-region diffuse into the n-region and electrons from n-region diffuse into
the p-region. This results in the development of potential barrier VB across the junction which opposes
the further diffusion of electrons and holes through the junction. The small region in the vicinity of the
junction which is depleted of free charge carriers and has only immobile ions is called the depletion
region.

Symbol for a p-n junction diode.

➢ Forward and reverse biasing of a p-n junction. If the positive terminal of a battery is
connected to the p-side and the negative terminal to the n-side, then the p-n junction is said to be forward
biased.

➢ If the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the n-side and negative terminal to the p-side,
then p-n junction is said to be reverse biased.. The potential barrier offers high resistance during the
reverse bias. However, due to the minority charge carriers a small current, called reverse or leakage
current, flows in the opposite direction.

➢ Dynamic resistance. The dynamic or ac resistance of a diode is the ratio of small change in
applied voltage ΔV to the corresponding change in current ΔI. It is given by

V
rd =
I

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 ➢ V-I characteristics of a diode
The circuit arrangement for studying the V-I characteristics of a diode are shown in Fig.(a) and (b).

➢ Rectification. The process of converting a.c. into d.c. is called rectification and a device used
for this purpose is called a rectifier.

➢ Junction diode as a rectifier. A junction diode conducts when forward biased and does not
conduct when reverse biased. This unidirectional characteristic of the diode enables it to be used as a
rectifier. A half-wave rectifier uses only a single diode while a full wave rectifier uses two diodes.

➢ Half-wave rectifier.

➢ Full-wave rectifier.

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 ELECTRONIC DEVICES

Assertion- Reason Type Questions

Read the assertion and reason carefully to mark the correct option out of the options given
below:
(a) If both assertion and reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the
assertion.
(b) If both assertion and reason are true but reason is not the correct explanation of the
assertion.
(c) If assertion is true but reason is false.
(d) If the assertion and reason both are false.
(e) If assertion is false but reason is true.

1. Assertion (A): The resistivity of a semiconductor increases with temperature.

Reason (R): The atoms of a semiconductor vibrate with larger amplitude at higher temperature
there by increasing its resistivity.
Ans: (d)
2. Assertion (A): An N-type semiconductor has a large number of electrons but still it is electrically
neutral.
Reason (R): An N-type semiconductor is obtained by doping an intrinsic semiconductor with a
pentavalent impurity.
Ans: (b)
3. Assertion (A): Silicon is preferred over germanium for making semiconductor devices.
Reason (R): The energy gap for germanium is more than the energy gap of silicon.
Ans: (d)
4. Assertion (A): Electron has higher mobility than hole in a semiconductor.
Reason (R): Mass of electron is less than the mass of hole
Ans:(a)
5. Assertion (A): The dominant mechanism for motion of charge carriers in forward and reverse
biased silicon P-N junction are drift in both forward and reverse bias.
Reason (R): In forward biasing, no current flow through the junction.
Ans: (d)
6. Assertion (A): The number of electrons in a P-type silicon semiconductor is less than the number
of electrons in a pure silicon semiconductor at room temperature.
Reason (R): It is due to law of mass action.
Ans: (a)
7. Assertion (A): C, Si and Ge have same lattice structure. C is an insulator while Si and Ge are
intrinsic semiconductors.
Reason (R): ionization energy Eg is least for Ge, followed by Si and highest for C.
Ans:(a)
8. Assertion (A): Diodes are used as a rectifier.
Reason (R): an ideal P-N junction diode allows current to pass only when it is forward biased.
Ans: (a)
9. Assertion (A): a pure semiconductor has negative temperature coefficient of resistance.
Reason (R): On increasing the temperature, more charge carriers are released, conductance
increases and resistance decreases
Ans: (a)
10. Assertion (A): The width of depletion region of a P-N junction increases in reverse biasing

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 Reason (R):.The direction of applied voltage is same as the direction of barrier potential. As a
result, the barrier height increases and the depletion region widens due to the change in the
electric field.
Ans: (a)
11. Assertion (A): Metals have high conductivity or low resistivity.
Reason (R): In metals a large band gap E g exists.
Ans: (c)

Very Short Answer Type Questions (1 marks)

1. How does conductivity of a semiconductor change with temperature?

Ans Increases
2. How does resistivity of a semiconductor change with rise in its temperature?
Ans. Decreases
3. Draw a p-n junction with reverse bias.
4. What is the order of energy gap in a semiconductor?
Ans.1eV
5. Give the ratio of the number of holes and the number of conduction electrons in an intrinsic
semiconductor.
Ans.1:1
6. In the given diagram, is the diode D forward or reverse biased?

Ans. reverse biased

7. How does the conductance of a semi conducting material change with rise in temperature?
Ans. Increases
8. A semiconductor is damaged when strong current passes through it. Why?
Ans. Because bonds break up, crystal lattice breakdown takes place and crystal lattice becomes
useless.
9. How does the energy gap in an intrinsic semiconductor vary, when doped with a pentavalent
impurity?
Ans. Energy gap decreases
10. How does the energy gap of an intrinsic semiconductor vary, when doped with a trivalent impurity?
Ans. Energy gap decreases
11. How does the width of the depletion region of a p-n junction vary, if the reverse bias applied to it
decreases?
Ans. decreases
12. How does the width of the depletion region of a p-n junction vary, if the reverse bias applied to it
increases?
Ans. increases
13. In the following diagrams, indicate which of the diodes are forward biased and which are reverse
biased.

Ans. (i) forward biased (ii) reverse biased (iii) reverse biased (iv) forward biased

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14. Name two factors on which electrical conductivity of a pure semiconductor at a given temperature
depends.
Ans. (i) The width of the forbidden band
(ii) Intrinsic charge carrier concentration.
15. Give the ratio of the number of holes and number of conduction electrons, in an intrinsic
semiconductor.
Ans. In an intrinsic semiconductor,
nh = ne = ni , Therefore nh : ne = 1 : 1.

Short Answer Questions Type I (2Marks)

1. What is an ideal diode? Draw the output waveform across the load resistor R, if the input waveform
is as shown in the figure.

Ans. An ideal diode is one which offer zero resistance when forward biased and infinite
resistance when reversed biased.

2. If the frequency of the input signal is f. What will be the frequency of the pulsating output signal
in case of?
(i) half wave rectifier? (ii) full wave rectifier?

Ans. Frequency of output in half wave rectifier is f and in full have rectifier is 2f.

3. Potential barrier of p-n. junction can not be measured by connecting a sensitive voltmeter
across its terminals. Why?
Ans. Because there is no free charge carrier in depletion region

4. A n-type semiconductor has a large number of free electrons but still it is electrically neutral.
Explain.

Ans. An n−type semiconductor is formed by doping pure germanium or silicon crystal with suitable
impurity atoms of valency five. As the impurity atoms take the position of Ge atom in germanium
crystal, its four electrons form covalent bonds by sharing electrons with the neighbouring four
atoms of germanium whereas the fifth electron is left free. Since the atom on the whole is electrically
neutral, the n−type semiconductor is also neutral

5. The diagram shows a piece of pure semiconductor S in series with a variable resistor R and a
source of constant voltage V. Would you increase or decrease the value of R to keep the reading of

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 ammeter A constant, when semiconductor S is heated? Give reason

Ans. On heating S, resistance of semiconductors S is decreased so to compensate the value of

resistance in the circuit R is increased.

6. Two semiconductor materials X and Y shown in the given figure, are made by doping germanium
crystal with indium and arsenic respectively. The two are joined at lattice level and connected to a
battery as shown.

(i) Will the junction be forward biased or reversed biased?

(ii) Sketch a V-I graph for this arrangement.
7. Following voltage waveform is fed into half wave rectifier that uses a silicon diode with a threshold
voltage of 0.7 V. Draw the output voltage waveform.

8. Why are elemental dopants for Silicon or Germanium usually chosen from group XIII or group
XV?
Ans. The size of dopant atoms should be such as not to distort the pure semiconductor lattice
structure and yet easily contribute a charge carrier on forming co-valent bonds with Si or Ge.
9. Sn, C, and Si, Ge are all group XIV elements. Yet, Sn is a conductor, C is an insulator while Si and
Ge are semiconductors. Why?
Ans. The energy gap for Sn is 0 eV, for C is 5.4 eV, for Si is 1.1 eV and for Ge is 0.7eV, related
to their atomic size.
10. A photodiode is fabricated from a semiconductor with band gap of 2.8 eV. Can it detect wavelength
of 6000 nm? Justify.
Ans. E = hc/λ = 0.207 eV
E <Eg , So it cannot detect signal

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Short Answer Questions Type II (3Marks)

1. Explain, with the help of a circuit diagram, how the thickness of depletion layer in a p-n junction
diode changes when it is forward biased. In the following circuits which one of the two diodes is
forward biased and which is reverse biased?

Ans.(a)The p-n junction is reverse biased.

(b)The p-n junction is forward biased.

2. In the following diagrams, indicate which of the diodes are forward biased and which is reverse
biased.

Ans.(i) Forward biased, because p-side is at higher potential (+7V) than n-side (+5V).
(ii) Reverse biased, because p-side is at lower potential (0 V) than n-side (+2V).
(iii) Reverse biased, because p-side is at lower potential (-10V) than n-side (0V)
(iii) Forward biased, because p-side is at higher potential (-5 V) than n-side (-12 V).

3. A diode is connected to 220 V (rms) a.c. in series with a capacitor, as shown below. What is the
voltage V across the capacitor?

Ans. During the positive half cycle of input a.c. (when the diode gets forward
biased), the capacitor charges itself to the peak value of the supply voltage. Therefore, the
voltage across the capacitor is
V = Vo = 2 Vrms = 2  220 = 311.1V

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4. Draw a circuit diagram for p-n junction diode in forward bias and reverse bias. Sketch the voltage-
current graph for the same.
Ans

5. The V-I characteristics of a silicon diode is as shown in figure. Calculate the resistance of the diode
at (i) I=15 mA and (ii) V=-10 volts

6. Explain:
(a)Three photo diodes D1, D2 and D3 are made of semiconductors having band gaps of 2.5 eV, 2 eV
and 3 eV respectively. Which one will be able to detect light of wavelength 6000 Ao?
(b) Why an elemental semiconductor cannot be used to make visible LEDs?
7. An a.c. signal is fed into two circuits X and Y and the corresponding output in the two cases have
the wave forms shown below. Name the circuits X and Y. Also draw their detailed circuit diagrams

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Ans. X is half wave rectifier and Y is full wave rectifier

8. An n-type semiconductor has excess of free electrons while p-type has a deficiency of these. But
when a p-n junction is formed, all the electrons do not flow from the n-regions to the p-regions.
Why?
Ans: Though the n-type and p-type semiconductor have excess of free electrons and holes
respectively, yet they are electrically neutral because they have equal no of fixed positive donor
ions and negative acceptor ions respectively. When p-n junction is formed, electrons flow from
n into p region, while holes from p into n region. As a result, the n region near the junction
becomes increasingly positive and p region becomes increasingly negative. After some time,
the negative p region nears the junction repels electrons flowing from n into p region, and the
positive n region repels holes flowing from p into n region. Hence the flow stops.

Long Answer Questions Type (5 Marks)

1. Draw the energy band diagrams of p-type, n-type semiconductors. Explain with a circuit diagram
the working of a full-wave rectifier.
2. (a) Explain with the help of a diagram, how depletion region and potential barrier are formed in
a junction diode.
(b) If a small voltage is applied to a p-n junction diode how will the barrier potential be affected
when it is (i) forward biased, and (ii) reverse biased?

3. (a) Draw the energy band diagrams of p-type, n-type semiconductors. Explain with a circuit
diagram the working of a full-wave rectifier.
(b) Distinguish between metals, insulators and semiconductors on the basis of their energy
bands.
4. (a) Explain briefly, with the help of circuit diagram, how V-1 characteristics of a p-n junction
diode are obtained in (i) forward bias, (ii) reverse bias. Draw the shape of the curve obtained.
(b) A semiconductor has equal electron and hole concentration of 6 x 108/m3. On doping with
certain impurity, electron concentration increases to 9 x 1012/m3.
(i) Identify the new semiconductor obtained after doping.
(ii) Calculate the new hole concentration.

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