1.

Semiconductor Diodes

1. Semiconductor Diodes
Semiconductor Materials
Crystal Growth and Wafer Slicing Process
The silicon is supplied in granular powder form. Most of the sand used for these processes is shipped from the
beaches of Australia. The sand (SiO2) is taken and put into a crucible and is heated to about 1600 degrees C – just
above its melting point, then slowly withdrawn. The dominant technique is known as the Czochralski (cz) method.
The result is a pure silicon cylinder that is called an ingot. After the ingot is ground into the correct diameter for the
wafers, the silicon ingot is sliced into very thin wafers (1/40th inch). This is usually done with a diamond saw.

Intrinsic Material
Ge and Si are tetravalent atoms because they each have four valence electrons.
A bounding of atoms strengthened by the sharing of electrons is called covalent bonding.

Atomic structure: (a) Ge (b) Si. Single-crystal Structure Covalent bonding of the Si atom.

Although the covalent bond will result in a stronger bond between the valence electrons and their parent
atom, it is still possible for the valence electrons to absorb sufficient kinetic energy from natural (electric
fields, light energy, thermal energy) causes to break the covalent bond and assume the “free” state. At
room temperature there are approximately 1.5x1010 free intrinsic carriers in a cubic centimeter of intrinsic
silicon material and 2.5x1013 in germanium material.

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Discrete levels in isolated atomic structures

The more distant the electron from the nucleus, the higher the energy state, and any electron that has left
its parent atom has a higher energy state than any electron in the atomic structure.

Conduction and valence bands

There is a forbidden region between the valence band and the ionization level (conduction band).
1 eV = (1.6x10-19 C)(1 V)= 1.6x10-19 J
At 0K or absolute zero (-273.15C), all the valence electrons of semiconductor materials find themselves
locked in their outermost shell of the atom with energy levels associated with the valence band.
The lower Eg for germanium accounts for the increased number of carriers in that material as compared to
silicone at room temperature.

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

n-Type Material

Antimony impurity in n-type material Effect of donor impurities on the energy band structure

The n-type is created by introducing the impurity elements that have five valence electrons (pentavalent),
such as antimony, arsenic, and phosphorus. The diffused impurities are called donor atoms, since they
have donated a relatively “free” electron to the structures. Those “free” electrons sit at the forbidden band
and have less difficulty absorbing a sufficient measure of thermal energy to move into the conduction
band at room temperature.

p-Type Material
The p-type is created by introducing those impurity elements that have three valence electrons, such as
boron, gallium, and indium. There are an insufficient number of electrons to complete the covalent bonds
of the newly formed lattice. The resulting vacancy is called a hole. The diffused impurities are called
acceptor atoms, since the hole will readily accept a “free” electron.

Boron impurity in p-type material Electron versus hole flow

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In the intrinsic state, the number of free electrons is due only to those few electrons in the valence band
that have acquired sufficient energy from nature that could not be removed.
In an n-type material, the electron is called the majority carrier and the hole is the minority carrier.
In a p-type material the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the minority carrier.

p-n Junction Diode

- No Applied Bias (VD = 0V)
In the region near the junction, holes diffuse from p-
type to n-type material and recombine with electrons
and they leave behind uncovered negative ions.
Similarly, some positive ions are left as electrons
diffuse from the n-type to p-type material, resulting in
a lack of carriers in the region near the junction called
the depletion region.
The minority carriers (holes) in the n-type material that
find themselves within the depletion region will pass
directly into the p-type material. Similar discussion
can be applied to the minority carriers (electrons) of
the p-type material.

The majority carriers (electrons) of the n-type material must overcome the attractive
forces of the layer of positive ions in the n-type material and the shield of negative ions
in the p-type material in order to migrate into the p-type material. However the number
of majority carriers is so large that there will invariably be small number of majority
carriers with sufficient kinetic energy to pass through the depletion region into the p-
type material. Similar discussion can be applied to the majority carriers (holes) of the
p-type material.
The net flow of charge in any direction is zero.

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 1. Semiconductor Diodes

- Reverse-Bias Condition (VD < 0V)

The number of uncovered positive ions in the

depletion region of the n-type material will
increase due to the large number of “free”
electrons drawn to the positive potential of the
applied voltage.
For similar reasons, the number of uncovered
negative ions will increase in the p-type material.
This widening of the depletion region will
establish too great a barrier for the majority
carriers to overcome, effectively reducing the
majority carrier flow to zero.

The number of minority carriers, however, that find themselves entering the
depletion region will not change, resulting in minority-carrier flow vector of the
same magnitude with no applied voltage.
The reverse saturation current Is is seldom more than a few microamperes except for
high-power devises.

- Forward-Bias Condition (VD > 0V)

The potential VD will “pressure” electrons in

the n-type material and holes in the p-type
material to recombine with the ions near the
boundary and reduce the width of the depletion
region that has resulted in a heavy majority
flow across the junction.
The minority-carrier flow vector has not
changed in magnitude.

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 1. Semiconductor Diodes

( )
I D = I s e kV D /T − 1

q 1.6x10 -19 C
k= =
ηK η1.38x10 − 23 J/ K
11,600
=
η
Is = reverse saturation current
q = electron charge
K= Boltzmann constant

T = temperature (K)

Silicone semiconductor diode characteristics

 = 1 (Ge) and  = 2 (Si) for relatively low levels of diode current (at below the knee of the curve)
 = 1 (Ge) and  = 1 (Si) for higher levels of the diode current
The potential at which the rise occurs is commonly reffered to as the offset, firing, or threshold potential:
VT = 0.7 (Si)
VT = 0.3 (Ge)

As the voltage across the diode increases in the reverse-bias region, the
velocity of the minority carriers (responsible for Is) will also increase.
Their velocity and associated kinetic energy (W=1/2mv2) will be sufficient
to release additional carriers through collisions with otherwise stable
atomic structures. These additional carriers can then aid the ionization
process where a high avalanche current is established and the avalanche
breakdown or zener region (Vz) determined.

Variation in diode characteristics with temperature change

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 1. Semiconductor Diodes

Resistance Levels
DC or Static Resistance

VD
RD =
ID

AC or Dynamic Resistance Vd

rd = Or the derivative of diode equation:
I d d
dVD
(I D ) =
d
dVD
( )
I s e kVD /T − 1

dI D k k k
= I s e kVD /T = (I D + I s )  I D
dVD T T T

11,600
k=
η
T = 25C + 273  = 298 K (room temperatu re)

dI D 38.93I D
=
dVD η
dVD 0.026
η
dI D ID
26mV
rd = η
ID
Q: Quiescent point

For ID = 25 mA
ΔVd 0.8V − 0.78V
rd = = = 2Ω
ΔI d 30mA − 20mA
or
26mV 26mV
rd = η = (1) = 1.04Ω
ID 25mA

For ID = 2 mA
ΔVd 0.76V − 0.65V
rd = = = 27.5Ω
ΔI d 4mA − 0mA
or
26mV 26mV
rd = η = (2) = 26Ω
ID 2mA

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 1. Semiconductor Diodes

Average AC Resistance
The input signal is sufficiently large to produce a broad swing.
ΔVd
rav = pt . t o pt .
ΔI d
ΔVd 0.725V − 0.65V
rav = = = 5Ω
ΔI d 17mA − 2mA

Power dissipation:
PD = VD I D

In the reverse-bias region we have the transition- or depletion- region capacitance (CT), while in the
forward-bias region we have the diffusion (CD) or storage capacitance.

Zener Diodes
The location of Zener region can be controlled by varying the doping levels. An Increase in doping,
producing an increase in the number of added impurities, will decrease the Zener potential. Zener diodes
are available having Zener potentials of 1.8 to 200V with power ratings from ¼ to 50 W.

conduction direction: (a) zener diode; (b) semiconductor diode

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 1. Semiconductor Diodes

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