SRM University, Vadapalani Campus

Question Bank – 18PYB103J/Semiconductor Physics

Unit 3
Multiple choice questions
Questions asked in Online test
1. Which process gives the laser its special properties as an optical source?
a) Dispersion
b) Stimulated absorption
c) Spontaneous emission
d) Stimulated emission

2. Electron-hole pairs are produced by_________

a) Recombination
b) Thermal energy
c) Ionization
d) Doping

3. The radiation emission process can occur ----------------ways.

a) Two
b) Three
c) Four
d) One.

4. When the voltage is applied to semiconductor holes will flow.

a) Away from the negative terminal
b) Toward negative terminal
c) In the external circuit
d) Stationary

5. In band gap of semiconductor, the energy E=E2-E1=?

a) hv
b) 2hv
c) 3hv
d)4hv

6. The process of forced emission of photons caused by the incident photos is called as
------------------
a) Spontaneous emission
b) Spontaneous absorption
c) Stimulated emission
d) Stimulated absorption

7. In case of semiconductor, recombination is merging of

a) An electrons with a hole
b) Two or more electrons
c) Two or more holes
d) An outside electron with semiconductor electron.

8. The relationship between N1 and N2 for stimulated emission to the dominant is

a) N1 = N2
b) N1 > N2
c) N2 > N1
d) N1 - N2

9. Whena pure semiconductor is heated, its resistance -----------------------

a) Goes down
b) Goes up
c) Remains the same
d) Goes down and up

10. Which law is used for achieving the relation between the Einstein Co-efficient?
a) Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
b) Planck’s radiation law
c) Einstein equation
d) Quantum law

11. In a PN junction with no external voltage, the electric field between acceptor and
donor ions is called a----------------
e) Peak
f) Barrier
g) Threshold
h) Path.

12. If the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the anode of the diode, then it
is kwon as ---------------------
e) Forward biased
f) Reserved biased
g) Equilibrium
h) Schottky barrier.

13. If the voltage of the potential barrier is V 0. A voltage V is applied to the input, at what
moments will the barrier disappears?
e) V < V0
f) V > V0
g) V = V0
h) V << V0

14. A photon of frequency ν interact with electrons and holes of specific energies and
momentum is determined by -----------------
e) V-I diagram
f) Band diagram
g) E-P daigram
h) E-k diagram.
15. The density of states ρ(ν ) with which a photon of energy hν interacts under conditions
of energy and momentum of conservation in a -------------------
a) Direct band gap semiconductor
b) Indirect band gap semiconductor
c) Elemental semiconductor
d) Si or Ge .

16. In density of states for the photon field, the volume of a state in K-space is
------------------
2π
a)
L
2L
b)
π
2π 2
c)( )
L
2π 3
d) ( )
L

17. A photon incident o a discrete two level system where --------------------------

a) Level one is occupied and level two is empty
b) Level two is occupied and level one is empty
c) Both are empty
d) Both are occupied.

18. Fermi’s golden rule which describes the optical --------------------

a) Transition level
b) Transition rate
c) Band theory
d) Block body radiation.

19. ----------------- theory was used to derive the absorption of photon in fermi’s golden
rule
a) Time independent perturbation theory
b) Time independent Schoedinger wave equation
c) Time dependent perturbation theory
d) Time dependent Schoedinger wave equation.

20. The behavior of a collection of photons depends the ------------------ among the
photons
a) Distribution of energy
b) Wavelength
c) Frequency
d) Velocity.
21. The photovoltaic effect converts …..
a) Light into electricity
b) Electricity into light
c) Photons into phonons
d) Photons into thermal energy
22. The photo electric current depends upon

a) The frequency of incident radiation only

b) The intensity and the frequency of incident radiations
c) The intensity of incident radiation only
d) The temperature of cathode

23. Which of the following statement is incorrect?

a) Photo voltaic effect does not occur below the threshold frequency
b) The photo voltaic effect current increase with the frequency of incident light
c) Threshold frequency does not depend on the metal used
d) The emission of photoelectrons is an instantaneous process

24. If the voltage of the potential barrier is V0, A voltage V is applied to the input. At what moment
will the barrier disappear?

a) V< V0
b) V>V0
c) V= V0
d) V<< V0

25. Which one is the correct about free electron theory?

a) A gas of free electrons is responsible for the properties of metal

b) Semiconductor can be explained properly
c) Insulators can be explained properly
d) Ohm’s law cannot be derived using free electron theory

26. Drude-Lorentz model explained ……..

a) Quantum free electron theory

b) Photo electric effect
c) Compton effect
d) Classical free electron theory

27. Free electron theory gas is applicable to

a) Solid
b) Liquid
c) Gas
d) Sol gel

28. Drift current is due to…………….

a) Applied electric field over a given distance

b) Random motion of electrons
c) Random motion of holes
d) Recombination of holes and electrons

29. What makes up the total current in a semiconductor?

a) Only diffusion current

b) Only drift current
 c) Drift and diffusion current
d) Biasing current

30. Short circuit current (ISc) in solar cell due to

a) Threshold current flow

b) Maximum current flow
c) Potential across the junction
d) Maximum power.

Other Questions
1. The absorption coefficient of semiconductor materials is strongly dependent on
a) Properties of material
b) Wavelength
c) Amount of light
d) Amplitude

2. The absorption of photons in a photodiode is dependent on:

a) Absorption Coefficient α0
b) Properties of material
c) Charge carrier at junction
d) Amount of light

3. The semiconductor material for which the lowest energy absorption takes place is :
a)GaAs
b)Silicon
c)GaSb
d)Germanium

4. __________________ in the laser occurs when photon colliding with an excited atom
causes the stimulated emission of a second photon.
a) Light amplification
b) Attenuation
c) Dispersion
d) Population inversion

5. A semiconductor laser crystal of length 5 cm, refractive index 1.8 is used as an optical
source. Determine the frequency separation of the modes.
a) 2.8 GHz
b) 1.2 GHz
c) 1.6 GHz
d) 2 GHz
View Answer
 Answer: c
Explanation: The modes of laser are separated by a frequency internal δf and this
separation is given by-
δf = c/2nL
Where
c = velocity of light
n = Refractive index
L = Length of the crystal

6. Optical processes directly involve ____________absorption and emission

a) electron
b) proton
c) photon
d) neutron

7. ----------------- Statistics can be applied to identical, indistinguishable particles of half

spin.
a) Bose- Einstein
b) Fermi-Dirac
c) Maxwell-Boltzmann
d) Bose-Dirac
8. ______________ is defined as the ratio of rate of flow of electrons per second to the
rate of generation of electron hole pairs.
a) Photoconductive gain
b) Fill factor
c) Specific resistivity
d) None of the above.
9. In a semiconductor which of the following carries can contribute to the current?
a) Electrons
b) Holes
c) Both
d) None
10. The solar or photovoltaic cell converts
a) Chemical energy to electrical energy
b) Solar radiation into electrical energy
c) Solar radiation into thermal energy
d) Thermal energy into electrical energy
11. Commercially used solar cells are made of ________
a) Aluminum
b) Germanium
c) Silicon
d) Cadmium
12. What are the parameters used to characterize the solar cell
 a) Short circuit current and open circuit current
b) Fill factor and efficacy
c) a) and b)
d) none of the above
13. When light shines on a solar cell the current flows in the ____________direction to
that of the generated voltage.
a) Same
b) Opposite
c) Negative
d) None of the above
14. The efficiency of the solar cell can be determined by ______
V mIm
a) n=
Prad
n=¿ P ¿
b) rad
V I
m m

K=¿ V ¿
c) Im

d) None of the above

15. The light generated current density can be given as_______
a) J L=qG¿ )
b) I L =qR ¿ )
c) A=π r 2
d) All of the above.
16. The Einstein coefficient for spontaneous and stimulated emission is____________
A 21 8 πkc
a) = 5
B21 ⅄
A 21 8 bhc
b) = 5
B21 ⅄
A 21 8 πrc
c) = 5
B21 ⅄
A 21 8 πhc
d) = 5
B21 ⅄
17. The current density of a photo voltaic cell ranges from
a. 10 – 20 mA/cm2
b. 40 – 50 mA/cm2
c. 20 – 40 mA/cm2
d. 60 – 100 mA/cm2
18. The photovoltaic effect is closely related to the ------------
a) Compton-effect
b) Hall-effect
c) Photoelectric effect.
d) See-beck effect
19. The amount of photo generated current increases slightly with increase in _________
a) Temperature
b) Photons
c) Diode current
d) Shunt current
20. Which among these properties is not suited for the conductor material?

a. High electrical conductivity.

b. High specific gravity.
c. Lower cost.
d. High tensile strength.
21. Model which explain transport properties of electrons in materials (especially metals) is
called

A. Faraday model
B. Newton model
C. Drude model
D. Gaussian model
22. In Drude model, only possible interaction of a free electron with its environment is via
instantaneous

A. velocity
B. acceleration
C. collision
D. crash

24. Drude model is an application of

A. Kinetic theory
B. Potential theory
C. Force theory
D. Power theory.

25. Drude model of electrical conduction was proposed in

A. 1700
B. 1800
C. 1900
D. 2000
4 Marks:
1. What are different types of optical transitions in a semiconductor?
2. Explain optical absorption and emission with suitable diagram?
3. Give short notes on recombination process and their applications?
4. What are the spontaneous and stimulated emissions?
5. Define optical joint density of states with its expression?
6. Define and explain the density of states of photons?
7. Give short notes on optical gain and optical loss?
8. Explain photovoltaic effect and their working principles?
9. Explain photovoltaic effect using band diagram?
10. What are the parameters that can determine the performance of solar cell?
11. Discuss the efficiency of solar cell with I-V diagram?
12. Derive an expression for conductivity using Drude model?
13. Write the applictions of Photovoltaic effect?

12 Marks:
1. (i) Explain optical absorption and emission process? (ii) Discuss about recombination
process and its application?
2. Define optical transitions and explain optical transitions using Fermi’s golden rule?
3. Discuss photovoltaic effect and explain its working principles with their
characteristics?
4. Derive Einstein’s coefficient using spontaneous and stimulated emissions.
5. Determination of efficiency of a Photovoltaic cell and write the any five applications
of photovoltaic cell.
6. (i) What is joint density of states? (ii) Derive the density of states for photons.
7. Explain the theory of Drude model and determine the conductivity of metals.