Semiconductor basics in RF

Why we concern the electronic

components in rf design?
Before moving to this topic ,
Do you encountered with this common saying of an
engineer

“AT HIGH FREQUENCIES ALL COMPONENTS

ARE R ,L AND C”
Answer is:
It is necessary to study about the frequency behaviour
of all the active and passive components which are
used in the rf circuits design.

Frequency-dependent behavior of passive components

is one of the key concepts of RF, microwave, high-speed
and all other types of high frequencydesign.
What is actually active and passive components?
Frequency-Dependence in Ideal Lumped
Components
Lumped-element passive components include
resistors, capacitors and inductors.
the relationships between voltage and current vary
with the value of inductance or capacitance, and with
frequency.
INTRINSIC CARRIERS AND MOBILITY FACTOR
First-Order Parasitic Effects

Of course, the components we use do not behave

according to simple mathematical formulas.

In actual resistors, capacitors and inductors, the

physical length, width and height of the device, the
properties of the conductors and dielectric, plus the
electrodes for attachment to an external circuit are all
part of the “component.”
A simple resistor has an inductance associated with
its length and capacitance created by the two “plates”
that are the end electrodes.
Semiconductor basics
Covalent bonding of the silicon atom.
Energy levels: (a) discrete levels in isolated atomic
structures; (b) conduction and valence bands of
an insulator,
a semiconductor, and a conductor
A p–n junction with no external bias: (a) an internal distribution of
charge; (b) a diode symbol,
with the defined polarity and the current direction; (c)
demonstration that the net carrier
flow is zero at the external terminal of the device when V D 0 V.
Reverse-biased p–n junction: (a) internal distribution of charge
under
reverse-bias conditions; (b) reverse-bias polarity and direction of
reverse
saturation current.
Forward-biased p–n junction: (a) internal distribution of
charge under forward-bias
conditions; (b) forward-bias polarity and direction of
resulting current.
I V CHARACTERISTICS
Schottky Diodes
Schottky Diodes are constructed using a metal
electrode bonded to an N-type semiconductor.
 they are constructed using a metal compound on one
side of their junction and doped silicon on the other
side, the Schottky diode therefore has no depletion
layer and are classed as unipolar devices unlike typical
pn-junction diodes which are bipolar devices.
 This silicide metal-silicon contact has a reasonably
low ohmic resistance value allowing more current to
flow producing a smaller forward voltage drop of
around Vƒ<0.4V when conducting.
 Thus current through the Schottky diode is the result
of the drift of majority carriers.
Since there is no p-type semiconductor material and
therefore no minority carriers (holes)
 Thus for a Schottky diode there is a very rapid
response to changes in bias and demonstrating the
characteristics of a rectifying diode.
PIN DIODE

The intrinsic layer between the P and N-type regions

increases the distance between them. The width of the
region is inversely proportional to their capacitance. If
the separation between the P and N region increases
their capacitance decreases.
This characteristic of diode increases their response
time and makes the diode suitable for works like a
microwaves applications.
Forward Biased PIN Diode

When the diode is kept forward biased, the charges

are continuously injected into the I-region from the P
and N-region. This reduces the forward resistance of
the diode, and it behaves like a variable resistance.
The charge carrier which enters from P and N-region
into the i-region are not immediately combined into
the intrinsic region. The finite quantity of charge
stored in the intrinsic region decreases their resistivity.
Reversed Biased PIN Diode

When the reverse voltage is applied across the diode, the

width of the depletion region increases. The thickness of
the region increases until the entire mobile charge
carrier of the I-region swept away from it. The reverse
voltage requires for removing the complete charge
carrier from the I-region is known as the swept
voltage.
In reverse bias, the diode behaves like a capacitor. The P
and N region acts as the positive and negative plates of
the capacitor, and the intrinsic region is the insulator
between the plates.
VARACTOR DIODE
A Varactor Diode (also known with the names Varicap
Diode, Varactor Diode, Tuning Diode) is a p-n
junction diode which acts as a variable capacitor under
varying reverse bias voltage across its terminals.
It is mainly used to replace variable capacitors that
need to be operated mechanically for changing the
value of capacitance. One advantage is that the
capacitance of a varactor diode can be changed just by
changing the voltage across its terminals
WORKING OF A CAPACITOR
A capacitor consists of two conducting surfaces separated by
a non-conducting dielectric medium (see figure below).
When one of surfaces is connected to a positive voltage and
the other to negative voltage, because of attraction between
positive and negative carriers, positive charge accumulates
on one surface and negative charge on the other.
The amount of charge that accumulates is termed as
capacitance. If we reduce the gap between the two surfaces,
the force of attraction between positive and negative charge
carriers increases and so more charge accumulates on the
surface i.e. the capacitance increases.
 The depletion layer in the diode is akin to the dielectric
medium in a capacitor, which acts as an insulator and
prevents the flow of charge carriers from one side to the
other.
So, when reverse bias voltage is applied across the diode,
respective charge carriers accumulate on either side of the
depletion layer. This makes the diode acquire some
capacitance and it is termed as junction capacitance.
A Varactor Diode is specially designed to enhance this
ability to store charge carriers when reverse bias is
applied, thus allowing it to act as a capacitor. 
The junction capacitance is inversely proportional to
the width of depletion layer i.e. if the width of
depletion layer is less, the capacitance will be more,
and vice versa. So if we need to increase the
capacitance of a varactor diode, the reverse bias
voltage should be decreased. It causes the width of
depletion layer to decrease, resulting in higher
capacitance. Similarly increasing the reverse bias
voltage should decrease the capacitance.
this ability to get different values of capacitances just
by changing the voltage applied is the biggest
advantage of a varactor diode when compared with a
normal variable capacitor.
Impatt diode
High-power semiconductor diode used in high-
frequency microwave electronics devices.
They have negative resistance .
The main advantage is their high-power capabilitY
A major drawback of IMPATT diodes is the high level
of phase noise they generate.
 Because of the strong dependence of the ionization
coefficient on the electric field, most of the electron–
hole pairs are generated in the high field region
AVALANCHE breakdown
If a free electron with a sufficient energy strikes a
silicon atom, it can break the covalent bond of silicon
and liberate an electron from the covalent bond. If the
electron liberated gains energy by being in an electric
field and liberates other electrons from other covalent
bonds then this process can cascade very quickly into a
chain reaction, producing a large number of electrons
and a large current flow. This phenomenon is called
avalanche breakdown.
WORKING
(i) The Avalanche region (a region with
relatively high doping and high
field) in which avalanche
multiplication occurs and
(ii) the drift region (a region with
essentially intrinsic doping and
constant field) in which the
generated holes drift towards the
contact. 
(iii)  the electron concentration in the
avalanche region attains its
maximum value at, when the field
has dropped to its average value.
Thus, it is clear that the avalanche
region introduces a 90° phase shift
between the AC signal and the
electron concentration in this
region.
The TRAPATT or TRApped, Plasma Avalanche
Triggered Transit diode
At the instant A, the diode current is on. Since current is thermal and diode
is reverse biased, it charges like capacitor due to reverse biased condition.
This charging of P+ and N region increases the electric field above the
breakdown voltage.
A heavy current is generated due to breakdown and particle current inside
diode increases above the external current due to this electric field in the
depletion region decreases.
This drop in field is shown by curve from B to C. During this period the E-
field is so large that the avalanche continuous and a dense plasma of
electron and holes is created
. As some of the electrons and holes drift out of the ends of the depletion
layer, the field is further depressed and traps the remaining plasma.
BARITT DIODE
Barrier Injection Transit Time diode

The BARITT is very similar, in many respects to the IMPATT, but the main difference
is that the BARITT diode uses thermionic emission rather than avalanche
multiplication.
THERMIONIC EMISSION:The process by which free electrons are emitted from the
surface of a metal when external heat energy is applied is called thermionic
emission. Thermionic emission occurs in metals that are heated to a very high
temperature.
GUNN DIODE
A Gunn diode, also known as a transferred electron
device (TED), is a form of diode, a two-terminal 
semiconductor electronic component, with 
negative resistance, used in high-frequency electronics
.
 In the Gunn diode, three regions exist: two of those
are heavily N-doped on each terminal, with a thin
layer of lightly n-doped material between.