NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SAMITI,

HYDERABAD REGION
NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SAMITI

e-Content

Class: XII
Subject: Physics
Chapter: Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and Simple circuits

Prepared by Manjusha M Nair, PGT Physics,

JNV Wayanad, Kerala.
What are Semiconductors?
• Semiconductors are the materials which have
a conductivity between conductors and non-
conductors or insulators .
• Resistivity: 10-5 to 106 Ωm
• Conductivity: 105 to 10-6 mho/m
• Temperature coefficient of
resistance: Negative
• Eg: Elemental form- Silicon and germanium
• Compound form-GaAs, CdS, InP etc.
Why are semiconductors?
• Semiconductors can conduct electricity under
preferable conditions or circumstances. This
unique property makes it an excellent material
to conduct electricity in a controlled manner as
required.
• They consume low power, are small in size,
operate at low voltages and have a long life and
high reliability.
ENERGY BANDS IN SOLIDS
• The electrons in an atom are present in
different energy level. When we try to
assemble a lattice of a solid with N atoms, then
each level of an atom must split up into N
levels in the solid. This splitting up of sharp and
tightly packed energy levels forms Energy
Bands.
ENERGY BANDS IN SOLIDS
 In a free atom the energies of electrons can have only some
definite (quantized) values.
 If an atom belongs to a crystal, then the energy levels are
modified.
 This modification is not appreciable in the case of energy levels
of electrons in the inner shells (completely filled).
 But in the outermost shells, modification is appreciable because
the electrons are shared by many neighbouring atoms.
 Due to influence of high electric field between the core of the
atoms and the shared electrons, energy levels are split-up or
spread out forming energy bands.
Formation of Energy Bands in Solids:
Energy

Conduction Band
• • 3p2
Forbidden Energy Gap • • 3s2
Valence Band

•••••• 2p6 Ion

• • 2s2 core
state
• • 1s2

O a b c d Inter atomic spacing (r)

 Formation of Energy Bands in Solids:
(i) r = Od (>> Oa):
Each of N atoms has its own energy levels. The energy levels
are identical, sharp, discrete and distinct.
(ii) Oc < r < Od:

There is no visible splitting of energy levels but there develops

a tendency for the splitting of energy levels.
(iii) r = Oc:
The interaction between the outermost shell electrons of
neighbouring silicon atoms becomes appreciable and the
splitting of the energy levels commences.
(iv) Ob < r < Oc:
The energy corresponding to the s and p levels of each atom gets
slightly changed. Corresponding to a single s level of an isolated
atom, we get 2N levels. Similarly, there are 6N levels for a single
p level of an isolated atom.
Formation of Energy Bands in Solids:

The collection of very closely spaced energy levels is called an

energy band.
(v) r = Ob:

The energy gap disappears completely. 8N levels are

distributed continuously. We can only say that 4N levels are
filled and 4N levels are empty.
(vi) r = Oa:

The band of 4N filled energy levels is separated from the band

of 4N unfilled energy levels by an energy gap called forbidden
gap or energy gap or band gap.
The lower completely filled band (with valence electrons) is
called the valence band and the upper unfilled band is called
the conduction band.
Valance Band & Conduction Band

• Valence and Conduction band are the two

different energy levels separated by a certain
amount of energy.
• The main difference between the valence band
and conduction band is that valence band
specifies the energy level of electrons present
in the valence shell of an atomic structure.
• A conduction band holds those electrons that
are responsible for conduction.
Forbidden Energy Gap
• Forbidden energy gap, also known as band gap
refers to the energy difference (eV) between the
top energy level of valence band and the bottom
energy level of the conduction band in materials.

• Band gap in silicon and germanium is 1.11eV

and 0.67eV respectively.
ENERGY BANDS OF METALS,
SEMICONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS
Charge carriers in Semiconductors:
• Holes and electrons are the types of charge
carriers accountable for the flow of current in
semiconductors.
• Holes are the positively charged electric charge
carrier whereas electrons are the negatively
charged particles. Both electrons and holes are
equal in magnitude but opposite in polarity.
Types of Semiconductors
• Semiconductors can be classified as:
• Intrinsic Semiconductor is made to be very
pure chemically. It is made up of only a single
type of element.
• Eg: Germanium (Ge) and Silicon (Si).
• Extrinsic Semiconductor-A semiconductor to
which an impurity at controlled rate is added to
make it conductive .
Intrinsic semiconductors

• The pure form of the semiconductor is known as the

intrinsic semiconductor.
• Electronic Configuration of Silicon and Germanium
• Silicon --- 1s2 2s22p6 3s2 3p2
• Germanium --- 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p2
• Silicon and germanium are tetravalent.
Intrinsic semiconductors
• In its crystalline structure, Si and Ge tends to
share one of its valence electrons and also take
share of one electron from its neighbour atoms.
Concept of hole:
• As temperature is increased, some of the
electrons break free and behave as conduction
electrons. This creates a vacancy in the bond and
creates a positive charge also known as a hole.
Electrons and Holes:

• On receiving an additional energy, one of the

electrons from a covalent bond breaks and is free to
move in the crystal lattice.
• While coming out of the covalent bond, it leaves
behind a vacancy named ‘hole’.
• An electron from the neighbouring atom can break
away from the bond and can come to the place of the
missing electron (or hole) completing the covalent
bond and creating a hole at another place.
• The holes move randomly in a crystal lattice.
Concept of hole:
• Semiconductors possess the unique property
that apart from electrons the holes also move.
• These free electrons and holes contribute to
the conduction of electricity in the
semiconductor.
• The negative and positive charge carriers are
equal in number.
Concept of hole:
• A hole behaves as an apparent free charge similar to an
electron and contributes to conduction.
• Holes act as charge carriers in the sense that electrons
from nearby sites can move into the hole.
Intrinsic or Pure Semiconductor:Valence
electrons
Covalent Bond
Ge Ge Ge Ge
Broken Covalent Bond

Free electron ( - )
Ge Ge Ge Ge Hole ( + )

Ge Ge Ge Ge C.B
+

Eg 0.74 eV
Ge Ge Ge Ge V.B
+ +

Heat
Energy
Carrier concentration in intrinsic
semiconductors:
• In intrinsic semiconductors, current flows due to the
motion of free electrons as well as holes. The total
current is the sum of the electron current Ie due to
thermally generated electrons and the hole current
Ih
• Total Current (I) = Ie + Ih
• If ne and nh are the concentration of electrons and
holes respectively, then ne = nh.
• The quantity ne or nh is referred to as the ‘intrinsic
carrier concentration’.
Crystal structure of intrinsic
semiconductor at T=0K.
Energy Band Diagram of Intrinsic Semiconductor

(a)Intrinsic Semiconductor at T = 0 Kelvin, behaves like an insulator

(b) At T>0, four thermally generated electrons
Doping a Semiconductor:

• The process by which an impurity is added to a

semiconductor is known as Doping.
• The purpose of adding impurity in the
semiconductor crystal is to increase the number of
free electrons or holes to make it conductive.
• The impurity atoms are called ‘dopants’.
• Depending upon the type of impurity added the
extrinsic semiconductor may be classified as
n type semiconductor and p type semiconductor.
Extrinsic semiconductor: N – Type semiconductorstors:

Ge Ge Ge
C.B

- 0.045
Eg = 0.74 eV eV
Ge As Ge
+ V.B

Ge Ge Ge Donor
+ level

When a semiconductor of Group IV (tetra valent) such as Si or Ge is

doped with a penta valent impurity (Group V elements such as P, As
or Sb), N – type semiconductor is formed.
When germanium (Ge) is doped with arsenic (As), the four valence
electrons of As form covalent bonds with four Ge atoms and the fifth
electron of As atom is loosely bound.
 Energy band diagram of n type semiconductor
The energy state corresponding to the fifth electron is in
the forbidden gap and slightly below the lower level of the
conduction band. This energy level is called ‘donor level’.
Carrier Concentration in N - Type Semiconductors:

• If n and p represent the electron and hole

concentrations respectively in N-type
semiconductor, then
n p = ne nh = ni2

When the concentration of electrons is increased

above the intrinsic value by the addition of
donor impurities, the concentration of holes falls
below its intrinsic value, making the product np
a constant, equal to ni2.
 P - Type Semiconductors:
Si Si Si
C.B

Si In Si
Eg = 0.74 eV
0.05 eV
+
V.B

Si Si Si Acceptor level
+

When a semiconductor of Group IV (tetravalent) such as Si or Ge is

doped with a trivalent impurity (Group III elements such as In, B or
Ga), P – type semiconductor is formed.
When silicon (Si) is doped with indium (In), the three valence
electrons of In form three covalent bonds with three Si atoms. The
vacancy that exists with the fourth covalent bond with fourth Si
atom constitutes a hole.
Energy band diagram of p type semiconductor
• The acceptor impurity produces an energy level just
above the valence band.
• This energy level is called ‘acceptor level’.
Charge carriers in extrinsic
semiconductors
Charge carriers in extrinsic
semiconductors
• In p type semiconductor, holes are majority
charge carriers whereas electrons are minority
charge carriers. i.e nh>>ne
• In n type semiconductor, electrons are majority
charge carriers whereas holes are minority
charge carriers. . i.e nh<<ne
• But p type or n type semiconductors are
electrically neutral.
Distinction between Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Semiconductor:
S. No. Intrinsic Semiconductor
1 Pure Group IV elements.
2 Conductivity is only slight.
3 Conductivity increases with rise
in temperature.
4 The number of holes is always
equal to the number of free
electrons.
Extrinsic Semiconductor
Group III or Group V elements
are introduced in Group IV
elements.
Conductivity is greatly
increased.
Conductivity depends on the
amount of impurity added.
In N-type, the no. of electrons is
greater than that of the holes
and in P-type, the no. holes is
greater than that of the
electrons.
PN Junction Diode:

When a P-type semiconductor is joined to a N-type semiconductor

such that the crystal structure remains continuous at the boundary,
the resulting arrangement is called a PN junction diode or a
semiconductor diode or a crystal diode.

P N

- - - - - + + + + +
- - - - - + + + + +
- - - - - + + + + +

Mobile Hole (Majority Carrier) Mobile Electron (Majority

Carrier)
- Immobile Negative Impurity + Immobile Positive Impurity
Ion Ion
Formation of pn junction diode:
• Two important processes take place during the
formation of a p-n Junction:
• Diffusion
• Drift
Formation of pn junction diode:
• Diffusion is the process of movement of charge
carriers due to concentration gradient along the
semiconductor. In a p-n junction, n-side has excess
of electrons and hence electrons diffuse from n-
side to p-side. Similarly, holes diffuse from p-side
to n-side.
• Drift is the process of movement of charge carriers
due to the net electric field. In a pn-junction with
no external source, electric field is from n-side to
p-side and hence electrons drift from p-side to n-
side.
Depletion Region & Potential Barrier

• The region containing the immobile acceptor and donor

ions is called ‘depletion region’ because this region is
devoid of mobile charges.
• Since the region is having only immobile charges,
therefore, this region is also called ‘space charge
region’.
• The difference in potential between P and N regions
across the junction makes it difficult for the holes and
electrons to move across the junction. This acts as a
barrier and hence called ‘potential barrier’ or ‘height
of the barrier’.
Forward bias
• When the positive terminal of the battery is connected
to P-region and negative terminal is connected to N-
region, then the PN junction diode is said to be
forward-biased.

•Here the applied

voltage is opposite
to the barrier
potential.
Forward bias
• Due to the applied voltage, holes from p side
and free electrons from n side enter into the
depletion region- minority carrier injection.
• The potential barrier and the width of the
depletion region decrease.
• Therefore, a large number of majority carriers
diffuse across the junction.
• Hole current and electronic current are in the
same direction and add up.
 Forward bias

• If the applied potential is increased, the potential

barrier further decreases. As a result, a large number
of majority carriers diffuse through the junction and a
larger current flows.
• In forward biasing, the resistance of pn junction
reduces considerably.
• Here diode act as a conductor and there is current. flow
through the circuit
Forward characteristics of pn junction diode.

The minimum forward bias voltage required for a diode to

conduct is called threshold voltage. Threshold voltage is the
voltage above which current increases very rapidly with
applied voltage.
Reverse Bias
• When the negative terminal of the battery is
connected to P-region and positive terminal is
connected to N-region, then the PN junction diode is
said to be reverse-biased.

• Here the
applied
voltage is in
the same
direction as
the barrier
potential.
Reverse Bias

• The majority carriers are pulled away from the

junction.
• The potential barrier and the width of the
depletion region increase.
• Therefore, it becomes more difficult for
majority carriers to diffuse across the junction
Reverse Bias
• In reverse biasing, the resistance of the
junction increases due to the applied voltage,
hence no diffusion current.
• Thus pn junction diode act as an insulator in
reverse bias mode.
• But the minority carriers from both the regions
drift towards the junction and reach the
majority zone giving rise to drift current.
• This drift current is of the order of a few
microamperes.
Reverse characteristics of pn junction
diode.

The breakdown voltage is the minimum

reverse voltage that makes the diode conduct appreciably
in reverse bias mode.
JUNCTION DIODE AS A RECTIFIER
• Rectifier is a device which is used for
converting alternating current or voltage into
direct current or voltage.
• The resistance of a p-n junction diode becomes
low when forward biased and becomes high
when reverse biased. This is the principle of
the working of rectifier.
HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
• In a half-wave rectifier, one half of each a.c input
cycle is rectified. When the p-n junction diode is
forward biased, it gives little resistance and when
it is reversing biased it provides high resistance.
INPUT OUTPUT WAVEFORM FOR A HALF
WAVE RECTIFIER

• The rectified output of the circuit is only for half of

the input ac wave, hence it is called half-wave
rectifier.
• Here the frequency of input and output waveforms
are the same.
FULL WAVE RECIFIER
• Here the circuit uses two diodes giving output
rectified voltage corresponding to both the
positive and negative half of ac cycle. Hence it
is known as full wave rectifier.
INPUT OUTPUT WAVEFORMS FOR FULL
WAVE RECTIFIER

• Here the frequency of output wave form is twice

that of input waveform.
ROLE OF CAPACITOR FILTER
• The main function of this filter is to allow the ac
components and blocks the dc components of the load.
The filter circuit output will be a stable dc voltage.
ROLE OF CAPACITOR FILTER
• By controlling the charging and discharging rate of the
capacitor the pure DC can be obtained from the pulsating
DC. In simple the capacitor allows AC and blocks DC, so
the capacitor can connect parallel to the power supply so
that the AC is filtered out and DC will reach the load.
ZENER DIODE
• A heavily doped semiconductor diode which is
designed to operate in reverse direction is
known as the Zener diode.
• The symbolic representation of Zener diode is
shown in the figure below.
 ZENER DIODE-Characteristics
If (mA)
• Heavily doped
• Depletion Region is < 10-6 m
• Electric Field is very high
VZ
(5x106 V/m) Vr (Volt) 0 Vf (Volt)
• Reverse biased
Vz – Breakdown
• Internal Field emission or Voltage

field ionisation
Ir (μA)
ZENER DIODE-WORKING PRINCIPLE
• Due to the thinner depletion layer, electric field
strength across the depletion layer is quite high.
If the reverse voltage is continued to increase,
after a certain applied voltage, the electrons
from the covalent bonds within the depletion
region come out and make the depletion region
conductive. This breakdown is called Zener
breakdown. The voltage at which this breakdown
occurs is called Zener voltage.
ZENER DIODE AS VOLTAGE REGULATOR
• The voltage across the zener diode in the
breakdown region is almost constant.
• Resistor, RS is connected in series with the zener
diode to limit the current flow through the diode
with the voltage source, VS being connected across
the combination. The stabilised output
voltage Vout is taken from across the zener diode.
●
Unregulated

RS
Voltage Vs

●
RL Regulated Voltage
Vz=Vout
● ●
Optoelectronic Junction Devices
• Optoelectronic junction devices are p-n junction
devices in which, charge carriers are generated
by photons.
• Photodiodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and
solar cells are examples of optoelectronic devices
PHOTODIODE
• It is also called as Photodetector, photo sensor or
light detector.
• The photo diode accepts light energy as input to
generate electric current.
• Photo diode operates in reverse bias condition
WORKING OF PHOTODIODE
• The junction of the device is illuminated with light. This causes
the electron and hole to get separated from each other.
• With the rise in the light intensity, more charge carriers are
generated and flow through the device. Thereby, producing a
large electric current through the device.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTODIODE

• The figure below shows the VI characteristic

curve of a photodiode:
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE
• It is a heavily doped p-n junction which under forward
bias emits spontaneous radiation.
• When a suitable voltage is applied to the leads,
electrons are able to recombine with electron holes
within the device, releasing energy in the form of
photons. the color of the light (corresponding to the
energy of the photon) is determined by the energy
band gap of the semiconductor.
COLOUR OF LEDs:
• The colour of the light depends upon the types of
material used in making the semiconductor
diode.
• The semiconductor used for design of visible
LEDs must have a bandgap from about 3eV to
1.8eV .
• Eg: Gallium – Arsenide (Ga-As) – Infrared
radiation
• Eg: Gallium – Arsenide – Phosphide (GaAsP) –
LEDs of different colours.
V-I Characteristics of LED
• Here the threshold voltages are much higher than that of
Si junction diode and slightly different for each colour.
ADVANTAGES OF LEDs
• LEDs have the following advantages over the
conventional lamps:
• Low operational voltage and less power
• Fast action and no warm-up time required
• Long life
• Fast on-off switching capacity
Solar cell

• Principle–These photo voltaic devices convert the

optical radiation into electricity.
• When solar light falls on a p-n junction, it generates emf
• As the solar radiation is incident at the junction, the
junction area is kept much larger for more power
generation
WORKING OF SOLAR CELL
• The generation of emf by the solar cell, when
light falls on, is due to the following three basic
processes:
• Generation
• Separation
• Collection
SOLAR CELL-VI CURVE
• The graph showing the VI characteristics, with V along the
X-axis and I along the Y-axis is as given above
• The graph is indicated in the fourth quadrant as solar cell
does not draw current but supplies the same to the load
Solar cell

• Application
• Solar cells are used in power electronic devices in
satellites and space vehicles
• They are also used as power supply in calculators
• Criteria for material selection of material for solar cell
• Band gap between 1.0 and 1.8 eV
• High optical absorption
• Electrical conductivity
• Availability of raw material
• Cost effective
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