Unit-2

JUNCTION DIODE CHARACTERISTICS: Review of semi

conductor Physics n and p type semi conductors, Mass
Action Law, Continuity Equation, Hall Effect, Open-circuited
p-n junction, The p-n junction as a rectifier (forward bias
and reverse bias), The current components in p-n diode,
Law of junction, Diode equation, Energy band diagram of p-
n diode, Volt-ampere characteristics of p-n diode,
Temperature dependence of VI characteristic, Transition
and Diffusion capacitances, Breakdown Mechanisms in
Semi Conductor Diodes, Zener diode characteristics,
Characteristics of Tunnel Diode, Varactor Diode ,LED,LCD.
And photo diode.
An atom is composed of :
Nucleus ( which contains positively
charged protons and neutral neutrons)
Electrons (which are negatively charged
and that orbit the nucleus)

Atomic Structure
Valence Electrons
Electrons are distributed in various shells
at different distances from nucleus
Electron energy increases as shell radius
increases.
Electrons in the outermost shell are called
valence electrons
Elements in the period table are grouped
according to the number of valence
electrons

Valence Electrons
Elemental/Compound
Semiconductor
Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge) are in
group IV, and are elemental
semiconductors
Galium arsenide (GaAs) is a goup III-V
compound semiconductor

Silicon Crystal
At 0K, each electron is in its lowest
possible energy state, and each covalent
bounding position is filled.

If a small electric field is applied, the
electrons will not move silicon is an
insulator

Silicon Atom Diagram at 0K
Intrinsic Silicon
If the temperature increases, the
valence electrons will gain some thermal
energy, and breaks free from the covalent
bond It leaves a positively charged hole
In order to break from the covalent
bond, a valence electron must gain a
minimun energy Eg: Bandgap energy

Silicon Atom Diagram at Ambiant
Temp
Insulators/Conductors
Materials that have large bandgap
energies (in the range of 3 to 6 electron-
volts (eV)) are insulators, because at
room temperature, essentially no free
electron exists in the material
Materials that contain very large number of
free electrons at room temperature are
conductors

Semiconductors
In a semiconductor, the bandgap
energy is in the order of 1 eV. The net flow
of free electrons causes a current.
In a semiconductor, two types of
charged particles contribute to the current:
the negatively charged electrons and the
positively charged holes

Movement of Holes Movement of
Holes
Semiconductor Constants
The concentration of electrons and
holes directly influence the magnitde
of the current
In an intrinsic semiconductor (a single
crystal semiconductor) the densities
of holes and electrons are equal.

ni: intrinsic carrier concentration for free
electrons (same for holes)

B: constant related to specific
semiconductor material
Eg: Bandgap energy (eV)
T: Temperature (K)
K: Boltzman Constant (86 E-06 eV/K)
Semiconductor Constants
Extrinsic Semiconductor / Doping
The electron or hole concentration can be
greatly increased by adding controlled
amounts of certain impurities
For silicon, it is desirable to use impurities
from the group III and V.
An N-type semiconductor can be created
by adding phosphorus or arsenic

Extrinsic Semiconductor / Doping
The phosphorus (group V) atom is called
donor impurity because it donates an
electron that is free to move
The boron (group III) has accepted a
valence electron (or donated a hole), it is
therefore called acceptor impurity

N-Type Semiconductor
P-Type Semiconductor
Introduction to Semiconductor Devices

Semiconductor p-n junction diodes
p
n
p-type material
Semiconductor material
doped with acceptors.
Material has high hole
concentration
Concentration of free
electrons in p-type material
is very low.
n-type material
Semiconductor material
doped with donors.
Material has high
concentration of free
electrons.
Concentration of holes in
n-type material is very low.
p-n junction formation
p-n junction formation
p-type material
Contains
NEGATIVELY
charged acceptors
(immovable) and
POSITIVELY charged
holes (free).
Total charge = 0
n-type material
Contains POSITIVELY
charged donors
(immovable) and
NEGATIVELY
charged free electrons.
Total charge = 0
Diffusion
A substance, the purple dots, in
solution. A membrane prevents
movement of the water and the
molecules from crossing from
one side of the beaker to the
other.
Now that the gates have been
opened, the random movements of
the molecules have caused,
overtime, the number of molecules
to be equal on the two sides of the
barrier.
Diffusion
As a result of diffusion, the molecules or other free
particles distribute uniformly over the entire volume
p- n junction formation
What happens if n- and p-type materials are in close contact?
Being free particles, electrons start diffusing from n-type material into p-material
Being free particles, holes, too, start diffusing from p-type material into n-material
Have they been NEUTRAL particles, eventually all the free electrons
and holes had uniformly distributed over the entire compound crystal.
However, every electrons transfers a negative charge (-q) onto the p-
side and also leaves an uncompensated (+q) charge of the donor on the
n-side.
Every hole creates one positive charge (q) on the n-side and (-q) on the
p-side
p- n junction formation
What happens if n- and p-type materials are in close contact?
Electrons and holes remain staying close to the p-n junction because
negative and positive charges attract each other.
Negative charge stops electrons from further diffusion
Positive charge stops holes from further diffusion
The diffusion forms a dipole charge layer at the p-n junction interface.
There is a built-in VOLTAGE at the p-n junction interface that prevents
penetration of electrons into the p-side and holes into the n-side.
p-type n-type
p- n junction current voltage characteristics
What happens when the voltage is applied to a p-n junction?
The polarity shown, attracts holes to the left and electrons to the right.
According to the current continuity law, the current can only flow if all
the charged particles move forming a closed loop
However, there are very few holes in n-type material and there are
very few electrons in the p-type material.
There are very few carriers available to support the current through the
junction plane
For the voltage polarity shown, the current is nearly zero
p-type n-type
p- n junction current voltage characteristics
What happens if voltage of opposite polarity is applied to a p-n junction?
The polarity shown, attracts electrons to the left and holes to the right.
There are plenty of electrons in the n-type material and plenty of holes in
the p-type material.
There are a lot of carriers available to cross the junction.
When the voltage applied is lower than the built-in voltage,
the current is still nearly zero
p-type n-type
When the voltage exceeds the built-in voltage, the current can flow through
the p-n junction
Diode current voltage (I-V) characteristics
(

|
.
|

\
|
= 1
kT
qV
I I
S
exp
p n
Semiconductor diode consists of a p-n junction with two
contacts attached to the p- and n- sides
I
S
is usually a very small current, I
S
10
-17
10
-13
A
When the voltage V is negative (reverse polarity) the exponential term -1;
The diode current is I
S
( very small).
0 V
When the voltage V is positive (forward polarity) the exponential term
increases rapidly with V and the current is high.
Graphing the I-V characteristics of electronic components.
Resistor
The I-V plot represents is the dependence of the current I through
the component on the voltage V across it.
V
R
I R I V
|
.
|

\
|
= => =
1
;
I = V / R;
R = V/I
V
I
R
AV
AI
o
tg(o) = 1/R
The I-V characteristic of the resistor
The I-V characteristic of the diode
I
S

(

|
.
|

\
|
= 1
kT
qV
I I
S
exp
The experimental I-V characteristic of a Si diode
p- n diode circuit notation
p
n

|
.
|

\
|
= 1 exp
kT
qV
I I
S
I
S

|
.
|

\
|
= 1 exp
kT
qV
I I
S
I
S
When plus is applied to the p-side,
the current is high. This voltage
polarity is called FORWARD.
When plus is applied to the n-side,
the current is nearly zero. This voltage
polarity is called REVERSE.
p- n diode applications:
Light emitters
P-n junction can emit the
light when forward biased
p-type n-type
+
-
+
-
Electrons drift into p-material and find plenty of holes there. They
RECOMBINE by filling up the empty positions.
Holes drift into n-material and find plenty of electrons there. They also
RECOMBINE by filling up the empty positions.
The energy released in the process of annihilation produces
PHOTONS the particles of light
+
-
p- n diode applications:
Photodetectors
P-n junction can detect light
when reverse biased
p-type n-type
When the light illuminates the p-n junction, the photons energy RELEASES free
electrons and holes.
They are referred to as PHOTO-ELECTRONS and PHOTO-HOLES
The applied voltage separates the photo-carriers attracting electrons toward
plus and holes toward minus
As long as the light is ON, there is a current flowing through the p-n junction
NEGATIVE RESISTANCE DEVICE
It is a device which exhibits a negative
incremental resistance over a limited range of
V-I characteristic.
It is of two types :-
1. Current controllable type : V-I curve is a
multi valued function of voltage and single
valued function of current .eg:- UJT, p-n-p-n
diode
2. Voltage controllable type : V-I curve is a
multi valued function of current and single
valued function of voltage. eg:- SCS, Tunnel
diode -
TUNNEL DIODE (Esaki Diode)
It was introduced by Leo Esaki in 1958.
Heavily-doped p-n junction
Impurity concentration is 1 part in 10^3 as compared to
1 part in 10^8 in p-n junction diode
Width of the depletion layer is very small
(about 100 A).
It is generally made up of Ge and GaAs.
It shows tunneling phenomenon.
Circuit symbol of tunnel diode is :



E
V

WHAT IS TUNNELING
Classically, carrier must have energy at least
equal to potential-barrier height to cross the
junction .
But according to Quantum mechanics there is
finite probability that it can penetrate through the
barrier for a thin width.
This phenomenon is
called tunneling and
hence the Esaki Diode
is know as
Tunnel Diode.
- Ve Resistance Region
Vf
Vp
Ip
Vv
Forward Voltage
Reverse
voltage
Iv
R
e
v
e
r
s
e

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

F
o
r
w
a
r
d

C
u
r
r
e
n
t

Ip:- Peak Current
Iv :- Valley Current
Vp:- Peak Voltage
Vv:- Valley Voltage
Vf:- Peak Forward
Voltage
CHARACTERISTIC OF TUNNEL DIODE
ENERGY BAND DIAGRAM
Energy-band diagram of pn junction in thermal equilibrium in which both the n
and p region are degenerately doped.
-Zero current on the I-V diagram;
-All energy states are filled below E
F
on both sides of the junction;
AT ZERO BIAS
Simplified energy-band diagram and I-V characteristics of the tunnel diode at zero bias.
-Electrons in the conduction band of the n region are directly opposite to
the empty states in the valence band of the p region.
-So a finite probability that some electrons tunnel directly into the empty
states resulting in forward-bias tunneling current.
AT SMALL FORWARD VOLTAGE
Simplified energy-band diagram and I-V characteristics of the tunnel diode at a slight forward bias.
-The maximum number of electrons in the n region are opposite to the
maximum number of empty states in the p region.
- Hence tunneling current is maximum.
AT MAXIMUM TUNNELING CURENT
Simplified energy-band diagraam and I-V characteristics of the tunnel diode at a forward bias
producing maximum tunneling current.
-The forward-bias voltage increases so the number of electrons on the n side,
directly opposite empty states on the p side decreases.
- Hence the tunneling current decreases.
AT DECREASING CURRENT REGION
Simplified energy-band diagram and I-V characteristics of the tunnel diode at a higher forward
bias producing less tunneling current.
-No electrons on the n side are directly opposite to the empty
states on the p side.
- The tunneling current is zero.
-The normal ideal diffusion current exists in the device.
AT HIGHER FORWARD VOLTAGE
Simplified energy-band diagram and I-V characteristics of the tunnel diode at a forward bias
for which the diffusion current dominates.
- Electrons in the valence band on the p side are directly opposite to
empty states in the conduction band on the n side.
-Electrons tunnel directly from the p region into the n region.
- The reverse-bias current increases monotonically and rapidly with
reverse-bias voltage.
AT REVERSE BIAS VOLTAGE
Cj -R
rs
Ls
TUNNEL DIODE EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT
This is the equivalent
circuit of tunnel diode
when biased in negative
resistance region.
At higher frequencies the
series R and L can be
ignored.
Hence equivalent circuit can be reduced to parallel
combination of junction capacitance and negative
resistance.

A Zener is a diode operated in reverse
bias at the Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)
called the Zener Voltage (V
Z
).
Common Zener Voltages: 1.8V to
200V
Zener Diode
48 48












The diode is in the reverse bias condition.
At some point the reverse bias voltage is so large the diode breaks
down.
The reverse current increases dramatically.
This maximum voltage is called avalanche breakdown voltage and the
current is called avalanche current.
Zener Region
49 49
Semiconductors act differently to DC and AC currents.
There are 3 types of resistances.

DC or Static Resistance
AC or Dynamic Resistance
Average AC Resistance
Resistance Levels
50 50
DC or Static Resistance

The resistance of a diode at a particular operating
point is called the dc or static resistance diode. It
can be determined using equation (1.1):
(1.1)
R
D
= V
D
/I
D
51 51
Example : DC or Static Resistance refer Figure 1.1
2m
20m
I
D
(A)
Si diode
250 0.5 0 0 2m
40 0.8 0 0 20m
R
D
(O)
V
D
(V)
R
D
(O)
V
D
(V) I
D
(A)
Ideal diode
dc resistance of forward-bias region decrease when
higher currents and voltage.
52 52
-2
I
D
(A)
Si diode
5M -10 -10 0
R
D
(O)
V
D
(V)
R
D
(O)
V
D
(V) I
D
(A)
Ideal diode
dc resistance of reverse-bias region, its open-circuit
equivalent.
53 53
AC or Dynamic Resistance

Static resistance is using dc input. If the input is
sinusoidal the scenario will be change.
The varying input will move instantaneous
operating point UP and DOWN of a region.
Thus the specific changes in current and voltage is
obtained. It can be determined using equation (1.2)
(1.2)
r
d
= V
D
/ I
D
54 54
point) (point to
Id
Vd
rav
AC resistance can be determined by picking 2 points on the characteristic curve developed
for a particular circuit.
Average AC Resistance
55 55