The document discusses the pn-junction diode. It describes how the diode is formed by doping silicon with p-type and n-type impurities, creating a pn-junction. When formed, electrons diffuse across the junction, creating a depletion region devoid of charge carriers. This depletion region acts as a potential barrier that prevents further diffusion. The document then discusses zero bias, reverse bias, and forward bias conditions and how they affect the depletion region width and current flow. It concludes by presenting Shockley's diode equation that models the I-V relationship.
The document discusses the pn-junction diode. It describes how the diode is formed by doping silicon with p-type and n-type impurities, creating a pn-junction. When formed, electrons diffuse across the junction, creating a depletion region devoid of charge carriers. This depletion region acts as a potential barrier that prevents further diffusion. The document then discusses zero bias, reverse bias, and forward bias conditions and how they affect the depletion region width and current flow. It concludes by presenting Shockley's diode equation that models the I-V relationship.
The document discusses the pn-junction diode. It describes how the diode is formed by doping silicon with p-type and n-type impurities, creating a pn-junction. When formed, electrons diffuse across the junction, creating a depletion region devoid of charge carriers. This depletion region acts as a potential barrier that prevents further diffusion. The document then discusses zero bias, reverse bias, and forward bias conditions and how they affect the depletion region width and current flow. It concludes by presenting Shockley's diode equation that models the I-V relationship.
The document discusses the pn-junction diode. It describes how the diode is formed by doping silicon with p-type and n-type impurities, creating a pn-junction. When formed, electrons diffuse across the junction, creating a depletion region devoid of charge carriers. This depletion region acts as a potential barrier that prevents further diffusion. The document then discusses zero bias, reverse bias, and forward bias conditions and how they affect the depletion region width and current flow. It concludes by presenting Shockley's diode equation that models the I-V relationship.
Lecture 3 The pn-junction Diode • Formed by taking a block of silicon and doping part of it with trivalent impurity (p- type) and another part with a pentavalent impurity (n-type) – A boundary called pn-junction is formed between the resulting p and n-type regions
• The p region has many holes (majority
carriers) from the impurity atoms and only a few thermally generated free electrons (minority carriers)
• The n region has many free electrons
(majority carriers) from the impurity atoms and only a few thermally generated holes (minority carriers) Formation of Depletion Region • At the instant of the pn-junction formation, the free electrons and holes near the junction region will start combining with each other – The electrons of n-region combine with holes of p- region • When the pn-junction is formed, the n-region loses free electrons as they diffuse across the junction. – This creates a layer of positive charges (pentavalent ions) near the junction. • As the electrons move across the junction, the p region loses holes as the electrons and holes combine. – This creates a layer of negative charges (trivalent ions) near the junction. • These two layers of positive and negative charges form the depletion region – Since there are no free charge carriers in this region therefore this region is called depletion region i.e; depleted of free charge carriers Depletion Region and the Barrier Potential • Depletion region is formed very quickly and is very thin compared to p and n-regions • Diffusion of electrons and holes near junction results in – Increase of positive and negative charge (ions) near the junction – A point is reached when the total negative charge in the depletion region repels any further diffusion of a free electron from n-region into p-region and the diffusion stops • This happens because like charges repel each other – In other words, the depletion region acts as a barrier to the further movement of electrons across the junction • This barrier is also known as barrier potential or barrier voltage and has different values for different semiconductor materials Diode Symbol and Biasing • If leads are connected to the ends of each material then a two-terminal device results – Three options are know available for this device • Zero bias • Reverse bias • Forward bias – The term bias refers to the application of an external voltage across the two terminals of the device to extract a response – The symbol for a diode is an arrow with a bar. • Arrow represents p-region • Bar represents n-region Zero Bias (V = 0V) • It simply means that no external voltage has been applied to diode terminals – Zero voltage means zero current
• If the voltage applied across the Figure (a)
diode has the same polarity as the one shown in figure (a) then it will be considered as a positive voltage
• However, if the voltage applied
across the diode has an opposite polarity to the one shown in figure (a) then it will be considered as a negative voltage • Any minority carriers (holes) in n-region that find themselves within depletion region for what so ever reason – These minority carriers feel the force of attraction from the negative ions inside depletion region – Hence they pass quickly into p-region • The same holds true for the minority carriers (free electrons) of p-region, passing from depletion region into n- region • Among the large number of majority carriers a few majority carries with sufficient kinetic energy will pass through depletion region and enter into p-region • The same can be said for majority carriers (holes) in p- region • The net flow of charge in one direction is zero in the absence of an external bias voltage. Reverse Bias Condition (VD < 0V) • A diode is said to be reverse biased if – Positive terminal of battery is connected to n-type – Negative terminal of battery is connected to p-type • Electrons in n-region are drawn towards positive terminal of battery – This increases number of positively charged ions in n-region • Holes in p-region get filled with electrons coming from negative terminal of battery – This increases number of negatively charged ions in p-region • The net effect of above two conditions is the widening of depletion region and – Wider depletion region means greater barrier potential against majority carriers at both sides • The number of (thermally generated) minority carriers will not change and will keep flowing from one region to another – This results in a very minute amount of current under reverse biased condition called reverse saturation current Is whose direction is against the arrow head of diode symbol • Is is seldom more than a few microamperes except for high power devices – Would be higher for a temperature sensitive device • More heat means more thermally generated minority carriers – Usually in nano-ampere range for silicon devices – The term saturation refers to the fact that it reaches its maximum value quickly and does not change significantly with a further increase in reverse bias voltage Forward Bias Condition (VD > 0V) • A diode is said to be in forward bias or ON state if – Positive terminal of battery is connected to p-type – Negative terminal of battery is connected to n-type • Positive voltage forces electrons in n-region and holes in p-region to recombine with the ions near junction – This reduces the width of depletion region – The minority carrier flow from n to p and p to n is still same – But the reduction in depletion region width results in a heavy flow of majority carriers across the junction • Further increase in applied voltage decreases the depletion region further – This eventually results in a flood of electrons passing through the junction and the forward current through diode starts to increase exponentially – Note the quick rising of current beyond the knee of the curve • The general characteristics of a semiconductor diode is defined by Shockley’s equation for the forward and reverse bias regions VD I D I s (e nVT 1) • Is is reverse saturation current • VD is the applied forward bias across the diode • n is the ideality factor and is a function of operating conditions and physical construction – Basically measures how close the real diode is behaving to an ideal diode – Has a range of 1 to 2 (in this course we assume that n = 1) • VT is the thermal voltage kT VT q • k is Boltzman constant = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K • T is the absolute temperature in kelvins = 273 + temperature in oC • q is the magnitude of the electronic charge = 1.6 x 10-19 C Example: VT at a Temperature of 27oC • T = 273 + oC = 273 + 27 = 300K • VT = kT/q = (1.38 x 10-23)(300)/(1.6 x 10-19) • VT = 25.875 mV = 26 mV • The Shockley’s equation can be expanded into following form VD I D I se nVT Is • The first term in above equation will grow rapidly for positive values of VD • This will ultimately nullify the effect of second term Is VD I D I se nVT • For negative values of VD – The exponential term drops very quickly below the level of Is and the resulting equation is simply • ID = -Is
• While at VD = 0V – The exponential term becomes 1 in the Shockley’s equation and the resultant current through diode is zero
