SEMICONDUCTOR

DEVICES
Semiconductor devices are electronic components that exploit the electronic properties
of semiconductor materials, principally silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, as well
as organic semiconductors. Semiconductor devices have replaced thermionic
devices (vacuum tubes) in most applications. They use electronic conduction in the solid
state as opposed to the gaseous state or thermionic emission in a high vacuum.

1. VACUUM TUBE
Alternatively referred to as an electron tube or valve and first developed by John Ambrose
Fleming in 1904. The vacuum tube is a glass tube that has its gas removed, creating a
vacuum. Vacuum tubes contain electrodes for controlling electron flow and were used in
early computers as a switch or an amplifier.

WORKING
The simplest vacuum tube, the diode, contains only a heater, a heated electron-emitting
cathode (the filament itself acts as the cathode in some diodes), and a plate (anode).
Current can only flow in one direction through the device between the two electrodes, as
electrons emitted by the cathode travel through the tube and are collected by the anode.
Adding one or more control grids within the tube allows the current between the cathode
and anode to be controlled by the voltage on the grid or grid. Tubes with grids can be used
for many purposes, including amplification, rectification, switching, oscillation, and display.

CONSTRUCTION
A vacuum tube consists of two or more electrodes in a vacuum inside an airtight enclosure.
Most tubes have glass envelopes with a glass-to-metal seal based
on kovar sealable borosilicate glasses, though ceramic and metal envelopes (atop insulating
bases) have been used. The electrodes are attached to leads which pass through the
envelope via an airtight seal. Most vacuum tubes have a limited lifetime, due to the
filament or heater burning out or other failure modes, so they are made as replaceable
units; the electrode leads connect to pins on the tube's base which plug into a tube socket.
Tubes were a frequent cause of failure in electronic equipment, and consumers were
expected to be able to replace tubes themselves. In addition to the base terminals, some
tubes had an electrode terminating at a top cap.
APPLICATIONS
Modern scientific inventions have helped replace these tubes with solid state
semiconductor devices, such as transistors and solid state diodes. These are usually
smaller, cheaper, more efficient, and reliable. However, in some specialized applications,
such as high power radio frequency transmitters and microwave ovens, they still find use
even in modern times.

2. FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR
The field-effect transistor (FET) is a transistor that uses an electric field to control the
electrical behaviour of the device. FETs are also known as unipolar transistors since they
involve single-carrier-type operation.

CONSTRUCTION
FETs can be majority-charge-carrier devices, in which the current is carried predominantly
by majority carriers, or minority-charge-carrier devices, in which the current is mainly due
to a flow of minority carriers.[3] The device consists of an active channel through which
charge carriers, electrons or holes, flow from the source to the drain. Source and drain
terminal conductors are connected to the semiconductor through ohmic contacts. The
conductivity of the channel is a function of the potential applied across the gate and source
terminals.
The FET's three terminals are:
1.source (S), through which the carriers enter the channel. Conventionally, current
entering the channel at S is designated by IS.
2.drain (D), through which the carriers leave the channel. Conventionally, current entering
the channel at D is designated by ID. Drain-to-source voltage is VDS.
3.gate (G), the terminal that modulates the channel conductivity. By applying voltage to G,
one can control ID.

WORKING
The FET controls the flow of electrons (or electron holes) from the source to drain by
affecting the size and shape of a "conductive channel" created and influenced by voltage
(or lack of voltage) applied across the gate and source terminals. (For simplicity, this
discussion assumes that the body and source are connected.) This conductive channel is
the "stream" through which electrons flow from source to drain.
APPLICATIONS
The most commonly used FET is the MOSFET. The CMOS (complementary metal oxide
semiconductor) process technology is the basis for modern digital integrated circuits.
This process technology uses an arrangement where the (usually "enhancement-mode") p-
channel MOSFET and n-channel MOSFET are connected in series such that when one is on, the
other is off.
In FETs, electrons can flow in either direction through the channel when operated in the linear
mode. The naming convention of drain terminal and source terminal is somewhat arbitrary, as
the devices are typically (but not always) built symmetrically from source to drain. This makes
FETs suitable for switching analog signals between paths (multiplexing). With this concept, one
can construct a solid-state mixing board, for example.
A common use of the FET is as an amplifier. For example, due to its large input resistance and
low output resistance, it is effective as a buffer in common-drain (source follower)
configuration.
IGBTs are used in switching internal combustion engine ignition coils, where fast switching and
voltage blocking capabilities are important.

3. HETEROSTRUCTURE BARRIER VARACTOR

CONSTRUCTION:
The HBV consists of two, back to back, anti-serially connected rectifying diodes (such
as Schottky diodes for instance). The gap in the middle of the diode symbol represents the
inherent capacitance of the device. The electrical characteristics of the HBV are realized by
separating two layers of a semiconductor material (A) with a layer of another semiconductor
material (B).

WORKING
The band-gap of material (B) should be larger than for material (A). This results in a barrier for
the carriers trying to travel through the layers (A)-(B)-(A). The (A) layers are usually n-doped
which means that electrons are the majority carriers of this device. At different bias voltages
the carriers are redistributed and the distance between the carriers on each side of the barrier
(B) is different. As a consequence the HBV has electrical properties resembling the parallel
plate capacitor with a voltage dependent plate distance d.
APPLICATIONS
The main application for the HBV diode is to generate extremely high frequency signals from
lower frequency input. This type of frequency multiplication is demonstrated as triplers (3×
multiplication) at 100 GHz through 282 GHz and up to 450 GHz,and also as quintuplers (5×
multiplication) at 175 GHz.

4. INSULATED-GATE BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR

An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor

CONSTRUCTION
It consists of four alternating layers (P-N-P-N) that are controlled by a metal-oxide-
semiconductor (MOS) gate structure without regenerative action. Although the structure of
the IGBT is topologically the same as a thyristor with a MOS gate (MOS gate thyristor), the
thyristor action is completely suppressed and only the transistor action is permitted in the
entire device operation range. An IGBT cell is constructed similarly to a n-channel vertical-
construction power MOSFET, except the n+ drain is replaced with a p+ collector layer, thus
forming a vertical PNP bipolar junction transistor. This additional p+ region creates a cascade
connection of a PNP bipolar junction transistor with the surface n-channel MOSFET.

WORKING
By connecting appropriate diodes, the current flow is allowed. When this transistor is
switched on again, the current flowing in a diode at first works like a short. The voltage can be
blocked by removing the stored voltage. This looks as a surplus current added to the load
current which is called as the reverse recovery current of the diode ‘Irr’. The max of Irr occurs
(di/dt = 0) when the amount of the sudden voltages through the IGBT & the diode matches
the supply voltage. When the IGBT is turned ON, then the current changes which make an
over-voltage point by the change in the current in the dependent inductances agreeing to
∆VCE = Lσ × di/d
APPLICATIONS
This device is apt for several applications such as used in power electronics, particularly in
PWM(Pulse Width Modulated), UPS (Un interruptible Power Supplies), SMPS (Switched-
Mode Power Supplies), and other power circuits. It increases the efficiency, dynamic
performance and reduces the level of the audible noise. It is similarly fitted in the of
resonant mode converter circuits. Optimized IGBT is accessible for both low switching loss
and low conduction loss.

5. INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or
a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip")
of semiconductor material, normally silicon.

CONSTRUCTION
The semiconductors of the periodic table of the chemical elements were identified as the
most likely materials for a solid-state vacuum tube. Starting with copper oxide, proceeding
to germanium, then silicon, the materials were systematically studied in the 1940s and
1950s. Today, monocrystalline silicon is the main substrate used for ICs although some III-V
compounds of the periodic table such as gallium arsenide are used for specialized
applications like LEDs, lasers, solar cells and the highest-speed integrated circuits. It took
decades to perfect methods of creating crystals without defects in the crystalline
structure of the semiconducting material.

WORKING
An electric circuit is like a pathway made of wires that electrons can flow through. A battery
or other power source gives the force (voltage) that makes the electrons move. When the
electrons get to a device like a light bulb, your computer, or a refrigerator, they give it the
power to make it work.
APPLICATIONS
The applications of an ICs includes the following
1.Radar
2.Wristwatches
3.Televisions
4.Juice Makers
5.PC
6.Video Processors
7.Audio Amplifiers
8.Memory Devices
9.Logic Devices and
10.Radio Frequency Encoders and Decoders