E1001 Electronic Circuits Prof P Bayvel

Tutorial Exercises 0: The Basics

Note that the questions in your mid-sessional exam and in your final exam in May will all
be much much harder than these Tutorial questions! Sample midsessional exam is
attached.

1. Sketch a graph showing the time-dependence of an a.c. voltage waveform v(t)
given by
) 2 cos( 5 ) ( ft t v = mV,
where f is 10 kHz. Label the axes clearly, showing all salient values. (Make sure that
your tutor explains what salient values means!)
2. Sketch a graph showing the time-dependence of a 3 mV d.c. voltage. Label the
axes clearly, showing all salient values.
3. Sketch a graph showing the time-dependence of a voltage waveform with a d.c.
component of V
dc
= 3 mV and an a.c. component v
ac
(t) given by
) 2 cos( 5 ) ( ft t v
ac
= mV.
Label the axes clearly, showing all salient values.
4. In each of the following circuit diagrams, what is the voltage V across the
resistor?


5. In each of the circuits above, if the resistor is of value 2 k, calculate the current
flowing from the top to the bottom through the resistor.
E651 Tutorial Exercises 1: Semiconductor Materials


Take e = 1.6 10
-19
C; k = 1.38 10
-23
JK
-1




1. The conductivities of copper and pure silicon are 8 10
7
Sm
-1
and 3 10
-3
Sm
-1

respectively.
(a) What length of a pure silicon bar of cross-sectional dimensions (1 mm)
2
would
have a resistance of 1 M?
(b) What would the resistance of a copper bar of the same dimensions be?
(c) In each case, how would the resistance of the bar depend upon temperature?



2. The electron Volt (abbreviated eV) is a unit of energy equivalent to e Joules.
a) Calculate the band gap of silicon in Joules, given that it is 1.1 eV.
b) The thermal energy of an electron at temperature T is of order kT. Calculate the
thermal energy of an electron at 30 C, expressing your answer in eV.
c) What does your answer to (b) tell you about the conductivity of silicon at room
temperature?



3. The intrinsic carrier concentration in a certain semiconductor is n
i
= 10
17
m
-3
.
(a) What is the electron concentration per m
3
?
(b) What is the hole concentration per m
3
?
(c) In this semiconductor the electron mobility is twice the hole mobility. Calculate
the carrier mobilities given that the resistivity is 10
4
m.



4. The intrinsic semiconductor of question 3 is now doped n-type with 10
23
donors
per m
3
.
(a) What is the electron concentration per m
3
?
(b) What is the hole concentration per m
3
?
(c) Draw the energy band diagram of this n-type semiconductor, giving rough values
for the relevant energy level spacings.
(d) What is the resistivity of the n-type material?


5. The n-type semiconductor of question 4 is now doped with N
A
acceptors per m
3

so that both acceptors and donors are present. (This is known as compensation
doping.)
(a) Given that the resulting semiconductor is now p-type, what can you say about the
relative sizes of N
D
and N
A
?
(b) Give expressions in terms of n
i
, N
D
and N
A
for the electron and hole
concentrations.
(c) Following this acceptor doping it is found that the resistivity of the resulting p-type
semiconductor is the same as the n-type semiconductor in question 4(d). What is
the value of N
A
?
(d) How does the resistance of the p-type material depend upon temperature?
E651 Tutorial Exercises 2: pn Junctions


Take e = 1.6 10
-19
C;
0
= 8.85 10
-12
Fm
-1
; kT/e = 26 mV at room temperature.



1. Two cubes of silicon, each of dimensions (1mm)
3
are doped with 10
23
As and
10
23
B atoms per m
3
respectively. One face of each cube is then brought into
contact to form a pn junction.
(a) Explain qualitatively how the depletion region forms at the interface.
(b) If the total width of the depletion region is 100 nm (equally divided between the
two cubes of silicon), calculate the total number of bare ions in each cube.
(c) Given that the relative permittivity of silicon is 12, estimate the junction
capacitance by treating the depletion region as a parallel-plate capacitor.
(d) By using your results from (b) and (c) estimate the built-in voltage in this pn
junction. Why is this approach necessarily only an approximate one?



2. When a pn junction is forward biased with a voltage of 0.7 V a current of 5 mA
flows.
(a) What is the reverse bias leakage current?
(b) If the temperature increases by 1% (i.e. approximately 3 C), calculate the
percentage change in the current.



3. Draw the diode current-voltage characteristics and (on the same graph) the load
line due to the resistor R for the circuit shown below:

R I
T




4. For the circuit shown overleaf you may assume that the d.c. voltage across the
diode is 0.7 V.
(a) Calculate the d.c. current through the diode.
(b) Calculate the diode a.c. resistance at room temperature.
(c) Calculate the a.c. voltage across the diode.
10 mA
d.c.
0.1 mA
r.m.s. a.c.
200

Sample paper for mid-sessional exam for practice
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
University of London
EXAMINATION FOR INTERNAL STUDENTS
For the Following Qualifications:-
B.Eng. M.Eng.
ELEC1011 PAPER 1/ELEC1001: Electronic Circuits I Mid Session test
COURSE CODE: ELEC1011 PAPER 1/ELEC1001
DATE: 14
th
December 2006
TIME: 2:30 pm
TIME ALLOWED: 1.5 hours

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE EXAMINATION
ANSWER BOOKLET.
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS. THERE ARE 25 MARKS AVAILABLE IN TOTAL.
DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO.
YOU MAY USE CALCULATORS.
Physical constants:
e = 1.6 10
-19
C
k
B
= 1.38 10
-23
JK
-1

0
= 8.85 10
-12
Fm
-1


1. Draw a graph with appropriately labelled axes showing how the
current through a capacitor depends upon the voltage between its
terminals. Show how the capacitance can be inferred from the
graph.
[2 marks]
2. For each of the following materials, state whether it is a conductor, an insulator or
a semiconductor: (i) silicon, (ii) silicon dioxide (glass), (iii) gallium arsenide, (iv)
germanium.
[4 marks]
3. Draw the energy band diagram for an n-type extrinsic semiconductor. Label the
bands. At room temperature, from which level have the majority carriers been
excited?
[3 marks]
4. A certain extrinsic semiconductor contains 10
24
acceptor atoms per m
3
and 10
8

minority carriers per m
3
. Calculate the intrinsic carrier concentration, n
i
.
[3 marks]
5. A bar with a circular cross section is made from an extrinsic n-type
semiconductor with a dopant density of 10
25
m
-3
. The length of the bar is 2 mm
and the cross-sectional area is 0.03 mm
2
. The electron mobility is 0.03 m
2
V
-1
s
-1
.
(i) What is the conductivity of the semiconductor? Dont forget to state the units
as well as the numerical value. (ii) Prove that the resistance between the ends of
the bar is 1.39 . (iii) What voltage must be applied across the ends of the bar in
order to maintain a d.c. current of 3 A? [5 marks]
6. Draw the electron energy diagram for a forward biased npn bipolar junction
transistor, showing the flow of majority carriers. [3 marks]
7. The circuit below shows a diode circuit with both d.c. and a.c. signals present.
You should assume that the d.c. diode voltage is 0.7 V.
(i) Prove that the d.c. current in the circuit is 10 mA, (ii) Determine the a.c.
resistance of the diode, (iii) Show that the a.c. voltage between the terminals of
the diode is 1.55 mV
rms
(to 3 s.f.). All parts of your answer should use suitable
diagrams.
[5 marks]


300 mV
r.m.s. a.c.
500
~
5.7 V d.c.