LESSON 2-

Understanding semiconductor diodes.

Semiconductor Materials

Semiconductors are materials which conduct electricity better than insulator, but no so well as ordinary
conductors.
The following table shows the comparison between insulator, conductor and semiconductor:


Insulator Semiconductor Conductor
Example material Glass,
ceramic,
polythene
Silicon,
germanium,
selenium
Copper,
aluminium,
iron
Charge carrier No free electrons Free electrons
and holes
Free electrons
Resistance High Between insulator and
conductor
Low
Conductivity Decrease
when the temperature
Increase when the temperature
increase.
Also increase when light shines
on it or with presence of
impurities
Decrease when the
temperature

Charge carriers in semiconductors











In a pure crystal of a semiconductor( intrinsic semiconductor) such as silicon, each atom of silicon has
four electrons in outermost orbit that are involved in covalent bonding.
The vibrations of atoms causes some electrons to break free the bonds.
When an electron is removed from a covalent bond, it leaves behind a vacancy and is called a hole in
the bonding . Free electrons( negatively charged) and holes (positively charged) are known as charge
carriers .
Conduction in a semiconductor is by means of a movement of free electrons and holes in opposite
direction.
Semiconductors cannot conduct electricity as well as metals because they have smaller numbers of free
electrons and holes. The conductivity of the semiconductors can be increased by a process is called
doping

Doping of Semiconductors
Doping is a process of adding a small amount of impurities into the pure crystal of semiconductor (intrinsic
semiconductor).
Atoms of the impurities added should have almost the same size as the atoms of the intrinsic
semiconductor.

Type of Semiconductors Material

Different kinds of impurities are added produce different types of semiconductor ; the p-type and the n-type.

(i) p-type semiconductor


A p-type semiconductor is produced when trivalent atoms are added to intrinsic semiconductor atoms.
Only fhree of the four bonds formed by the trivalent atoms are complete. The vacancy is a hole with
positive charge.
The holes are now the majority charge carriers in the p-type semiconductor since there are more
holes than free electrons.
Examples of trivalent atoms are Indium,Boron and Gallium and called acceptor atoms.

(ii) n-type semiconductor



A n-type semiconductor is produced when pentavalent atoms are added to intrinsic semiconductor
atoms.
Each pentavalent atom donate a free electron ,because there will be one extra electron.
The electrons are now the majority charge carriers in the n-type semiconductor since there are more
free electrons than holes.
Examples of pentavalent atoms are Arsenic,Phosporus and Antimony and called donor atoms.

Comparison between p-type semiconductor and n-type semiconductor

p-type
semiconductor
n-type
semiconductor
Pure
Semiconduktor

Silicon,
Germanium
Silicon,
Germanium
Doping
substance
Indium,Boron,
Gallium

Phosporus,
Antimony,
Arsenic
Function of
doping
substance
Aceptor atom Donor atom
Valency of
doping
substance
Pentavalent Trivalent
Majority charge
carrier
Hole Electron
Minority charge
carrier
Electron Hole


Semiconductor Diode

A diode is a component (device) that allows electric current to flow in one direction only.
A diode acts like a one-way valve to electric current.



The structure and the symbol of a semiconductor diode

A semiconductor diode can be made by joining pieces of n-type and p-type semiconductor.
The semiconductor diode is also called p-n junction diode.
The following figure shows structure and the symbol of a semiconductor diode :


How does the p-n junction diode work?

When p-type semiconductor material in contact
with n-type semiconductor material , a layer called the depletion layer is formed in the middle.
At this junction , electrons from n-type material drifts across the junction to fill in the holes in p-type.
The holes from p-type material drift in the opposite direction to unite with free electrons in the n-type
material. As a result a depletion layer is a very narrow region which has lost all its available free electrons
and holes and thus behaves almost like pure silicon,i.e with high resistivity.
Any further movement of charges across the boundry in the depletion layer will be repelled by the charges
in the layer.

The layer of the negative charge in the p-type region will prevent the majority charge carriers from the n-
type region(the electrons) from crossing the boundary. Similarly , the positive charge layer in the n-type
region will prevent the majority charge carriers from the p-type region(the holes) from crossing the boundry
in the opposite direction. Thus, a potential difference ,known as the junction voltage.In its normal state a p-
n junction delivers no current since the charges are in equilibrium.

The effect of this junction voltage is to prevent charge carriers from drifting across the junction.
The junction voltages for germanium and silicon are approximately 0.1 V and 0.6 V respectively.

In order for electric current to flow through the diode, the voltage applied across the diode must exceed the
junction voltage.



When the in forward-biased arrangement, the cell voltage greater than the junction voltage. The depletion
layer is narrow , and the resistance of diode decreases. Hence a large current flows through the diode.


When the in reverse-biased arrangement, the cell voltage lower than the junction voltage. The depletion
layer is wide , and the resistance of diode increases. Hence only a very small current (leakage current)
flows through the diode.

Graph of current, I against voltage V for p-n jenis silicon dan germanium diode


Experiment to show a semiconductor diode flows current in one direction only.


Figure(a) Figure(b)

The diode is connected to the cell in the forward-biased arrangement as shown in Figure(a).
The bulb light up.
The experiment is repeated with the reverse-biased arrangement as shown in Figure (b)
The bulb does not light up.
The experiment shows that a diode allow the current in one direction only when the diode in the forward-
biased arrangement.

















Diode as a Rectifier

A diode can act as a rectifier because it can convert alternating current(a.c.) into direct current(d.c).
The process of converting a.c. to d.c. is called rectification.



There are two types of rectification process :
(1) Half -wave rectification
(2) Full - wave rectification


Half- wave rectification



For half of the cycle, A is more positive than B ,the diode conducts.
For the other half cycle, A is more negative than B , no current can flow.

Full-wave rectification



For half of the cycle, A is more positive than B ,the diode conducts and the current flows through the
resistance.
For the other half cycle, A is more negative than B ,
the current flows through the resistance in the same direction as before.




Capacitor

A capasitor is device which can
(1) store electric charge
(2) smooth out waveform in the rectified output
(3) separate the a.c and d.c (as a filter)

Smoothing output wave by a capacitor

By connecting a capacitor parallel to the resistance , the half-wave and the full-wave rectified waveform
could be partially smoothed out.



For half of the cycle, the capacitor is charged up. Energy is stored in the capacitor.
For the other half cycle, the capacitor releases its charge (discharges)
So the capacitor can produced a steady output or output is stablised.


















TUTORIAL 2



1 Which of the statements on semiconductor material is not true?

A not obey the Ohms law
B the charge carriers are holes
C Silion and Germanium are two examples of pure semiconductor material
D conduct electricity better than insulator but no so well as ordinary conductors.

2 Which of the flowing graph resistance, R against temperature, T is correct for a pure
semiconductor material?


3 The process of adding a trivalent atom to a pure silicon crystal is known as

A doping
B donating
C excitation
D polarization

4 Which of the following is not a doping substance.

A antimony B germanium
C indium D gallium












5 Which of the following pairs characteristics are true?
n-type
semiconduktor
p-type
semiconduktor
A Doping antimony gallium
substance
B Funtion of
doping
substance
aceptor atom donor atom
C Valency
of doping
substance
trivalent pentavalent
D Majority
charge
carrier
hole electron

6 An n-type semiconductor is produced when some of the germanium atoms are replaced
with

A divalent atoms
B trivalent atoms
C tetravalent atoms
D pentavalent atoms

7 Which of the following diagrams is an n-type
semiconductor?






8 Which of the following pairs atoms can act as an impurity to produce an n-type
semiconductor when doped into a pure semiconductor?

A Boron and phosphorus
B Arsenic and antimony
C Antimony and gallium
D Indium and gallium

9 Which of the following is true according to a
p-type semiconductor?

A Thedoping substance is trivalent atoms
B The majority charge carrier is free electrons
C The conductivity decreases when temperature is increased

10 Which of the following graph current,I against potential difference,V for a semiconductor
diode?



11 A function of a diode is as F

A Amplifier
B Rectifier
C Smoother








12 The diagram shows a circuit consisting of a diode and a bulb. When the switch is on, the
bulb does not light up.


What needs to be done to light up the bulb?

A Replace with a new bulb
B Reverse the diode connection
C Increase the number of dry cells
D Connect a resistor parallel to the bulb

13 The diagram shows a circuit containing bulbs X, Y and Z.

Which bulb in the circuit will light up when the switch is on?

A Z only
B X and Y only
C Y and Z only
D X,Y and Z










14 Which of the following circuit causes only a bulb is lighted up?




15 The diagram shows a circuit containing diode D, resistor R and a.c. power supply
is applied at terminal PQ. The waveform of the a.c. supply is shown in the diagram.


Which of the following waveform output is formed at CRO screen?



16 Which of the following waveform has been rectified?



17 The diagram shows a circuit containing two diodes , a resistance is connected to a.c.
voltage.





Which of the following waveform formed on the
CRO screen?

.
18 The diagram shows a rectification circuit which uses four diodes K,L,M and N
and resistor, R.


Which of the following is the direction of the current flowing?

A K N M L
B L M N R
C L R N
D M R N


19 The diagram shows a rectification circuit which uses four diode , a resistor and a battery.
Which of the following is the direction of the
current flowing?

A U S NOQ RT M L
B U S TMNO Q M L
C L M NOQR T S U
D L T SQR ON M U

20 The diagram shows a rectification circuit which uses four diodes and three resistors P ,
Q and R.

Which of the following resistor is only the
direct current flow?

A P B Q
C R D P ,Q and R

21

The function of the capacitor in fhe figure above as

A a rectifier
B an amplifier
C a current filter
D a voltage smoother









22

Based on the circuit above, which of the following waveform is formed on the CRO screen?

23 Which of the following circuit does the bulb not light up














24 The diagram shows the structure of a
semiconductor material.


(a) Based on the diagram above,

(i) name the type of the semiconductor material.

.........................................................
(ii) what is the function of the Boron atom?

.........................................................
(iii) name the majority charge carrier in the semiconductor material.

.........................................................
(b) At 0 K , a pure semiconductor material has very high resistance. Explain why?

....................................................................







...





(c) The diagram shows a p-type semiconductor is joined to an n-type semiconductor.
Later the combination of the semiconductor materials are connected to a bulb and a battery.


(i) Name the line X.

....................................................................
(ii) Give the name and the function of voltage at X .

....................................................................









(d) What happens to the bulb when the battery connection is reversed. Explain why?

.............................................................................

.............................................................................

.............................................................................

.............................................................................









25 (a) Figure (a) shows an arrangement of
apparatus to study the conductivity of semiconductor diode by a student.
When the switch is closed by the student the bulb does not light up.


Figure (a)

(i) In the space below draw a circuit diagram for Figure (a)










(ii) State the characteristic of the diode
causes the bulb does not light up?

..

.

.

(iii) State the correction should be done to the connection of the circuit in Figure (a)
to make the bulb is lighted up.

..

.

..
(b) Figure (b) shows circuit X is connected to a transformer , resistor R and a cathode-
ray oscilloscope. When the switch is opened the waveform as shown in Figure (b) is formed on
the CRO screen.



Figure (b)


(i) In the space below draw a circuit diagram for circuit X.








(ii) In the space below draw a waveform
is produced in the CRO screen when a capacitor is connected parallel to resistor R.









(iii) Give the reason for your answer in
b(ii).




.

.
26 The diagram shows a rectification circuit which uses four diodes W ,X, Yand Z and resistor
R.



(a) What does the word rectification mean?
.............................................................................

(b) Draw the waveform formed on the CRO screen.

(c) By using the letters A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H in the figure above state the direction of
the current flows when at half of the cycle, A is more positive than B.

....................................................................
(d) What happen to the direction of the current flows in resistor R compared to the your answer in
(c) when at the other half cycle, A is more negative than B.

....................................................................

....................................................................
(e) What happen to the output waveform when
(i) the terminals of diodes X and Y are reversed

............................................................



(ii) only the terminals diode Y are reversed

..
(iii) the terminals of diodes W, X, Y and Z are reversed.

............................................................
(f) Draw the waveform formed when a capacitor is connected parallel to resistor R in the
figure above.

27 Abu wants to power a ticker timer and a transistor radio. The ticker timer requires an
input voltage of 12 V a.c. and the transistor radio requires an input voltage 12 V d.c. The power
supply at Abus school is 240 V a.c.

(a) Abu used a transformer as shown in Figure (a) to power the ticker timer.


Figure (a)

(i) Name the type of the transformer is used.

............................................................
(ii) Give one reason why the soft-iron core is used in the transformer?

..
(iii) The number of turns in the primary coil is 2000. Calculate the number of turns in
the secondary coil.
[ Assume that the transformer is
an ideal transformer ]






(b) The transformer in Figure (a) is not suitable to power the radio. A modification is
required before the radio is used.
(i) Explain why the transformer is not suitable to use?

............................................................

............................................................
(ii) Name two electronic components that are needed to use.

...................................

..
(c) Figure (b) shows a circuit that can be modified to produce a full-wave rectification
and smoothing output wave

Figure (b)

Complete the circuit in the dotted box by adding the electronic components in b(ii)











28 (a) Figure (a) shows circuits J, K, L, M and N
each containing an ideal transformer. Diodes in the circuits are used for the purpose of
rectification.

Figure (a)
Key :
Np = Number of turns in primary coil
Ns = Number of turns in secondary coil

(i) What is meant by rectification ?
(ii) Explain the working principle of a transformer.
(iii) You are asked to make a 12 V battery charger . Study the circuits, J, K ,L, M
and N in Figure (a) and consider the following aspects:
- type of transformer
- ratio of the number of turns in primary coil to secondary coil
- type of rectification
- characteristic of output current



(b) Figure (b) shows a circuit consisting of a transformer, an ammeter and two
light bulbs. The ammeter reading is 0.5 A and both bulbs light up with normal brightness.


Figure (b)
(i) What is the output voltage of the transformer?
(ii) Calculate the efficiency of the transformer.



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