Power Electronics

Lesson 1: Introduction and pn junction

Department of Astronautical,
Electrical and Energetic Engineering
Dr. Giulio De Donato

Introduction

Power Electronic Concepts (1/2)

Power Electronic Concepts (2/2)

Basic Semiconductor Physics

free carrier density:
metals (Cu, Ag, etc) : 1023 cm-3 conductivity 107 S/m
insulators (quartz, Al oxide, etc): 103 cm-3 10-10 S/m
Semiconductors (Si, Ge, etc): 108-1019 cm-3 100-10-3 S/m
In semiconductors, free carrier density can be changed by orders of
magnitude by introducing impurities in the material or by applying
electric fields.

Silicon crystal
(second most
abundant element
in the earths crust)

Electrons and Holes

Text
Text

n2i

Eg
kT

BT e
thermal ionization equilibrium:
Eg - energy gap 1.12 eV for Si
k - Boltzmanns constant 8.62x10-5 eV/K
B - 5.4x1031 1/(K cm3) for Si
at room temperature ni is about 1.5x1010 carriers/cm3, i.e. 1 in every
billion atoms in Si is ionized!!!!

Doped Semiconductors
elements from column III are acceptors.
elements from column V are donors.
law of mass action: p0 n0 = n2i
space charge neutrality: p0 + Nd = n0 + Na
in p-type material: Na >> ni

Nd 0
n2i
n0
Na
p0 N a
minority carrier density is strongly dependent on T.

Recombination
Recombination mechanisms:
direct recombination of electrons and holes.
trapping of carriers by impurities.
Excess hole density must be equal to excess electron density.
simple rate equation:

d( n)
=
dt

- excess-carrier lifetime
0 is the lifetime for n<<nb

for large n

(>1017

cm-3 =

nb), decreases as n increases:

furthermore, as T increases, also increases.

short - higher on state losses.
long - longer switching times for minority carrier devices.

0
1+

( n)2
n2b

Drift and Diffusion

Free carriers move via two
mechanisms:
drift due to an impressed electric
field;
diffusion due to variations in the
spatial density of free carriers.
Drift component of current density:
Jdrif t = qn nE + qp pE
Diffusion component of current
density:
dn
dp
Jdif f = Jn + Jp = qDn
qDp
dx
dx
Diffusion constants and mobility
constants are related by the Einstein
equation:

Dp
Dn
kT
=
=
p
n
q

pn-Junctions

Potential Barrier at Thermal Equilibrium (1/2)

The electric field can be calculated by
using Poissons equation.
For a step junction, Poissons equation
is:

dE
=
dx

qNa

qNd
=

xp < x < 0
0 < x < xn

integrating from x = -xp to x = xn the

expressions for the electric field are:

qNa (x + xp )
E(x) =

qNd (x xn )
=

xp < x < 0
0 < x < xn

Potential Barrier at Thermal Equilibrium (2/2)

Integrating the field across the
depletion layer yields the potential
barrier or contact potential:
Z xn
qNa x2p + qNd x2n
E(x)dx = c =
2
xp
An equilibrium is reached when the
carrier flux caused by diffusion is
counterbalanced by the carrier flux
due to drift.
In equilibrium, the hole flux and
electron flux separately sum to zero.
The contact potential cannot be
s
measured!!!!!
Width of depletion layer: W0 = 2 c (Na + Nd )
qNa Nd

Reverse Bias of pn-Junction

When junction is reverse biased, the
potential barrier increases to c+V.
The width of the depletion layer
increases to W(V) = xn(V)+xp(V).
The total negative charge in the p-type
region must equal the total positive
charge in the n-type region of the
depletion layer:
qNa xp (V ) = qNd xn (V )
total step junction depletion layer width:
p
W (V ) = W0 1

(V /

c)

The electric field is max at the junction:

Emax =

2 cp
1
W0

V/

Reverse saturation current Is due to gradients in minority carrier densities.

Forward Bias of pn-Junction

When pn junction is forward biased,

the potential barrier is reduced and the
depletion layer shrinks.
The equilibrium between drift and
diffusion is upset in favour of diffusion.
carrier injection in the regions
immediately adjacent to the depletion
layer.
minority-carrier diffusion length for
electrons
p in p-type region:

Ln =

D n n

for holes in n-type region:

Lp =

D p p

minority carrier density at the edge of

the depletion layer:

n2i qV
pn (0) =
e kT
Nd

The minority carrier densities will vary by orders of magnitude as the

voltage is changed relatively little.

I-V Characteristic of a pn-Junction

In steady state forward-bias conditions, the
excess-carrier distributions remain constant
in time.
The carriers that are lost by recombination
are replaced by the forward-bias current
density:
Qn
Qp
J=

expressions for Qp and Qn:

h

Qp = q pn (0)
h
Qn = q np (0)

n2i i
Lp
Nd
n2i i
Ln
Na

i-v characteristic of the pn-junction:

i
h L
Lp ih qV
n
2
J = qni
+
e kT 1
N a n
N d p

Breakdown

Possible breakdown mechanisms:

- Zener effect if VBD < 5V
- avalanche effect if VBD > 7V
Zener breakdown occurs when the electric field in the depletion layer
increases to the point where it can break the covalent bonds and
generate electron-hole pairs. These are swept by the electric field
across the pn-junction and constitute a reverse current across the
junction. Once the Zener effect starts, a large number of carriers can
be generated with a negligible increase in junction voltage.
Avalanche breakdown occurs when minority carriers that cross the
depletion layer under the influence of the electric field gain sufficient
kinetic energy to be able to break covalent bonds in atoms with
which they collide. The carrier liberated in this process may have
sufficiently high energy to be able to instigate an avalanche effect that
results in large reverse currents with negligible change in the voltage
drop across the pn-junction.