EE231: Electronics-1

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 will 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
 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
nVT
I D  I s (e  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
– 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
nVT
I D  I se  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
nVT
I D  I se
• 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