SFE3013

BASIC ELECTRONICS
 COURSE EVALUATION

Test (1 hour) 10%

Assignment & presentation 20%
Lab Report (min: 3 exp) 20%
Lab Test (15 min) 10%
Final Exam (2 hours) 40%

RI
 From Our Previous Lecture

• Semiconductor is a material that has

electrical properties value between
a________
conductor and __________.
an insulator

• The conductivity of a semiconductor

material can be varied under an external
electrical field
_____________.
• The best conductors have ___ 1 valance
electron, while the best insulators have
8 valence electrons.
___
Semiconductor ? 4 valence electrons

• A pure semiconductor is often called an

intrinsic semiconductor.
________
• How to change the conductivity of an
instrinsic semiconductor?

Adding impurities to the melted intrinsic

material and then allowing the melt to
solidify into a new and different crystal.
• What is this process called ?? doping

• State the Doping process.

the process of adding impurity atoms to
an intrinsic semiconductor to modify its
conductivity properties.
• N-type semiconductor has an excess
of ____________.
free electrons

• P-type semiconductor has an excess

of _______.
holes
Types of Semiconductor
- SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES -
- PN JUNCTION -
 After completing this lecture you should be able to:

1. Explain the formation of depletion region and

built-in voltage.

2. Draw the diode equivalent circuit.

3. Draw the I-V characteristics.

4. Calculate the static and dynamic resistances.

5. Explain various types of diode and their usage

 Question Time

• What happens at the junction where a

P-type and an N-type conducting
region implemented in one single
crystal get in touch?
• When N-doped and P-doped semi-
conductors are placed together to
form a junction, electrons migrate
into the P-side and holes migrate
into the N-side.
• Departure of electrons on the N-side for
the P-side --> leave positive donor ions
behind on the N-side.
• Likewise the holes 
leave the negative acceptor ions on
the P-side.
At the junction, electrons recombine with
holes. – “Recombination Process”

Neutral region is formed near the junction.

 DEPLETION REGION

• The depletion region, or depletion

layer, or the space charge region.
– Is an insulating region or neutral region
within a conductive, doped
semiconductor material.
• The depletion region is formed when
electrons recombined with holes.
• removal of all free charge carriers,
leaving none to carry a current.

• This creates an electric field that

provides a force opposing the
continued exchange of charge
carriers.
• The electric field across the depletion
region is called the built-in voltage, Vbi
(also called the junction voltage or
barrier voltage or contact potential).

• When the electric field is sufficient to

arrest further transfer of holes and
electrons, the depletion region has
reached its equilibrium dimensions.
Acceptor ions Donor ions
Vbi
Diode equivalent circuit
 Question Time

Sketch a voltage (V) vs current (I) graph

for:
1. a resistor.
2. a good conductor
3. a good insulator
 Current flow

Forward bias
 Very small leakage current (Is)

Reverse bias
 Forward bias

• In case of large forward bias, the diode

exhibits a voltage drop due to its junction
built-in voltage (Vbi) and internal
resistance (RD).
 Reverse bias

• When the reverse bias breakdown voltage is

exceeded, a conventional diode is subject to
high current due to avalanche breakdown.
• A conventional solid-state diode will not
allow significant current if it is reverse-
biased below its reverse breakdown
voltage.
• Unless this current is limited by external
circuitry, the diode will be permanently
damaged.
• The amount of the voltage drop depends
on the semiconductor material and the
doping concentrations.
 Conducting region
Insulating region
(RD)

Is

0.7V – Si
0.3V – Ge

I – V characteristics of a PN junction diode

27
 Shockley diode equation

• The Shockley diode equation is the I–V

characteristic of an ideal diode in either
forward or reverse bias.
where
– I is the diode current,
– IS is the reverse bias saturation current,
– VD is the voltage across the diode,
– VT is the thermal voltage,
– n is the ideality factor. n varies from about 1 to
2 and in many cases is assumed to be
approximately equal to 1 (thus the notation n
is omitted).
• The thermal voltage VT is given as:

• where
– q is the magnitude of charge on an electron
– k is Boltzmann’s constant, ( k = ?)
– T is the absolute temperature of the p-n junction in
kelvins
 Question Time

• Determine the thermal voltage (VT)

at room temperature (27 C)

• Answer - 25.87mV ~ 26 mV
 ZENER DIODE

• a type of diode that permits current not only in the

forward direction (like a normal diode) BUT also in the
reverse direction if the voltage is larger than the
breakdown voltage known as "Zener knee voltage" or
"Zener voltage“ (Vz).
• A Zener diode is specially designed so
as to have a greatly reduced breakdown
voltage, the so-called Zener voltage.

• A Zener diode contains a heavily doped

p-n junction allowing electrons to tunnel
from the valence band of the p-type
material to the conduction band of the n-
type material.
• A reverse-biased Zener diode will exhibit
a controlled breakdown and allow the
current to keep the voltage across the
Zener diode at the Zener voltage.

• For example, a diode with a Zener

breakdown voltage of 3.2 V will exhibit a
voltage drop of 3.2 V if reverse bias
voltage applied across it is more than its
Zener voltage.
 LED

• LEDs are based on the semiconductor

diode.

• When the diode is forward biased

(switched on), electrons are able to
recombine with holes and energy is
released in the form of light.
• This effect is called electroluminescence
and the color of the light is determined by
the energy gap of the semiconductor.

• The LED is usually small in area (less than

1mm2) with integrated optical components
to shape its radiation pattern and assist in
reflection.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED
TODAY??
ANY QUESTION??
 HOMEWORK
BY USING ANY APPROPRIATE SOFTWARE,
PLOT THE I-VD CHARACTERISTICS OF A
PN DIODE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. TAKE
n = 1 AND Is = 10pA
THE END