Diode Fundamentals

Important issues
Formation of the pn Junction Energy Band Diagrams Concepts of Junction Potential Modes of the pn Junction Derivation of the IV Characteristics of a pn Junction Diode Linear Piecewise Models Breakdown Diode Special Types of pn Junction Semiconductor Diodes Applications of Diode

INTRODUCTION
The origin of a wide range of electronic devices being used can be traced back to a simple device, the pn junction diode. The pn junction diode is formed when a p-type semiconductor impurity is doped on one side and an n-type impurity is doped on the other side of a single crystal. All the macro effects of electronic devices, i.e., wave shaping, amplifying or regenerative effects, are based on the events occurring at the junction of the p n device. Most modern devices are a modification or amalgamation of pn devices in various forms. Prior to the era of semiconductor diodes, vacuum tubes were being extensively used. These were bulky, costly and took more time to start conducting because of the thermo-ionic emission. The semiconductor diodes and the allied junction devices solved all these problems.

What Are Diodes Made Out Of?

Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge) are the two most common single elements that are used to make Diodes. A compound that is commonly used is Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), especially in the case of LEDs because of its large bandgap. Silicon and Germanium are both group 4 elements, meaning they have 4 valence electrons. Their structure allows them to grow in a shape called the diamond lattice. Gallium is a group 3 element while Arsenide is a group 5 element. When put together as a compound, GaAs creates a zincblend lattice structure. In both the diamond lattice and zincblend lattice, each atom shares its valence electrons with its four closest neighbors. This sharing of electrons is what ultimately allows diodes to be build. When dopants from groups 3 or 5 (in most cases) are added to Si, Ge or GaAs it changes the properties of the material so we are able to make the P- and N-type materials that become the diode.
Si +4 Si +4 Si +4

Si +4

Si +4

Si +4

Si +4

Si +4

Si +4

The diagram above shows the 2D structure of the Si crystal. The light green lines represent the electronic bonds made when the valence electrons are shared. Each Si atom shares one electron with each of its four closest neighbors so that its valence band will have a full 8 electrons.

N-Type Material
N-Type Material:
When extra valence electrons are introduced into a material such as silicon an n-type material is produced. The extra valence electrons are introduced by putting impurities or dopants into the silicon. The dopants used to create an n-type material are Group V elements. The most commonly used dopants from Group V are arsenic, antimony and phosphorus. The 2D diagram to the left shows the extra electron that will be present when a Group V dopant is introduced to a material such as silicon. This extra electron is very mobile.

+4

+4

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+5

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+4

P-Type Material
P-Type Material:
P-type material is produced when the dopant that is introduced is from Group III. Group III elements have only 3 valence electrons and therefore there is an electron missing. This creates a hole (h+), or a positive charge that can move around in the material. Commonly used Group III dopants are aluminum, boron, and gallium. The 2D diagram to the left shows the hole that will be present when a Group III dopant is introduced to a material such as silicon. This hole is quite mobile in the same way the extra electron is mobile in a n-type material.

+4

+4

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+3

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+4

FORMATION OF THE pn JUNCTION

When donor impurities are introduced into one side and acceptors into the other side of a single crystal semiconductor through various sophisticated microelectronic device-fabricating techniques, a pn junction is formed.

A semiconductor pn junction The presence of a concentration gradient between two materials in such intimate contact results in a diffusion of carriers that tends to neutralize this gradient. This process is known as the diffusion process. The nature of the pn junction so formed may, in general, be of two types: A step-graded junction:- In a step-graded semiconductor junction, the impurity density in the semiconductor is constant. A linearly-graded junction:- In a linearly-graded junction, the impurity density varies linearly with distance away from the junction.

ENERGY BAND DIAGRAMS

It is assumed that a junction is made up of uniformly doped p-type and n-type crystals forming a step-graded junction. The pn Junction at Thermal Equilibrium From the discussion of the law of mass action, the carrier concentrations on either side away from the junction are given by:

(where pn is the hole concentration in n-type semiconductors, np is the electron concentration in p-type semiconductors; nn and pp are the electron and hole concentrations in n- and p-type semiconductors respectively.)

p-type and n-type semiconductors just before contact

ENERGY BAND DIAGRAMS

Band structure of pn junction

The energy band diagram of a pn junction under the condition of thermal equilibrium

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

Space-charge Region The non-uniform concentration of holes and electrons at the junction gives rise to a diffusive flow of carriers. Since the electron density is higher in the n-type crystal than in the p-type crystal, electrons flow from the n-type to the p-type and simultaneously, due to reversibility, the holes flow from the p-type to the n-type. The result of this migration of carriers is that the region near the junction of the n-type is left with a net positive charge (only ionized donor atoms) while that of the p-type is left with a net negative charge (only ionized acceptor atoms). This diffusive mechanism of migration of the carriers across the junction creates a region devoid of free carriers, and this region is called the spacecharge region, the depletion region or the transition region.

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

The junction, as noted above, has three major properties: 1. There is a space charge and an electric field across the junction, which in turn indicates that the junction is pre-biased (i.e., there exists a built-in potential, a very important concept, 2. The impure atoms maintaining the space charge are immobile in the temperature range of interest (at very high temperatures, the impurities become mobile). The pre-biased condition can be maintained indefinitely; 3. The presence of any free electron or hole is strictly forbidden. Built-in and Contact Potentials This diffusive flow process results in a space-charge region and an electric field. The resulting diffusion current cannot build up indefinitely because an opposing electric field is created at the junction. The homogeneous mixing of the two types of carriers cannot occur in the case of charged particles in a pn junction because of the development of space charge and the associated electric field E0.

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

The electrons diffusing from the n-type to the p-type leave behind uncompensated donor ions in the n-type semiconductor, and the holes leave behind uncompensated acceptors in the p-type semiconductors. This causes the development of a region of positive space charge near the n-side of the junction and negative space charge near the p-side. The resulting electric field is directed from positive charge towards negative charge. Thus, E0 is in the direction opposite to that of the diffusion current for each type of carrier. Therefore, the field creates a drift component of current from n to p, opposing the diffusion component of the current. Since no net current can flow across the junction at equilibrium, the current density due to the drift of carriers in the E0 field must exactly cancel the current density due to diffusion of carriers. Moreover, since there can be no net build-up of electrons or holes on either side as a function of time, the drift and diffusion current densities must cancel for each type of carrier.

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

Therefore, the electric field E0 builds up to the point where the net current density is zero at equilibrium. The electric field appears in the transition region of length L about the junction, and there is an equilibrium potential difference V0 across L (known as contact potential). In the electrostatic potential diagram, there is a gradient in potential in the direction opposite to E0. In accordance with the following fundamental relation: The contact potential appearing across L under condition of zero external bias is a built-in potential barrier, in that it is necessary for the maintenance of equilibrium at the junction. It does not imply any external potential. V0 is an equilibrium quantity, and no net current can result from it. In general, the contact potential is the algebraic sum of the built-in potential and the applied voltage. The variations in the contact potential under the condition of applied bias are given in the subsequent sections.

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

Assuming that the field is confined within the space-charge region L, the potential barrier Vd and the field E0 are related by:

It should be noted that a voltmeter cannot measure this electrostatic potential since the internal field is set up to oppose the diffusion current and also since the built-in potential is cancelled exactly by the potential drop across the contact. The barrier energy corresponding to barrier potential Vd is expressed as EB = eVd. The value of EB can be changed by doping change. The value of EB is different for different semiconductors.

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

Effect of Doping on Barrier Field

The width of the depletion region is inversely proportional to the doping strength, as a larger carrier concentration enables the same charge to be achieved over a smaller dimension.
It should be noted that the depletion charge for different doping is not constant. The barrier field is normally independent of the doping concentration except under conditions of heavy doping, which may alter the bandgap itself, thereby modifying the barrier field. The value of Vd in terms of the hole and electron concentrations can be derived in the following manner.

 At thermal equilibrium, the non-degenerate electron concentrations for the n-type and p-type can be written as:

CONCEPTS OF JUNCTION POTENTIAL

where Ecn, Ecp, Efn, and Efp are the conduction and Fermi level energies of the n-type and p-type semiconductors, respectively, and Nc is the effective density-of-states. The Fermi levels are given by:

At equilibrium condition, the Fermi level must be constant throughout the entire crystal. Otherwise, because of the availability of lower energy levels, a flow of carriers would result. The Fermi levels, therefore, must line up at the equilibrium.

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

There are two modes of switching of a pn junction diode. Forward-biased pn junction When the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the p-type side and the negative terminals to the ntype side of a pn junction, the junction allows a large current to flow through it due to the low resistance level offered by the junction. In this case the junction is said to be forward biased.

Energy band diagram of Forwardbiased pn junction

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

Reverse-biased pn junction When the terminals of the battery are reversed i.e., when the positive terminal is connected to the n-type side and the negative terminal is connected to the p-type side, the junction allows a very little current to flow through it due to the high resistance level offered by the junction. Under this condition, the p n junction is said to be reverse-biased. Energy band diagram of Reversebiased pn junction

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

The pn Junction with External Applied Voltage If an external voltage Va is applied across the pn junction, the height of the potential barrier is either increased or diminished as compared to Va, depending upon the polarity of the applied voltage. The energy band distribution, with applied external voltage, is shown in below figure. For these non-equilibrium conditions, the Fermi level can no longer be identified. In order to describe the behaviour of the pn junction, quasi- Fermi levels are introduced.

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

Rectifying VoltageCurrent Characteristics of a pn Junction If the polarity of the applied voltage is such that the p-type region is made negative with respect to the n-type, the height of the potential-barrier is increased. Under this reverse-biased condition, it is relatively harder for the majority of the carriers to surmount the potential-barrier. The increase in the potential barrier height is essentially equal to the applied voltage. Under an external applied voltage, the carrier concentrations near the junction are:

(where, the plus and minus signs are for the reverse-biased and the forward-biased conditions.)

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

The injected or extracted minority-carrier concentrations near the junction can be written as:

The plus sign is for the forward-biased case where minority carriers are injected. The minus sign is for the reverse-biased case where minority carriers are extracted. The concentration of the carriers on the boundaries, for the usual cases, Na >> ni and under an external applied voltage V is shown in right side figure. Electron and hole carriers at the boundaries of a pn junction under an externally applied voltage

Properties of Diodes
VD = Bias Voltage ID = Current through Diode. ID is Negative for Reverse Bias and Positive for Forward Bias IS = Saturation Current VBR = Breakdown Voltage V = Barrier Potential Voltage

ID

(mA)

IS VBR ~V

VD

(nA)

Properties of Diodes
The transconductance curve on the previous slide is characterized by the following equation:

ID = IS(eVD/VT 1)

As described in the last slide, ID is the current through the diode, IS is the saturation current and VD is the applied biasing voltage. VT is the thermal equivalent voltage and is approximately 26 mV at room temperature. The equation to find VT at various temperatures is: VT = kT/ q k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K T = temperature in Kelvin q = 1.6 x 10-19 C is the emission coefficient for the diode. It is determined by the way the diode is constructed. It somewhat varies with diode current. For a silicon diode is around 2 for low currents and goes down to about 1 at higher currents

MODES OF THE pn JUNCTION

The Junction Capacitance Two types of idealized junctions, which are approximated closely in practice. These are: 1. The abrupt or step junction, which results from the alloying technique. 2. The graded junction, which results from the crystal-growing technique. The profiles of charge density, potential, and electric field in an abrupt junction