Semiconductors

Crystalline solid materials whose resistivities

are values between those of conductors and
insulators.
Good electrical characteristics and feasible
fabrication technology are some reasons why
silicon is by far the most important
semiconductor material in use today.
Compound semiconductor materials such as
gallium arsenide are used in photonic and
microwave applications, and germanium is
used for a few special purposes.
Semiconductors
Silicon atoms join together to form a
regular three dimensional structure
called a crystal lattice.
Pure semiconductor materials, termed
intrinsic semiconductors, are neutral in
total charge and are also a poor
conductor of electricity. This means
they have very few charge carriers.
Intrinsic Semiconductor
Doping
Process that adds a small amounts of
impurities, dopants, to a semiconductor, so
that it can be made to contain a desired
number of either holes or free electrons.
After the doping process the materials
generated are termed extrinsic
semiconductors. They are impure.
Impurities are classified as either:
Donor.
Acceptor.
Extrinsic Semiconductors
Donor impurities donate extra electrons to
the silicon lattice:
Antimony, Arsenic and Phosphorus.
They have 5 electrons in their outer electron
shell. Four of them will be used in the
covalent bonds to the neighboring silicon
atoms, but the fifth can be easily freed from
their original atoms by thermal energy even
at room temperatures.
N-Type Semiconductor
Semiconductor materials doped to contain
excess free electrons are considered n-type
semiconductors.
Even though the added impurity created
excess free electrons, the material is still
neutral in charge.
It has been found that in n-type materials the
free electron concentration is approximately
equal to the donor atom doping density:
n ~ N
D
N-Type Semiconductor
Extrinsic Semiconductors
Acceptor impurities create a hole in the
silicon lattice:
Boron, Gallium and Indium.
They have 3 electrons in their outer
electron shell, and they are not enough
to fill all the orbitals around it. This
leaves a bond site empty, and this
empty place is called a hole.
P-Type Semiconductor
Semiconductor materials doped to contain
excess holes are considered p-type
semiconductors.
Even though the added impurity created
excess holes, the material is still neutral in
charge.
It has been found that in p-type materials the
hole concentration is approximately equal to
the donor atom doping density:
p ~ N
A

P-Type Semiconductor
Semiconductors
Extrinsic semiconductors can be doped with
both types of impurities, and their respective
concentrations determine the type material
they will become:
N-type when N
D
> N
A
Majority carriers are free electrons and minority
carriers are holes.
P-type when N
D
< N
A
Majority carriers are holes and minority carriers
are free electrons.
Semiconductors
In pure, intrinsic, semiconductors free
electrons and holes are created in pairs;
therefore the intrinsic carrier
concentration is defined as:
n
i
= n = p
For silicon at 300K,
n
i
~ 1.6 X 10
10
electrons/cm
3

Current Conduction in
Semiconductors
At temperatures above absolute zero the free
carriers are in constant random motion due to
their thermal energy, however their net
motion in any particular direction is zero,
therefore there is no net current flow.
Current Conduction in
Semiconductors
There are two principle mechanisms by
which charge move in a particular
direction, thus creating an electric
current:
Drift.
Diffusion.
Drift
Applying an electric field across a
semiconductor material, results in both
types of carrier moving in opposite
directions thus creating current flow.
Drift
The magnitude of the electric field in volts/cm is
given by:


And the effective velocity of the carrier moving by
the drift action of an applied electric filed is given by:


Where
n
= 1350 cm
2
/V-s and
p
= 480 cm
2
/V-s are
the electron and hole mobility constants respectively.
L
V
= E
E
n n
v = E
p p
v =
Conductivity
Property of a material.
It is a measure of the materials ability
to to carry electric current.
It is given by:


Measured in S/m.
( )
p n
p n q o + =
Resistivity
Measured in O-m it is the reciprocal of
conductivity:


The resistance of a material with constant
cross section can be calculated by:
o

1
=
A
L
R =
Current Density
Current per unit cross-sectional area.
Measured in A/cm
2
.
Given by:


The direction of current flow vector is the
same direction as the electric field vector.
E J o =
Diffusion
Diffusion current occurs because of the
physical principle that over time particles
undergoing random motion will show a
movement from a region of high
concentration to a region of lower
concentration.
Diffusion



Current density is directly proportional to the
gradient of carrier concentration.
D
n
and D
p
are the diffusion constants for
electrons and holes respectively.
(

=
dx
dn
qD J
n n
(

=
dx
dp
qD J
p p
Diodes
A two terminal electronic device which
conducts current if a voltage source is applied
in one direction, and refuses to conduct
significant current when a voltage of opposite
polarity is applied.
A diode is said to be forward biased when it
is conducting current, and it is said to be
reversed biased when it is not conducting
significant current.
Diodes
It is a non-linear device.
It is represented by the following
symbol, where the arrow indicates the
direction of positive current flow.
Diodes
Historical perspective:
Vacuum tube diode, Cats whisker.
Modern devices:
p-n junction diode, Schottky diode, Zener
diode, Tunnel diode, Varactor, etc.
P-N Junction
Created by bringing together a p-type
and n-type region within the same
semiconductor lattice.

P-N Junction
At the instant this junction is created free
electrons and holes start diffusing from their
regions of high concentration to regions of
low concentration.
This diffusion process is stopped very quickly
due to the fact that the movement of the free
electrons and holes leave behind uncovered
negative and positive charges bound in the
lattice (dopant atoms).
Depletion Region
This process builds
up charge layers in
a region, called
depletion region,
which is depleted of
carriers.
The charge layer
prevents further
diffusion.
Potential Barrier
The charge barrier creates a state of balance
with the diffusion process, and this barrier
can be represented as a voltage or potential
barrier.
Potential Barrier
Note that the height of the potential
barrier across the p-n junction can be
modified by applying an external
voltage across the junction.
The diffusion of carriers across the
junction is exponentially related to the
barrier height:
Change in voltage incurs an exponential
change in current due to carrier diffusion.
Potential Barrier
If the p-region is made more positive than
the n-region then the height of barrier is
reduced and more carriers can diffuse
through junction. This is called forward bias.
Potential Barrier
If the p-region is made more negative than
the n-region then the height of barrier is
increased and very few carriers can diffuse
through junction. This is called reverse bias.
Turn-on Voltage
Is arbitrarily defined by some
manufacturers to be the externally
applied voltage (forward bias) required
to obtain 1 A of current flow.
It is designated by V
F

Diode Circuit Models
Diode models that predict the relation
between the dc voltage across the diode, V
D
,
and the current through the diode, I
D
, are
used to analyze circuits containing this non-
linear device. Three models will be discussed
here:
The ideal diode model;
The diode equation model;
The piecewise linear diode model.
Diode Circuit Models
Which model should you use?
Ask yourself:
What do I know about the problem?
Which is the simplest model that will give
me results with accuracy I desire?
Ideal Diode
Idealized two terminal
device which passes
current in one direction
(zero resistance) and
passes no current in the
opposite direction
(infinite resistance).
Its v-i plot, which shows
the relationship of the
voltage across the diode
and the current flowing
through it, contains a
discontinuity.
Ideal Diode
If the diode is forward biased then the ideal diode
conducts current as a closed switch.
If the diode is reverse biased then the ideal diode will
not conduct current, and it will appear as an open
switch.
Ideal Diode
When analyzing circuits using this
model, replace the diode with a very
small test resistance, R, and solve for
the voltage across the test resistance. If
the polarity of the voltage across the
test resistance would forward bias the
diode replace it with a closed switch
otherwise replace it with an open
switch.
The Diode Equation and Model
The diode equation can be derived based on the
assumption that carriers move by diffusion.



I
D
Current through diode.
I
O
Reverse saturation current.
V
D
Voltage across the diode.
k Boltzmanns Constant.
n Ideality factor (n = 1 for silicon).
T Temperature in degrees Kelvin.
|
|
.
|

\
|
= 1
nkT
qV
O D
D
e I I
39 ~
kT
q
The Diode Equation and Model
|
|
.
|

\
|
= 1
nkT
qV
O D
D
e I I
Graphical Solution
Simplify the circuit
connected to the diode
to a Thevenins
equivalent circuit.
Analyze two cases:
i
D
= 0;
v
D
= 0.
This two points
identifies the Thevenins
circuit load line, and
this lines intersects the
diode plot at the
operating point.
Piecewise Linear Model
The real diode can
be approximated by
a model which uses
two connected line
segments.
Note that the turn
on voltage, V
F
,
marks the point
where the two line
segments meet.
Power Supply Circuits
Power supply circuits are used to
convert ac to dc for the purpose of
operating electronic circuits.
Typical residential ac power
distribution:
110-120 volts;
220-240 volts.
Power Supply Circuits
Typical electronic
system
requirements:
Digital electronics:
5 volts dc;
Analog electronics
requires two
supplies:
+15 volts dc;
-15 volts dc.
Power Supply Circuits
To achieve its purpose a power supply
must:
Step down the voltage supplied;
Convert ac to dc by rectifying the ac.
A transformer is used to step down the
magnitude of the voltages from the wall
receptacle.
Transformer
A transformer consists of two coils of wire on
a common iron core. The voltages on these
two coils are related by the turns ratio, which
is the ratio of the number of turns of wire in
the secondary coil to that in the primary coil.
RMS Values
Note that the 110-120 volts and 220-
240 volts are RMS values.
The actual amplitude of that sinusoidal
signal is a factor of 2 larger.

Rectification
Converting ac to dc is accomplished by
the process of rectification.
Two processes are used:
Half-wave rectification;
Full-wave rectification.
Half-wave Rectification
Simplest process
used to convert ac
to dc.
A diode is used to
clip the input signal
excursions of one
polarity to zero.
Full-wave Rectification
The output of a full-
wave rectifier is
driven by both the
positive and
negative cycles of
the sinusoidal input,
unlike the half-wave
rectifier which uses
only one cycle.
Filtering
Process used to
smooth out the
output of the
rectifier circuit.
One of the most
common filter is the
RC network.
Filtering
The reduction in
voltage between
charging cycles is
dependent on the
time constant stated
below:
( )
t
t
t
m
L
e V t v
C R

=
=
Ripple Factor
Ripple is the small voltage variation
from the filters output.
Good power supplies produce as little
ripple as possible.
Ripple is usually specified as Ripple
Factor, RF :
value dc
ripple of value rms
RF =
Clipper Circuits
Used to limit the
voltage excursions
of a signal at some
particular positive
value, negative
value or both.
Clamper Circuits
Used to generate an
output waveform
which appears like
the input one except
that the DC level
has either shifted
positively or
negatively with
respect to the input
waveform.
Zener Diode
Analyzing a diode operating in the reverse bias region
will show that the current through it remains
essentially constant until the breakdown voltage, also
called the avalanche or zener breakdown voltage, is
reached. At this point the current will increase very
rapidly for a small voltage change.
Voltage Regulation
This characteristic of the zener diode is
very useful for voltage regulation
circuits. The zener diode provides an
effective way to clamp or limit the
voltage at a relatively constant value
thus creating a voltage regulation
capability.
Photo Diodes and LEDs
Photodiodes convert incident radiation to
electric current.
The suns radiation creates electron-hole pairs
in the depletion region of a large p-n diode,
and the electric field in this region sweeps the
carriers to the terminals thus generating
current.
The magnitude of the current approximately
proportional to the light incidence on the
diode.
Photo Diodes and LEDs
Light Emitting Diodes LEDs are p n
junctions fabricated from special
semiconductors materials, like gallium
arsenide. They are useful because they
allow direct recombination of electrons
and holes, thus releasing energy in the
form of light.