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Discrete Semiconductors
1. Introduction to Semiconductors
1.1 What are semiconductors?
1.2 How are semiconductors made?
1.3 What do semiconductors do?
1.4 Who makes semiconductors?
1.5 Who buys semiconductors?
1.6 Types of Semiconductors
1.1 What are Semiconductors?
Materials with conductivity between conductor
and insulator.
Photo/ Metal/
Diffusion Doping
Etch Test
Wafer
Packaging Final Test
Saw
1.3 What do Semiconductors do?
They perform many functions in every electronic system
Power
Transistors
Rectifiers
Logic Logic Thyristors
Zeners Zeners
Small Signal Analog IGBTs
Rectifiers Rectifiers
Power
Analog
Rectifiers
Power Transistors
For Example……
I/O Protection
Voltage Supervisory NCP345 SIM/SAM Smart-card interface
NCP300/1/2/3/4/5 MC33560
NCP345 NCN6000*
MAX809/810 NCN6010*
NCN6011*
Energy Conversion
Base-band Supply
LCD Bias
MC33463 MC33466
MC34280 MC7660
MAX828/9 MC1121
RF Power Amplifier
Control & Supply,
Op. Amps
DO Voltage Regulation MC33170
Battery MC33202
ulti-Output, Inductive load
C78LC/FC/PCxx MC33263 Management MC33501
C33275/375 MC33765 MC33349
C33283 MC33761 MC33340/2
MC33762
Applications For Semiconcuctor Products
Automotive Personal Digital Assistant Printer Control Board
ABS & Traction Control Audio DC-DC
Car radio Backlight control ESD/Transient Protection
Convenience control Interface ON/OFF Control
DC Motor Control & H-bridge LED Drivers Sensors
Engine Management Li-ion Charge control Stepping Motor Drivers
Ignition System Li-ion/Ni-MH DC-DC Converters USB Interface
LIN Transceiver Li-ion/Ni-MH LDOs
Motor Fan ON/OFF Control Settop Box
PA Control Clock Distribution
Desktop Computers USB Interface Clock Generation
Graphics Card Voltage Supervisory General Purpose Logic
Power Delivery PLL
Silver Box Power Supplies SAM/SIM Interface
USB Interface High Watt (>100W) USB Interface
Low Watt (<20W)
Digital Cellular Handset Low-Med Watt (20-100W) MP3 Player
Audio Audio
Backlight control Digital Camera Backlight control
Charger control Audio General Purpose Logic
DC-DC Converters Downstream Filtering USB LED Drivers
General Purpose Logic LCD Backlight Li-ion Charge Control
Interface LED Drivers Li-ion/Ni-MH DC-DC Conversion
LDOs Li-ion Charge Control Li-ion/Ni-MH LDOs
LED Drivers Li-ion/Ni-MH DC-DC Converters Supervisory
ON/OFFControl Supervisory USB Interface
Ringer USB Interface
SmartCard Telecom Infrastructure
USB Interface 2.5G/3G Base Station
Vibrator DSLAM
Voltage Supervisory Switch/Router
Application: Cellular Phones
Mitsubishi
Lucent
IBM
AMD
Matsushita
National
Sanyo
Sharp
Micron Tech
Rohm
LSI Logic
Hyundai
Sony
LG Semicon
ON Semiconductor
Analog Devices
Conexant
Atmel
HP
Oki
Xilinx
Harris
Qualcomm
Altera
ATI Tech
Cirrus Logic
Maxim
VLSI Tech
Integrated Device Tech
Fairchild
Typical Semiconductor Co
Revenue By Customer
46%
9%
EMSI’s
9%
OEM’s
46%
1.6 Types of Semiconductors
Discrete Semiconductors
These are devices that perform a single function such as
switching, rectification or amplification. Examples are
diodes, transistors and thyristors
Integrated Circuits
These are combination of discrete elements on a single piece
of silicon performing single or multiple functions such as
voltage regulation, synchronous rectification, storage of
information in memory, high speed switching or power
management. Examples are analog switches, logic gates,
operational amplifiers and LDO voltage regulators.
Worldwide Semiconductor
Market
Product Breakdown (1999)
Total Semiconductors - $149.4B
Discrete&
Integrated Circuits - $130.2B Opto
$19.2B
Mixed
Analog
Digital - $108.1B Signal $22.1B
Diodes,
Rectifiers.
Transistors,
Spec Amp., etc.
Cons Interface,
$13.3B
MOS - $107.1B $5.9B etc.
$16.2B
DRAM ROMs
EPROM
essor - control- peri-
$10.5B
FPL Standard
cells
$27.2B ler pheral $12.7B
$20.7B
EEPROM
$14.1B $10.4B
$2.0B
(-) (+)
Cathode (-)
Schottky diodes have very low forward drop (Vf) and are used in high
speed switching applications.
Tuning diodes are used for FM radio, TV Tuning and high frequency
control applications
Small Signal Diode Characteristics
Schottky Switching Tuning
Diode Diode Diode
Max Power 1 1 1
Rating (W)
Schottky rectifiers handle high current and moderate voltage and can switch
very fast efficiently. Silicon Bipolar rectifiers (standard & fast recovery) can
handle high voltage and moderate current but switch slower. They can be made
to switch faster (Ultrafast and Ultrasoft) but will also have reduced conduction
efficiency.
Special Low Vf & fast Moderate Fast Recovery Very Fast Very fast and
Characteristics switching Recovery speed speed (trr) Recovery controlled
(trr) speed (trr) Recovery (Qrr)
Typical Use Low Voltage General Purpose DC Power High Voltage PFC, Variable
high freq supply, High Freq speed motor
rectification Ultrasonic & rectification contol
low RF systems
2.1.3 Zener Diode
Zener diodes are designed to have a specific reverse breakdown voltage by
careful doping of the junction
The zener can recover from reverse breakdown as long as the maximum
Power rating is not exceeded.
Low Power (1W) zeners are available in radial or axial leads while medium
(10W) and high power (20W) are usually in metal cases for attachment to
heat sinks.
2.1.4 TVS Diodes (Transient Voltage Suppressor)
A TVS Diode limits over voltages caused by current surges and dissipates high transient
power with very short response times
(1 pico sec).
The Junction Transisor The Field Effect Transistor The metal-oxide FET
(Bipolar Transistor) (JFET) (Mosfet)
NPN Gate 1 Source Gate Drain
Emitter Collector
Source P Drain N N
N P N N P
P
Base Gate 2
2.2.1 Small Signal Bipolar Transistors
Small Signal Bipolar
Transistors are NPN or
PNP transistors which
have max power rating
Of 1 Watt or less.
In contrast, Bipolar
Power transistors can
handle considerably
more power.
Small Signal Bipolar Transistors-Types
General Switching BRT Darlington Radio
Purpose Frequency
Characteristic Wide range Fast switching Built-in resistor Cascade of two High Frequency
with low losses network or more operation with
transistors high Ft
connected to
increase current
gain
Typical Use Signal Amplification & Save board Power Supplies VHF/UHF signal
amplification switching space. No need where high amplification.
for external current gain is TV/Radio
resistor required
NPN Bipolar Transistor Biasing
• Ie = Ib + Ic
Vbe
vbe
Input Signal
time
P
Source Drain
N
P
Gate 2
In an N-channel Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET), current flow from the source to
drain terminals is controlled by the P-type regions which are called the ‘gate’ terminals. This
is like the valve of a water tap that can be turned ON or OFF to control the flow of water.
JFET Operation
Drain to source Voltage (Vds) changes the resistance in the channel by reducing the channel size
(depletion) which in turn reduces the amount of current flow. As the Vds increases, it reaches a
point, where the channel is closed off and current flow stops. Gate to source voltage (Vgs)
has the same effect and so the channel can be closed from both Vds and Vgs
JFET Operation
Important Parameters:
Idss – The value of drain current, IDwhich flows when Vgs = 0v
Vp - The Pinchoff Voltage. This is the value of Vds at which increase in the Vds does not
produce an increase in ID.. When Vgs is increased, the Vp value is reached sooner as the Vgs
adds to the drain-to-source value pinching off the channel faster.
JFETs are used in audio and RF amplification and for high frequency switching functions.
JFET Parameters
Parameter Typical Values
Ciss (pF) 4 – 85
Crss (pF) 1 - 15
2.3 Mosfets
Mosfets are metal-oxide semiconductor Field effect Transistors
Gate
A Mosfet is a sophisticated,
Solid-state ON/OFF switch.
Power Mosfet Rds(on) is a very important parameter and has been continously
reduced as the Technology has improved. This parameter determines how much
resistance exists to current flow. Low rdson is good because it minimizes the need
for expensive heat sinks.
2.3.3 SmartDiscretes
A SmartDiscrete is a discrete device with some added intelligence.
These devices can perform additional functions including sensing of
overstress conditions and reacting to protect themselves or other
circuit elements around them.
The smart features are built into the device during fabrication by
using simple methods to fabricate these additional elements made of
diodes, zeners and resistors.
Source
Integrated thermal and current limits work together to provide short circuit protection.
The devices feature an integrated Drain-to-Gate clamp that enables them to withstand high
energy in the avalanche mode. The clamp also provides additional safety margin against
unexpected voltage transient. Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection is provided by an
integrated Gate-to-Source clamp.
2.4 IGBT – Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor
The structure is very similar to that of a vertically diffused MOSFET featuring a double diffusion
of a p-type region and an n-type region. An inversion layer can be formed under the gate by
applying the correct voltage to the gate contact as with a MOSFET. The main difference is the use
of a p+ substrate layer for the drain. The effect is to change this into a bipolar device as this p-type
region injects holes into the n-type drift region.
IGBT Characteristics
An IGBT combines the simple gate drive of the Mosfet with
the high current carrying capability of a bipolar transistor.
IGBTs are specially suited for high Voltage and high current
switching.
2.5 Thyristors
A Thyristor or S.C.R. (silicon
controlled rectifier) is a device
that can supply large currents or
switch large currents ON or OFF.
Thyristors are specified by the
reverse voltage, the gate voltage
and current.
The thyristor acts as a diode, passing current in one direction only. The
voltage at the gate controls the flow of current between the anode and the
cathode. When a momentary positive voltage of approximately 2 volts is
applied to the gate, a large current will flow from anode to cathode even
if the voltage at the gate is removed. The thyristor can be turned off by
Interrupting the power supply. This can be done using a switch in the +ve
power supply rail or bypassing the thyristor anode to cathode with a
switch. Gate current is limited by the use of a series resistor. The thyristor
also needs a load resistor otherwise it may be damaged.
Thyristor Parameters
Parameter Typical Values