1

EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 1 Spring 2003

Lecture #11
OUTLINE
pn Junctions
reverse breakdown
ideal diode analysis
current flow (qualitative)
minority carrier distributions
Reading: Chapter 6
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 2 Spring 2003
A Note of Caution
Typically, pn junctions in IC devices are formed
by counter-doping. The equations derived in
class (and in the textbook) can be readily
applied to such diodes if
N
A
net acceptor doping on p-side (N
A
-N
D
)
p-side
N
D
net donor doping on n-side (N
D
-N
A
)
n-side
2
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 3 Spring 2003
pn Junction Electrostatics, V
A
0
Built-in potential V
bi
(non-degenerate doping):
Depletion width W :
|
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.
|

\
|
=
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.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
ln ln ln
i
D A
i
D
i
A
bi
n
N N
q
kT
n
N
q
kT
n
N
q
kT
V
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ = + =
D A
A bi
s
n p
N N
V V
q
x x W
1 1
) (
2
W
N N
N
x
D A
D
p
+
= W
N N
N
x
D A
A
n
+
=
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 4 Spring 2003
Electric field distribution (x)
Potential distribution V(x)
) ( ) 0 ( that Note
A bi
D A
D
V V
N N
N
V
+
=
3
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 5 Spring 2003
Peak Electric Field
For a one-sided junction:
therefore
A bi
V V W dx = =

) 0 (
2
1

( ) ( )
s
A bi A bi
V V qN
W
V V

=
2 2
) 0 (
) (
2
A bi
s
V V
qN
W

EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 6 Spring 2003
A Zener diode is designed to operate in the breakdown mode.
V
I
V
BR
P N
A
R
Forward Current
Small leakage
Current
(a)
3.7V
R
(b)
IC
Zener diode
Junction Breakdown
4
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 7 Spring 2003
If V
reverse
= -V
A
is so large such that the peak electric
field exceeds a critical value
crit
, then the junction
will break down (large reverse current will flow)
Thus, the reverse bias at which breakdown occurs is
bi
crit s
BR
V
qN
V =
2
2

( )
s
BR bi
crit
V V qN

+
=
2
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 8 Spring 2003
if V
BR
>> V
bi

crit
increases slightly with N:
For 10
14
cm
-3
< N < 10
18
cm
-3
,
10
5
V/cm <
crit
< 10
6
V/cm
qN
V
crit s
BR
2
2

Avalanche Breakdown Mechanism

Small E-field:
High E-field:
5
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 9 Spring 2003
Dominant breakdown
mechanism when both
sides of a junction are
very heavily doped.
E
c
E
v
V
A
= 0:
E
v
E
c
Empty States
Filled States
-
Tunneling (Zener) Breakdown Mechanism
V
A
< 0:
bi
crit s
BR
V
qN
V =
2
2

V/cm 10
6

crit

Typically, V
BR
< 5 V
for Zener breakdown
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 10 Spring 2003
Empirical Observations of V
BR
V
BR
decreases with
increasing N
V
BR
decreases with
decreasing E
G
6
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 11 Spring 2003
Breakdown Temperature Dependence
For the avalanche mechanism:
V
BR
increases with increasing T
Mean free path decreases
For the tunneling mechanism:
V
BR
decreases with increasing T
Flux of valence-band electrons
available for tunneling increases
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 12 Spring 2003
Current Flow in a pn Junction Diode
When a forward bias (V
A
>0) is applied, the
potential barrier to diffusion across the
junction is reduced
Minority carriers are injected into the quasi-
neutral regions => n
p
> 0, p
n
> 0
Minority carriers diffuse in the quasi-neutral
regions, recombining with majority carriers
7
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 13 Spring 2003
Current density J = J
n
(x) + J
p
(x)
J is constant throughout the diode, but J
n
(x)
and J
p
(x) vary with position
dx
n d
qD n q
dx
dn
qD n q x J
n n n n n
) (
) (

+ = + =
dx
p d
qD p q
dx
dp
qD p q x J
p p p p p
) (
) (

= =
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 14 Spring 2003
Ideal Diode Analysis: Assumptions
Non-degenerately doped step junction
Steady-state conditions
Low-level injection conditions prevail in the
quasi-neutral regions
Recombination-generation is negligible in the
depletion region
i.e. J
n
& J
p
are constant inside the depletion region
0 , 0 = =
dx
dJ
dx
dJ
p
n
8
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 15 Spring 2003
Ideal Diode Analysis: Approach
Solve the minority-carrier diffusion equations in
quasi-neutral regions to obtain n
p
(x,V
A
),p
n
(x,V
A
)
apply boundary conditions
p-side: n
p
(-x
p
), n
p
(-)
n-side: p
n
(x
n
), p
n
()
Determine minority-carrier current densities in quasi-
neutral regions
Evaluate J
n
at x=-x
p
and J
p
at x=x
n
J(V
A
) = J
n
(V
A
)|
x=-xp
+ J
p
(V
A
)|
x=xn
dx
n d
qD V x J
p
n A n
) (
) , (

=
dx
p d
qD V x J
n
p A p
) (
) , (

=
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 16 Spring 2003
Carrier Concentrations at x
p
, x
n
n-side p-side
Consider the equilibrium (V
A
= 0) carrier concentrations:
A
2
0
A 0
) (
) (
N
n
x n
N x p
i
p p
p p
=
=
D
2
0
D 0
) (
) (
N
n
x p
N x n
i
n n
n n
=
=
If low-level injection conditions prevail in the quasi-neutral
regions when V
A
0, then
A
) ( N x p
p p
=
D
) ( N x n
n n
=
9
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 17 Spring 2003
Law of the Junction
The voltage V
A
applied to a pn junction falls mostly across
the depletion region (assuming that low-level injection
conditions prevail in the quasi-neutral regions).
We can draw 2 quasi-Fermi levels in the depletion region:
kT E F
e n n
/ ) (
i
i N

=
kT F E
e n p
/ ) (
i
P i

=
kT qV
e n pn
/ 2
i
A
=
kT F F
kT E F kT F E
P N
i N P i
e n
e e n pn
/ ) ( 2
i
/ ) ( / ) ( 2
i

=
=
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 18 Spring 2003
Excess Carrier Concentrations at x
p
, x
n
( ) 1 ) (

) (
) (
/
A
2
/
0
A
/ 2
A
A
A
A
=
=
=
=
kT qV
i
p p
kT qV
p
kT qV
i
p p
p p
e
N
n
x n
e n
N
e n
x n
N x p
n-side p-side
( ) 1 ) (

) (
) (
/
D
2
/
0
D
/ 2
D
A
A
A
=
=
=
=
kT qV
i
n n
kT qV
n
kT qV
i
n n
n n
e
N
n
x p
e p
N
e n
x p
N x n
10
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 19 Spring 2003
Example: Carrier Injection
A pn junction has N
A
=10
18
cm
-3
and N
D
=10
16
cm
-3
. The applied
voltage is 0.6 V.
Question: What are the minority carrier concentrations at the
depletion-region edges?
Answer:
Question: What are the excess minority carrier concentrations?
Answer:
-3 12 026 . 0 6 . 0
cm 10 100 ) ( = = = e e n x n
kT V q
po p p
A
-3 14 026 . 0 6 . 0 4
cm 10 10 ) ( = = = e e p x p
kT V q
no n n
A
-3 12 12
cm 10 100 10 ) ( ) ( = = =
po p p p p
n x n x n
-3 14 4 14
cm 10 10 10 ) ( ) ( = = =
no n n n n
p x p x p
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 20 Spring 2003
Excess Carrier Distribution
From the minority carrier diffusion equation:
We have the following boundary conditions:
For simplicity, we will develop a new coordinate system:
Then, the solution is of the form:
0 ) (
n
p ) 1 ( ) (
/
=
kT qV
no n n
A
e p x p
2 2
2
p
n
p p
n n
L
p
D
p
dx
p d
=

p p
L x L x
n
e A e A x p
/ '
2
/ '
1
) ' (

+ =
NEW: x 0 0 x
11
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 21 Spring 2003
From the x = boundary condition, A
1
= 0.
From the x = x
n
boundary condition,
Therefore,
Similarly, we can derive
0 ' , ) 1 ( ) ' (
/ '
/
> =

x e e p x p
p
A
L x
kT qV
no n
p p
L x L x
n
e A e A x p
/ '
2
/ '
1
) ' (

+ =
0 ' ' , ) 1 ( ) ' ' (
/ ' ' /
> =

x e e n x n
n A
L x kT qV
po p
) 1 (
/
2
=
kT qV
no
A
e p A
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 22 Spring 2003
p
L x
kT V q
n
p
p
n
p p
e e p
L
D
q
dx
x p d
qD J
'
0
) 1 (
'
) ' (
A

=

=
n
L x kT V q
p
n
n
p
n n
e e n
L
D
q
dx
x n d
qD J
' '
0
) 1 (
' '
) ' ' (
A

=

=
pn Diode I-V Characteristic
n-side:
p-side:
) 1 (
A
D A
2
i
0
0

(
(

+ =
+ = + =
=
=
=
=
kT V q
p
p
n
n
x
p
x
n
x x
p
x x
n
e
N L
D
N L
D
qn J
J J J J J
n
p
12
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 23 Spring 2003
) 1 (
0
=
kT V q
A
e I I
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
A n
n
D p
p
i
N L
D
N L
D
Aqn I
2
0
EE130 Lecture 11, Slide 24 Spring 2003
Diode Saturation Current I
0
I
0
can vary by orders of magnitude, depending on the
semiconductor material
In an asymmetrically doped pn junction, the term
associated with the more heavily doped side is negligible:
If the p side is much more heavily doped,
If the n side is much more heavily doped,
|
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\
|
+ =
A n
n
D p
p
i
N L
D
N L
D
Aqn I
2
0
|
|
.
|

\
|

D p
p
i
N L
D
Aqn I
2
0
|
|
.
|

\
|

A n
n
i
N L
D
Aqn I
2
0