PHYSICS

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

PROJECT MADE BY

GUIDED BY

NAVNEET KUMAR, XII B

mRS.MANJU RANI RAWAT, PGT PHYSICS
ROLL NO 12238
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA NO 2 COLABA, MUMBAI
KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA NO 2 COLABA, MUMBAI

CERTIFICATE
Date: February 2015

This is to certify that NAVNEET KUMAR , a

student of class XII B studying in this school has
completed the project named 24 LED Dancing
Light in the academic year 2014-2015

______________

___________ ____________

Head of the department

[PGT, Physics]
K V No 2 Colaba, Mumbai

External Examiner

Principal
K.V.No-2, Colaba,
Mumbai

Place: Mumbai
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me great pleasure to express my gratitude towards
Mrs. Manju Rani Rawat, PGT, Physics for her untiring
help and encouragement throughout the duration of the
project. Without her motivation and help, successful
completion of the project would not have been possible.
Lastly, I would like to thank my parents and people those
who provided me all the material required so as to finish
the project within the allotted time period.

Navneet Kumar,
XII B
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INDEX
1. AIM OF THE
PROJECT
2.THEORY
3. MATERIALS AND
EQUIPMENTS USED
4.PROCEDURE
5. WORKING OF THE
CIRCUIT
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. AIM OF THE
PROJECT
TO CONSTRUCT A CIRCUIT OF 24
LED DANCING LIGHT

2. THEORY
SEMICONDUCTOR

A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value between

a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. The
modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on
quantum physics to explain the movement of electrons and holes in a
crystal lattice. The electrical conductivity of a semiconductor material
increases with increasing temperature, which is behavior opposite to
that of a metal. Because the electrical properties of a semiconductor
material can be modified by controlled addition of impurities, or by the
application of electrical fields or light, devices made from
semiconductors can be used for amplification, switching, and energy
conversion. Current conduction in a semiconductor occurs through the
movement of free electrons and "holes", collectively known as charge
carriers. Adding impurity atoms to a semiconducting material, known
as "doping", greatly increases the number of charge carriers within it.
When a doped semiconductor contains mostly free holes it is called "ptype", and when it contains mostly free electrons it is known as "ntype". The semiconductor materials used in
electronic devices are doped under precise
conditions to control the location and
concentration of p- and n-type dopants. A
single semiconductor crystal can have many
p- and n-type regions; the pn junctions
between these regions are responsible for the
useful electronic behavior. Although some
pure elements and many compounds display
semiconductor properties, silicon, germanium,
and compounds of gallium are the most
widely used in electronic devices.

A large number of elements and compounds have semiconducting properties, including

Certain pure elements are found in Group XIV of the periodic table; the most
commercially important of these elements are silicon and germanium. Silicon and
germanium are used here effectively because they have 4 valence electrons in their
outermost shell which gives them the ability to gain or lose electrons equally at the
same time.
Binary compounds, particularly between elements in Groups III and V, such as
gallium arsenide, Groups II and VI, groups IV and VI, and between different
group IV elements, e.g. silicon carbide.

Properties
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1. Variable conductivity
A pure semiconductor is a poor electrical conductor as a consequence of having just the
right number of electrons to completely fill its valence bonds. Through various
techniques (e.g., doping or gating), the semiconductor can be modified to have an excess
of electrons (becoming an n-type semiconductor) or a deficiency of electrons (becoming
a p-type semiconductor). In both cases, the semiconductor becomes much more
conductive (the conductivity can be increased by one million fold or more).
Semiconductor devices exploit this effect to shape electrical current.

2. Depletion
When doped semiconductors are joined to metals, to different semiconductors, and to the
same semiconductor with different doping, the resulting junction often strips the electron
excess or deficiency out from the semiconductor near the junction. This depletion region
is rectifying (only allowing current to flow in one direction), and used to further shape
electrical currents in semiconductor devices.

3. Energetic electrons travel far

Electrons can be excited across the energy band gap of a semiconductor by various
means. These electrons can carry their excess energy over distance scales of micrometers
before dissipating their energy into heat a significantly longer distance than is possible
in metals. This property is essential to the operation of, e. g., bipolar junction transistors
and solar cells.

4. Light emission
In certain semiconductors, excited electrons can relax by emitting light instead of
producing heat. These semiconductors are used in the construction of light emitting
diodes and fluorescent quantum dots.

5. Thermal energy conversion

Semiconductors have large thermoelectric power factors making them useful in
thermoelectric generators, as well as high thermoelectric figures of merit making them
useful in thermoelectric coolers

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Semiconductor devices are electronic components that exploit the electronic
properties of semiconductor materials, principally silicon, germanium, and gallium
arsenide, as well as organic semiconductors. Semiconductor devices have replaced
thermionic devices (vacuum tubes) in most applications. They use electronic
conduction in the solid state as opposed to the gaseous state or thermionic emission
in a high vacuum. Semiconductor devices are manufactured both as single discrete
devices and as integrated circuits (ICs), which consist of a numberfrom a few
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(as low as two) to billionsof devices manufactured and interconnected on a

single semiconductor substrate, or wafer. Semiconductor materials are useful
because their behavior can be easily
manipulated by the addition of impurities,
known
as
doping.
Semiconductor
conductivity can be controlled by
introduction of an electric or magnetic field,
by exposure to light or heat, or by
mechanical deformation of a doped
monocrystalline grid; thus, semiconductors
can make excellent sensors. Current
conduction in a semiconductor occurs via mobile or "free" electrons and holes,
collectively known as charge carriers. Doping a semiconductor such as silicon
with a small amount of impurity atoms, such as phosphorus or boron, greatly
increases the number of free electrons or holes within the semiconductor. When a
doped semiconductor contains excess holes it is called "p-type", and when it
contains excess free electrons it is known as "n-type", where p (positive for holes)
or n (negative for electrons) is the sign of the charge of the majority mobile charge
carriers. The semiconductor material used in devices is doped under highly
controlled conditions in a fabrication facility, or fab, to control precisely the
location and concentration of p- and n-type dopants. The junctions which form
where n-type and p-type semiconductors join together are called junctions. There
are two main categories of semiconductor devices-Diodes and Transistors

Diode
The diode is a device made from a single pn
junction. At the junction of a p-type and an ntype semiconductor there forms a region called
the depletion region which blocks current
conduction from the n-type region to the p-type
region, but allows current to conduct from the ptype region to the n-type region. Thus, when the device is forward biased, with the p-side
at higher electric potential, the diode conducts current easily; but the current is very small
when the diode is reverse biased. Exposing a semiconductor to light can generate
electronhole pairs, which increases the number of free carriers and its conductivity.
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Diodes optimized to take advantage of this phenomenon are known as photodiodes.

Compound semiconductor diodes can also be used to
generate light, as in light-emitting diodes and laser
diodes.

Transistor
Bipolar junction transistors are formed from two pn junctions, in either npn or pnp
configuration. The middle, or base, region between the junctions is typically very narrow.
The other regions, and their associated terminals, are known as the emitter and the

collector. A small current injected through the junction between the base and the emitter
changes the properties of the base-collector junction so that it can conduct current even
though it is reverse biased. This creates a much larger current between the collector and
emitter, controlled by the base-emitter current. Another type of transistor, the field-effect
transistor, operates on the principle that semiconductor conductivity can be increased or
decreased by the presence of an electric field. An electric field can increase the number of
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free electrons and holes in a semiconductor, thereby changing its conductivity. The field
may be applied by a reverse-biased pn junction, forming a junction field-effect transistor
(JFET) or by an electrode isolated from the bulk
material by an oxide layer, forming a metaloxide
semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET).The
MOSFET, a solid-state device, is the most used
semiconductor device today. The gate electrode is
charged to produce an electric field that controls the
conductivity of a "channel" between two terminals,
called the source and drain. Depending on the type of
carrier in the channel, the device may be an n-channel
(for electrons) or a p-channel (for holes) MOSFET.
Although the MOSFET is named in part for its "metal"
gate, in modern devices polysilicon is typically used
instead.

RESISTORS
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical
resistance as a circuit element. Resistors act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time,
act to lower voltage levels within circuits. In electronic circuits resistors are used to limit
current flow, to adjust signal levels, bias active elements, terminate transmission lines
among other uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts of electrical power
as heat may be used as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems, or as test
loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resistances that only change slightly with
temperature, time or operating voltage. Variable resistors can be used to adjust circuit
elements (such as a volume control or a lamp dimmer), or as sensing devices for heat,

light, humidity, force, or chemical activity. Resistors are common elements of electrical
networks and electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in electronic equipment. Practical
resistors as discrete components can be composed of
various compounds and forms. Resistors are also
implemented within circuits. The electrical function of a
resistor is specified by its resistance: common
commercial resistors are manufactured over a range of
more than nine orders of magnitude. The nominal value
of the resistance will fall within a manufacturing
tolerance.

CAPACITORS
A capacitor (originally known as a condenser) is a passive two-terminal electrical
component used to store energy electrostatically in an electric field. The forms of
practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors (plates)
separated by a dielectric (i.e. insulator). The conductors can be thin films, foils or sintered
beads of metal or conductive electrolyte, etc. The "nonconducting" dielectric acts to
increase the capacitor's charge capacity. A dielectric can be glass, ceramic, plastic film,
air, vacuums, paper, mica, oxide layer etc. Capacitors are widely used as parts of
electrical circuits in many common electrical devices. Unlike a resistor, an ideal capacitor
does not dissipate energy. Instead, a capacitor stores energy in the form of an electrostatic
field between its plates. When there is a potential difference across the conductors (e.g.,

when a capacitor is attached across a battery), an electric field develops across the
10

dielectric, causing positive charge +Q to collect on one plate and negative charge Q to
collect on the other plate. If a battery has been attached to a capacitor for a sufficient
amount of time, no current can flow through
the capacitor. However, if a time-varying
voltage is applied across the leads of the
capacitor, a displacement current can flow.
An ideal capacitor is characterized by a
single constant value for its capacitance.
Capacitance is expressed as the ratio of the
electric charge Q on each conductor to the
potential difference V between them. The SI
unit of capacitance is the farad (F), which is
equal to one coulomb per volt (1 C/V). Typical capacitance values range from about 1 pF
(1012 F) to about 1 mF (103 F). The capacitance is greater when there is a narrower
separation between conductors and when the conductors have a larger surface area. In
practice, the dielectric between the plates passes a small amount of leakage current and
also has an electric field strength limit, known as the breakdown voltage. The conductors
and leads introduce an undesired inductance and resistance. Capacitors are widely used in
electronic circuits for blocking direct current while allowing alternating current to pass.
In analog filter networks, they smooth the output of power supplies. In resonant circuits
they tune radios to particular frequencies. In electric power transmission systems, they
stabilize voltage and power flow.

3. MATERIAL AND

EQUIPMENTS
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1. Light Emitting Diodes

12RED + 12GREEN
2. Capacitors
0210F/16 V
3. Resistors
02 68K + 01100
4. Transistors
02 BC 148
5. PCB board
6. Wires
7. 12 V battery / 12 V Adapter with adapter point for
supply
8. Soldering heater and lead tin solder

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4. CONSTRUCTION
PROCEDURE
1. Collect all the material as per required
2. Check whether all the LEDs are functioning
or not
3. Solder all the LEDs in the circuit board.
4. Solder all the capacitors, resistors and
transistors to the circuit board
5. Check whether the circuit formed is working
or not by connecting to 12 v battery/adapter

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5. WORKING

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM FOR 24 LED DANCING

LIGHT
It works on the principle of charging and discharging of
capacitors C1 and C2. Current from the positive of battery
flows through first set of LEDs D1-D23 to the collector of
Transistor1 through resistor R1. Resistor R1 limits current
through the LEDs to protect them. The current through R1
charges capacitor C2. It then discharges through the base
of T2. This gives base current to T2 which is emitted to
base of T1 again via R2 which instead of passing to T1,
moves to R3. As a result second set of LEDs D2-D24 lights
as the current flows through R3.Capacitor C2 again
charges and the cycle repeats.

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6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. INTERNET
a. www.wikipedia com
b. www.instructables.com
c. www.google.co.in [images]

2. Instruction Manual [Provided with the do it

yourself assembling kit]

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