Chapter 2

P-N JUNCTION

FORMATION AND PROPERTIES

P-type or N-type semiconductors have limited application in semiconductor devices. Most of the
practical discrete electronic semiconductor devices like diodes and transistors have one or more P-N
junction as a basic structure. The basic P-N junction is also fundamental to the various integrated
circuits.

A P-N junction is produced when N-type and P-type semiconductor are brought into a contact. The
formation of a P-N junction is illustrated in Fig.2.14.
J
_
P _ + N
+
_
_
+

= hole from acceptor; = electron from donor; = diffusing donor electron;

+ = donor ion;  = acceptor ion.

Fig.2.14

When the contact is formed there are much more electrons in the N-side of it than electrons in the
P-side as well as there are much more holes in the P-side then holes in the N-side. Or, in other words,
there are concentration gradients of electrons and holes. These gradients cause diffusion currents
through the border J between the two-type conductances.

Every time a donor electron diffuses from the N-side to the P-side it leaves a positive ion behind. In
the P-side an acceptor that becomes a negative ion captures it. The ions are fixed in the crystal
structure because of the covalent bonding. As a result of this action a layer of positive ions at the N-
side of the border J is formed and a layer of negative ions at the P-side of the border as illustrated in
Fig.2.15.

Eo, Vo

__ ++
P __ N
++
_ __ ++
__ ++
__
++
_
J Depletion layer

Fig.2.15

The two layers give rise of an internal electric field Eo and potential difference Vo, with direction
from the N-side to the P-side, which prevents the further motion of electrons. It is said that a barrier
potential has formed. The current through the border ceases.

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The barrier potentials for different materials are different. For Ge it is 0.3V, 0.7V for Si and 1.4V
for GaAs.

The region around the border J (or the junction) is completely ionized. As a result there are no
current carriers in it. This region is called depletion region (or depletion layer) since it is devoid, or
depleted, of majority current carriers. Therefore it has high resistance.

The size of the depletion layer depends on the doping levels. The higher the impurity concentration,
the narrower the depletion layers. If the impurity levels in both N-side and the P-side are exactly the
same the P-N junction is said to be symmetrical. For practical applications non-symmetrical P-N
junctions are used, meaning that the doping level in the P-side, for example, is higher than the doping
level in the N-side of the junction.

The regions in the P-side and the N-side of the depletion layer have some certain number of
majority current carriers. Those regions are called neutral regions and have relatively low resistance,
ideally of zero ohms.

In practice, however, there are not only majority current carriers in the semiconductor materials. In
the practical temperature range, the minority current carrier concentration is much less than the
majority current carrier concentration, but sometimes it cannot be neglected.

When, for example an electron from the neutral P-side region reaches the depletion layer in its
random movement, it is transported by the internal electric field into the N-side. Similarly, when a
hole from the N-side neutral region reaches the depletion layer, it is transported into the P-side of the
junction.

Thus a small drift current flows through the junction from minority current carriers. It is in opposite
direction of the diffusion current.

When no external potential difference is applied to the P-N junction, it is said that the junction is in
equilibrium.

FORWARD BIASED P-N JUNCTION

To bias a P-N junction means to apply potential difference (voltage) from an external source like a
battery. There are two ways to connect a battery to a P-N junction. When the positive terminal is
applied to the P-side and the negative to the N-side the P-N junction it is forward biased. Exchanging
the terminals reverse biases the P-N junction.

As the depletion layer has much higher resistance then the neutral areas the whole of the external
voltage is practically applied across the depletion layer. In addition to the internal electric field Eo,
there is an external electric field Eext across the junction, which acts in the same or opposite direction
to Eo.
A forward biased P-N junction is shown in Fig.2.16
Eext
Eo

Metal
contact Metal
_
P + N contact
_
_ +
_ +
_
_ +
+

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V
Chapter 2

Fig.2.16

The circuit consists of a variable voltage source, current limiting resistor and the P-N junction in
series.

Let us assume that initially Eext < Eo and slowly increases. The electrons in the N-side area of the
junction are repelled by the negative terminal towards the junction. Similarly the holes in the P-side of
the junction are accelerated towards the junction from the positive terminal of the battery. As the
internal electric field and the external electric field act in opposite directions, the resultant potential
barrier will be reduced. Therefore there will be diffusion current through the junction from majority
current curriers. It will increase with the increase in voltage V. When the external voltage V
becomes equal to the barrier potential of the certain material (0.7 V for Si junctions), Eext = Eo and
the barrier potential disappears. The current through the junction becomes large, limited only by the
external circuit components. This current is called forward current, IF (generally of order of mA). Its
direction is the same as the conventional current direction, from the positive terminal of the source to
the negative.

REVERSE BIASED P-N JUNCTION

A PN junction is reverse biased when the positive terminal is connected to the N side of the junction
and the negative terminal – to the P side, as illustrated in Fig2.17.

Eext

Eo

_ _
P _ _ + + N
_ _ + +
_ + +
_ _
_ _ + +
+ +

V
Fig.2.17

In this case both the external and internal field act in the same direction. As a result the potential
barrier increases and the depletion layer becomes wider. The majority current carriers are attracted to
the ‘+’ terminal (electrons in the N side) and to the ‘-‘terminal (holes in the P side). Practically there
is no current from majority current carries through the junction. However, the minority current
carriers from both sides of the junction are not affected from the reverse bias. Due to their thermal
motion, when they reach the space charge area, they would be transported through the junction. As a
result a small current called reverse current, leakage current, or saturation current, Is /I0 flows
through the junction. It is of order of A for Ge junctions and of order of nA for Si ones. It is very

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much temperature dependent and should be taken into consideration in many practical applications.
The saturation current can be considered constant at a constant temperature.
The reverse voltage V cannot be increased indefinitely. At some particular value called breakdown
voltage, VBR ( Zener Voltage Vz ) the number of minority current carriers in the depletion layer
rapidly increases and consequently the reverse current. The condition is called a PN junction
breakdown. It can be thermal (non-reversible) or electrical (reversible). Any further increase in
voltage is likely to cause burnout unless protected by a current limiting resistor.
When PN junction didoes are employed primarily because of this breakdown property as voltage
regulators they are called Zener diodes.

P-N JUNCTION ENERGY BAND DIAGRAMS

The formation of the barrier potential can also be examined by means of energy diagrams. The
Fermi level of the electrons is raised for the N-type semiconductor and lowered for P-type, with
respect to the middle of the FB (Fig.2.18). Electrons seek the lowest energy level. When the P and N
regions are joined, the electrons from the N region will move across the junction to annihilate holes in
the P region

N-type P-type

EF
EF

Fig.2.18

As a result, the CBs and the VBs will distort until the Fermi levels align. The alignment of the Fermi
levels (Fig2.19 ) corresponds to the formation of the barrier potential. Notice that the aligned Fermi
level has not changed its relative position in the two materials. From Fig.2.19 we can also observe that
the P region now has higher energy levels in the conduction band, but some of the levels at the bottom
of the valence band have been lost. The reverse is true for the N region.

EF

Fig.2.19

The effect of forward bias on the PN junction energy band diagram is illustrated in Fig.2.20.

Potential
hill

+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
External
External
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bias P-type

N-type
Chapter 2

Fig.2.20

- Additional free electron from the source; - Electron loses energy as it overcomes
the barrier potential; - Electron gains energy and enter the CB to return to the source; - Free
electron has fallen into a (VB) hole.

Any external bias destroys the equilibrium at the junction by bending the Fermi level. When
forward bias is applied, the conduction bands and the valence bands of the P and N materials at the
junction tend to become aligned.
The bend in the Fermi level is often called a potential hill. It shows that the average energy of the
electrons decreases as we move from the N-type to the P-type material. Electrons can move easily
from the N-type to the P-type material because they must move down a potential hill, or lose energy
as they propagate.
The conduction-band electrons are repelled by the external bias. They drift to the junction and lose
energy (as they overcome the barrier potential). The energy loss places them in the VB, where they
can recombine with holes. At the right-hand side, electrons leave the VB holes and go into the
conduction band. In this case they gain energy because of the applied external bias.

The energy band diagram for a reverse-biased PN junction is given in Fig.2.21

+ -

+ -

+ -

+ -
P-type
External External
bias bias
Potential
N-type Fig.2.21 hill

Notice that the CB and VB tend to become more misalign with the application of a reverse bias.
This is due to the increased width of the depletion layer. The Fermi level is again bent by the external
bias to form a potential hill. However, in this case electrons must climb, or go up the potential hill.
This means that the electrons must gain energy in order to travel from the N region to the P region.
Obviously, this is not very likely. The energy band diagram supports the fact that current flow across
a reverse-biased PN junction will be approximately zero.

JUNCTION CAPACITANCE

There are two types of capacitance associated with a PN – junction namely transition or space-
capacitance and diffusion or storage capacitance.

Transition Capacitance

When a PN junction is reverse-biased, the depletion region acts like a dielectric. The P and N
regions (next to the depletion region) have higher conduction and could be regarded as conduction

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plates. Therefore, a PN junction can be considered as a parallel plate capacitor with capacitance
 .A
C ,
d
Where  in the semiconductor material permittivity;
A is the PN junction area;
d is the depletion layer width.

The capacitance of a PN junction when reverse-biased is called transition or space

charge capacitance. Its typical value is 40 pF.
This capacitance can be controlled by the amount of reverse bias, as the depletion layer width
changes with the reverse voltage change.
The equivalent circuit of a reverse-biased PN junction consists of a variable resistance for lower
and moderately high frequencies. At high frequencies, however the transition capacitance should be
taken into consideration. The equivalent circuit is shown in Fig.2.22 (a).

RR VD rd

(a) (b)
CT CD
Fig.2.22

At very high frequencies the capacitor impedance becomes negligible and short- circuits the signal.
Practical use is made of the transition capacitance in semiconductor devices called varactors or
varicaps.

Diffusion capacitance

This capacitive effect is present when a PN-junction is forward biased. When the junction is
forward-biased, forward current flows through it. If suddenly the applied voltage is reversed, the
current ceases, but large number of majority current carriers is left in the depletion layer, which
becomes wider. For that reason initially the reverse current is large then gradually decreases to the
saturation level.
The effect is the same as in discharging capacitor and is represented by a
capacitance called diffusion capacitance CD.
Its typical value is of about 0.02 F, but no practical use is made of this capacitance. It should be
taken into consideration at high frequencies. The equivalent circuit of a forward-biased PN-junction is
shown in Fig.2.22 (b).

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Voltage- Current (V-I) characteristics of a diode

Fig 2.3

The volt-ampere described are static characteristics because they describe the dc characteristics of a
diode. The forward and reverse characteristics can be combined into a single diagram fig 2.3.

These characteristics can be described by the analytical equation called Boltzmann Diode equation

The diode equation gives an expression for the current through a diode as a function of voltage.

Where: I : net current flowing through the diode

𝐼0 : reverse/ saturation current
V:voltage applied at the terminals of the diode (+ve for forward bias & -ve for reverse bias
q: charge of an electron
k: Boltzmann’s constant
T: temperature in Kelvins

Questions

1) Using Boltzmann’s diode equation, find the change in forward bias voltage for doubling the
forward current of a Germanium semiconductor diode at 290K.
2) A certain PN junction diode has a leakage current of 10−14 A at room temperature of 270 C
and 10−19 at 1250 C. The diode is forward biased with a constant current source of 1mA at
room temperature. If current is assumed to remain constant, calculate the junction barrier
voltage at room temperature and at 1250 C.

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