Semiconductor devices and Circuits

S.KURUSEELAN
 Semiconductor Theory
• Materials – Classified based on conductivity
– Conductor – Good
– Insulator – Poor
– Semi conductor – in between

• based on the number of valence electrons (electrons in the

outermost orbit)
– Conductor has 1 or 2 electrons in the outermost orbit
– Insulator has completely filled outermost orbit
– Semiconductor has partially filled outermost orbit
 Energy Band
• The range of energy possessed by an electron of an atom

• Valance band
– range of energy possessed by valance electrons

• Conductors
– valance electrons are loosely bound to the nucleus - a small electric
field can detach these electrons from the nucleus and make them free.
Conduction band is the range of energy possessed by these free
electrons.

• Forbidden band
– the energy gap between the Conduction band and the Valance band
 Energy bands in Conductor

Conduction Band (CB)

Energy (eV)
Overlapping of CB and VB

Valence Band (VB)

 Energy bands in Insulator

Conduction Band (CB)

Energy (eV)
Energy gap (Eg) is very large (15 eV)

Valence Band (VB)

 Energy bands in Semiconductor

Conduction Band (CB)

Energy (eV)
Energy gap (Eg) is small (1 eV)

Valence Band (VB)

 Classification of semiconductors

• Depending on the conduction capability

– Intrinsic semiconductor

– Extrinsic semiconductor
 Intrinsic semiconductor
• pure semiconductor

• At room temperature

– some valence electrons may acquire sufficient energy to

crossover forbidden band and enter the conduction band
to form free electrons

– The escaping electron in the valance band leaves a vacant

space there called a hole

– nucleus with one electron less and so is positively

charged and heavy compared to the electron
 Intrinsic semiconductor
• Connect a battery across the semiconductor

– electric field is created across the semiconductor

– free electrons move towards the positive terminal of the

battery

– the holes drift relatively to the negative terminal of the

battery

– constitutes a current flow due to the movement of electrons and

holes inside the semiconductor

– current flow in the external circuit and battery is due to

electrons only (the electrons from the battery entering the semiconductor and the

holes drifting from the semiconductor recombine at the edge of the semiconductor)
 Extrinsic semiconductor
• The current in the intrinsic semiconductor caused
by the external electric field is very small
• The current carrying capability can be increased
by adding a small amount of impurity to the
semiconductor
• semiconductor with added impurity – extrinsic
semiconductor
• process of adding impurity – doping
• Can be P – type or N – type
 N-type semiconductor
• A small amount of pentavalent impurity (antimony) is added
to the pure semiconductor (germanium) to get N-type
semiconductor.

• Germanium atom has 4 valance electrons

• Antimony atom has 5 valance electrons

• Each antimony atom forms covalent bonds with surrounding

four germanium atoms

• Fifth valance electron of antimony is free and loosely bonded

to the antimony atom.
 Ge

Free electron

Sb

Ge
Ge

Ge
 N-type semiconductor
• free electron can easily be excited from the valance band to the
conduction band by the application of electric field

• addition of pentavalent impurity increases the number of

negatively charged electrons in the conduction band that far
exceed the number of holes created due to the intrinsic conduction
capability of the original semiconductor material

• Electrons - majority carriers

• Holes - minority carriers

• pentavalent impurities - donate electrons - donor impurities

 P-type semiconductor
• A small amount of trivalent impurity such as boron is
added to the pure semiconductor like germanium to
get P-type semiconductor
• Germanium - 4 valance electrons
• Boron - 3 valance electrons
• 3 valance electrons and 1 electron from next to the
outermost shell of boron atom forms covalent bonds
with surrounding four germanium atoms creating a
hole in the boron atom
 Ge

Ge
Ge

Hole

Ge
 P-type semiconductor
• addition of trivalent impurity increases the
number of positively charged holes that far exceed
the number of free electrons due to the intrinsic
conduction capability of the original
semiconductor material.
• Holes majority carriers
• Electrons minority carriers
• trivalent impurities accept the electrons - acceptor
impurities.
 Theory of PN junction Diode
• In a piece of semiconductor material,

– one half is doped with P-type impurity and the other half by N-type

impurity

– a PN junction is formed which is the plane dividing the two halves or

regions

• The free electrons (majority carriers in the N-region) cross over the junction

to the P-region where there is a large population of holes (vacant places for

electrons) with which the electrons "recombine".

• The holes (majority carriers in the P-region) cross over the junction to the N-

region and recombine with free electrons present there. This process is

known as diffusion.
 Theory of PN junction Diode
• As the free electrons cross the junction the donor atoms of N-region

become positively charged ions and a positive charge is built on the

N-side of the junction and in similar manner a negative charge is

built on the P-side of the junction.

• The region around the p–n junction becomes depleted of charge

carriers (electrons and holes) and thus is called the depletion region

or layer.

• The charge accumulated from this diffusion causes a small voltage

difference between the N and P regions, known as "barrier

potential", which opposes further electron or hole movement.

 Diode operation

0.4 V 0.7 V

P N P N

Depletion
Region
• a battery is connected to the junction

– positive terminal  P-region

– negative terminal N-region

• Electrons (majority charge carriers in N type)  attracted

towards the positive terminal of the battery via the P-region

• Holes (majority charge carriers in P type)  attracted towards

the battery negative terminal via the N-region
0.4 V

P N

Depletion Region
• If the voltage of the battery is increased, depletion region
decreases 0.7 V

P N

• If the voltage is sufficient to overcome the effect of the

barrier potential, current flow becomes significant 
Forward Bias

• Germanium - 0.3 V

• Silicon - 0.7 V

P N
 P N

• The holes and electrons are attracted away from their

relevant sides of the barrier

• widens the depletion region

• increases the barrier potential

• blocks the flow of current  Reverse bias.

• diode acts like a one-way switch,
• allows current to flow from the P-region to the N-region inside the
semiconductor, but not in the opposite direction.
• P-region connection  Anode
• N-region connection  Cathode
• Forward voltage - voltage drop across a conducting, forward-biased
diode - varies only slightly for changes in forward current and
temperature
• Diode’s maximum reverse-bias voltage or break-down voltage
rating is known as the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV
• PIV rating of a diode varies with temperature
• PIV increases with increase in temperature and decreases as the
diode becomes cooler
 Current-Voltage Relationship of Diode or
Diode characteristics

Breakdown Reverse Reverse Forward

Breakdown

I (mA)

Is
Vbr Vd

V (V)
Low Forward bias
• With a small forward bias, small forward current is
conducted and the current–voltage curve is exponential

• Cut-in voltage  definite forward voltage at which the diode

starts to conduct significantly = Barrier Potential

• Cut-off voltage  forward voltage decreases

Breakdown
Breakdown Reverse Reverse Forward

I (mA)

Is
Vbr Vd

V (V)
High Forward bias
• At larger forward currents
– the current-voltage curve starts to be dominated by the
ohmic resistance of the bulk semiconductor.
– The curve is no longer exponential
– it is asymptotic to a straight line whose slope is the bulk
resistance.

• The forward resistance (V/I) of the diode is very low;

• a small increase in voltage gives rise to a large
increase in current.
Reverse bias

• For a bias < PIV

– the reverse current flow is (mostly) blocked, and the diode is off

• A very small amount of current (in the range of nA/µA) –

called reverse saturation current or leakage current, does
flow in reverse direction through the diode due to minority
carriers, but it can be ignored for most purposes.
– temperature dependent,

– at sufficiently high temperatures, a substantial amount of reverse

current can be observed (mA).
Breakdown

• At very large reverse bias, beyond the PIV, a

process called reverse breakdown occurs that
causes a large increase in current (i.e., a large
number of electrons and holes are created,
and move away from the p–n junction) that
may damage the device permanently.
Different types of diodes with their symbols
 Zener Diode
• A Zener Diode is a special kind of diode
– permits current to flow in the forward direction as
normal

– also allows current to flow in the reverse direction when

the voltage is above a certain value - the breakdown
voltage known as the Zener voltage (Vz).

• The voltage drop across the Zener diode is equal to

the Zener voltage of that diode no matter how high
the reverse bias voltage is above the Zener voltage.
 Zener Diode
• designed to intentionally conduct reverse current
without being destroyed.
• The p-n junction of Zener diode is heavily doped
compared to that of normal diode causing only very
small depletion region.
• Even with reverse bias voltage less than 6 V, this results
in very strong electric field across the depletion region,
which breaks covalent bonds and creates new electron-
hole pairs cumulatively increasing the reverse current to
a large value.
 + IF
Forward
Current
Forward
Bias
Region
Reverse
Bias
- VZ
- VR + VF
IZ(min) VF
Forward
(0.3 - 0.7) V
Zener Bias
Breakdown
Region

IZ(max)
Reverse
Current
- IR
 Bipolar Junction Transistor
• NPN transistor
• PNP transistor
• 2 diodes joined back-to-back
• 3 terminals
– Emitter ( E ) - heavily doped
– Base ( B ) - lightly doped and thin
– Collector ( C ) - moderately doped
 BJT

• Current regulating device

• the amount of current flowing through
them in proportion to the amount of
biasing voltage applied to their base
terminal that acts like a current-
controlling switch
 BJT Configurations
• Common Base Configuration
• Common Emitter Configuration
• Common Collector Configuration
 Region Base – Transistor Emitter Collector
Emitter status junction junction
Voltage
Cutoff VBE < 0.7V Fully-OFF Reverse Reverse
(Operates as a biased biased
switch and IC
=0)
Active VBE ≈ 0.7V Operates as Forward Reverse
an amplifier biased biased
Saturated VBE ≈ 0.7V Fully-ON Forward Forward
(Operates as a biased biased
switch and
VCE ≈ 0.2V )

active region - amplification

cutoff and saturated regions - switching application
 Common Base (CB) Configuration
n p n

Injected Diffusing Collected iC

E
electrons electrons electrons C
iE
Injected
holes (iB1)
Recombined
electrons (iB2)

VBE B
VCB
 VI characteristics of BJT

IC
IE
(mA)
(mA)

VCB (V)
VEB (V)
 Half Wave Rectifier
• Rectifier – converts AC to DC to power most computers and other
microelectronics devices.

• half-wave rectifier

– Cuts off half of a sine wave, leaving only the positive or negative
side.

– Main supply voltage  transformer which will increase or

decrease the voltage and give to the diode. (step down
transformer)

– The transformer isolates the load from the line (reduces the
possibility of electric shock)
 Half Wave Rectifier
• PN junction diode – conducts – FB.

• used in rectifier(convert AC to DC)

• Diode in series with the load across an ac supply,

– converts alternating voltage into unidirectional pulsating

voltage, using one half cycle of the applied voltage,

– the other half cycle being suppressed because it conducts only in

one direction.

– only half-cycles of the input wave are used, it is called a half

wave rectifier.
Working of a Half wave rectifier
D
+

AC input RL DC Output

AC input

DC output

t
 Working of a Half wave rectifier
• During the positive half-cycles of the input ac voltage

– upper end of the secondary winding is positive with

respect to its lower end,

– the diode is forward biased - conducts current.

– the input voltage during the positive half-cycles is

directly applied to the load resistance RL, making its
upper end positive with respect to its lower end.

– The waveforms of the output current and output

voltage are of the same shape as that of the input ac
voltage.
 Working of a Half wave rectifier

• During the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage

– the lower end of the secondary winding is positive

with respect to its upper end

– the diode is reverse biased - does not conduct.

– during the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage,

the current through and voltage across the load
remains zero.
 Working of a Half wave rectifier
• Output voltage (VL) developed across load resistance RL
is a series of positive half cycles of alternating voltage.

• If the diode connection is reversed, then the output

voltage will be a series of negative half cycles of
alternating voltage.

• output is not a steady dc, but only a pulsating dc wave

• To make the output wave smooth – Filters

 Full Wave Rectifier
Centre-tapped Full Wave Rectifier
D1

D2
RL

•The positive terminals of two diodes are connected to the two ends of the
centre-tapped transformer
•Centre tap divides the total secondary voltage into two equal parts.
 Full Wave Rectifier
• The primary winding of the centre-tap transformer is applied with the ac

voltage.

• The two diodes connected to the secondary of the transformer conducts

alternatively.

• For the positive half cycle of the input

– Anode of D1 is connected to the positive terminal

– Anode of D2 is connected to the negative terminal.

– D1 is in forward bias

– D2 is in reverse bias

– D1 starts conducting and thus current flows from diode and it appears across the load

RL.

– The positive cycle of the input appears at the load.

 Full Wave Rectifier
• For the positive half cycle of the input

– Anode of D2 is connected to the positive terminal

– Anode of D1 is connected to the negative terminal.

– D2 is in forward bias

– D1 is in reverse bias

– D2 starts conducting and thus current flows from diode

and it appears across the load RL.

– The positive cycle of the input appears at the load.

 Full Wave Rectifier
• centre-tapped transformer is expensive and bulky and is
difficult to implement
• Bridge rectifier

Voltage
D1 waveform
D4
across
load

RL

D3 D2
 Full Wave Rectifier
• The secondary winding is connected to one side of the
diode bridge network (diametrically opposite points)

• The load to the other side (other diametrically opposite

points)
 Full Wave Rectifier
• During the first half of the AC input,
– the upper portion of the transformer secondary winding is
positive with respect to the lower portion.

– D1 and D3 are forward biased.

– Current flows from the upper portion of the transformer

through diode D1, load RL and diode D3 and returns back
to the lower portion of the transformer.

– Diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased and there is no

current flow through them.
 Full Wave Rectifier
• During the second half of the AC input,
– D2 and D4 are forward biased.

– Current flows from the lower portion of the

transformer through diode D2, load RL and diode
D4 and returns back to the lower portion of the
transformer.

– Diodes D1 and D3 are reverse biased and there is

no current flow through them.
 Centre-tapped transformer
S. No. Bridge rectifier
rectifier
1 Only two diodes are required. Four diodes are required.
2 One of the output terminals may Ground reference is not possible.
be grounded for reference.
3 It requires centre tapped It needs no transformer and even
transformer. if it is used, it is less costly and
more efficient as well as it does
not require centre tap.
4 Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)
requirement of diode is higher and requirement of diode is lower and
is equal to twice the maximum is equal to the maximum value of
value of input voltage. input voltage.
5 This circuit is very easy to This configuration is far more
implement. widely used.
6 At any moment current flows in It offers a high level of
half of the secondary winding performance when compared to
only. This results in very other rectifier circuits.
inefficient use of the transformer Transformer Utilization Factor is
in terms of cost and resources. high.
(Transformer Utilization Factor is
low)
7 Output voltage is slightly high as Output voltage is slightly low as
there is only one diode voltage there is voltage drop across two
drop. diodes.