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EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 1 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
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Lecture 1, Slide 1
Lecture 2
OUTLINE
Basic Semiconductor Physics (contd)
Carrier drift and diffusion
PN Junction Diodes
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 2 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
PN Junction Diodes
Electrostatics
Capacitance
Reading: Chapter 2.1-2.2
Lecture 1, Slide 2
Dopant Compensation
An N-type semiconductor can be converted into P-
type material by counter-doping it with acceptors
such that N
A
> N
D
.
A compensated semiconductor material has both
acceptors and donors.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 3 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
acceptors and donors.
P-type material
(N
A
> N
D
)
D A
i
D A
N N
n
n
N N p

2
A D
i
A D
N N
n
p
N N n

2
N-type material
(N
D
> N
A
)
Types of Charge in a Semiconductor
Negative charges:
Conduction electrons (density = n)
Ionized donor atoms (density = N
D
)
Positive charges:
Holes (density = p)
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 4 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
Holes (density = p)
Ionized acceptor atoms (density = N
A
)
The net charge density (C/cm
3
) in a semiconductor is
( )
A D
N N n p q + =
Carrier Drift
The process in which charged particles move because
of an electric field is called drift.
Charged particles within a semiconductor move with
an average velocity proportional to the electric field.
The proportionality constant is the carrier mobility.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 5 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
The proportionality constant is the carrier mobility.


=
=
E v
E v
n e
p h

Notation:

p
hole mobility (cm
2
/Vs)

n
electron mobility (cm
2
/Vs)
Hole velocity
Electron velocity
Velocity Saturation
In reality, carrier velocities saturate at an upper limit,
called the saturation velocity (v
sat
).
bE
0
1

+
=
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 6 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
E
v
E
v
b
v
sat
sat
0
0
0
1

+
=
=
Drift Current
Drift current is proportional to the carrier velocity
and carrier concentration:
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 7 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
v
h
t A = volume from which all holes cross plane in time t
p v
h
t A = # of holes crossing plane in time t
q p v
h
t A = charge crossing plane in time t
q p v
h
A = charge crossing plane per unit time = hole current
Hole current per unit area (i.e. current density) J
p,drift
= q p v
h
Conductivity and Resistivity
In a semiconductor, both electrons and holes
conduct current:
E qn E qp J J J
E qn J E qp J
n p drift n drift p drift tot
n drift n p drift p


+ = + =
= =

) (
, , ,
, ,
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 8 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
The conductivity of a semiconductor is
Unit: mho/cm
The resistivity of a semiconductor is
Unit: ohm-cm
E E n p q J
E qn E qp J J J
n p drift tot
n p drift n drift p drift tot


+ =
+ = + =
) (

,
, , ,
n p
qn qp +

Resistivity Example
Estimate the resistivity of a Si sample doped with
phosphorus to a concentration of 10
15
cm
-3
and
boron to a concentration of 10
17
cm
-3
. The electron
mobility and hole mobility are 700 cm
2
/Vs and 300
cm
2
/Vs, respectively.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 9 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
Electrical Resistance
V
+
_
t
W
I
homogeneously doped sample
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 10 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
where is the resistivity
Resistance
Wt
L
I
V
R =
(Unit: ohms)
L
Carrier Diffusion
Due to thermally induced random motion, mobile
particles tend to move from a region of high
concentration to a region of low concentration.
Analogy: ink droplet in water
Current flow due to mobile charge diffusion is
proportional to the carrier concentration gradient.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 11 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
proportional to the carrier concentration gradient.
The proportionality constant is the diffusion constant.
dx
dp
qD J
p p
=
Notation:
D
p
hole diffusion constant (cm
2
/s)
D
n
electron diffusion constant (cm
2
/s)
Diffusion Examples
Non-linear concentration profile
varying diffusion current
Linear concentration profile
constant diffusion current
d
L
x
N p

= exp

=
L
x
N p 1
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 12 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
L
N
qD
dx
dp
qD J
p
p diff p
=
=

,
d d
p
p diff p
L
x
L
N qD
dx
dp
qD J

=
=
exp
,
Diffusion Current
Diffusion current within a semiconductor consists of
hole and electron components:

, ,
dx
dn
qD J
dx
dp
qD J
n diff n p diff p
= =
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 13 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
The total current flowing in a semiconductor is the
sum of drift current and diffusion current:
) (
,
dx
dp
D
dx
dn
D q J
dx dx
p n diff tot
=
diff n diff p drift n drift p tot
J J J J J
, , , ,
+ + + =
The Einstein Relation
The characteristic constants for drift and diffusion are
related:

q
kT D
=

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 14 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

Note that at room temperature (300K)
This is often referred to as the thermal voltage.
mV 26
q
kT
The PN Junction Diode
When a P-type semiconductor region and an N-type
semiconductor region are in contact, a PN junction
diode is formed.
V
D
I
+
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 15 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
I
D
Diode Operating Regions
In order to understand the operation of a diode, it is
necessary to study its behavior in three operation
regions: equilibrium, reverse bias, and forward bias.
V
D
= 0 V
D
> 0 V
D
< 0
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 16 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
V
D
= 0 V
D
> 0 V
D
< 0
Carrier Diffusion across the Junction
Because of the difference in hole and electron
concentrations on each side of the junction, carriers
diffuse across the junction:
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 17 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
Notation:
n
n
electron concentration on N-type side (cm
-3
)
p
n
hole concentration on N-type side (cm
-3
)
p
p
hole concentration on P-type side (cm
-3
)
n
p
electron concentration on P-type side (cm
-3
)
Depletion Region
As conduction electrons and holes diffuse across the
junction, they leave behind ionized dopants. Thus, a
region that is depleted of mobile carriers is formed.
The charge density in the depletion region is not zero.
The carriers which diffuse across the junction recombine
with majority carriers, i.e. they are annihilated.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 18 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
with majority carriers, i.e. they are annihilated.
width=W
dep
quasi-
neutral
region
quasi-
neutral
region
Carrier Drift across the Junction
Because charge density 0 in the depletion region,
an electric field exists, hence there is drift current.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 19 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
PN Junction in Equilibrium
In equilibrium, the drift and diffusion components of
current are balanced; therefore the net current
flowing across the junction is zero.
diff p drift p
J J
, ,
=
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 20 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
diff n drift n
diff p drift p
J J
J J
, ,
, ,
=
=
0
, , , ,
= + + + =
diff n diff p drift n drift p tot
J J J J J
Built-in Potential, V
0
Because of the electric field in the depletion region,
there exists a potential drop across the junction:
p
x
p p p p
dp
dx
dp
D
dx
dV
p
dx
dp
qD E qp
p

2
=

=


EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 21 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
( )
D i
A
n
p
p
p
p
p
x
x
p
N n
N
q
kT
p
p D
x V x V
p
dp
D dV
p
n
/
ln ln ) ( ) (

2
2 1
2
1
= =
=

ln
2
0
i
D A
n
N N
q
kT
V =
(Unit: Volts)
Built-In Potential Example
Estimate the built-in potential for PN junction below.
Note that
N P
mV 60 3 . 2 mV 26 ) 10 ln(
q
kT
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 22 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
N P
N
D
= 10
18
cm
-3
N
A
= 10
15
cm
-3
PN Junction under Reverse Bias
A reverse bias increases the potential drop across the
junction. As a result, the magnitude of the electric field
increases and the width of the depletion region widens.
( )
1 1 2

0 R
D A
si
dep
V V
N N q
W +

+ =

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 23 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
D A
N N q

Diode Current under Reverse Bias
In equilibrium, the built-in potential effectively
prevents carriers from diffusing across the junction.
Under reverse bias, the potential drop across the
junction increases; therefore, negligible diffusion
current flows. A very small drift current flows, limited
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 24 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
current flows. A very small drift current flows, limited
by the rate at which minority carriers diffuse from the
quasi-neutral regions into the depletion region.
PN Junction Capacitance
A reverse-biased PN junction can be viewed as a
capacitor. The depletion width (W
dep
) and hence the
junction capacitance (C
j
) varies with V
R
.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 25 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

dep
si
j
W
C

=
Voltage-Dependent Capacitance
0
0
1
V
V
C
C
R
j
j
+
=
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 26 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

si
10
-12
F/cm is the permittivity of silicon.
0
0
1
2 V N N
N N q
C
D A
D A si
j
+
=

V
D
Reverse-Biased Diode Application
A very important application of a reverse-biased PN
junction is in a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO),
which uses an LC tank. By changing V
R
, we can
change C, which changes the oscillation frequency.
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 27 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
LC
f
res
1
2
1

=
Summary
Current flowing in a semiconductor is comprised of drift
and diffusion components:
A region depleted of mobile charge exists at the junction
between P-type and N-type materials.
A built-in potential drop (V
0
) across this region is established
by the charge density profile; it opposes diffusion of carriers

dx
dp
qD
dx
dn
qD E qn E qp J
p n n p tot
+ + =
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 2, Slide 28 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
0
by the charge density profile; it opposes diffusion of carriers
across the junction. A reverse bias voltage serves to enhance
the potential drop across the depletion region, resulting in
very little (drift) current flowing across the junction.
The width of the depletion region (W
dep
) is a function of the
bias voltage (V
D
).
ln
2
0
i
D A
n
N N
q
kT
V = ( )
1 1 2

0 D
D A
si
dep
V V
N N q
W

+ =