GATES INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, GOOTY

BEEE- ELECTRONICS PART – R20

UNIT-I
1) Define semiconductor diode or PN junction diode?
Semiconductor diode or PN diode is a device in which current flows in only one direction
2) How diode will act as a switch?
In the diode operation, forward characteristics will act like a closed/ON switch and reverse
characteristics will act like an open/OFF switch.
3) Define Knee voltage or Cut-in voltage?
It is also known as Cut-in voltage. It is defined as minimum voltage applied to the device to turn it
ON. It is also defined as minimum voltage to be applied to the device to produce output current?
4) Define drift & diffusion current?
When an electric field is applied across the semiconductor material, the charge carriers attain
a certain drift velocity which is equal to the product of the mobility of the charge carriers and the applied
electric field intensity E. The holes move towards the negative terminal of the battery and electron move
towards the positive terminal. This combined effect of movement of the charge carriers constitute a current
known as drift current.
Under no biasing, the gradual flow of charge from a region of high density to a region of low
density which induces current in the device is known as Diffusion current.
5) Define rectifier?
A rectifier is a device which is used to convert A.C into Pulsating D.C. using one or more PN diodes.
6) Define intrinsic semiconductor.
Semiconductor in an extremely pure form is called intrinsic semiconductor. Electron and hole
concentration is of equal. It is also known as pure semiconductor.
7) Compare Zener & avalanche breakdown mechanism?

8) List application of PN junction diode?

ANS: 1. it can be used as a switch.
2. It can be used as a rectifier.
3. It can be used in voltage doubler circuits.
4. It can be used in digital logic design switches
5. It can be used in clipping circuits.

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9) Define Diffusion & transition capacitance?
In a PN diode, Diffusion capacitance occurs in Forward bias conditions. It is also referred as Storage
capacitance. It is denoted by CD. It occurs due to stored charge of minority charge carriers near to depletion
region.
In a PN diode, transition capacitance occurs in reverse bias conditions. It is also referred as Junction
capacitance/ space charge capacitance. It is denoted by CT. It occurs due to majority charge carriers move
away from depletion region, then width of the region increases providing capacitance more than that of
diffusion capacitance.
10) Define static & dynamic resistance of diode?
Static resistance R of a diode can be defined as the ratio of voltage V across the diode to the
current flowing through the diode.
R = V/ I
Where
R - Static resistance of a diode
V - Voltage across the diode
I - current across the diode
Dynamic resistance of a diode can be defines as the ration of change in voltage across diode to
change in current flowing through the diode.
Formula R= V2-V1/ I2-I1
11) Draw the symbol, structure & V-I characteristics of diode?

12) How diode used in digital logic gates?

A pn diode can be used for many applications that include digital logic gates. By using PN diode,
basic logic gates like AND, OR & Not gate functionality can be implemented.

13) Define Zener diode?

Zener diode is a form of semiconductor diode that is widely used as voltage reference.
It is a heavily doped diode which is mainly operated in reverse bias condition after breakdown region as a
voltage regulator.
14) Compare Zener and PN diode?

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PN junction diode
It is normally doped diode
Electricity flows in one direction
Used for rectification
Width of the depletion layer is large
compare to Zener diode
It is always operated in forward
bias condition
It has no sharp reverse breakdown
It conducts in only one direction
Zener diode
It is heavily doped diode
Electricity flows in both directions
Used for voltage regulation
Depletion layer width is small compared to pn
diode
It is always operated in reverse bias condition
It has sharp reverse breakdown, but functions
properly without burn.
Conducts in both directions

15) Define filter & list types of filters?

Filter id defined as device which converts pulsating DC to pure DC. Means it will filter all the
frequency components from the pulsating input.
Mainly they are four types of filters, namely
1] Inductive filter 2] Capacitance filter 3] LC or choke input filter
4] CLC or Π section filter
16) Define ripple factor?
The ratio of RMS value of the a.c component to the d.c component in the output is known as
ripple factor (r).
R = √ (Vrms / Vdc)2 – 1
17) Define LED & photo diode?
LED: it is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in
the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons.
Photo diode: it is a semiconductor device that converts light into electrical current.
18) Draw the characteristics of photo diode?

19) Define inductive & capacitive filter?

Inductive and capacitive filter is a device which removes the A.C. components and allows only D.C
components in the signal to reach the load.
20) Define transistor?

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Transistor represents transfer of resistance from one region to another. It consists of two
junctions formed by sand witching either P-type or N-type semiconductor between a pair of
opposite types. Transistor is a three terminal device.
Three terminals: emitter, base, collector
21) List types of transistors?
Unipolar junction transistor.
Bipolar junction transistor.
22) Define operating point/ Quiescent/ Q-point?
Operating point of a transistor is defined as in which obtained from the values of collector
current and collector to emitter voltage when no signal is given at input.
23) Define doping.
The process of adding impurities to an intrinsic semiconductor is called doping.
24) Draw symbols of BJT?

25) Define FET & MOSFET?

FET: It is a voltage controlled device having high input impedance. It uses an electric field to
control the flow of current. It is a type of unipolar transistor.
MOSFET: It is a voltage controlled device having very high input impedance. It uses an electric
field to control the flow of current. It is a type of unipolar transistor.
26) Define biasing?
Biasing is defined as application of external dc voltage to the device.
27) What is the need of biasing?
Under biasing conditions only, transistor characteristics will be analyzed. If an amplifier is not biased
with correct DC voltages on the input and output, it can go into saturation or cutoff from active region when
input signal is applied.
28) What are the types of extrinsic semiconductor?
a) N-type semiconductor
b) P-type semiconductor.
29) What is ‘peak inverse voltage ‘? What is its value for the HWR?
The peak inverse voltage is the peak voltage across the diode in the reverse direction i.e. when the
diode reverse biased. HWR when the diode is reverse biased and hence the maximum value of voltage that
can exist across the diode is nothing but Em.
30) Define efficiency of a half wave rectifier along with its maximum value.
The efficiency of a half wave rectifier is defined as ratio of d.c output power to a.c input power.
Efficiency = d.c output power / a.c input power.
= Pdc / Pac
The maximum efficiency is 40.6 % for half wave rectifier
31) Define breakdown voltage?

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It is the reverse voltage of a PN diode at which the junction breakdown and there will be a sudden
increase in reverse current.
32) Define diffusion?
It is defined as the gradual flow of charge from a region of high density to a region of low density.
33) Define Zener breakdown.
In a heavily doped PN region, direct rupture of covalent bonds takes place because of the strong
electric field applied. This new electron hole pair increases the reverse current.
34) Define avalanche breakdown.
In a Zener diode if the applied reverse bias voltage exceeds 6 volts, then the breakdown is through
avalanche multiplication. Here a thermally generated carrier falls down the junction barrier and acquire
energy from the applied voltage. This collides with a crystal ion and a new electron hole pair gets created.
These in turn may acquire enough energy, collide with another crystal ion and create still another electron
hole pair. This is a cumulative process and known as avalanche multiplication.
35) What is rectifier?
Rectifier is a device, which converts a.c voltage to pulsating D.C voltage, using one or more pn
junction.
36) Define forbidden energy gap.
It is the separation between conduction band and valence band on energy band diagram.
37) Define form factor.
It is the ratio between rms value and average value of voltage or current.
Form factor= Rms value / Average value.

38) What is a LED?

A PN junction diode which emits light when forward biased is known as Light emitting diode.
39) What is TUF?
The factor, which indicates how much, is the utilization of the transformer in the circuit, is called
Transformer utilization factor.
Its value is 0.287 for the HWR
Its value is 0.812 for the Bridge FWR
40) What are the disadvantage of bridge rectifier?
The only disadvantage of Bridge rectifier is the use of four diodes as compared to normal full wave
rectifier.This cause the additional voltage drop.

41) Define percentage regulation of a rectifier.

It is defined as the variation of DC output voltage with respect to load.
Percentage regulation = ( Vnoload – Vload ) / Vload.
42) What is depletion region in PN junction?
The region around the junction from which the mobile charge carriers (electrons and holes) are
depleted is called as depletion region. Since this region has immobile ions, which are electrically charged, the
depletion region is also known as space charge region.
43) What is barrier potential?
Because of the oppositely charged ions present on both sides of PN junction an electric potential is
established across the junction even without any external voltage source which is termed as barrier potential.

44) What is the reverse saturation current?

The current due to minority charge carriers in reverse bias is said to be saturation current. This current
is independent of the value of the reverse bias voltage.

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45)Why FET is called voltage controlled device?
The output characteristics of FET is controlled by its input voltage thus it is voltage controlled.

46) Which is the most commonly used transistor configuration? Why?

The CE Configuration is most commonly used. The reasons are
High Current gain
High voltage gain
High power gain
Moderate input to output ratio.
47) What are the advantages of transistors?
Low operating voltage.
Higher efficiency.
Small size and ruggedness.
48) What are the types of BJT?
N-P-N type.
P-N-P type.
49) Why BJT called a current controlled device?
The output characteristics of the transistor depend on the input current. So the transistor is called a
current controlled device.
50) Define current amplification factor?
It is defined as the ratio of change in output current to the change in input current at constant.
51) What are the requirements for biasing circuits?
• The q point must be taken at the Centre of the active region of the output characteristics.
• Stabilize the collector current against the temperature variations.
• Make the q point independent of the transistor parameters.
• When the transistor is replaced, it must be of same type.
52) When does a transistor act as a switch?
The transistor acts as a switch when it is operated at either cutoff region or saturation region.

53) Write the current amplification factor for a CB transistor.

α = Change in Collector Current / at constant VCB
Change in emitter current
54) Write the current amplification factor for a CE transistor.
β= Change in Collector Current /Change in base current at constant VCE
55) Explain about the various regions in a transistor?
The three regions are active region, saturation region & cutoff region.
56) What are the two types of small signal model?
The small signal model is of two types,
i. Low frequency small signal model.
ii. High frequency small signal model.

Prepared by:
M.B.Bheema Kumar
Assistant professor
Dept. of ECE

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