Cha pter

Special Semiconductor
Devices
5
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter we will study all specially designed diodes for example zener diode , photo diodes, light
emitting diode, tunnel diode, solar cells.

5.2 Tunnel diode

Tunnel diode are special type of diodes in which both p and n region are very heavily doped due to which
the depletion region width is very small and due to very heavy doping the Fermi level is inside the conduction
band in n region and inside valance band in p region. Thus the diagram of tunnel diode will be as shown in
Fig 5.1

Ec

p n
EFi
EF
EF
Ev
Ec

Ev

Fig 5.1 : Band diagram of tunnel diode at equilibrium

Since all the state below EF are filled, thus as shown in the above figure at T = 0k the shaded region
show the filled states. Now first of all lets discuss quantum tuneling.
Tunneling is the proceess by which carrier flow from filled state to empty state when the filled and empty
state are very close to each other. The flow of carrier through tunneling is explaind by quantum mechanics and
this is not in the syllabus. The flow of carriers take place at very fast speed that is at speed of light, and the
requirement is that distance between the filled and empty state is less than /50 where  is the wave length of
visible light.
The tunnel diode has p and n region and from the band diagram shown in Fig 5.1. We can see that both
the region are degenerate. We can see that at equlibrium as the Fermi level has to be a staright line with zero
slope thus the conduction band and valance band overlap on the energy scale. Since the doping of p and n region
is large thus width of depletion region will be very small and electric field will be very large, this meets all the

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condition of electron tunneling that is filled and empty state seperated by a narrow potential barrier of finite
height.
Now lets see what happen when the device is forward biased and reverse biased. Fig 5.2(a) show the
band digram at equilibrium, here no filled state is adjacent to empty state thus no tunneling take place and no
current will flow. Now when the device is reverse biased the band of n region will move down and we can see
from Fig. 5.2(b) that now the filled state in p region become adjacent to epty state in n region, this lead to flow
of electron from p to n which lead to current flow from n region to p region.

REMEMBER Here the carriers are moving due to tunneling and not due to electric field that exist inside the
depletion region.

This current is shown as negative and we can see that when the reverse bias is increased the overlap
between the filled and empty states will also increse and current will increase. Thus we can see a linear increase
in current with voltage.

I I

Ec V Ec V

Ev Ev e
–

Efp Efn Efp Efn

Ec Ec

Ev Ev

p n p n

(a) (b)

I I

Ec V Ec V

Ev Ev
–
e Efn e
–
Efn
Efp Efp
Ec Ec

Ev Ev

p n p n
(c) (b)

Fig 5.2 : Tunnel diode band diagrams and I-V characteristics for various biasing conditions: (a) equilibrium (zero bias) condition,
no net tunneling; (b) small reverse bias, electron tuneling from p to n; (c) small forward bias, electron tunneling from n to p; (d)
increased forward bias, electron tunneling from n to p decreases as bands pass by each other.

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 175

When a small forward bias is applied (Fig. 5.2(c)), EFn moves up in energy with respect to EFp by the
amount eV. Thus, electrons below EFn on the n side are placed opposite empty states above EFp on the p side.
Electron tunneling occurs from n to p as shown, with the resulting conventional current from p to n. This
forward-tunneling current continues to increase with increased bias as more filled states are placed opposite
empty states. However, as EFn continues to move up with respect to EFp, a point is reached at which the bands
begin to pass by each other. When this occurs, the number of filled states opposite empty states decreases. The
resulting decrease in tunneling current is illustrated in Fig. 5.2(d). This region of the I-V characteristic is
important in that the decrease in tunneling current with increased bias produces region of negative slope; that
is, the dynamic resistance dV/dI is negative. This negative-resistance region is useful in oscillators.

e– I
Ec

Efn
Ev Ec
Efp
V

Ev
+
h

p n
(a) (b)

Fig 5.3 : Band diagram (a) and I-V characteristic (b) for the tunnel diode beyond the tunnel current region.
In (b), the tunneling component of current is shown by the solid curve and the diffusion current component is dashed.
If the forward bias is increased beyond the negative resistance region, the current begins to increase
again (Fig. 5.3). Once the bands have passed each other,
the characteristic resembles that of a conventional diode.
I
The forward current is now dominated by the diffusion
current—electrons surmounting their potential barrier from Ip
n to p and holes surmounting their potential barrier from p
to n. Of course, the diffusion current is present in the forward
tunneling region, but it is negligible compared with the
tunneling current.
The total tunnel diode characteristic as shown in Iv
Fig.5.4 has the general shape of an N (if a little imagination Vp Vf
V
is applied); therefore, it is common to refer to this
characteristic as exhibiting a type-N negative resistance. It
is also called a voltage-controlled negative resistance,
meaning that the current decreases rapidly at some critical
voltage (in this case, the peak voltage Vp, taken at the point Fig 5.4 Complete tunnel diode characteristic
of maximum forward tunneling).
The values of peak tunneling current Ip and valley current Iv (Fig.5.4) determine the magnitude of the
negative-resistance slope for a diode of given material. For this reason, their ratio Ipllv is often used as a figure
of merit for the tunnel diode. Similarly, the ratio Vp/Vf is a measure of the voltage spread between the two
positive-resistance regions.The negative resistance of the tunnel diode can be used in a number of ways to
achieve oscillation and other circuit functions. The fact that the tunneling process does not present the time

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 176 Electronic Devices and Circuits

delays of drift and diffusion makes the tunnel diode a natural choice for certain high-speed circuits. However
the tunnel diode has not achieved widespread application, because of its relatively low current operation and
competition from other devices.
The symbol for tunnel diode is

Fig 5.5 : Symbol for tunnel diode

5.3 Zener Diode

We have already seen that breakdown in a diode take place by two phenomenon : Avalanche breakdown
and zener breakdown. The zener diode are specially designed diode in which breakdown take place by zener
effect. Thus the diode is heavily doped. The doping in zener diode is heavy but not that much as in tunnel diode
thus in forward bias the zener diode has exactly same I-V charactistic as that of normal diode.
The I-V characterstic and symbol zener diode is shown in Fig 5.6 (a) and (b)

I VZ
V
+ –
forward bias
V

Reverse
bias
(a) (b)

Fig 5.6 : (a) symbol of zener diode (b) I-V characteristic of zener diode

The zener diode has a fixed zener breakdown voltage and thus this device can be used as voltage stabiliser.
The application and their use as stabiliser will be seen in analog electrinics.

5.4 Photo Detector

We have seen in previous chapters that when light fall on the semiconductor bar then due energy of the
photons the covalent bond break and generate new carriers due to which the conductivity of the matarial
changes. The generation of new carrier will take place only when the energy of the photons is greater than band
gap of semiconductor material.
There are several semiconductor device that can be used to detect the presence of photons the are know
as photodetectors,they convert optical signals into electrical signals. When excess electrons and holes are
generated in a semiconductor, there is an increase in the conductivity of the material. This change in conductivity
is the basis of the photoconductor, perhaps the simplest type of photodetector. If electrons and holes are generated
within the space charge region of a pn junction, then they will be separated by the electric field and a current
will be produced. The pn junction is the basis of several photodetector devices inciuding the photodiode and the
phototransistor.

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 177

5.4.1 Photoconductor
Fig 5.7 shows a bar of semiconductor material with ohmic contacts at each end and a voltage applied
between the terminals. The initial thermal-equilibrium conductivity is
 0 = e(nn0 + pp0) …(5.1)
If excess carriers are generated in the semiconductor, the conductivity becomes
 = e[n (n0 + n) + p (p0 + p)] …(5.2)
where n and p are the excess electron and hole concentrations, respectively. If we consider an n-type
semiconductor, then, from charge neutrality, we can assume that n = p. We wil use p as the concentration of
excess carriers. In steady state, the excess carrier concentration is given by p = GL p where GL is the generation
rate of excess carriers (cm–3-s–1) and p is the excess minority carrier lifetime.
I
+V

hv

Area = A

Fig 5.7 : Cross-section of a semiconductor

The conductivity from Eq. (5.2) can be rewritten as
 = e(n n0 + p p0) + e(p)(n + p) …(5.3)
The change in conductivity due to the optical excitation, known as the photoconductivity, is then
 = e(p)(n + p) …(5.4)
An electric field is induced in the semiconductor by the applied voltage, which produces a current The
current density can be written as
J = (J0 + JL) = (0 + )E …(5.5)
where, J0 is the current density in the semiconductor prior to optical excitation and JL is the photocurrent
density. The photocurrent density is JL =   E. If the excess electrons and holes are generated uniformly
throughout the semiconductor, then the photocurrent is given by
IL = JL  A =  AE = eGL p(n + p)AE …(5.6)
where, A is the cross-sectional area of the device. The photocurrent is directly proportional to the
excess carrier generation rate, which in turn is proportional to the incident photon flux. If excess electrons and
holes are not generated uniformly throughout the semiconductor material, then the total photocurrent is found
by integrating the photoconductivity over the cross-sectional area.

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 178 Electronic Devices and Circuits

Since nE is the electron drift velocity, the electron transit time, that is, the time required for an
electron to flow through the photoconductor, is
L
tn  …(5.7)
 nE
The photocurrent can be rewritten as
  p   p 
IL  eGL  1   AL …(5.8)
 tn   n 
We may define a photoconductor gain, ph, as the ratio of the rate at which charge is collected by the
contacts to the rate at which charge is generated within the photoconductor. We can write the gain as
IL
ph  …(5.9)
eGL AL
which, using Eq. (5.8), can be written
p  p 
ph  1   …(5.0)
tn   n 

Example 5.1

To calculate the gain of a silicon photoconductor.

Consider an n -type silicon photoconductor with a length L = 100 m, cross-sectional area
A = 10 –7 cm 2 , and minority carrier lifetime  p = 10 –6 s. L et the applied voltage be
V = 10 volts.
Solution 5.1
The electron transit time is determined as
L L2
tn  
 nE nV
(100  104 )2
  7.41  109 s
(1350)(10)
The photoconductor gain is then
p  p 
ph  1  
tn   n 
106  480 
 9 
1   1.83  102
7.41 10  1350 

Let’s consider physically what happens to a photon-generated electron, for example. After the excess
electron is generated, it drifts very quickly out of the photo conductor at the anode terminal. In order to maintain
charge neutrality throughout the entire photoconductor, another electron immediately enters the photoconductor
at the cathode and drifts toward the anode. This process will continue during a time period equal to the mean
carrier lifetime. At the end of this period, on the average, the photoelectron will recombine with a hole.
When the optical signal ends, the photocurrent will decay exponentially with a time constant equal to
the minority carrier lifetime. The switching speed of frequency response is inversely proportional to the lifetime.
From the photoconductor gain expression, we would like a large minority carrier lifetime, but the switching
speed is enhanced by a small minority carrier lifetime. There is obviously a tradeoff between gain and speed. In

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 179

general, the performance of a photodiode, which we will discuss next, is superior to that of a photoconductor.

5.4.2 Photodiode

When the is diode is forward biased then the current flow is large and is due to diffusion of the carriers.
Now when the diode is reverse biased then current flow is very small and is due to drifting of the carrier. The
current in reverse bias flow because of generation of carrier inside the depletion region (width W) and also the
minority carrier which are thermally generated with in the diffusion length of each side of the junction diffuse
into the depletion region and are swept by electric filed to produce current.
If the junction is uniformly illuminated by photons with hv > Eg, an added generation rate gop (EHP/
cm3-s) participates in this current (Fig. 5.8). The number of holes created per second within a diffusion length
of the transition region on the n side is ALpgop. Similarly ALngop electrons are generated per second within Ln of
xp0 and AWgop carriers are generated within W. The resulting current due to collection of these optically generated
carriers by the junction is
Iop = qAgop(Lp + Ln + W) …(5.11)
If we call the thermally generated current Ith, we can add the optical generation of Eq.(5.11) to find the
total reverse current with illumination. Since this current is directed from n to p, the diode equation becomes
I = Ith(eqV/kT – 1) – Iop
 Lp  Ln
I  qA  pn  np  ( eqV / kT  1)  qAgop ( Lp  Ln  W )
…(5.12)

 p n 
Thus the I-V curve is lowered by an amount proportional to the generation rate as shown in Fig. 5.8 (b).
This equation can be considered in two parts the current described by the usual diode equation, and the current
due to optical generation.
When the device is short circuited (V = 0), the terms from the diode equation cancel in Eq. (5.12), as
expected. However, there is a short-circuit current from n to p equal to Iop. Thus the I- V characteristics of
Fig. 5.8(b) cross the I-axis at negative values proportional to gop.
hv > Eg

gop = 0
V
g1
W g2
g3

g 1 >g 2 > g 1

(a) (b)
Fig 5.8 : Optical generation of carriers in a p-n junction: (a) absorption of light by the device;
(b) I-V characteristics of an illuminated junction.
When there is an open circuit across the device, I = 0 and the voltage V = Voc is
kT
Voc  ln[Iop / Ith  1]
q

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 180 Electronic Devices and Circuits

kT  Lp  Ln  W 
 ln   gop  1 …(5.13)
q  ( Lp /  p )pn  ( Ln /  n )np 

For the special case of a symmetrical junction, pn = np and p = n, we can rewrite in terms of the
thermal generation rate pn/n = gth and the optical generation rate gop. Neglecting generation within W:

kT gop
Voc  ln for gop  gth …(5.14)
q gth

REMEMBER Actually, the term gth = pn/tn represents the equilibrium thermal generation-recombination
rate. As the minority carrier concentration is increased by optical generation of EHPs, the
lifetime tn becomes shorter, and pn/tn becomes larger (pn is fixed, for a given doping and
temperature). Therefore, Voc cannot increase indefinitely with increased generation rate.

Thus we can see that when light fall on the pn juction and the pn juction is open circuited then current
through device should be zero. Now when the light falls then current due to generated carrier Iop will exist and
but total current (I) = 0 , thus in Equation(5.12) we get Ith (eqV/kT – 1) = Iop. Thus we get that some voltage will
generate acrosse the juction. The appeareance of a forward voltage across an illuminated juction is known as
photo voltaic effect.

EC

qV0
Efn
EF qVoc
EV EFp

p n
p n

(a) (b)
Fig 5.9 : Effects of illumination on the open circuit voltage of a junction: (a) junction at equilibrium;
(b) apperance of a voltage Voc with illumination.
Depending on the intended application, the photodiode of Fig. 5.8 can be operated in either the third or
fourth quarters of its I-V characteristic. As Fig. 5.10 illustrates, power is delivered to the device from the
external circuit when the current and junction voltage are both positive or both negative (first or third quadrants).
In the fourth quadrant, however; the junction voltage is positive and the current is negative. In this case power
is delivered from the junction to the external circuit(notice that in the fourth quadrant the current flows from
the negative side of V to the positive side, as in a battery. If power is to be extracted from the device, the fourth
quadrant is used; on the other hand, in applications as a photodetector we usually reverse bias the junction and
operate it in the third quadrant.

REMEMBER • the current that flow in photodiode in reverse bias is drift current.
• In reverse bias the current when pn juction is not illumination the current is Ith and this
current is called the dark current. When light fall on pn junction then the carrier generateue
to which current increase.

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 181
R E R E R

I IT
IT

p n p n p n

+ V – – VT + + V –

1st quadrant 3rd quadrant 4th quadrant

I I I

V V V

(a) (b) (c)

Fig 5.10 : Operation of an illuminated junction in the various quadrants of its I-V characteristic; in (a) and (b), power is
delivered to the device by the external circuit; in (c) the device delivers power to the load.

Thus there are three quadrant in which the photodiode can work. In
1. 1st quadrant : work as normal forward bias diode. Both V and I are positive thus absorb power.
2. 3rd quadrant : work as photo detector, both I and V are negative thus absorb power.
3. 4th quadrant: work as solar cell, I is negative and V is positive, so deliver power.

5.4.3 Solar cell

The photodiode in 4th quadrant work as solar cell. The 4th quadrant of I-V plot of photodiode is shown
in Fig 5.11). The current eqution is from equation (5.12). The value of Isc is the current when V = 0, thus
I = –Ith – Iop and Isc = Iop + Ith …(5.15)
Short circuit I

Light n p ISC

0.7 V
0
V
–
Solar cell
Ec IV

Maximum
–ISC power output
Ev + V

(a) (b)
Fig 5.11 : (a) Light can produce a current in pn junction at V = 0.
(b) Solar cell IV product is negative, indicating power generation.

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 182 Electronic Devices and Circuits

The output power is |I × V| and we can change operting point by changing load. We have already seen
all the formulae.

Output Power:
There is a particular operating point on the solar cell IV curve that maximizes the output power,
|I × V|. A load-matching circuit is usually employed to ensure that the cell operates at that point.
Output Power = Isc × Voc × FF …(5.15)
where FF (called the fill factor) is simply the ratio of the maximum |I × V| to Isc × Voc. FF is typically
around 0.75. The short-circuit current, Isc, is proportional to the light intensity as shown in Eq. (5.14).
We know that

kT  gop 
Voc  ln   …(5.16)
q  gth 
ni2
For high output power we need high Voc, thus we need high gop and for p-n diode the gth  , thus
Nd  p
kT  p gop Nd 
Voc  ln   …(5.17)
q  ni2 
Thus increasing Nd can raise Voc. Solar cells should therefore be doped fairly heavily. Large carrier
generation rate, G, is good for Voc. Using optical concentrators to focus sunlight on a solar cell can raise G and
improve VOC. Besides reducing the solar cell area and cell cost, light concentration can thus increase the cell
efficiency provided that the cell can be effectively cooled. If the cell becomes hot, ni2 increases and Voc drops. A
larger band-gap energy, Eg, reduces ni2 exponentially. Voc therefore increases linearly with Eg. On the other
hand, if Eg is too large, the material would not absorb the photons in a large long-wavelength (red and infrared)
portion of the solar spectrum (see Fig. 5.12) and Lsc drop.

Important terms releted to photo detector

1. Responsivity:
The resposivity of a photodetetor relates the electric current Iop flowing in the device circuit to the
optical power p incident on it.
Iop = e …(5.18)
Here  is number of photons per second. Thus
p Power of light
   …(5.19)
hv energy of each photon
p
 I p  e …(5.20)
hv
Iop e n
Responsivity R    …(5.21)
p hv 1.24
The responsivity is proportional to quantum efficiency ().

2. Quantum Efficiency
The quantum efficiencey (external quantum effeciency)  of a photodetector is the probobility that
single photon incident an the device generate a photo carrier pair that contribute to detector current.

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For a photocurrent density Jop, we collect Q carriers per unit area per second. For an incident optical
power density of Pop, the number of photons shining on the detector per unit area per second is Pop/hv. Therefore,
 Jop  Pop 
Q     …(5.22)
 q  hv 
For a photodiode that has no current gain, the maximum Q is unity. If low-level optical signals are to be
detected, it is often desirable to operate the photodiode in the avalanche region of its characteristic In this mode
each photogenerated carrier results in a significant change in the current because of avalanche multiplication,
leading to gain and external quantum efficiencies of greater than 100%. Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are
useful as detectors in fiber-optic systems.

5.4.4 Pin photodiode

In many photodetector applications, the speed of response is important; therefore the prompt
photocurrent generated in the space charge region is the only photocurrent of interest. To increase the
photodetector sensitivity, the depletion region width should be made as large as possible. This can be achieved
in a PIN photodiode.
The PIN diode consists of a p region and an n region separated by an intrinsic region. A sketch of a PIN
diode is shown in Fig. 5.12(a). The intrinsic region width W is much larger than the space charge width of a
normal pn junction. If a reverse bias is applied to the PIN diode, the space charge region extends completely
through the intrinsic region.
Assume that a photon flux 0 is incident on the p+ region. If we assume that the p+ region width Wp is
very thin, then the photon flux, as a function of distance, in the intrinsic region is (x) = 0e–x, where  is the
photon absorption coefficient. This nonlinear photon absorption is shown in Fig. 5.12(b). The photocurrent
density generated in the intrinsic region can be found as
W W
JL  e  GL dx  e  0 ex dx  e0 (1  eW ) …(5.23)
0 0

This equation assumes that there is no electron-hole recombination within the space charge region and
also that each photon absorbed creates one electron-hole pair.
VR
– +

i
+ + +
p i n p (x ) n+

W Wn
Wp x =0 x =W

(a) (b)
Fig 5.12 : (a) A reverse-biased PIN photodiode (b) Geometry showing nonuniform photon absorption

5.4.5 Avalanche Photodiode

The avalanche photodiode is similar to the PIN photodiode except that the bias applied to the avalanche
photodiode is sufficiently large to cause impact ionization. Electron-hole pairs are generated in the space charge
region by photon absorption as we have discussed previously. The generated electrons and holes now generate
additional electron-hole pairs through impact ionization. The avalanche photodiode now has a current gain

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 184 Electronic Devices and Circuits

introduced by the avalanche multiplication factor.

The electron-hole pairs generated by photon absorption and by impact ionization are swept out of the
space charge region very quickly. If the saturation velocity is 107 cm/s in a depletion region that is 10 m wide,
then the transit time is
107
t   100 ps
10  10 4
The period of a modulation signal would be 2t, so that the frequency would be
1 1
f    5 GHz
2t 200  10012
If the avalanche photodiode current gain is 20, then the gain-bandwidth product is 100 GHz. The
avalanche photodiode could respond to light waves modulated at microwave frequencies.

5.4.6 Phototransistor
A bipolar transistor can also be used as a photodetector. The phototransistor can have high gain through
the transistor action. An npn bipolar phototransistor is shown in Fig. 5.13(a). This device has a large base-
collector junction area and is usually operated with the base open circuited. Fig 5.13(b) shows the block diagram
of the phototransistor. Electrons and holes generated in the reverse-biased B-C junction are swept out of the
space charge region, producing a photocurrent IL. Holes are swept into the p-type base making the base positive
with respect to the emitter. Since the B-E becomes little forward-biased, electrons will be injected from the
emitter back into the base, leading to the normal transistor action.
hv

Base Emitter

p n n
n p
 IE
E C
IE + VCE
n
IL

Collector B

(a) (b)
Fig 5.13 : (a) A bipolar phototransistor (b) Black diagram of the open-base phototransistor
From Figure 5.13 we see that
IE = IE + IL …(5.24)
where IL is the photon-generated current and  is the common base current gain. Since the base is an
open circuit, we have IC = IE so Eq. (5.24) can be written as
IC = IC + IL …(5.25)
Solving for IC, we find

IL
IC  …(5.26)
1 
Relating  to , the dc common emitter current gain, Eq. (5.24) becomes
IC = (1 + )IL …(5.27)

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 185

Equation (5.27) shows that the basic B-C photocurrent is multiplied by the factor of (l + ). The
phototransistor, then, amplifies the basic photocurrent. With the relatively large B-C junction area, the frequency
response of the phototransistor is limited by the B-C junction capacitance. Since the base is essentially the input
to the device, the large B-C capacitance is multiplied by the Miller effect, so the frequency response of the
phototransistor is further reduced. The phototransistor, however, is a lower-noise device than the avalanche
photodiode.

5.5 Light emitting Diodes

Photodetectors and solar cells convert optical energy into electrical energy here photons generate excess
electams and holes, which produce an electric current. We might also apply a voltage across a pn junction
resulting in a diode current, which in turn can produce photons and a light output. This inverse mechanism is
called injection electroluminescence. This device is known as a Light Emitting Diode (LED). The spectral 1
output of an LED may have a relatively wide wavelength bandwidth of between 30 and 40 nm. However, this
emission spectrum is narrow enough so that a particular color will be observed, provided the output is in the
visible range.

5.5.1 Generation of Light

We know the relationship between bandgap energy and wavelength. When a voltage is applied across a
pn junction, electrons and holes are injected across the space charge region where they become excess minority
carriers. These excess minority carriers diffuse into the neutral semiconductor regions where they recombine
with majority carriers. If this recombination process is a direct band-to-band process, photons are emitted. The
diode diffusion current is directly proportional to the recombination rate, so the output photon intensity will
also be proportional to the ideal diode diffusion current.

5.5.2 Electroluminescence
The spontaneous emission of light due to radiative recombination from within the diode structure is
known as electroluminescence. The term electroluminessce is used when optical emission result form the
application of an electric field. Thus when a p-n juction is forward biased then lot of minority carrier will cross
the juction and and thus they will recombine with majority carrier, thus recommbination generate photons. The
amount of radiative recombination and emission area within structure is dependent upon semiconductor material
used and fabrication of device.

5.5.3 Working of Light emitting diode

When heavily doped PN+ juction is forward biasesd then band digram is as shown in Fig 5.14
e(V0 – V)
EFc

Eg hv hv
eV > Eg
Eg

EFv

Injection
position
Active
Fig 5.14 : Band diagram of p-n junction under forward bias

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At high injection carrier density in such a junction there is an active region near the depletion layer that
contains simultaneously degenerate populations of electrons and holes.
The increased concentration of minority carriers in the opposite type region in the forward-biased p-n
diode of direct-bandgap materials leads to the radiative recombination of carriers across the bandgap. The
energy released by this electron-hole recombination is approximately equal to the bandgap energy Eg.
Thus the energy of photon is Eg , the wave lenght of photon will be
hc
= Eg

1.24
 Eg(ev ) 
(m)

REMEMBER • The light output of an LED is the spontaneous emission generated by radiative recombination
of electrons and holes in the active region of the diode under forward bias.
• The semiconductor material is direct-bandgap to ensure high quantum efficiency, often III-V
semiconductors.
• An LED emits incoherent, non-directional, and unpolarized spontaneous photons that are
not amplified by stimulated emission.
• An LED does not have a threshold current. It starts emitting light as soon as an injection
current flows across the junction.

5.5.4 Efficency of LED

1. Internal quantum efficiency:

When the pn juction is forward biased then recombination of the carrier will take place, recombination
can produce a photon or simply release energy in form of heat. The internal quantum efficiency int of a
semiconductor material: the ratio of the radiative electron hole recombination coefficient to the total (radiative
and nonradiative) recombination coefficient.
This parameter is significant because it determines the efficiency of light generation in a semiconductor
material.
lf the recombination coefficient r is split into a sum of radiative and nonradiative parts, r = rr + rnr, the
internal quantum efficiency is
rr rr
int   …(5.28)
r ( rr  rnr )
Thus using the internal quantum efficincy we can find the intenal photon flux,
The internal photon flux
i
int  …(5.28)
e
That is int is ratio of forward bias current in diode to the charge in each electron. This is the ideal case
when all recombination are radiative recombination practically when all recombination are not radiative then

i
int  int …(5.29)
e
The internal quantum efficiency may also be written in term of the recombination lifetimes as r is
inversely proportional to lifetime .

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 187

Define the radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes r and nr

1 1 1
  …(5.29)
  r  nr
The internal quantum efficiency is then given by
rr  1  1
   
r  r    
 nr
int   …(5.30)
 r (  r  nr )
Note: Semiconductor optical sources require int to be large (in typical direct bandgap materials r  nr).
Another way to look at int is that
The internal photon flux  (photons per second), generated within a volume V of the semiconductor, is
directly proportional to the carrier-pair injection rate R (electron-hole pairs/cm3-s). The steady-state excess-
1 1 1
carrier concentration n = R, where  IS the total recombination lifetime   . 
  r  nr
The injection of RV carrier pairs per second therefore leads to the generation of a photon flux  =
int RV photons/s.

n n
  int RV  int V V …(5.31)
 r

Thus for high int we need high n and small 

REMEMBER The excess carriers in a LED with homojunction (same materials on the p and n sides) are
neither confined nor concentrated but are spread carrier diffusion. Thus LED are generally
designed with heterojunction.
Since internal photon flux is int, thus the power level at the juction or internal power level will be
pint = int × energy of each photon

hc
  int 

pint = int × Eg

REMEMBER Each photon will have energy equal to band gap of the semiconductor.

Example 5.2

The radiative and nonradiative recombination lifetimes of the minority carriers in the active
region of a LED are 60 ns and 100 ns. Determine the total carrier recombination lifetime
and the power internally generated within the device when the peak emission wavelength is
870 nm at a driving current of 40 mA.
Solution 5.2
The total carrier recombination lifetime is given by

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r  nr
   37.5 ns
(  r   nr )
The internal quantum efficiency

int   0.625
r
i  1240 eV-nm 
 Pint  int    36 mW
e  870 nm 

2. Output photon flux and efficiency

The photon flux spontaneously generated in the junction active region is radiated uniformly in all directions.
However, the flux that emerges from the device (output photon flux) depends on the direction of emission.
A B

C C l1
n
active region
p

Fig 5.15 : LED with photons generated at junction, calculating output flux
e.g. Ray A at normal incidence is partially reflected. Ray B at oblique incidence suffers more reflection.
Ray C lies outside the critical angle and thus is trapped in the structure by total internal reflection.
The photon flux traveling in the direction of ray A (normal incidence) is attenuted by factor
1 = exp(–l1)
Where  is the absorption coeficiant (cm–1) of the ntype material and l1 is distance from juction to
surface of the device. For normal incidence we know that refiection coefficient is (Fig 5.16)

2
   1 
r   2 
 2  1 

n2 n1

Incident wave

Transmitted wave
Reflected wave

Fig 5.16 : Schematic of incident, reflected, and transmitted photons at a dielectric interface
and transmission coefficient is
 = 1 – r

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 189

Thus efficiency for light escape will be

escape = (1 – r) …(5.31)
We can see that ray B has farther to travel and suffer a larger absorption, and the ray C suffer total
internal reflection. The rays which lie inside the cone of critical angle can escape, so called escape cone.

r C

An arbitrary point source

with spherical emission
in the active junction
Fig 5.18 : Finding fraction of light lies within escape cone.
Here we estimate the fraction of the total generated photon flux that lies within the escape cone. The
area of the circular disk cap at top of this cone is (assuming a spherical emission distribution radius r)
c
2
A   2r sin  r d   2r (1  cos c )
0
A
The fraction of the emitted light that lies within the solid angle subtended by this escape cone is
4r 2
1/2
1 1  1   1
 3  (1  cos c )  1  1  2   
2 
2  n   4n2

The efficiency with which the internal photons can be extracted from the LED structure is known as the
extraction efficiency e. The output photon flux 0 is related to the internal photon flux 
 i
0  e  e  int 
 e
where the extraction efficiency ne specifies how much of the internal photon flux is transmitted out of
the structure.
A single quantum efficiency that accommodates both e and int is the external quantum efficiency ext
ext  e int

i
 The output photon flux 0  ext
e
 ext is simply the ratio of the outputphoton flux 0 to the injected electron flux i/e.

3. Output optical Power

The LED output optical power P0:

i
P 0 = hv 0  ext hv
e
The internal efficiency int for LEDs ranges between 50% and just about 100%, while the extraction

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 190 Electronic Devices and Circuits

efficiency e can be rather low.

4. Responsivity
The responsivity R of an LED is defined as the ratio of the emitted optical power P0 to injected current
i, i.e. R = P0/i

P0  hv
R   hv 0  ext
i i e
The responsivity in W/A, when 0 is expressed in m,

1.24
R  ext
0

Note: The linear dependence of the LED output power P0 on the injected current i is valid only when the current
is less than a certain value (say tens of mA on a typical LED). For larger currents, saturation causes the proportionality
to fail.

5. Power conversion efficiency

Another measure of performance is the power-conversion efficiency (or wall-plug efficiency), defined as
the ratio of the emitted optical power P0 to the applied electrical power.

P0 hv
c   ext
iV eV
where V is the voltage drop across the device
Note that c  ext because hv  eV, where eV = EFc – EFv in a degenerate (heavily doped) junction.

Note: • Internal quantum efficiency int - only a fraction of the electron-hole recombinations are radiative in
nature
• Extraction efficiency e - only a small fraction of the light generated in the junction region can escape
from the high-index medium
• External quantum efficiency ext = e int (can be measured from the responsivity R = P0/i)
• Power-conversion (wall-plug) efficiency c - efficiency of converting electrical power to optical power
(c  ext)

Example 5.3

Calculate the open-circuit voltage when solar cell with these concentration is used. Consider
a silicon pn junction at 300 k, with these parameters.
N a = 5 × 10 18 cm –3 N d = 10 16 cm –3
D n = 25 cm 2/S D p = 10 cm 2 /S
n 0 = 5 × 10 –7 S p 0 = 10 –7 S
IL
Consider the photocurrent density J L = = 15 mA/cm 2 . Find the open-circuit voltage of
A
the solar cell. Again find the open-circuit voltage when solar intensity increased by a factor
of 10.

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 Special Semiconductor Devices 191

Is  eDn np0 eDp pn0   D Dp 

Js      eni2  n  
A  Ln Lp   Ln Na Lp Nd 
 
We may calculate Ln and Lp by

Ln  Dn  n0  25  5  107  35.4 m

L p  Dp  p0  10  107  10 m

Then,

 25 10 
Js  (1.6  1019 )  (1.5  1010 )2   4 18
 4 16 
(35.4  10 )(5  10 ) (10  10 )(10 ) 
= 3.6 × 10–11 A/cm2
Then open-circuit voltage is given by ,

 JL 
Voc  Vt ln 1  
 Js 

 J   15  103 
 Vt ln 1  L   0.0259ln 1  
11 
 Js   3.6  10 
= 0.514 V
If the intensity of the sun in increased by 10 times, then JL = 150 mA/cm2.
If we assume, temperature remains constant, then reverse saturation current density will also remain
constant.
So, Js = 3.6 × 10–11 A/cm2
For this case, open-circuit voltage will be

 JL 
Voc  Vt ln 1  
 Js 

 150  103 
 (0.0259)ln 1  
11 
 3.6  10 
= 0.574 V

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5 . Consider a silicon photoconductor at T = 300 K with

the following parameters:
Nd = 1016 cm–3 Na = 1015 cm–3
2
n = 1000 cm /V-s p = 430 cm2/V-s

1 Subjective Practice Problems n0 = 10–6 s

1 . (a) Calculate the maximum wavelength  of a light
source that can generate electron-hole pairs in
Ge, Si, and GaAs.
(b) Two sources generate light at wavelengths of
 = 570 nm and  = 700 nm. What are the
corresponding photon energies?
2 . A light source with hv = 1.3 eV and at a power density
of 10–2 W/cm2 is incident on a thin slab of silicon.
The excess minority carrier lifetime is 10 –6 s.
Determine the electron-hole generation rate and the
steady-state excess carrier concentration. Neglect
surface effects.
3 . Consider an n-type GaAs sample with p = 10–7 s.
(a) It is desired to generate a steady-state excess
carrier concentration of p = 1015 cm–3 at the
surface. The incident photon energy is
hv = 1.9 eV. Determine the incident power
density required. (Neglect surface effects.)
(b) At what distance in the semiconductor does the
generation rate drop to 20 percent of that at the
surface?
4 . The absorption coefficient in amorphous silicon is
approximately 10 4 cm –1 at hv = 1.7 eV and
105 cm–1 at hv = 2.0 eV. Determine the amorphous
silicon thickness for each case so that 90 percent of
the photons are absorbed.
–3
A = 10 cm 2
p0 = 10–7 s
L = 100 m
Assume that a voltage of 5 volts is applied and assume
that excess electrons and holes are uniformly
generated at a rate of GL = 1020 cm–3-s–1. Calculate
(a) the steady-state excess carrier concentration,
(b) the photoconductivity,
(c) the steady-state photocurrent, and
(d) the photoconductor gain.
6 . Consider an n-type silicon photoconductor that is
1 m thick, 50 m wide, and has an applied electric
field in the longitudinal dimension of 50 V/cm. If
the incident photon flux is 0 = 1016 cm–2-s–1 and
the absorption coefficient is a = 5 × 104 cm–1,
calculate the steady-state photocurrent if n = 1200
cm2/V-s, p = 450 cm2/V-s, and p0 = 2 × 10–7 s.
7 . Consider a long silicon pn junction photodiode at
T = 300 K with the following parameters:
Na = 2 × 1016 cm–3 Nd = 1018 cm–3
Dn = 25 cm2/s Dp = 10 cm2/s
–7
n0 = 2 × 10 s p0 = 10–7 s
Assume a reverse-bias voltage of VR = 5 volts is
applied and assume a uniform generation rate of
GL = 1021 cm–3-s–1 exists throughout the entire
photodiode. Calculate
(a) the prompt photocurrent density and
(b) the total steady-state photocurrent density.

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