EEE231

Electronics 1
Lecture 1
Course Introduction
&
Basic Concepts
 Course Objectives
1. To make students understand construction, physical
characteristics and operation of the major semiconductor
devices.
2. To study, analyze and design circuits using semiconductor
devices.
3. To illustrate how the device characteristics are utilized in
switching, digital, and amplification applications.
 Topics to be Covered
1) Semiconductor material and properties
2) Diode model, equivalent model and circuit analysis
3) Analysis of diode based circuits (rectifiers, clipper,
clampers, etc.)
4) Special diodes characteristics and applications
5) Bipolar transistors characteristics and modes of operations
6) DC analysis, dc load line, biasing of bipolar transistor
circuits
7) Small signal analysis of bipolar transistor circuits
8) Design and analysis of common bipolar transistor
amplifiers
 Course Material
• Textbooks:
o Electronic Circuits Analysis and Design, 3rd Edition, by Donald A
Neamen.
o Electronic devices and circuit theory, 10th ed. Boylestad.
• Reference Books:
o Electronic Devices 7th (or 9th ) Edition by Floyd.
o Electronics Devices and Circuits, 6th Edition by Bogart.
o Introductory Electronic Devices and Circuits, 4th Edition by
Robert T. Paynter.
o Microelectronic Circuits 6th Edition by Sedra, Smith.
 Why Electronics ?
• The giant strides that we have made in the areas of
communications and computers are possible only because of
the great successes that we have achieved in the field of
electronics.
 Some Basic Concepts
• Electronics :
o Science of the motion of charges in a gas, vacuum, or
semiconductor.
• Ohm’s Law:
o The current through a conductor is directly proportional to the
potential difference.
𝑉 = 𝐼 ∗𝑅
• Electrical Power:
o Power is how much work is done over time.
𝑃 =𝑉 ∗𝐼
 AC and DC
• Direct Current (DC):
o Flow of charge in one direction,
o Current maintains the same polarity,
o DC is produced by sources such as batteries, solar cells etc.
• Alternating Current (AC):
o An alternating voltage source periodically alternates or reverses
in polarity.
o The resulting current, therefore, periodically reverses in
direction.
 Electronic Circuits
• In most electronic circuits
o There are two inputs.
o One input is from a power supply that provides dc voltages and
currents to establish the proper biasing for the circuit.
o The second input is a signal that can be amplified by the circuit.
o The output signal can be larger than the input signal.
 Analog and Digital Signals
• Analog Signals
o The magnitude of an analog signal may have any value.
o The amplitude may vary continuously with respect to time.
o Electronic circuits that process such signals are called analog
circuits.
 Analog and Digital Signals
• Digital Signals
o An alternative signal is at one of two distinct levels and is called
a digital signal.
o The digital signal has discrete values, it is said to be quantized.
o Electronic circuits that process digital signals are called digital
circuits.
 Atom
• An atom is composed of ;
o A nucleus, which contains positively charged protons and neutral
neutrons,
o And negatively charged electrons that, orbit the nucleus.
• The electrons are distributed in various “shells” at
different distances from the nucleus,
• Electron energy increases as shell
radius increases.
• Electrons in the outermost shell
are called valence electrons,
 Electronic Materials
• The basic goal of electronic materials is to generate
and control the flow of an electric current.
• Electronic materials include:
o Conductors: have low resistance which allows electric
current flow
o Insulators: have high resistance which suppresses electric
current flow
o Semiconductors: can allow or suppress electrical current flow
 Insulators
• Insulators have a high resistance so current does not flow
in them.
• Have 8 valence electrons
• Good insulators include:
o Glass, ceramic, plastics, & wood
• Most insulators are compounds of several elements.
• The atoms are tightly bound to one another so electrons
are difficult to strip away for current flow.
Insulators

Insulators have tightly bound electrons in their outer shell

These electrons require a very large amount of energy to free
them for conduction
Let’s apply a potential difference across the insulator above…
The force on each electron is not enough to free it from its orbit
and the insulator does not conduct
Insulators are said to have a high resistivity / resistance
 Conductors
• Good conductors have low resistance so electrons flow
through them with ease.
• Best element conductors include:
o Copper, silver, gold, aluminum, & nickel
• Alloys are also good conductors:
o Brass & steel
• Good conductors can also be liquid:
o Salt water
Conductors

Conductors have loosely bound electrons in their outer shell

These electrons require a small amount of energy to free them
for conduction
Let’s apply a potential difference across the conductor above…
The force on each electron is enough to free it from its orbit and
it can jump from atom to atom – the conductor conducts
Conductors are said to have a low resistivity / resistance
 Conductor Atomic Structure
• The atomic structure of good
conductors usually includes
only one electron in their
outer shell.
• It is called a valence electron.
• It is easily striped from the
atom, producing current flow.

Copper
Atom
 Semiconductors
• A material whose properties are such that it is not
quite a conductor, not quite an insulator.
• Semiconductors have a resistivity/resistance between
that of conductors and insulators.
• Their electrons are not free to move but a little energy
will free them for conduction
• Some common semiconductors
o elemental
• Si - Silicon (most common)
• Ge - Germanium
o compound
• GaAs - Gallium arsenide
• GaP - Gallium phosphide
• AlAs - Aluminum arsenide
• AlP - Aluminum phosphide
• InP - Indium Phosphide
(The resistance of a semiconductor decreases as the
temperature increases – Negative Temp. Coefficient)
Semiconductor Valence Orbit
• The main characteristic of a
semiconductor element is that
it has four electrons in its
outer or valence orbit.
 Crystal Lattice Structure
• The unique capability of
semiconductor atoms is their
ability to link together to
form a physical structure
called a crystal lattice.
• The valence electrons are
shared between atoms,
forming what are called
covalent bonds.
2D Crystal Lattice
Structure
 The Silicon (Si) Atom
Silicon has a valency This picture shows the
shared electrons
of 4 i.e. 4 electrons in
its outer shell
Each silicon atom
shares its 4 outer
electrons with 4
neighbouring atoms
These shared electrons
– bonds – are shown as
horizontal and vertical
lines between the
atoms
 Silicon – the crystal lattice
If we extend this
arrangement
throughout a piece of
silicon…
We have the crystal
lattice of silicon

This is how silicon

looks when it is cold,
i.e. T = 0 K
It has no free electrons – it cannot conduct electricity – therefore it
behaves like an insulator
 Energy Bands
• When silicon atoms come together to form a crystal, the
electrons occupy particular allowed energy bands.
Free
Electrons

Electrons Can
not exist here

• Minimum energy required to break the covalent bond is

Bandgap Energy (𝐸𝑔 ).
𝐸𝑔 = 𝐸𝑐 − 𝐸𝑣
 Electron Hole Pair
• When an electron jumps to the conduction band, a
vacancy is left in the valence band within the crystal. This
vacancy is called a hole.
 Electron Movement in Silicon
However, if we apply
a little heat to the
silicon….

An electron may gain

enough energy to
break free of its
bond…
It is then available
for conduction and is
free to travel
throughout the
material
 Hole Movement in Silicon
Let’s take a closer
look at what the
electron has left
behind

There is a gap in the

bond – what we call
a hole
 Hole Movement in Silicon
This hole can also
move…

An electron – in a
nearby bond – may
jump into this hole…
Effectively causing
the hole to move…
Like this…
In semiconductors, the negatively
charged free electron, and the positively
charged hole contribute to the current.
 Doping
• Relying on heat or light for conduction does not make
reliable electronics.
• To make the semiconductor conduct electricity, other
atoms called impurities must be added.
• “Impurities” are different elements, normally from III
or V group of periodic table.
• This process is called doping.
 Semiconductor Types
• An intrinsic semiconductor, also called an undoped
semiconductor or i-type semiconductor, is a pure
semiconductor without any significant dopant species
present.
• Since the electron and hole concentrations in an intrinsic
semiconductor are relatively small.
• These concentrations can be greatly increased by adding
controlled amounts of certain impurities (Doping).
• An extrinsic semiconductor is a semiconductor that has
been doped.
 Semiconductors can be Conductors
• An impurity, or element like
arsenic, has 5 valence
electrons.
• Adding arsenic (doping) will
allow four of the arsenic
valence electrons to bond
with the neighboring silicon
atoms.
• The one electron left over for
each arsenic atom becomes
available to conduct current
flow.
 The Phosphorus Atom
Phosphorus is
number 15 in the
periodic table

It has 15 protons and

15 electrons – 5 of
these electrons are in
its outer shell
 Doping – Making n-type Silicon
Suppose we remove
a silicon atom from
the crystal lattice…
and replace it with a
phosphorus atom

We now have an electron that is not bonded – it is thus free for

conduction
 Doping – Making n-type Silicon
Let’s remove another
silicon atom…
and replace it with a
phosphorus atom
As more electrons
are available for
conduction we have
increased the
conductivity of the
material
Phosphorus is called If we now apply a potential difference
the dopant, or donor across the silicon…
impurity,
Extrinsic Conduction – n-type Silicon
A current will flow
Note:
The negative
electrons move
towards the positive
terminal
 From now on
n-type will be
shown like
N-type Silicon this.

• This type of silicon is called n-type

• This is because the majority charge carriers are
negative electrons
• A small number of minority charge carriers – holes –
will exist due to electrons-hole pairs being created in
the silicon atoms due to heat
• The silicon is still electrically neutral as the number
of protons is equal to the number of electrons
 The Boron Atom
Boron is number 5
in the periodic table

It has 5 protons and

5 electrons – 3 of
these electrons are
in its outer shell
 Doping – Making p-type Silicon
As before, we
remove a silicon
atom from the crystal
lattice…

This time we replace

it with a boron atom

Notice we have a
hole in a bond – this
hole is thus free for
conduction
 Doping – Making p-type Silicon
Let’s remove another
silicon atom…
and replace it with
another boron atom
As more holes are
available for
conduction we have
increased the
conductivity of the
material
Boron is the dopant If we now apply a potential difference
here, also called across the silicon, hole current starts to
acceptor impurity. flow.
 From now on
p-type will be
shown like
P-type Silicon this.

• This type of silicon is called p-type

• This is because the majority charge carriers are positive
holes
• A small number of minority charge carriers – electrons –
will exist due to electrons-hole pairs being created in the
silicon atoms due to heat
• The silicon is still electrically neutral as the number of
protons is equal to the number of electrons
 The p-n Junction
Suppose we join a piece of p-type silicon to a piece of n-
type silicon

We get what is called a p-n junction

Remember – both pieces are electrically neutral
 The p-n Junction
When initially joined
electrons from the n-
type migrate into the p-
type – less electron
density there
When an electron
fills a hole – both the
electron and hole
disappear as the gap
in the bond is filled
This leaves a region with no free charge carriers – the depletion
layer – this layer acts as an insulator
 The p-n Junction 0.6 V

As the p-type has

gained electrons – it
is left with an overall
negative charge…

As the n-type has

lost electrons – it is
left with an overall
positive charge…

Therefore there is a voltage across the junction – the junction

voltage – for silicon this is approximately 0.6 V
 The Reverse Biased P-N Junction
Take a p-n junction
Apply a voltage
across it with the
p-type negative
n-type positive
Close the switch
The voltage sets
up an electric
field throughout
the junction The junction is said to be reverse – biased
 The Reverse Biased P-N Junction
Negative electrons
in the n-type feel
an attractive force
which pulls them
away from the
depletion layer
Positive holes in
the p-type also
experience an
attractive force
which pulls them
Thus, the depletion layer ( INSULATOR ) is
away from the
widened and no current flows through the
depletion layer
p-n junction
 The Forward Biased P-N Junction
Take a p-n junction
Apply a voltage
across it with the
p-type postitive
n-type negative
Close the switch
The voltage sets
up an electric
field throughout The junction is said to be
the junction forward – biased
 The Forward Biased P-N Junction
Negative electrons
in the n-type feel a
repulsive force
which pushes
them into the
depletion layer
Positive holes in
the p-type also
experience a
repulsive force
which pushes them Therefore, the depletion layer is eliminated
into the depletion and a current flows through the p-n junction
layer
 The Forward Biased P-N Junction
At the junction
electrons fill holes
Both disappear
as they are no
longer free for
conduction
They are
replenished by the
external cell and
current flows
This continues as long as the external voltage
is greater than the junction voltage i.e. 0.6 V
 The Forward Biased P-N Junction
If we apply a
higher voltage…
The electrons feel
a greater force
and move faster

The current will

be greater and
will look like
this….
The arrow shows the
direction in which it
The p-n junction is called a DIODE conducts current
and is represented by the symbol…