Electronic Devices and Circuits-MAI PAMPLONA

ELECTRONIC DEVICES
CIRCUITS
Engr. Marie Angelie I. Pamplona
 Electronic Devices and Circuits-MAI PAMPLONA

OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the structure of an atom

2. Discuss insulators, conductors and

semiconductors and how they differ

3. Describe how current is produced in a

semiconductor.
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ELECTRONS
• The smallest amount of electrical charge
having the quality called negative polarity.
• Electrons orbit the center of atoms.
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PROTONS
• The proton is a basic particle with positive
polarity.
• Protons are located in the nucleus of atoms
along with neutrons, particles which have
neutral polarity.
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THE BOHR ATOM

• The BOHR atom is useful for visualizing atomic structure
• The Nucleus is positively charged
and has the protons and neutrons
• Electrons are negatively charged and
in discrete shells
• The atomic number is the number
of protons and determines the
particular element
• In the neutral atom, the number
of electrons is equal to the
number of protons
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VALENCE SHELL
• The outer shell is called the valence shell. Electrons in
this shell are involved in chemical reactions and they
account for electrical and thermal conductivity in metals

A neutral Si atom is shown. There

Are 4 electrons in the valence shell

QUESTION:
Is Si a conductor, insulator or semiconductor?
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VALENCE SHELL
• Metals have one, two or three electrons in the valence
shell. The atom illustrated here is a sodium atom (Na),
with only one electron in its outer shell.

• Sodium is highly reactive

and easily gives up its single
valence electron. For this reason,
it is not used in electrical work.

• Non-metals have either complete

or nearly complete outer shells,
so they make poor electrical conductors
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ENERGY LEVELS
• Electrons near the nucleus have less energy than
those in more distant orbits
• Only discrete (separate and distinct) values of
electron energies exist within atomic structures
• In an atom, the orbits are grouped into energy
levels known as shells
• A given atom has fixed number of electrons. The
shells (energy levels) are designated 1,2,3 and
so on, with 1 being closest to the nucleus
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ELECTRONS AND SHELLS

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ELECTRONS AND SHELLS

• Max. # of Electrons in each shell

Ne= 2n2

• Valence Electrons
• This outermost shell is known as the valence
shell and electrons in this shell are called
valence electrons
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IONIZATION
• If a valence electron acquires a sufficient amount
of energy, called ionization energy, it can actually
escape from the outer shell and the atom’s
influence
• The departure of a valence electron leaves a
previously neutral atom with an excess of positive
charge (more protons than electrons)
• The process of losing a valence electron is known
as ionization, and the resulting positively charged
atom is called a positive ion
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THE QUANTUM MODEL

• Each shell or energy level consists of up to four
subshells called orbitals, which are designated
s,p,d and f.
• Orbitals s can hold a maximum of 2 electrons,
orbital p can hold 6 electrons, orbital d can hold
10 electrons and orbital f can hold 14 electrons
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Electrically, all materials fall into 1 of 3

classifications:
• Conductors
• Insulators
• Semi-Conductors
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CONDUCTORS
• Have 1 valence electron
• Materials in which electrons can move
freely from atom to atom are called
conductors.
• In general all metals are good conductors.
• The purpose of conductors is to allow
electrical current to flow with minimum
resistance.
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INSULATORS
• Have 8 valence electrons
• Materials in which electrons tend to stay put and
do not flow easily from atom to atom are termed
insulators.
• Insulators are used to prevent the flow of
electricity.
• Insulating materials such as glass, rubber, or
plastic are also called dielectrics, meaning they
can store charges.
• Dielectric materials are used in components like
capacitors which must store electric charges.
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SEMI-CONDUCTORS
• Have 4 valence electrons
• Materials which are neither conductors nor
insulators
• Common semi conductor materials are
carbon, germanium and silicone.
• Used in components like transistors
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BAND GAP
• Valence shell of an atom represents a band of
energy levels and that the valence electrons are
confined to that band.
• When an electron acquires enough additional
energy, it can leve the valence shell, become a
free electron, and exist in what is known as the
conduction band.
• The difference in energy between the valence
band and the conduction band is called an
energy gap or band gap
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BAND GAP
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COVALENT BOND
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CURRENT IN A SEMICONDUCTOR
• Energy band diagram for an unexcited
atom in a pure (intrinsic) silicon crystal
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CONDUCTION ELECTRON AND HOLES

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CONDUCTION ELECTRON AND HOLES

• Hole
• When an electron jumps to the conduction band, a
vacancy is left in the valence band within the crystal
• Electron-Hole Pair
• For every electron raised to the conduction band by
external energy, there is one hole left in the valence
band, creating what is called an electron-hole pair
• Recombination
• Occurs when a conduction-band electron loses
energy and falls back into a hole in the valence
band
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CONDUCTION ELECTRONS AND HOLES

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ELECTRON AND HOLE CURRENT

• When a voltage is applied across a piece of intrinsic

silicon, the thermally generated free electrons in the
conduction band, which are free to move randomly in the
crystal structure, are now easily attracted toward the
positive end.
• This movement of free electrons is one type of current in a
semiconductive material and is called electron current
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ELECTRON AND HOLE CURRENT

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DIODES
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OBJECTIVES
1. Understand diode operation and select diodes for
various applications.

2. Analyze nonlinear circuits using the graphical load-line

technique.

3. Analyze and design simple voltage-regulator circuits.

4. Solve circuits using the ideal-diode model and

piecewise-linear models.
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What Are Diodes Made Out Of?

• Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge) are the two most common Si Si Si
single elements that are used to make Diodes. A +4 +4 +4

compound that is commonly used is Gallium Arsenide

(GaAs), especially in the case of LEDs because of it’s large Si Si Si
bandgap. +4 +4 +4

• Silicon and Germanium are both group 4 elements,

Si Si Si
meaning they have 4 valence electrons. Their structure +4 +4 +4
allows them to grow in a shape called the diamond lattice.
• Gallium is a group 3 element while Arsenide is a group 5
element. When put together as a compound, GaAs creates The diagram above shows the
a zincblend lattice structure. 2D structure of the Si crystal.
The light green lines represent
• In both the diamond lattice and zincblend lattice, each atom the electronic bonds made when
shares its valence electrons with its four closest neighbors. the valence electrons are
This sharing of electrons is what ultimately allows diodes to shared. Each Si atom shares
be build. When dopants from groups 3 or 5 (in most cases) one electron with each of its four
closest neighbors so that its
are added to Si, Ge or GaAs it changes the properties of valence band will have a full 8
the material so we are able to make the P- and N-type electrons.
materials that become the diode.
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N-Type Material

N-Type Material: When extra valence electrons are introduced into a

material such as silicon an n-type material is
produced. The extra valence electrons are
introduced by putting impurities or dopants into the
silicon. The dopants used to create an n-type
+4 +4 +4 material are Group V elements. The most commonly
used dopants from Group V are arsenic, antimony
and phosphorus.
+4 +5 +4 The 2D diagram to the left shows the extra electron
that will be present when a Group V dopant is
introduced to a material such as silicon. This extra
electron is very mobile.
+4 +4 +4
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P-Type Material

P-Type Material: P-type material is produced when the dopant that is

introduced is from Group III. Group III elements
have only 3 valence electrons and therefore there is
an electron missing. This creates a hole (h+), or a
positive charge that can move around in the material.
+4 +4 +4 Commonly used Group III dopants are aluminum,
boron, and gallium.
The 2D diagram to the left shows the hole that will be
+4 +3 +4 present when a Group III dopant is introduced to a
material such as silicon. This hole is quite mobile in
the same way the extra electron is mobile in a n-type
material.
+4 +4 +4
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BASIC DIODE CONCEPTS

• INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS

Energy Diagram of the Three Types of Solid

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• INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
Intrinsic (pure) Si Semiconductor:
Thermal Excitation, Electron-Hole Pair, Recombination,
and Equilibrium

When equilibrium between

excitation and recombination
is reached :
electron density = hole density
ni = pi = 1.5  10 10 cm -3
for intrinsic Si crystal at 300 K
( Note : Si crystal atom density
is ~ 5  10 22 cm -3 )
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• INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS

*Apply a voltage
across a piece of Si:
electron current
and hole current
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• N AND P TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS

* Doping: adding of impurities (i.e., dopants) to the intrinsic
semi-conductor material.
* N-type: adding Group V dopant (or donor) such as As, P,
Sb,…
n  p = constant for a semiconductor
For Si at 300K
n  p = n = p = 1.5  10
2
i
2
i ( )
10 2

In n - type material
n  N d the donor conceratio n
n = N d  ni , p  pi
We call
electron the major charge carrier
hole the minor cahage carrier
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• N AND P TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS

* Doping: adding of impurities (i.e., dopants) to the intrinsic
semi-conductor material.
* P-type: adding Group III dopant (or acceptor) such as Al,
B, Ga,…
n  p = constant for a semiconductor
For Si at 300K
n  p = n = p = 1.5  10
2
i
2
i ( )
10 2

In p - type material
p  N a the acceptor conceratio n
p = N a  pi , n  ni
We call
hole the major charge carrier
electron the minor cahage carrier
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The PN Junction
Steady State1
Metallurgical Junction
Na Nd

- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - -
- - - - - - + + + + + +
P - - - - - - + + + + + + n
- - - - - -
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +

Space Charge
ionized Region ionized
acceptors donors

E-Field
_ _
+ +
h+ drift = h+ diffusion e- diffusion = e- drift
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The PN Junction
Steady State
Metallurgical
Na Junction Nd

- - - - - + + + + +
- - - - - + + + + + When no external source is
P - - - - - + + + + + n connected to the pn junction,
- - - - - + + + + +
diffusion and drift balance
Space Charge each other out for both the
ionized Region ionized
acceptors donors holes and electrons
E-Field
_ _
+ +
h+ drift == h+ diffusion e- diffusion == e- drift

Space Charge Region: Also called the depletion region. This region includes the
net positively and negatively charged regions. The space charge region does not
have any free carriers. The width of the space charge region is denoted by W in pn
junction formula’s.

Metallurgical Junction: The interface where the p- and n-type materials meet.

Na & Nd: Represent the amount of negative and positive doping in number of
carriers per centimeter cubed. Usually in the range of 1015 to 1020.
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The Biased PN Junction

Metal
Contact
“Ohmic
Contact” _
(Rs~0) +
Applied Electric
P Field n

_
+

Vapplied
The pn junction is considered biased when an external voltage is applied. There are
types of biasing: Forward bias and Reverse bias.
These are described on then next slide.
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The Biased PN Junction

Forward Bias: In forward bias the depletion region shrinks slightly in width. With
this shrinking the energy required for charge carriers to cross the
depletion region decreases exponentially. Therefore, as the
Vapplied > 0 applied voltage increases, current starts to flow across the
junction. The barrier potential of the diode is the voltage at which
appreciable current starts to flow through the diode. The barrier
potential varies for different materials.

Reverse Bias: Under reverse bias the depletion region widens. This causes the
electric field produced by the ions to cancel out the applied
reverse bias voltage. A small leakage current, Is (saturation
Vapplied < 0 current) flows under reverse bias conditions. This saturation
current is made up of electron-hole pairs being produced in the
depletion region. Saturation current is sometimes referred to as
scale current because of it’s relationship to junction temperature.
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• THE PN JUNCTION
* The interface in-between p-type and n-type material is
called a pn-junction.
The barrier potential VB  0.6 − 0.7V for Si and 0.3V for Ge
at 300K : as T  ,VB  .
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*There is no movement of charge

through a pn-junction at equilibrium.

* The pn-junction form a diode which

allows current in only one direction
and prevent the current in the other
direction as determined by the bias.
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*Forward Bias: dc voltage positive terminal connected to the p region
and negative to the n region. It is the condition that permits current
through the pn-junction of a diode.
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*Forward Bias: dc voltage positive terminal connected to the p region
and negative to the n region. It is the condition that permits current
through the pn-junction of a diode.
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*Forward Bias:
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*Reverse Bias: dc voltage negative terminal connected to
the p region and positive to the n region. Depletion region
widens until its potential difference equals the bias voltage,
majority-carrier current ceases.
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

*Reverse Bias:
majority-carrier current ceases.
* However, there is still a very
small current produced by
minority carriers.
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• BIASING THE PN JUNCTION

* Reverse Breakdown: As reverse voltage reach certain
value, avalanche occurs and generates large current.
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• The Diode Characteristic I-V Curve

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REFERENCES
• Dailey, Denton. Electronic Devices and Circuits, Discrete and
Integrated. Prentice Hall, New Jersey: 2001. (pp 2-37,
752-753)
• 2 Figure 1.10. The diode transconductance curve, pg. 7

Figure 1.15. Determination of the average forward

resistance of a diode, pg 11
• 3 Example from pages 13-14

• Liou, J.J. and Yuan, J.S. Semiconductor Device Physics and

Simulation. Plenum Press, New York: 1998.
• Neamen, Donald. Semiconductor Physics & Devices. Basic
Principles. McGraw-Hill, Boston: 1997. (pp 1-15, 211-234)
• 1 Figure 6.2. The space charge region, the electric field,

and the forces acting on the charged carriers, pg 213.

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Thank You