Aim : To plot I-V characteristics and mesh plot of pn junction diode and simulate it using

TCAD. To calculate the cut-in voltage of the pn diode and verify the value obtained from the
plot.

Apparatus Used : TCAD software (sde and sdevice for device modelling, process
simulation, and electrical characteristic, svisual for for interactive and graphical analysis of
simulation results).

Theory : A PN diode is a fundamental semiconductor device formed by joining a P-type

semiconductor region with an N-type semiconductor region. The interface between these
regions is called the PN junction. It acts as a one-way valve for electric current, allowing
current flow in one direction (forward bias) and blocking it in the opposite direction (reverse
bias).

Procedure :
1) Creating the PN Diode Structure in SDE: we use SDE, to design the PN diode
structure. SDE provides a layout editor that allows us to define the geometry and
doping profiles of the P-type and N-type regions, along with any necessary contacts or
terminals.
2) Defining the Device Physics in SDevice: SDevice, which is a device simulator in the
TCAD suite. In SDevice, we define the physical and electrical properties of the
semiconductor materials used in the diode, such as bandgap, carrier mobility, and
lifetime. We also set the temperature and operating conditions for the simulation.
3) Electrical Simulation and IV Characteristics: The simulation involves applying a
voltage sweep across the PN diode to analyse its current-voltage (IV) characteristics.
The IV characteristics represent the relationship between the applied voltage and the
resulting current flowing through the diode.
4) Analysing and Post-Processing in SVisual: Once the electrical simulation is complete,
we use SVisual for post-processing and analysis of the simulation results. SVisual is a
visualisation tool that allows us to import the IV characteristics data from SDevice
and plot the IV curve for the PN diode.
5) Mesh Plot Visualisation: To visualise the PN diode's physical structure and
understand how it is discretized for the simulation, we return to SDE. In SDE's
meshing mode, we generate a mesh for the PN diode structure. The mesh represents
how the semiconductor material is divided into smaller elements (nodes) to perform
numerical simulations.
Observations :
1. 𝐼 − 𝑉 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡 :

2. 𝑀𝑒𝑠ℎ 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡 :

Results :
17 −3 15 −3
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑁𝐴 = 10 𝑐𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁𝐷 = 10 𝑐𝑚
𝐶𝑢𝑡 − 𝑖𝑛/𝐾𝑛𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑖 𝑝 − 𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑇 = 300 𝐾 is 0.7 volts
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐼𝑉 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑉𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 = 0.64 volts
𝑠𝑜, 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑡 − 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 , Δ𝑉 = (0. 7 − 0. 64) = 0. 06 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠
𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 1 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 − 01

17 −3 15 −3
𝑆𝑖 𝑝𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 , 𝑎𝑡 𝑇 = 300𝐾 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐. 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝐴 = 2 * 10 𝑐𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁𝐴 = 10 𝑐𝑚