ASSESSMENT: THEORY OBJECTIVE: Yo COURSE OUTCOME COL: To understand operation an 0: CO3: To realize simple practical circuits 1 PN JUNCTION DIODE: PN junction diode, forward and reverse space chi Zenerdidoe- Zener voltage regulator 2, BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR :NPN -PNP transistors-Current equations ~ Input and Output characteristics of CE, CB CC-Early effect- Multi Emitter Transistor -Method of transistor ‘sing Transistor as switch— bias stability ~ bias compensation-Thermal runaway. o 3. FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS: JFET Types ~ construction - Drain and Transfer characteristics -Cucrent equations-Pinch off voltage and its significance - JFET as Voltage Variable Resistor - Applications of JFET. MOSFET-Enhancement MOSFET ~ Depletion MOSFET ~ Comparison of MOSFET with JFET — Biasing the JFET — Biasing the MOSFET - Comparison of JFET and BIT. o 4. SPECIAL SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES*: Metal-Semiconductor Junction. MESFET, Schottky 0 5. POWER DEVICES AND DISPLAY DEVICES *: UJ, SCR, DIAC, TRIAC, Power BJT- Power MOSFET- DMOS-VMOS. LED, LCD, Photo transistor, OPTO Coupler, Solar cell. @ * Qualitative Treatment only. TEXTBOOKS |. Robert L. Boylstead and Louis Nashelsky, “Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory”, 1 Faivion, Prentice-Hall of India, New Delhi, 2015, 2. Jacob Millman, Christos C Halkias, Satyabratadit, “Electronic Devices and Circuits", McGraw-Hill, Fourth Edition, 2015. 3. The REFERENCES 1 i wo 19FYP23 ELECTRON DEVICES (Common to EFE & ECE programmes) acquaint the students with theory and operation of the basic electron devices. \d switching characteristics of semiconductor diode To gain knowledge about the working details, major applications of BIT. FET, power devices and display devices, Current equations, Diffusion and drift currents™ - bias characteristics, Switching Characteristics- Diode Resistance ~ Transition or ‘rue Capacitance — Diffusion or storage capacitance-Avalanche and Zener breakdown- o barrierdiode-Varactordiode—Tunneldiode-GalliumArsenidedevice-LASERdiode, LDR. nas L.Flovd, “Electronic Devices”, 9" Edition, Pearson Education Asia, 201 Donald A Neaman, “Semiconductor Physics and Devices”, Fourth Edition, Inc. 2017 Allen Mottershed, “Electronic Devices and Circuits an Introduction”, Salivahanan, “Electron Devices and Circuits”, Second edition, Dethi, 2017 David A, Bell, “Electronic Devices and Ci 2016 Scanned with CamScanner‘PN Junciion Dope |, Qualitative Theory of the p-n Junction* A p-n Junction {f donor impurities are introduced into one side and acceptors into the other side of a single crystal of a semiconductor, say, germanium, a p-n junction is formed. Such a system is illustrated in Fig. ka The donor ion is indicated schematically by a plus sign because, afte this impurity atom “donates” an electron, it becomes a positive ion. The acceptor ion is indi- cated by a minus sign because, after this atom “accepts” an electron, it becories a negative ion. QPOPHMnKe noe rer OoOHnEenneons | Scanned with CamScanneraol Bl ibe i : (B ay }-Electon @ }+-———5en Space charge region Charge density, 9 Wen © Fig. 1 Aschematic dra of pn junction inci the charge density, elect ld intensiy,. «and potential energy aris atthe junction (Not drawn to scale) Initially, ther are nominally only p-type carirs to the left ofthe junction and only ype Carriers to the right. Because there isa density gradient across the junction, holes will diffuse "o the right across the junction, and electrons tothe left, Charge Distribution ‘haps ol the chug dstibuion may be as lustated in Fig, Mb. The elece charges are conned we the ‘neighborhood ofthe junction, and consist of immobile ions “The positive holes which neutralized Scanned with CamScannera disappeared as a result of combination the neutralizing electrons in the n-type from the p-materal. The unneutralized the acceptor ions near the junction in the p-type germanium have {with electrons which have diffused across the junction. Similarly, germanium have combined with holes which have crossed the junction joas in the neighborhood of the junetion are referred to as wicovered charges, called the depletion region, the Define Since the region of the junction is depleted of mobile charges, space-charge region, or the transition region The thickness of this region is of the order of 10cm = 10° m= 1 micron Potential-Energy Barrier Tio electric fed intensity in the neighborhood ofthe junetonis indicated in Fig 1 e Note that this curve is | »1b. The electrostatic potential variation inthe deplevon F808 Tl and is the negative integral of the function € of Fig. Llc. This vate constitutes @ potential-energy b vet the further diffusion of holes across the barer. The form of the potential ereray barrier against the flow of electrons from the n-side across the juncuo® fs shown in Fig. fle. Itis “Jantar to that shown in Fig, 1d, except that iis inverted, since the charge on an electron is negative. the integral of the density function p in is shown in Fig Contact Potential nt must be zero. Ithis statement were not true, the Under open-circuit. conditions, the net hole cure to increase indefinitely with time, a situation nove weasity at one end of the semiconductor would continue i fic obviously physically impossible. Since the concentration of hoes in the p-side is much greater than that in the n-side, a very large diffusion current tends to flow across the junction from the p- to the n-material, Hence, an elecinc field must build up across the junction in such @ direction that a drift current will tend to flow across the junction from the 7 t0 i the diffusion current. This, equilibrium condition of zero resultant hole Vy, in terms of the donor and acceptor concentrations. magnitude of a few tenths of a volt. wt The p-n Junction as @ Diode ‘constitutes 8 diode which permitsAhe easy “The essential electrical characteristic of p-" jjunetion is that it flow of current in one direction but stain the flow in the opposite direction, Reverse Bias In Fig. 1-2, a battery is shown con junction. The negative terminal ofthe bats electrons inthe mtype the region of negative-charge density is (Fig. [old), and the posiive-charge-density resion is right. However, this process i ly ‘cannot continue ‘Scanned with CamScannerbination the mype peuralized region. de © at »? sone > = not true, ~ siuaion Oy ertha —) atial bait CUPL TT itsAhe easy o> = Y o sed inthe ) Te refer he pdode ttt L t oO order to'have a steady flow of holes to the left, these holes must be supplied across the junction from the re-type germanium. And there are very few holes inthe n-type side. Hence, nominally, zero current results Reverse Saturation Current ‘Actually, a small current does flow because a small number of hole-electron pairs are generated throughout the crystal as a result of thermal energy. The holes so formed in the n-type germanium will wander over to the junction. A simitar remark applies to the electrons thermally generated inthe p-type germanium. This small ccurent isthe diode reverse saturation current, and its magnitude is designated by /,, This reverse current will increase with increasing temperature and hence, the back resistance ofa crystal diode decreases, with increasing temperature Reverse-bias Operation The mechanism of conduction in the reverse direction may be described alternatively in the following way: When no voltage is applied to the p-n diode, the potential barier across the junction is as shown in Fig] ‘When a voltage Vis applied to the diode in the direction shown in Fig.{i.2, the height of the potential-energy barrier is increased by the amount eV. This increase in the barrier height serves to reduce the flow of majority carriers (ie., holes in p-type and electrons in n-type). However, the minority carriers (i.e., electrons in p-type and holes in n-type), since they fall down the potential-energy hill, are uninfluenced by the increased height of the barrier. The applied voltage in the direction indicated in Fig. «.2 is called the reverse, or blocking, bias. Metal eontacs Forward Bias ‘An extemal voltage applied with the polarity shown in Fig. 113 (opposite to that indicated in Fig{ .2) is called a forward bias. An ideal p-n diode has zero ohmic voltage drop across, the body of the crystal. For such a diode, the height of the potential barrier at the junction will be lowered by the applied forward voltage V. The equilibrium initially established Fig-k3 (0) App-njunction biased in the forward between the forces tending to produce diffusion of majority direction. (b) The rctier symbols wsed carters and the restraining influence of the potential-energy forthe pn diode barrier atthe junction willbe disturbed. a Hence, fora forward bias, the holes cross the junction from the p type to the m type, and the electrons cross the junction in the opposite direction. These majority carriers can then travel around the closed circuit, anda relatively large current will flow. @ o Scanned with CamScanner1) The Short-circuited and Open-circuited p-n Junction Ifthe voltage Vin Figs 1.2 or 3 were set equal to zero, the p-n junction would be short-circuited. Under these conditions, «no current can flow ({=0) and the electrostatic potential V, remains unchanged and equal tothe value under open-circuit conditions. If there were a current (1 # 0), the metal would become heated. Since there is no external sovdce of energy available, the energy required to heat the metal wire ‘would have to be supplied by the p-n bar. The semiconductor bar, therefore, would have to cool off. Clearly, under thermal equilibrium the siniultancous heating of the metal and cooling ofthe bar is impossible, and =. Since under short-circuit conditions the sum of the voltages around the closed loop “must be zero, the junction potential V, must be exactly compensated by the metal-to-semiconductor contact potentials atthe ohmic contacts. Since the current is ero, the wire can be cut without changing the situation, ‘and the voltage drop across the cut must emain zero. Fin an attempt to measure V, voltmeter ‘across the cut, the voltmeter would read zero voltage. In other words, it is not possible to measure contact difference of potential directly with a voltmeter. Large Forward Voltages ‘Suppose that the forward voltage V in Fig. 3 is increased until V approaches V,, If V were equal to ¥, the barrier would disappear and the current could be arbitrarily large, exceeding the rating of the diode. As ® practical matter, we can never reduce the bartier to zero because, as the current increases without limit the ball resistance ofthe crystal, as well asthe resistance ofthe ohmic coatacts, will limit the current, Therefore, itis no longer possible to assume that all the voltage V appears as @ change across the pn junetion. -_ a —» 1 Vis ee ee Okey —= ‘Wher — aw the r a ‘Scanned with CamScanner£ D o) The Volt-Ampere Characteristic a . “ for a p-n junction, the current Ii related to the voltage V by the equation 1 = I,lexp(VinV,) = L Ge 4 positive value of / means that current flows from the p- to the n-side. The diode is forward-biased if Vis posite indicating that the p-side ofthe junction is positive wit respect tothe side, The symbol is unity for germanium and is approximately 2for silicon, a Mi * ‘The symbol V; stands for the volt equivalent of temperature, and is given vy Ea J, repeated here for convenience: : ao (ad oe Ve. C "11,600 i - At room temperature (T= 300 K), Vz = 0.026 V = 26 mV. : vy The form of the volt-ampere characteristic described by Eq. 1-1 isshownin Fig. “(When the voltage . Vis positive and several times Vy, the unity in the parentheses of Eq. 1-1 may be neglected. Accordingly, oe except for a small range in the neighborhood of the origin, the current increases exponentially with voltage. —_. Reverse Saturation Current = ‘When the diode is reverse-biased and IW is several times Vp, = ~I,. The reverse current is therefore constant, dng! independent of the applied reverse-bias. Consequently, is referred to as the reverse saturation current. For the sake of clarity, the current /, in Fig.1-4(@has been greatly exaggerated in magnitude, Ordinarily, tre tog, the range of forward currents over which a diode is operated is many orders of magnitude larger than the $8 reverse saturation current. In order to display forward and reverse characteristics conveniently, itis necessary, i =O as in Fig, 64-Hto usetwo different curent scales. The volt ampere characteristic shown in that figure has @ re, tog forward current scale in milliamperes and a reverse scale in microamperes. 4 , ‘The dashed portion of the curve of Fig. 4-4 feindicates that, at a reverse-biasing voltage V,, the diode on characteristic exhibits an abrupt and marked departure from Eq. (161) ‘At this critical voltage, a large reverse current flows, and the diode is said to be in the breakdown region y 1.4 (a) The voltampere characteristic of an ideal p-n diode. (b) The germanium diode redrawn to show the order of magnitude of Jor reverse curens. The dashed portion indicates breakdown at Vp Scanned with CamScanner4 _The Current Components in a p-n Diode : = i when a forward bias i applied to a «lode, holes are injected into the n-side and electrons into the side, The number of these injected minority carers falls of exponentially with distance from the junction - Sige the diffusion current of minority carriers is proportional to the concentration ‘gradient J, ¢ ©96'), this current must also vary exponentially with distance, LLggreaettisttitty ss ei ‘Scanned with CamScanner(D There aretwo minority currents, fy ad yy and these are indicated in Fig 4.5. The symbol" /,(x) represents the hole current in the »-material, and /,,(x) indicates the electron current in the p-side as a function of x. Electrons crossing the junction at x=0 from right to left constitute a current in the same direction as hole crossing the junction from left to right. Hence, the total current /at x = Ois 7 @ Current - {(®) . ‘r) a Total curent Since the current is the same throughout a series 7 circuit, J is independent of x, and is indicated a fp oe current ing election cuenta horizontal line in Fig. 1-5. Consequently, in cen 7 bpm le carent the p-side, there must be a second component of current J,, which, when added to /,,, gives the total 10 Distance * current /. Hence, this hole current in the p-side J, a) (a majority carrier current) is given by 1-5 The hole and electron current components vs. distance Ipgh) = 1 = Tug) (ead ina pn junction diode. The space-charge region atthe This current is plotted as a function of distance junction i assumed tobe meg smal in Fig, |S, a2 ie shove cirexpealide Seeen current J,, in the m-material. This figure is drawn for an unsymmetrically doped diode, so that /,, # lyy- Note that deep into the p-side, the current is a drift (conduction) current J,, of holes sustained by the small electric field in the semiconductor. As the holes approach the junction, some of them recombine with the electrons, which are injected into the p side from the n-side. Hence, part of the current J, becomes a negative current just equal in magnitude to the diffusion current Ing: The current I,, thus decreases toward the junction (at just the proper rate to maintain the total current constant, independent of distance). What remains | of, at the junction enters the n side and becomes the hole diffusion current Jpq- Similar remarks can be made with respect to current [yy Hence, in a forward-biased p-n diode, the current enters the p-side as a hole current and leaves the n-side as an electron current of the same magnitude. + ofhe current in ap-n diode is(bipolar in character since it is made up of both positive and negative carriers of electricity. The total current is constant throughout the device, but the proportion due to holes and that due to electrons varies with distance, as indicated in Fig. 45. Quantitative Theory of the p-n Diode Currents SK perivation ~ 3 The expression for the total current as a function of the applied voltage (the volt-ampere characteristic). .- ~~ “neglect the depletion-layer thickness, ‘and hence assume that the barrier width is zero. If a forward bias is applied to the diode, holes are injected from the p side into the n material, The concentration p, of holes in the n-side is increased above its thermal- equilibrium value p,, and, 2G): P,Pes Renz yen by Pal8) = Bo + Px(O) exp(-ally] (sd where the parameter L, is called the diffusion length for holes in the n-material, and the injected, or excess, concentration at x= 0 is ‘Scanned with CamScanner |te P,(0)=,0)~Pro ue) t ‘These sever ole-conenraton components ae india in Fig (4) which shows the exponent decrease ofthe density p,(x) with distance x into the n-materia, ° From Eq. \ the diffusion hole current in the m Concentration, p, sideis given by" Jp» 2, AD \ a ater [= ~Aed, he un : "de Injected o excess charge 0) “Taking the derivative of Ea, (1-2 with espe 02 a0 = and substituting in Eq a) phe i fe This equation verifies that the hole curent decreases a0 exponentially wit distance. The dependence of, UPO” Fig applied vollage is contained implicitly in the factor P,(0) because the injected concentration i. fancion of voltage. We now find that dependence of P,(Q)upon V. Scanned with CamScanner