Lecture 27

Topics to be covered:

 I-V characteristics of p-n junction

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 Ideal Current–Voltage Relationship
The ideal I-V relationship of a pn junction is derived on the basis of
four assumptions:
1. Depletion layer approximation: The space charge regions have
abrupt boundaries, and the semiconductor is neutral outside of the
depletion region.
2. Statistical distribution approximation: The Maxwell–Boltzmann
approximation applies to carrier statistics.
3. The low injection and complete ionization condition has been
assumed.
4. (a)The total current is a constant throughout the entire pn structure.
(b)The individual electron and hole currents are continuous functions
through the pn structure.
(c)The individual electron and hole currents are constant throughout
the depletion region.

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In thermal equilibrium, the built-
in potential is given by:

As We may write,

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Assuming complete Ionization:

In the p region, we can write

Substituting the Value of Na and Nd we get:

The above equation relates the minority carrier electron concentration

on the p-side of the junction to the majority carrier electron
concentration on the n-side of the junction in thermal equilibrium.
Under Forward bias Condition:

As long as the bias Va is applied, the injection of carriers across the space
charge region continues and a current is created in the pn junction.
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Thus, in forward bias, the potential barrier Vbi can be replaced by (Vbi
-Va) and hence the equation becomes

and finally we get,

Exactly the same process occurs for majority carrier holes in the p
region, which are injected across the space charge region into the n
region under a forward-bias voltage. We can write that:

Now the condition is some what

like this

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Minority Carrier Distribution:
The ambipolar transport equation for excess minority carrier holes in
an n region:

 Remember the steady state condition with E=0 and g’=0 in n region
for x > xn, The above equation reduces to

Similarly in p region for x< Xp

The general solution of above two equations are:

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The boundary conditions for the total minority carrier concentrations
are

Using Boundary conditions, the excess carrier concentrations are then

found to be:

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Ideal pn Junction Current:
Since the electron and hole currents are continuous functions through
the pn junction, the total pn junction current will be the minority carrier
hole diffusion current at x = xn plus the minority carrier electron diffusion
current at x =-xp.

The gradients in the minority carrier

concentrations produce diffusion
currents.
Since the electric field is zero at the
space charge edges (assumption), we
can neglect any minority carrier drift
current component.

The minority carrier hole diffusion current density at x = xn

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Since we have assumed uniform doping, the thermal-equilibrium
carrier concentration is constant

Putting value of δpn(x) we get,

The hole current density for this forward-bias condition is in the + x

direction, which is from the p to the n region.

Similarly, we may calculate the electron diffusion current density at x

=-xp

Or,

The electron current density is also in the +x direction. 10

The total current density in the pn junction:

Let,

The parameter Js is referred to as the reverse-saturation current

density.

The equation of total current density in forward bias pn junction

becomes

This equation is known as the ideal-

diode equation, gives a good description
of the current–voltage characteristics of
the pn junction over a wide range of
currents and voltages. 11
 Lecture 27
Topics to be covered:

 I-V characteristic of Metal semiconductor diode

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The equation of total current density in forward bias pn junction
becomes

This equation is known as the

ideal-diode equation, gives a good
description of the current–voltage
characteristics of the pn junction
over a wide range of currents and
voltages.

In general, the diode current–voltage relationship may be written as:

where the parameter n is called the ideality factor. For a large forward-
bias voltage, n = 1 when diffusion dominates, and for low forward-bias
voltage, n = 2 when recombination dominates. There is a transition
region where n lies between 1 and 2. 13
Current–Voltage Relationship in Metal- semiconductor Junction:
Contrary to pn junction, the current transport in a metal–semiconductor
junction is due mainly to majority carriers.

Fig: Energy-band diagram of a

forward-biased metal–semiconductor
junction
The basic process in the rectifying contact with an n-type semiconductor is
by transport of electrons over the potential barrier, which can be described by
the thermionic emission theory.
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The thermionic emission characteristics are derived by assuming that
the barrier height is much larger than kT .

Under such condition, the Maxwell–Boltzmann approximation applies

and that thermal equilibrium is not affected by this process.

Let Va is applied forward-bias voltage

The two electron current density components exist.

(i).Js→m- the electron current density due to the flow of electrons from
the semiconductor into the metal.
(ii).Jm→s- the electron current density due to the flow of electrons from
the metal into semiconductor.
The current density Js→m is a function of the concentration of
electrons which have x-directed velocities sufficient to overcome the
barrier.
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where E’c is the minimum energy required for thermionic emission into
the metal, vx is the carrier velocity in the direction of transport.

where gc(E) is the density of states in the conduction band and fF(E) is
the Fermi–Dirac probability function.
Assuming Maxwell–Boltzmann approximation, we may write:

If all of the electron energy above Ec is assumed to be kinetic energy,

then we have

The net current density in the metal-to-semiconductor junction can be

written as

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This current density is positive in the direction from the metal to the
semiconductor and finally we get,

Where,

and is called the effective Richardson

constant for thermionic emission.
The current density equation can be written in the usual diode form
as:

where JsT is the reverse-saturation current density and is given by-

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We may recall that the Schottky barrier height ФBn changes because of
the image-force lowering.

We may write-

The change in barrier height, ΔФ, will increase with an increase in the
electric field, or with an increase in the applied reverse-biased voltage.

The reverse biased current increases

with reverse-biased voltage because of the
barrier lowering effect and leads to
breakdown of Schottky barrier diode.

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 Lecture 28
Topics to be covered:

Comparison of the Schottky Barrier Diode and the pn

Junction Diode
Tunnel diode

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 Comparison of the Schottky Barrier Diode and the pn Junction Diode
Though the I-V equation of both are of same form,there are two
important differences between a Schottky diode and a pn junction diode:

(i)The magnitudes of the reverse-saturation current densities

(ii)The switching characteristics.

The reverse-saturation current density of the Schottky barrier diode is

given by :

In case of Ideal pn junction diode the reverse-saturation current

density is given by:

The current in a pn junction is determined by the diffusion of minority

carriers while the current in a Schottky barrier diode is determined by
thermionic emission of majority carriers over a potential barrier.
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The reverse saturation current in pn
junction diode(10-7 A/cm2 )is typically two
to three orders of magnitude less than
the reverse saturation current density of
the Schottky barrier diode.

The forward-bias characteristics of the

two types of diodes will also be different
as JsT ≫ Js.

The effective turn-on voltage of the

Schottky diode is less than that of the pn
junction diode.

The actual difference between the turn-on voltages will be a function

of the barrier height of the metal–semiconductor contact and the doping
concentrations in the pn junction, but the relatively large difference will
always be realized.
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 Advantage of the Schottky Barrier Diode over the pn Junction Diode
The Schottky barrier diode is a majority carrier device, hence there is
no diffusion capacitance associated with a forward-biased Schottky
diode which makes the Schottky diode a higher frequency device than
the pn junction diode.

When switching a Schottky diode from forward to reverse bias, there

is no minority carrier stored charge to remove, as is the case in the pn
junction diode,the Schottky diodes can be used in fast-switching
applications.

 A typical switching time for a Schottky diode is in the pico-second

range, while for a pn junction it is normally in the nanosecond range.

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 METAL–SEMICONDUCTOR OHMIC CONTACTS
Metal-to-semiconductor contacts are made via ohmic contacts but in
this case they are not rectifying contacts.
An ohmic contact is a low-resistance junction providing conduction in
both directions between the metal and the semiconductor.
Ideally, the current through the ohmic contact is a linear function of
applied voltage, and the applied voltage should be very small.

Two general types of ohmic contacts are possible:

Ideal non-rectifying barrier

Tunneling barrier

Ideal Non-rectifying Barrier:

Till now we have considered an ideal metal-n-type semiconductor
contact in for the case when Фm > Фs.
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 What if, Фm < Фs

To achieve thermal equilibrium in this junction, electrons flow from the
metal into the lower energy states in the semiconductor, which makes
the surface of the semiconductor more n- type.
 The excess electron charge in the n-type semiconductor exists
essentially as a surface charge density.
On applying a positive voltage to the metal, there is no barrier to
electrons flowing from the semiconductor into the metal.

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 If a positive voltage is applied to the semiconductor, the effective
barrier height for electrons flowing from the metal into the
semiconductor will be approximately ФBn = Фn, which is fairly small for
a moderately to heavily doped semiconductor.
For this bias condition, electrons can easily flow from the metal into
the semiconductor.

Ideal energy-band diagram when

Ideal energy-band diagram of when a a positive voltage applied to the
positive voltage applied to the metal. semiconductor.

This junction, then, is an ohmic contact.

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An ideal non-rectifying contact between a metal and a p-type
semiconductor is shown.

When contact is made, electrons from the semiconductor flow into the
metal to achieve thermal equilibrium, leaving behind more empty states,
or holes.
The excess concentration of holes at the surface makes the surface of
the semiconductor more p type.
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Electrons from the metal can readily move into the empty states in the
semiconductor.
This charge movement corresponds to holes flowing from the
semiconductor into the metal.
This junction is also an ohmic contact.

Tunneling Barrier:
The space charge width in a rectifying metal–semiconductor contact is
inversely proportional to the square root of the semiconductor doping

The width of the depletion region

decreases as the doping concentration in
the semiconductor increases and hence the
probability of tunneling through the barrier
Energy-band diagram of a
increases. heavily doped n-semiconductor
to metal junction. 30
The tunneling current can be expressed as:

where

The tunneling current increases exponentially with doping

concentration.

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 Lecture 29
Topics to be covered:

Short Diode

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The “Short” Diode:

During the study about pn junction, we have assumed that both p and
n regions were long compared with the minority carrier diffusion lengths.

However, In many pn junction structures, one

region may, in fact, be short compared with the minority carrier diffusion
length.
The steady-state excess minority carrier
hole concentration in the n region is given
by:
The length Wn is assumed
to be much smaller
Applying the boundary condition only at than the minority carrier
x= xn in this case hole diffusion length, Lp.

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However for second boundary condition, In most of the case we
assume that an ohmic contact exists at x = (xn + Wn), implying an
infinite surface- recombination velocity and therefore an excess minority
carrier concentration of zero.

The second boundary condition is then written as

The general solution is then

Since n region is of finite length, both terms of the general

solution must be retained.

 Applying the boundary conditions we get:

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The above equation is the general solution for the excess minority
carrier hole concentration in the n region of a forward-biased pn
junction.

If Wn ≪ Lp, we can approximate the hyperbolic sine terms by

and

Then above Equation becomes

The minority carrier concentration becomes a linear function of distance.

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The minority carrier hole diffusion current density is given by:

So that in the short n region, we have-

The minority carrier hole diffusion current density now contains the
length Wn in the denominator, rather than the diffusion length Lp.

The diffusion current density is larger for a short diode than for a long
diode.
Again, since the minority carrier concentration is approximately a
linear function of distance through the n region, the minority carrier
diffusion current density is a constant.

This constant current implies that there is no recombination of minority

carriers in the short region.
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