Semiconductor Diodes

Chapter 1:
Semiconductor
Diodes
Solid State Devices
electronic device in which electricity flows through

solid semiconductor crystals (silicon, gallium arsenide,
germanium) rather than through vacuum tubes
Electronics
• Electronics is the study of how to control the flow of

electrons.
• It deals with circuits made up of components that
control the flow of electricity.
Semiconductor Materials: Ge, Si, and GaAs
Semiconductors are a special class of elements having a
conductivity between that of a good conductor and
that of an insulator.
• They fall into two classes : single crystal and compound
• Single crystal : Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si).
• Compound : gallium arsenide (GaAs),
cadmium sulfide (CdS),
gallium nitride (GaN),
gallium arsenide
phosphide (GaAsP)
The three semiconductors used most frequently in the
construction of electronic devices are Ge, Si, and GaAs.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 4 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights
reserved.
Group → 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
↓ Period
1 2
1 H He
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 Li Be B C N O F Ne
11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18
N M
3 Al Si P S Cl Ar
a g
21
19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
4 S
K Ca Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
c
37
38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
5 R
Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
b
55 56 * 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
6 Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
87 88 ** 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
7 Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
* Lanthanides La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

** Actinides Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
reserved.
History
• Diode , in 1939 was using Ge
• Transistor, in 1947 was using Ge
• In1954 Si was used in Transistor because Si is less
temperature sensitive and abundantly available.
• High speed transistor was using GaAs in 1970 (which is 5
times faster compared to Si)
• Si, Ge and GaAs are the semiconductor of choice
reserved.
Atomic Structure
Valence shell (4 valence electrons) Valence shell (4 valence electrons)
Valence
shells
electron
Valenc
+ e
+ electro
n
Nucleus
orbiting
electrons
orbiting
Germanium electron
s
Silicon
32 orbiting electrons 14 orbiting electrons
(tetravalent) (Tetravalent)
• Valence electrons: electrons in the outermost shell.

• Atoms with four valence electrons are called tetravalent.
reserved.
Atomic Structure
Valence shell (3 valence electrons) Valence shell (5 valence electrons)
Valence Valence
shells shells
electron electron
+ +
Nucleus orbiting
electrons
Nucleus orbiting
electrons
Gallium
Arsenic
31 orbiting electrons 33 orbiting electrons

(trivalent) (pentavalent)
• Atoms with three valence electrons are called trivalent, and

those with five are called pentavalent.
reserved.
Covalent Bonding
Covalent bonding of Si crystal

This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of electrons,
is called covalent bonding
reserved.
Covalent Bonding
There is sharing of
electrons, five electrons
provided by As atom and
three by the Ga atom.
Covalent bonding of GaAs crystal
reserved.
reserved.
Energy Levels
The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is

the
energy state. 12
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
reserved.
Energy Levels
An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb more energy than
one in the valence band of germanium to become a free carrier. [free
carriers are free electrons due only to external causes such as applied
electric fields established by voltage sources or potential difference.
reserved.
n-Type and p-Type materials
n-Type Material
n-Type materials are created by
adding elements with five valence
electrons such as antimony, arsenic,
and phosphorous.
There is a fifth electron due to

the (Sb) atom that is relatively
free to move in the n-Type
material.
The atoms (in this case is

antimony (Sb)) are called donor
Doping with Sb, (antimony) atoms.
reserved.
n-Type Material
The free electrons due to the added atoms have higher energy
levels and require less energy to move to conduction band.
reserved.
p-Type Material p-Type materials are created by
adding atoms with three valence
electrons such as boron, gallium,
and indium.
In this case, an insufficient
number of electrons to complete
the covalent bonds.
The resulting vacancy is called a
“hole” represented by small circle
or plus sign indicating absence of a
negative charge.
The atoms (in this case boron(B))
Boron (B) are called acceptor atoms.
reserved.
Majority and Minority carriers
Two currents through a diode:
Majority Carriers
•The majority carriers in n-type materials are electrons.
•The majority carriers in p-type materials are holes.
Minority Carriers
•The minority carriers in n-type materials are holes.
•The minority carriers in p-type materials are
electrons.
reserved.
p-n Junctions
One end of a silicon or germanium crystal can be doped as a

p-
type material and the other end as an n-type material.
The result is a p-n junction.
reserved.
p-n Junctions
At the p-n junction, the excess
conduction-band electrons on the
n-type side are attracted to
the valence-band holes on the p-
type side.
The electrons in the n-type

material migrate across
the junction to p-type
the material
(electron flow).
The result is the formation of
The electron migration results in a a depletion region around
negative charge on the p-type the junction.
side of the junction and a positive
charge on the n-type side of the
junction.
reserved.
Diodes
The diode is a 2-terminal
device.
A diode ideally conducts in

only one direction.
reserved.
•
Diode Operating Conditions •
No bias
Forward bias
• Reverse bias
Reverse bias Forward bias
reserved.
Diode Operating Conditions
No Bias
• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0 V

• No current is flowing: ID = 0 A
• Only a modest depletion region exists
reserved.
Reverse Bias
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in
the opposite polarity of the p- and n-type materials.
• The reverse voltage causes the

depletion region to widen.
• The electrons in the n-type material
are attracted toward the positive
terminal of the voltage source.
• The holes in the p-type material are
attracted toward the negative
terminal of the voltage source.
reserved.
Forward Bias
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in
the same polarity as the p- and n-type materials.
• The forward voltage causes the

depletion region to narrow.
• The electrons and holes are pushed
toward the p-n junction.
• The electrons and holes have
sufficient energy to cross the p-n
junction.
reserved.
Actual Diode Characteristics
Note the regions for no
bias, reverse bias, and
forward bias
conditions.
Carefully note the scale
for each of these
conditions.
The reverse saturation
current is seldom more
than a few microamperes.
reserved.
Diode equation
where
VT : is called the thermal voltage.
Is : is the reverse saturation
is the applied forward-bias voltage across the diode.
current.
V
n D: : is a factor function of operation conditions and
construction.
physical It has range between 1 and 2. assume n=1
unless otherwise noted.
K : is Boltzman’s constant =1.38 x 10-23
T: is temperature in kelvins = 273+temperature in C.
q : is the magnitude of electron charge = 1.6 x 10-19 C.
reserved.

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Chapter 1:

electronic device in which electricity flows through

• Electronics is the study of how to control the flow of

89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103

• Valence electrons: electrons in the outermost shell.

31 orbiting electrons 33 orbiting electrons

• Atoms with three valence electrons are called trivalent, and

Covalent bonding of Si crystal

Covalent bonding of GaAs crystal

The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is

There is a fifth electron due to

The atoms (in this case is

One end of a silicon or germanium crystal can be doped as a

The result is a p-n junction.

The electrons in the n-type

A diode ideally conducts in

Reverse bias Forward bias

• No external voltage is applied: VD = 0 V

• The reverse voltage causes the

• The forward voltage causes the

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