Chapter 4

Semiconductor theory
 Introduction
Based on the electricity conductivity, material are grouped into three group.

a. The term conductor is applied to any material that will support a generous
flow of charge when a voltage source of limited magnitude is applied
across its terminals.

b. An insulator is a material that offers a very low level of conductivity

under pressure from an applied voltage source.

c. A semiconductor, therefore, is a material that has a conductivity level

somewhere between the extremes of an insulator and a conductor.
Con’d
 Intrinsic Semiconductor

Intrinsic Semiconductor is one which is made of the semiconductor

material in its extremely pure form.

Examples of such semiconductors are: pure germanium and silicon which

have forbidden energy gaps of 0.72 eV and 1.1 eV respectively.

 Extrinsic Materials/semiconductor—n- and p-Type

The characteristics of semiconductor materials can be altered significantly by the

addition of certain impurity atoms into the relatively pure semiconductor material

A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the doping process is called
an extrinsic material.

There are two extrinsic materials:

i. n-type material
ii. p-type material
 Con’d

The n-type material is created by introducing those impurity

elements that have five valence electrons (pentavalent), such as
antimony, arsenic, and phosphorus.

The p-type material is formed by doping a pure germanium or

silicon crystal with impurity atoms having three valence electrons.
The elements most frequently used for this purpose are boron,
gallium, and indium.
 Con’d

P-type N-type
 PN Junction Diode

When p-type and n-type materials are joined this forms a pn-junction.

Majority charge carriers on each side diffuse across the junction where
they combine with (and remove) charge carriers of the opposite.

A Semiconductor diode consists of an n material region and a p

material region separated by a pn junction the n region has many
conduction electrons and the p region has many holes positive and
negative ions can exist.
Con’d
Con’d
 Diode Elements

A diode has two leads connected to the external circuit.

 Since a diode behaves differently depending upon forward or reverse bias, it is
critical to be able to distinguish the leads.
 The anode connects to the p-type material, the cathode to the n-type material of
the diode.
Con’d
 Operating Conditions
Forward‐bias region
Forward Bias : Connect positive of the Diode to positive of supply, negative
of Diode to negative of supply.
voltage applied by forward bias must enough to overcome the barrier
voltage,
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in the same polarity of
the p- and n-type materials.
The depletion layer is narrow.
The electrons from the n-type material and ‘holes’ from the p-type material
have sufficient energy to cross the junction.
the barrier voltage decreases by V volts, which appears as an external
voltage in the forward direction.
 Con’d
Reverse Bias: Connect positive of the Diode to negative of supply
negative of diode to positive of supply.
External voltage is applied across the p-n junction in the opposite polarity
This causes the depletion layer to widen.
the barrier voltage increases by VR volts, which appears between the
terminals as a reverse voltage
The electrons in the n-type material are attracted towards the positive
terminal and the ‘holes’ in the p-type material are attracted towards the
negative terminal of the p- and n-type materials.
Con’d
 Application of Diodes

One significant application of diodes is to convert AC power to DC power.

A single diode or four diodes can be used to transform AC to DC by forming

a half-way (single diodes) or a full-wave (four diodes) rectifier.

 A diode does this by allowing only half of the AC wave form to travel
through it. When this voltage pulse is used to charge a capacitor, the output
voltage appears to be a steady DC voltage with a small voltage ripple.
 Power supply circuits must

Convert the ac line voltage into a dc voltage required by the circuit.

Reduce the ac voltage to a lower value.
Continuously adjust the dc output voltage to
keep it constant under varying load conditions
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current
(AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC),
which flows in only one direction
 they are two type of rectifiers - single and three phase.
Half- Wave Rectifier
Full – Wave Rectifier