Electronics-I

UNIT I
Unit I: Semiconductor Theory
• Atomic Structure, Group III, IV, V Elements
• Energy band theory
• Fermi energy level
• Heat developed in current carrying
conductors and thermal conductivity of
metals
• Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors
• Drift and diffusion currents
Introduction
Electronics
Branch of science and engineering dealing with the
theory and use of class of devices in which electrons
are transported through a vacuum, gas or
semiconductor.

Physical Electronics: Motions of electrons in vacuum,

gas and semiconductors

Electronic Engineering: Design, fabrication and

application of electron devices
Application of electronics
The sphere of electronics have spread so wide that it
plays an important role in almost every activity of
life. Following are important from the subject point
of view:
1. Communication and entertainment applications
2. Instrumentation and control applications
3. Defence applications
4. Applications in medicine
5. Computer aided designs of electronic circuits
 Atomic Structure
All materials are composed of very small particles called
atoms. The atoms are building bricks of all matter.
The structure of an atom is mainly composed of three
fundamental particles i.e. electrons, protons and neutrons.
The protons and neutrons are located in a small nucleus at
the centre of an atom. The electrons revolve around the
nucleus in fixed circular as well as elliptical orbits called
energy levels or main shells.
In a normal atom, the number of protons is equal to the
number of electrons. Thus the entire atom is electrically
neutral.
The mass of the electron is 9.1Xkg. However the mass of a
proton or a neutron is 1840 times that of an electron, thus
the mass of an atom is mainly due to protons and neutrons
Atomic Structure
Nucleus: central part of an atom
Contains protons and neutrons
Electrons are negatively charged, Proton is positively
charged particle, while the neutron has a same mass
as proton but has no charge.
Electrons in an atom revolve around the nucleus in
different orbits or paths. The number and arrangement
of electrons in any orbit is determined by the following
rules:
• 2n2 where n is the number of the orbit
• The last orbit cannot have more than 8 electrons
Last but one orbit cannot have more than 18 electrons.
 Distribution of electrons in atoms
• each electron orbit or main shell in an atom consists of
number of sub orbits or sub levels. The number of sub-
orbits is equal to its principal quantum number, n. these
sub orbits are defined by the numbers s, p, d, f, etc. the
total numbers of electrons are distributed in the various
sub levels as shown in the table below.

• K orbit has one sub orbit which is also the main orbit. This
sub orbit is called 1s orbit and contains only 2 electrons.
The L orbit has two sub orbits called 2s and 2p. The 2s
contains 2 electrons and 2 p orbit contains 6 electrons
thus making up a total of 8 electrons.
Important Terminology
Atomic Number:
The atomic number (Z) of an atom is equal to the
number of protons (or electrons) contained in an atom.
Atomic Mass:
Also called the atomic weight of an atom is equal to the
total number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus.
Electron Orbits:
electrons revolve around the nucleus in fixed orbits
called energy levels or shells. These orbits are
represented by the letters K, L, M, N, etc counted from
the nucleus to outwards. Thus K shell is the closest to
the nucleus. Sometimes the shells are also designated as
Distribution of electrons in atoms
• The distribution of electrons in boron, silicon and
germanium atoms are illustrated in the figures
below.
The Electron
• Charge of an electron: 1.602x10-19 coulomb
• Mass of an election, m= 9.0x10-31 kg
• Radius of an electron, r = 1.9x10-15 metre
• ratio of e/m of an electron is 1.77x1011coulombs/kg
• Electron moving around the nucleus possesses two
types of energy: kinetic and potential
• The total energy of an electron is the sum of these
two energies.
• Energy of an electron increases as it increases its
distance from the nucleus
Valence Electrons
The electrons in the outermost shell of an atom are called
valence electrons.
If the outermost shell of an atom is completely filled, the
element is said to be stable. Then, atom is not capable of
combining with atoms of other element to form a
compound.
If the outermost shell of an atom is not complete, the atom
is susceptible of forming compound by either accepting
valence electrons from another atom or contributing its
valence electrons to another atom so that the combined
electrons fill up the outer shell completely.
If an atom contains more than 4 valence electrons it will
usually receive electrons from another atom. However if an
atom contains less than 4 valence electrons it will contribute
or give away its electrons to those of the other atom.
Ionized atom
The electric charge on the nucleus is neutral. However if an
atom loses or gains an electron, it will be in a charged condition.
The atom in a charged condition is said to be an ionized atom or
an ion.
If an atom loses its electrons it becomes positive ion and on the
other hand if an atom gains electrons it becomes a negative ion.
In this Atomic Model Theory, Bohr suggested that some energy
is always emitted or absorbed when an atom moves from one
orbit to another orbit. The amount of energy emitted or
absorbed is given by the relation:
where
=energy of initial orbit
=energy of final orbit
h=Planck’s constant
f=frequency of radiation
Energy of an Electron
It has been observed that the total energy possessed
by an electron when it revolves in the nth orbit of an
atom with atomic number Z is given by the expression:
in Joules
in electron Volts
This equation can be used to determine the energy
possessed by an electron in any orbit.
 Energy Level Diagram
If the energies corresponding to K, L,
M,…etc. shells are plotted along the
positive side of the vertical axis by the
horizontal lines, the following diagram
is obtained. This diagram is popularly
known as energy level.

At n = 1, electron is said to be in
normal or ground state. And if it is
present in higher orbits, it is called to
be in excited state.
 Bonding in Solids
The rigidity of a solid arises from the fact that the atoms in solid are
held together by interatomic forces called interatomic bonds. The
arrangement of the atoms in a solid is strongly influenced by the
nature of these bonds, which in turn is influenced by the electronic
structure the atoms. The interatomic bonds should have the
following two important characteristics:
1. Bond Energy: the energy corresponding to the positions of
atoms, at which the bonds are formed, is called bond energy.
The bonds which possess higher bond energy are called
stronger bonds and those which possess smaller bond energy
are called weaker bonds.
2. Bond Length: it maybe defined as the centre to centre distance
of the bonding atoms. The stronger bonds have smaller bond
length, while weaker bonds have larger bond length.
 Types of Bonds in Solids
1. IONIC BOND
• Bond formed between two oppositely charged ions, which
are produced by the transfer of electrons from one atom to
another, is called an ionic bond or electrovalent bond.
• In formation of an ionic bond, the atoms acquire electronic
arrangement or configuration of noble gases.
• An atom which loses the electron acquires a positive charge
and becomes a positive ion. An atom which gains electrons
becomes a negative ion. In this way both the atoms become
oppositely charged ions. The electrostatic force of attraction
between the oppositely charged ions form an ionic bond.
• This bond is readily formed between atoms of alkali
metals and halogen atoms.
Characteristics of Ionic solids
• The compounds containing ionic bonds are called ionic
solids. The ionic solids consists of oppositely charged
ions. As are result the ions are tightly bound to one
another by electrostatic force of attraction. Therefore a
large amount of energy is required to break away an
ionic bond. The ionic solids have the following
properties:
• These are rigids, unidirectional and crystalline in nature
• These are bad conductors of electricity in their solid
state but good conductors of electricity in their molten
state
• They have high melting points
• They have high boiling temperatures
 Types of Bonds in Solids
2. COVALENT BOND
• The bond which is formed by sharing of electrons between two
atoms is called a covalent bond. The sharing of electrons takes
place in such a way that each atom in the resulting molecule,
gets the stable electron arrangement of an inert or noble gas.
• This happens in non metals i.e. the elements with 5,6 and 7
electrons in the outermost energy levels of their atoms.
• Covalent bonds are also formed in elements containing 4
electrons in their valence shells.
• Single covalent bond
• Double covalent bond
• Triple covalent bond
Example of a COVALENT BOND
Example of a COVALENT BOND
Characteristics of Covalent compounds
• The compounds containing covalent bonds are called
covalent compounds. They are known as compounds
because they can exist as solids, liquids and gases under
normal conditions of temperature and pressure. The
covalent compounds are not as strong as ionic solids.
The covalent compounds have the following properties:
• These are rigids, directional and crystalline in nature
• These are bad conductors of electricity. Some solids
such as Si and Ge can be made to conduct electricity by
adding certain impurities in the controlled amount.
• They have low melting and boiling temperatures
compared to ionic solids.
3. METALLIC BOND
The electrons in their outermost shells are loosely held by their
nucleus. As a result the electrons in the valence shells require a very
small amount of energy to detach themselves from their nuclei.
At room temperature, all metal atoms lose their valence electrons
which form an electron cloud or common pool of electrons. These
electrons have a freedom to move anywhere within the crystal.
The atoms after losing their valence electrons acquire positive
charge and become positive ions. Thus a metal may be considered
as an array of positive ions surrounded by a large number of free
electrons forming and electron gas or electron cloud.
Characteristics of a metal
• The electrostatic force of attraction between the electron
cloud and positive ions forms a bond which is known as
metallic bond.
• In metallic bonding, the electrons are not bound to any atom
or between two atoms.
• This freedom makes metallic bonds non directional.
• The solids containing metallic bonds are called metallic solids.
• Some of the interesting properties of metallic solids as
follows:
1. They are rigid, non directional and crystalline in nature
2. They are good conductors of heat as well as electricity.
3. They have low melting and boiling temperatures as
 Energy Bands
• When atoms come together to form a molecule they
exert an influence on one another and the allowed
energy levels split into closely spaced levels. A similar
situation exists when atoms come together to form a
solid.
• The split energy levels form a continuous bands of
allowed energy which the electrons may occupy.
• The inner or lower bands which are completely filled
are not shown in the diagram because the inner
bands are not important in determining the electrical
as well as electronic properties of a solid.
 Energy Bands
• The lower band consists of valence
electrons of the isolated atom and is
called the valence band. This band is
completely filled with electrons.

• The upper band is an empty band and

contains no electrons. The empty
band corresponds to the first excited
state where the valence electrons will
move to under the influence of an
external field. The electrons are free
to move in this band. This band is
called the conduction band.
Energy Bands
• The conduction band and the valence band are separated
by a forbidden energy gap as shown in the figure.
• At absolute zero temperature the electrons occupy the
lowest energy levels available to them. Thus at 0K, the
valence band is filled while conduction band is completely
empty.
• If an electron in the valence band is to move throughout
the crystal, it must be elevated to conduction band by
supplying or adding a certain amount of energy equal to
the energy gap to the material
• When the valence electrons acquires enough energy to
move into the conduction band it is called a free electron.
Insulators
• The materials have conduction and
valence band separated by a wide
energy gap (15eV)
• Large amount of energy is required
to free electrons
• Do not conduct electricity because at
room temperature the valence
electrons do not have enough energy
to jump into the conduction band
• Have high resistivity at room
temperature (negative temperature
coefficient of resistance)
 Conductors
• Conduction bands and
valence bands overlap
• Large no. of electrons are
available for conduction
• Application of small amount
if voltage results in a large
amount of current.
Semiconductors
• The conduction and valence bands are
separated by a small energy gap (1eV)
• small amount of energy is required to free
the electrons
• Are insulators at 0K because no electrons
are available in the conduction band. At
room temperature a significant no. of
electrons are available in the conduction
band.
• If the temperature is increased further more
electrons will acquire energy and jump to
conduction band and conductivity increases.
• Have negative temperature coefficient of
resistance.
Semiconductors
• Materials with conductivity much greater than that
of an insulator but much smaller than that of a
metal
• Conductivity is proportional to the concentration of
free electrons
• About to electrons per cubic metre.
• Energy Gap = 1eV
• Are insulators at 0K
• Eg. Germanium, Silicon, Gallium Arsenide,
Cadmium Sulphide, Lead telluride
 Classification of Semiconductors
1. Intrinsic Semiconductors
• At absolute zero temperature there are
no free electrons
• At any temperature above absolute zero
temperature, there is a finite probability
that an electron in the lattice will be
knocked loose from its position, leaving
behind an electron deficiency called a
"hole“
• If a voltage is applied, then both the
electron and the hole can contribute to a
small current flow.
• n=p=
Example: Silicon
Energy level diagram for Intrinsic
semiconductor
Mechanism of holes contributing to
conductivity
• Motion of hole in one direction actually means the
transport of a negative charge by an equal distance
in the opposite direction. Thus the hole in fact is a
positive charge equal in magnitude to the
electronic charge.
Extrinsic Semiconductor
• Intrinsic semiconductors have negligible
conductivity at room temperature, hence not
useful.
• Characteristics are changed by adding a certain
amount of desired impurity atoms (doping);
resulting semiconductors are called extrinsic
semiconductors.
• Doping at the rate of 1 atom of impurity per to
atoms of semiconductor
• Two types of impurity atoms are added to the
semiconductor; impurity containing 5 valence
electrons or impurity containing 3 valence electron
Extrinsic Semiconductor
Are of two types:
1. N-type semiconductor
2. P-type semiconductor
N type Extrinsic Semiconductor
• Semiconductors which are obtained by introducing pentavalent
impurity atoms like phosphorus, antimony, arsenic and bismuth.
These elements donate excess electron carriers. Therefore such
elements are known as donor or N-type semiconductors.
• After donation, impurity atom becomes a positively charged ion
and is known as a donor ion.
• Donor ion is bounded by four covalent bonds in the crystal lattice
and cannot be made to move within the lattice. As a result the
donor ion do not contribute to the conduction of current
• The current flows due to movement of electrons and holes. But a
major part of the current flows due to the movement of electrons
• Electrons- majority carriers
• Homes: minority carriers
Example: antimony doped to
silicon atom
P type semiconductor
• Obtained by introducing trivalent impurity atoms to create positive
charge carriers because they create holes which can accept electrons
• Examples are gallium, indium, aluminium, boron, etc
• Elements are called acceptor or P type impurities.
• A vacancy which exists in the incomplete covalent bond constitutes a
hole. A favourable electron is captured by the indium atom and
becomes immobile ion.
• After accepting an electron, the impurity atom becomes a
negatively charged ion known as acceptor ion. This ion is bounded in
4 covalent bonds in the crystal lattice and therefore cannot move
within the lattice
• The acceptor ion does not contribute to the conduction of current
• The current flows due to the movement of holes and electrons
• A major part of the current flows due to the movement of holes.
• Holes - majority carriers
• Electrons – minority carriers
Example: Indium doped into
Silicon atom