Class_XII: Physics

Chapter: Semiconductor Electronics: Materials, Devices and Simple

Circuits


1 Intrinsic Semiconductor: The pure semiconductors in which
the electrical conductivity is totally governed by the electrons
excited from the valence band to the conduction band and in
which no impurity atoms are added to increase their
conductivity are called intrinsic semiconductors and their
conductivity is called intrinsic conductivity. Electrical conduction
in pure semiconductors occurs by means of electron-hole pairs.
In an intrinsic semiconductor,
n
e
= n
h
= n
i

where
n
e
= the free electron density in conduction band,
n
h
= the hole density in valence band, and
n
i
= the intrinsic carrier concentration.

2 Extrinsic Semiconductors. A Semiconductor doped with
suitable impurity atoms so as to increase its conductivity is
called an extrinsic semiconductor.
Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types:
(i) n-type semiconductors. And (ii) p-type semiconductors.
3 n-type semiconductors. The pentavalent impurity atoms are
called donors because they donate electrons to the host crystal
and the semiconductor doped with donors is called n-type
semiconductor. In n-type semiconductors, electrons are the
majority charge carriers and holes are the minority charge
carriers. Thus

e d h
n N n ~
here N
d
= Number density of donor atoms
4 p-type semiconductors. The trivalent impurity atoms are
called acceptors because they create holes which can accept
electrons from the nearby bonds. A semiconductor doped with
acceptor type impurities is called a p-type semiconductor. In p-
type semiconductor, holes are the majority carriers and
electrons are the minority charge carriers Thus

a h e
N n n ~
here N
a
= Number density of acceptor atoms
5 Holes. The vacancy or absence of electron in the bond of a
covalently bonded crystal is called a hole. A hole serves as a
positive charge carrier.
6 Mobility. The drift velocity acquired by a charge carrier in a unit
electric field is called its electrical mobility and is denoted by .

d
v
E
=
The mobility of an electron in the conduction band is greater
than that of the hole (or electron) in the valence band.


7 Electrical conductivity of a Semiconductor. If a potential
difference V is applied across a conductor of length L and area
of cross-section A, then the total current I through it is given by
I= eA (n
e
v
e
+ n
h
v
h
)
where n
e
and n
h
are the electron and hole densities, and v
e
and
v
h
are their drift velocities, respectively. If
h
are the electron
and hole mobilities, then the conductivity of the semiconductor
will be
= e (n
e

e
+ n
h

h
)
and the resistivity will be
e e h h
1
e(n n )
=
+

The conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor increases
exponentially with temperature as

g
0
B
E
exp
2k T
| |
o = o
|
|
\ .

8 Forward and Reverse Biasing of a pn-junction. If the
positive terminal of a battery is connected to the p-side and the
negative terminal to the n-side, then the pn-junction is said to
be forward biased. Both electrons and holes move towards the
junction. A current, called forward current, flows across the
junction. Thus a pn-junction offers a low resistance when it is
forward biased.
If the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the n-side
and negative terminal to the p-side, then pn-junction is said to
be reverse biased. The majority charge carriers move away from
the junction. The potential barrier offers high resistance during
the reverse bias. However, due to the minority charge carriers a
small current, called reverse or leakage current flows in the
opposite direction.
Thus junction diode has almost a unidirectional flow of current.
9 Action of a transistor. When the emitter-base junction of an
npn-transistor is forward biased, the electrons are pushed
towards the base. As the base region is very thin and lightly
doped, most of the electrons cross over to the reverse biased
collector. Since few electrons and holes always recombine in the
base region, so the collector current I
c
is always slightly less
then emitter current I
E
.
I
E
= I
C
+ I
B

where I
B
is the base current.
10 Three Configurations of a Transistor. A transistor can be
used in one of the following three configurations:
(i) Common-base (CB) circuit.
(ii) Common-emitter (CE) circuit.
(iii) Common-collector (CC) circuit.
11 Current Gains of a Transistor. Usually low current gains are
defined:
(i) Common base current amplification factor or ac
current gain o. It is the ratio of the small change in the
collector current to the small change in the emitter current
when the collector-base voltage is kept constant.
C
E
V
constant
CB
I
I
=
( o
o =
(
o


(ii) Common emitter current amplification factor or ac
current gain |. It is the ratio of the small change in the
collector current to the small change in the base current when
the collector emitter voltage is kept constant.

C
B
V
constant
CE
I
I
=
( o
| =
(
o


12 Relations between o and |. The current gains o and | are
related as
and
1 1
| o
o = | =
+ | + o

13 Transistor as an amplifier. An amplifier is a circuit which is
used for increasing the voltage, current or power of alternating
form. A transistor can be used as an amplifier.

ac current gain is defined as:

C
ac i
constant
B
V
CE
I
or A
I
=
( o
| =
(
o


dc current gain is defined as

C
dc
constant
B
V
CE
I
I
=
(
| =
(


Voltage gain of an amplifier is defined as

o
v
i
CE
BE
V Asmall change in output voltage
A
V A small change in input voltage
V
V
= =
o
=
o

Or

out
v ac i r
in
R
A . A. A
R
= | =
i.e., Voltage gain = Current gain Resistance gain
Power gain of an amplifier is defined as

p
Outpurpower
A Current Voltage gain
Input power
= =
Or

2 out
p i v ac
in
R
A A.A .
R
= = |
14 Logic Gate. A logic gate is a digital circuit that has one or more
inputs but only one output. It follows a logical relationship
between input and output voltage.
15 Truth Table. This table shows all possible input combination
and the corresponding output for a logic gate.
16 Boolean Expression. It is a shorthand method of describing
the function of a logic gate in the form of an equation or an
expression. It also relates all possible combination of the inputs
of a logic gate to the corresponding outputs.
17 Positive and Negative Logic. If in a system, the higher
voltage level represents 1 and the lower voltage level represent
0, the system is called a positive logic. If the higher voltage
represents 0 and the lower voltage level represents 1, then the
system is called a negative logic.
18 OR Gate. An OR gate can have any number of inputs but only
one output. It gives higher output (1) if either input A or B or
both are high (1), otherwise the output is low (0).
A + B = Y
which is read as A or B equals Y.
19 AND gate. An AND gate can have any number of inputs but
only one output. It gives a high output (1) if inputs A and B are
both high (1), or else the output is low (0). It is described by
the Boolean expression.
A . B = Y
which is read as A and B equals Y.
20 NOT Gate. A NOT gate is the simplest gate, with one input and
one output. It gives as high output (1) if the input A is low (0),
and vice versa.
Whatever the input is, the NOT gate inverts it. It is described by
the Boolean expression:
A Y =
which is read as not A equal Y.
21 NAND (NOT+AND) gate. It is obtained by connecting the
output of an AND gate to the input of a NOT gate. Its output is
high if both inputs A and B are not high. If is described by the
Boolean expression.
A.B Y or AB Y = =
which is read as A and B negated equals Y.
22 NOR (NOT+OR) Gate. It is obtained by connecting the output
of an OR gate to the input of a NOT gate. Its output is high if
neither input A nor input B is high. It is described by the
Boolean expression.
A B Y + =
Which is read as A and B negated equals Y.
23 XOR or Exclusive OR gate. The XOR gate gives a high output
if either input A or B is high but not when both A and B are high
or low. It can be obtained by using a combination of two NOT
gates, two AND gates and one OR gate. It is described by
Boolean expression:
Y AB AB = +
The XOR gate is also known as difference gate because its
output is high when the inputs are different.
24 Integrated Circuits. The concept of fabricating an entire circuit
(consisting of many passive components like R and C and active
devices like diode and transistor) on a small single block (or
chip) of a semiconductor has revolutionized the electronics
technology. Such a circuit is known as Integrated Circuit (IC).



TOP Diagrams & Circuit Diagrams

1. Energy Band diagram of solids




2. Energy Band Diagrams of Metals, Semiconductors & Insulators



3. Energy Band Diagram of p-type & n-type semiconductors


4. VI Characteristics of p-n Junction


5. p-n Diode as Rectifier







6. Special type p-n Diodes





(b) I-V Characteristics of photodiode






7. Symbolic Representations:



8. V-I Characteristics of transistors





9. Transistor as Amplifier


10. Transistor as Oscillator