ELEMENTS OF ‘ex iy | é 7” ok.sacpe S.P. SINGH KAMAL SINGHos ELEMENT. OF ELECTRONICS (For B.Se and B.E. Students of Indian Universities) M.K. BAGDE S.P. SINGH MSc, MSc. i bha Mahavidyalaya Head of the Physics Deptt Amravati (Maharashtra) Hislop College, Nagpur KAMAL SINGH MSc., Ph.D, Professor of Physics Amrawati University Amrawati —insemand,& COMPANY 115 Head Office : 7361, RAM Ny, { Phones : 3672080-81-4> Fax oy iNew DEL. "0085, Shop at: Schandgroup.com ‘mail: [email protected] 5 st Cross, Kumara Krupa Road, Bangalore: i 1-600 002, Ph: 846002 S001 P2204 |. Guwahati-78 1001. Ph 822155 flydderabed-£00 195. Ph: 4651135, araag is Mai Hiran Gate, Jalandhar - 144008 Ph 613-7, M.G. Road, Emakulam, Kochi-682 035, ph 381740, 285/4, Bipin Bihari Ganguli Street, Kolkata-700012. Ph : 2367459, 2373914 Mahabeer Market, 25 Gwynne Road, Aminabad, Lucknow-226 018, ph: 226601 2 Blackie House, 103/5, Walchand Hirachand Marg . Opp. 6.P.0. Ha '001. Ph : 2690881, 2610885 3.Gandhi Sagar East, Nagpur-440 002. Ph: 723901 104, Citicentre Ashok, Govind Mitra Road, Patna: 800 004. ph 671366 i © 1980, M.K. Bagde & others All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any mens, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Publisher. First Ediition 1980PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION ‘The tremendous response given by the students and teachers ‘alike has necessitated the publication of the fourth edition of the book, in sucha short time. In chapter 12 two more theorems Nortin’s theorem and Millman’s theorem have been added. It is earnestly hoped that the book will be found to be more useful jn its present form, by its users, specially the under-graduate students. We express our sincere thanks to all our collegues etc. for their useful suggestions. Suggestions for further improvement of the book will be gratefully received. In the end we express our sincere thanks to Shri T.N. Goel result-oriented Manager of our Publishers, M/s S. Chand & Co, Lid., New Delhi and their very active Branch Manager, Shri IBhagirath Kaushik of Nagpur for bringing out this edition of the book in time, AUTHORS ofth new | Solic the 1 tom opti thosPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION e ‘The new pattern of education has made it necessary for most : ofthe Indian Universities to modify their Degree Courses. Many t new topics are being introduced in order to modernise the courses. 1 Solid State Electronics is one such important topic finding place in : the new syllabus of B.Sc. Examination. The present book is written fo meet the needs of the degree students of various Universities opting for the said course. Efforts has been made to include only : those topics which a Degree student is expected to study, The subject-matter is Presented in asimple and understandable | language. More emphasis is placed on explaining the basic i j Principles. It is hoped that the book will be useful to the students, | Any suggestion for the improvement of the book from the readers will be gratefully acknowledged. . | It is my duty to express my thanks to Prof, R.L. Naphade, Prof. M. B. Patil, both from Vidarbha Mahavidaylya, Amravati, Prof. C. H. Gupta, Prof. S. P, Singh, both from Hislop College, Nagpur, Principal R. N. Pendse and Principal G, N. Roy, Warora for many useful suggestions and discussion. J am also thankful to Shri T. N. Goel, Manager, S. Chand & i Co, Ltd. and Shri Bhagirath Kaushik, Branch Manager, Nagpur for bringing out this book at a short notice, Amravati M. K. BAGDE 26th January, 1980Contents Chapter Pages 1. Basic Semiconductor Theory Semiconductor Diodes Bipolar Transistors D.C. Bias and its Stabilization; Thermal Runaway Hybrid Equivalent Circuits Field Effect Transistors Transistor Voltage Amplifiers Feedback in Amplifiers Power Amplifiers Transistor Oscillators Differential Amplifiers Operational Amplifiers Logic Circuits Cathode Ray Oscilloscope Network Theorems1 Basic Semiconductor Theory 11. Introduction, _Im years before the Second World War solid state electronic Gevioes were unknown. Vacuum tubes, magnetic amplifiers and relays were the only devices which were used in the processes of electrical signal generation, amplification, transmission, wave shaping and switching. After the invention of the transistor in 1944 and subsequent development and improvement of the transis- tor and other solid state electronic devices, vacuum tubes are being replaced in many fields of applications, except in high-power applications, by these solid state devices A solid state electronic device consists of a semiconducting material and the development of a wide variety of semiconductor devices is due to wide rang of electrical properties which a semiconductor acquires by minor chemical additions of some elements. In this chapter we give @ brief account of simple atomic theory of semiconductors. 1-2. Semiconductors. The electrical resistivity of a good conductor like copper or silver is very small, while that of an insulator is very large. For example, the resistivity of silver is 16x 10-* ohm-m and that of quartz is about 10" ohm-m, A semiconductor is a solid material whose electrical resistivity is higher than that of a conductor and lower than tbat of an insulator. Typical values of the resistivity ‘of a semiconductor lie between 10- and 1 ohm m at room tempe~ ratures. This is not the only essential characteristic of a semi- conductor, Other essential characteristics of a semiconductor are: > jiconductor decreasesi RLEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS 2 resistance R and abso of the form Jute temperature T for a semiconductor is (Rode") Constants for the semiconductor. This beha. that of a metallic conductor for which the with rise in temperature. where A and B are viour is contrary t© resistance increases Gi) The electrical conductivity of a st increased by a large vali Le a suitable impuri : ; There are only three elements which are classified as conductors. They are silicon (,,Si™), germanium (5,Ge”*) and grey tin (Sn!) in their crystalline form. They belong to the group IV of the periodic table. They have the same cryst: structure and similar electrical properties. Germanium and sili ‘are most widely used in solid state devices. Pure Ge or Si is intrinsic semiconductor, In addition to these elements there are numerous semiconducting compounds, such as Ga 4s and PbSe, and ternary alloys. 13. Electron behaviour in Atoms According to the atomic theory of mater, the atom of an element consists of a central positively charged nucleus. Inside the nucleus there are a number of positively charged particles called protons and a number of neutral particles called neutrons, A number of negatively charged particles called electrons equal to the number of protons rotate around the nucleus in elliptical oe ean eRR ee ee. in the atom of each 5 at the orbiting motion of limerfsional and, hence the term i —; le S , shell is used 1 ae Ee ele Paths of orbit. According to quantum h State of motion of the electron i Y in one- a is described by three quantume numbers : ae the principal quantum be emiconductor can be of a small amount of on the nh quantiim number 1, and the magnetic quan- sé quantum numbers can have the following Beige 2 ov cick ve only. certain Allowed values of energy. rete energy levels, The quaao- Basic tum mi lowest are po State energy energy ton pond quan that The deter occuy shell chem lete, | valenBASIC SEMICONDUCTOR THEORY 3 | Sum number n describes the energy level of the electron. For the Towest energy level, n=1,1=0 and m=0, Since one set of values | €re possible for the lowest energy level, there is only one quantum f State of energy of the electron. Ifthe electron is in a higher energy level, various quantum states of the electron in the sam nergy level are possible. For example in the level corresponding to n=2, the following four states are possible : 1-0, m=0 '=1, 0 m=t at ma t=1,0 m= scalled an-s-state, a state with 1 called a p-state, a state with /-—2, is called d state, etc. In gen the total number of states corresponditig to a given n' energy level is equal ton’, The group of states corresponding to a given value of n Called a shell of clectrons. The states with n—1 form the K- those with n=2 form the L-shell, etc. For an atom containing more than one electron, the same nomenclature for the electronic states is used. But for determining the electronic states in many-electron atom, Paul's exclusion Principle is applied. The principle states that a given quantum ' state, determined by three quantum number n, | and m, car. be ‘occupied by not more than two electrons. (The factor 2 arives from the spin quantum number s, which can have only two possible yalues), According to this principle, the K-shell_ is com plete when-it is occupied by 2electrons. The L shell correspond. ing ton=2 can contain 4 quantum. states and hence is complete when it is occupied by ¥ electrons. In general, the shell corces- ponding to the principal quantum number n, which can contain n' quantum states, is complete when it is occupied by 2n* electrons. In a normal unexcited atom the electrons are arranged such that the only shell which may be incomplete is the outermost one. The chemical and physical properties of an element are mainly determined by the conditions of this shell, The electrons which ‘occupy the outermost shell are called valence electrons. If this shell is complete, as in inert gases, the atom does not combine ly with other atoms and it is very stable. If it is incomp- then atoms combine chemically with each other by sharing of e electrons,ELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS motion of each electron leus_ is provided by the oF auirmction between the electron and the vat Maletion ‘of an atom are in the highest inner shells are in lower energy re less enetgy to free themselves lectron may become ergy. This means higher than that of The centri in its respective electrostatic force © ‘nucleus. Since valence ¢l fevels and electrons in inne! lence electrons requ Consequently plete fon of a sufficient amount of en east ‘of a free electron will be ‘a bound valence electron. 1-4, Electron Energy Bands in Crystals “We have seen that the electrons s' ‘an jsolated atom can have discrete energy levels the quantum states available in those energy levels. the atoms are arranged in a periodic pattern called a crys! Therefore, each atom is in the electrostatic field of the neighbouring atoms, Consequently the energy levels of the electrons in an individual atom are no longer valic If the crystal consists of N ‘atoms, then, due to interaction between the atoms each discrete ‘energy level in an individual atom, splits into N close siub-levels. The separation between sublevels is'small. But N is very large {about 10%/cm*). Therefore, the energy difference between the minimum and maximum energy may be several electron-volts if ‘the interatomic distance is decreased sufficiently. The large num: ber of discrete but very close energy subleyels is called an energy pet Because of very small separation between successive sub- ior ey band, the band may be considered to be continuous. The maximum effect of the interatomic interactions Sana ea Therefore, the energy bands formed ie Widest. The electrons in, the inner strongly bound to the nuclei, So they are only slight! tp nce of neighbouring atoms and fee bets ae gene Ss Marrow as, the levels of Is are not important for Beaten Semiconductor behaviour and hence will not urrounding the nucleus of and they occupy In a crystal tal lattice. Reba ot at crystal is raised or-an electric nih Aeanen in the valence band may re with relative ease through the am said to be in the BASIC sem conducti is the coi The energy there is electrons transitio versa, differen of the v ch Th fication conduc the thr ELECTRON ENERGY —+ Y, D forbid 3eV al avery electr in the this n (nasBASIC SEMICONDUCTOR THEORY 5 conduction band. Thus the upper most energy band in a crystal is the conduction band. bs > The valence and Solidiletion” batids may be separated by an energy gap FE, which is called the forbidden ‘energy gap. Since there is no allowed energy state for an electron in this tegion, electrons are never found in this forbidden gap. They may make transitions from the valence band to the conduction band and vice versa. The width of the forbidden energy gap £, is the energy difference between the bottom of the conduction band and the top ‘of the valence band, Classification of Solids im terms of Forbidéen Energy Gap. The electron energy-band theory forms the basis tor the ciassi- fication of solids into three categories : (a) insulators, (b) semi- conductors, and (c) conductors. The energy-band diagrams of the three categories are shown in Fig 1-1. oN Lo. Se FoRBTODEN, GAP, Fo ate? Ee, Wis “ELECTRON ENERGY ——. Udy iii LENCE (KA. itil (a) tb) 10 INSULATOR SEMICONDUCTOR ‘ConDUCTOR a Fig. it (a) Insulators: In an insulator, as shown in Fig. 1.1 (a), the ir dden energy gap £, is very large, In general it is more than 3eV and almost no electrons are available for conduction, Hence large amount of energy must be supplied to a valence enable it to move to the conduction band. For exampie of a diamond (carbon) crystal E, = 6e¥. An energy of nitude canuot be supplied to an electron in a crystal. an average distance = 10=%n large amount of the energy tric field, If an electric/ pLEMENTS OF BLECTRONICS on, the electric field 08 V/m. viibe i i 6eV to an electron ig field required to impart 6 1 ene very large]. Hence diamond is a good wrk ‘A semiconducto’ pal bee peo ) coe Late ee ‘or with’ the difference that the forbidden a nig less than 2eV (Fig. 11 (by}eonroe *pernianium , Y, andofor silicon -orystal Zy—I'l eV, at OrK. ‘magnitude cannot be imparted to an electron in @ field. Hence in these crystals HT remains full and the conduction band empty. stances are insulators-at-low.temperatures.... erature is increased, some of the valence electrons al energy greater than E>. Consequently they conduction band. Now these electrons in the |can move through the crystal under the action field. When an electron moves from the valence deficiency of an electron is created iency iscalled a hole. Thus as ; oa equal number of holes band also. In the Sica or eterna ere ifntetect ical abe of conduction in this band ecttons move from one hole to i ba ee ee insulators at‘materials in different devices, Germanium anu silicon both alent i.e. there are four valence electrons. The crystal of Ge or Si is two interpenetrating face-centred cubic so known as Diamond structure), In this structure cach, atom is surrounded by four equidistant nearest atoms, which lie at ‘the corners ofa tetrahedran. Thus if we draw a two dimensional lattice for germanium crystal (See Fig. 1.2), we see that a Ge atom 4 is surrounded by 4 Ge atoms ; and all of them are equidistant from the atom A. The binding forces between the neighbouring atoms arise due to sharing of valence electrons. Thus the four electrons of atom A are shared with four ‘germanium neighbouring, atom:, forming covalent bonds ‘as shown by dashed line in the figure. Whatever is said about Ge atom 4, is true for all other germanium atoms and thus every Ge atom forms co-valent bonds with its neighbours. As all the valence _ electrons of germanium atoms form co-valent bonds, free electrons are not available andthe pure germanium crystal acts as an insulator. Germanium will be an insulator at very low temperature "K) because the crystal structure, as given by Fig. 1°2, will be low temperature only, At room temperture, some of rons (apaya code sufficient thermal energy toELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS electrons availa- 8 there are som mean i emperate and germanium crystal will ivity. The minimum energy required to move an electron from the valence ap which is cout of 10° Heequat ro rorbidden energy 8 oom temperacure | OF 2 electrons minimum enerzy 17 the case of germanium orystal. of germanium crystal contains about 10% Ge atoms ; ber of free electrons will be available at room ye free But as 1 6.0. quite a large num temperature. ‘When-a covalent the conduction band, valence band i.e. an ¢ ‘This electron vacancy nd the electron jumps to filled electron state in the eated in the valence band. and is called a «‘Hole” lent bond of Ge atom Ais conduction band and bond is broken there will be an un! Jectron vacancy is or im the valence bi Fig. 1-3 where one coval This is shown in se to free electron in shown as broken giving Ti hole in the valence band. The hole can be imagined to have a positive charge., For all the free electrons in the conduction band, i 2 , we will have an equal melee holes in the valence band in the case of pure germanium ee sa ean The importance of the hole lies in the x parts in the conduction of electrici semiconductor like the free electrons. Saal ‘ ‘ Free if electron Fig: 13 by which the h the holes take part eats with Bienen, in ie conduction im atoms ig. 14. Sup aos own in Fig. 1"4:(4), andBASIC SEMICONDUCTOR THEORY. 9 suppose the covalent bonds of the atom A are deficient of one Oz, > +@- Res LO teen * . * ofelectric tield Fig. 1-4 electron so that a positive hole at 4 is present. Let us apply the electric field as shown in Fig, i-4(b). It is possible that the electron forming the covalent band at the next atom may jump into the vacancy at A and thus creates a vacancy at B. In effect the hole has moved from the position A to B in the direction of the applied field. Again the electron from another convalent bond may move to fill the vacancy at B and in effect the hole may move to the next position C. In this way the positive hole at Ais moving’ along the direction of the electric field and this constitutes acurrent. Itisto be remembered that the positive hole current is entirely in the valence band. In additton to this hole current, free electrons are present in the conduction band which will move because of the applied field, and an electronic current in the direction opposite to the.applied. field will also be present. (This is not shown in fig. 1-4 (6), Thus a semicon- ductor will'have a total conductivity because of motion of free ‘electrons in the conduction band and motion of holes in the valence band. Ina good conductor, current flows only due to motion of free electrons in the conduction band. _ Tt is to be re i due to the of sector in the v: But the electrons in the the free electrons in the conduction band are [oiat to diferent conditions, The motion of valence e'ectrons complex phenomenon and can be explained by quantum ThuSLEMEMSS soo ee ee 10 16 Drift Current in_ a Semiconductor. Electric current Pests movement. of charged perticies. In 8 semicon, ‘uetor ot erriers (/e. electrons in the conduction e charge ¢ lence band) d on the ins! ductor crystal th band and holes in val may move with random thermal an velocities which depen tantaneous energies acquired by them, Ithas been shown that the net flow of electric charge due tothis random motion in any direction 6 ze10, if the charge ‘carriers concentration is uniform throughout the crystal. Thus at any temperature 7, there is no net electric current flow through a semiconductor due to thermal motions of charged carriers. is altered when an electric field E is Now every charge carrier experiences a nd hence it will be accelerated in the However, this situation applied across the crystal. force due to electric field ai direction of force. This results in drifting of the charged carriers jn the direction of force which will cause a net flow of electric current through the crystal The magnitude of this current can teobtained by imagining an average drift velocity for every charge carrier in the direction of the force. As the electrons a the holes are having opposite charges, the force due to electric ‘on them will be in opposite direction. Hence the average drift yelocitiy of the electrons will be in a direction opposite to the average drift velocity of the holes. ield __ Let ve and Y% denote the average drift velocities of the electr- ons and holes respectively. As the drift velocities are proportional to the electric field; we can write Yp=pnE and y =—peE. ‘The parameters ,, and », which are independent of electric field, are known as the hole mobility and the electron mobility respecti- vely; and both are’ positive quantities. The negative sign for ve cates that the electrons having negative charge move ina svariae-apporite to that of applied field. The electric current aE ot Bu the drift of the holes can be written as ae Blt the density of holes in the semiconductor and lectroaic charge. Similarly the electric current density dug to drift of electrons can be written as fs oe ngve ieee 7 i : Sats of fice electrons in. th i et ; / @ semiconductor. The ativg: sign indicatcs that the current density 1s in oppositeBASIC SEMICONDUCTOR THEORY ul direction to the ‘motion’ of electrons, density J can be written as : JAKES, Es J=pq",—ngqV,. wl) _ Hlwe write the values of ¥ and ¥, in Eq. (1) we get, i ; S= PGE + ngucE. sesh) This shows that the current due to holes and electrons are in the same direction and total current in a semiconductor is obtained by Thus the total current 40) y adding the two. Eqn. (2) can be written as p , J= (Pap +ngiee) E. +-Q) F The coefficient of E in eqn. (3) is known as the electrical con- ductivity ¢ which is due to the motion of free electrons and holes. . Thus we write a Took where o=9 (pia tnp.). ; _ A-semiconductor which is pure and contains no impurity is known as an intrinsic semiconductor. For an_ intrinsic semi- Conductor, the number of free electrons and holes are equal f.c. Ae np and mXpia=nF =pF Here the subscript? stands for intrinsic. Thus the conductivity o for an intrinsic semiconductor becomes “nilieg.8 bybe.21% 'o = mg\(un-t 0). 26) ~) The electrons move with more ease compared to holes thtough the'semiconductor, #e, the mobility of the electrons in a'semi- Conductor material is considerably greater than that of holes, In er Words ¥, will be’ much’ larger than ¥» and hence semicon- ‘current is largely due to free electrons. Only a small fraction iscussion, following points should be pure semiconductor material at absolute geo behavesMENTS OF ELECTRONICS ELE 2 ss jconductor orystal y satel in spite of a semic ed atoms. i carr se ‘at it contains charse Rrbaductor pire ied the electric field is applica Hpatilived through Mean he wn igo carriers move acd ACUTTCD incstblished rove i e nu the ol erthis current is directlY proportions) te ae x erature. ange carriers and hence to, the fen ‘an increase in te sivity ‘of a semiconductor decreases ow Wed ieiilunce ie Wioipersture. That is, the temperater” coefficien' fg semiconductor is negative. The resistivity of an intrinsic semi- conductor is represented ra ay F, e=pe oF 7 " Where p_. is the resistivity at T=0, Fy is the forbidden energy gap at OK. Ee depends on temperature. It is found that for S, Ey (T)=1-21—3'60 x 10¢*T +-(8) is electrical! Te jers and ioniz ‘and for germanium E, (T) (5) Asthe mobility of the clect considerably greater than that of holes, s largely due to free electrons. 1-7, Extrinsic Semiconductor—N and P type Semiconductors. The conductivity of germanium or silicon can be enormously jncreased by addition of proper impurities. Let us add a penta- valent impurity like arsenic or antimony or phosphorous to the germanium crystal. The amount of impurity added is extremely small say 1to2 atoms of impurity for 10® Geatoms. The impurity atom has 5 valence electrons while germanium has four. ‘Consider the Fig. 1°5 in which the arsenic impurity atom has tak the place of Ge at i i bere Pl om, and is surrounded by 4 neighbouring G atoms. The four val Se i ir valence electrons of As atom associate themselves in forming the covalent bonds with the nei ‘i a ee a i ibeh got, take i neighbouring Ge atoms and fi a indi “petiences the force of attraction due to emcee. ‘binding force on the fifth electron i arsenic nucleus, But this Be tmoved! to conduction band. is oe small so that it can easily sieit | Thus every atom of arsenic ie free electron to the i number of electrons is germanium crystal and lect ee lable for conduction of ees lonates free elt rsenic atom is electron to the rah is called as donor atom. The 785 —2:23x 10% T. us, (9), rons in a semiconductor is the semiconductor currentBASIC SEMICONDUCTOR THEOR| Y 13 germanium crysta) j is said t Bei saducton ane have been doped and is called extrinst '¥ Of such a semicondutcor is fees > due + -@. oF -©®- -@:- -@- Fig. 1:5. to negatively charged Particles-electronspand hence this semiconduc- tor is called N type semiconductor. Itis to bé remembered that the crystal as a whole remains electrically neutral. The density of free electrons at room temperature is given as _n=nj-+Ns where Na is density of donor impurity and n; is density of intrinsic elec- trois. Usually Ne > m + on Ne va(1) In N type semiconductor, electron-hole paits are formed due to thermal agitation as in intrinsic semiconductor. But because of large number of donated electrons present in the crystal, electron-hole recombination takes place rapidly and hence very few holes are present in N-type semiconductor, (even less than in pure germa- nium). The current flow through the N-type semiconductor is mainly due to free electrons obtained from impurity atoms and hence electrons are called as the majority carriers, There will be a very small current flow in the valence band due to small number of holes present and hence holes are called as minority carriers. A doped semiconductor behaves like a resistor. The resistance of the doped semiconductor is known as bulk-resistance. More doping will mean ‘der the effect of doping the germanium crystal is nOW cons! ile impurity like indium, boron, gallium or alumi ree valence electrons. Consider the has thELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS 14 : t ‘case when say an indium a! as ’shown in Fig. 1°6. The t place of germanium atom he a ile ‘ons of In atom form hree valence electr “\ Hote i ' \ Fig. 1-6 three covalent borids with the neighbouring Ge atoms and a vacancy ‘of electron exists in the fourth band as shown in the figure i he missing electron from the covalent bond is nothing but a positive hhole. The electron from the neighbouring atom can easily fall in to this vacancy. In other words indium atom accepts an electron from neighbouring germanium atoms and hence it is called as acceptor io. hole is created by each impurity atom and hence a large number ofholes present for conducting the electricity. The conductivity of such a semiconductor is mainly due to holes i ¢. due to positive charge and hence this type of semiconductor is called Paype semiconductor. The density of holes at room temperature is 4 -Pit+Na where Na is density of acceptor atoms and p; eno sic holes. Again Na > p; and hence itiw! : P= Na. (2) along with the holes free electrons can be formed due to ion as inintrinsic semiconductor. But the total _ismuch more than the free electrons. semiconductor, holes. are called majority free electrons are called minority carriers. The er igaap tor of donorimpurity is called an— | the extrinsi ‘Semiconductors, the D trons. Now consider carriers (efectrons) is rity carriers (holes) is Be ce BASI den: denCONDUCTOR THEORY 15 denoted by p. It h, : . as densities is given ey been shown that the. product of these two ie mp=n* __ where 7, is the density of intri,... ++) Beeonductor nxcpne 8, But for an intrinsic semi- ~ pwill be much tess than S* £2" type semiconductor m > n,, hence after doping, compra Thus. the number of holes will decrease é example of pure ated to the intrinsic value. Let us take an seam ninm Sermanium, for which n=2-4x 101 cm-3, Suppose a alin, eran cee Goped with donor atoms of one for every oms. _T, i Ce. is 4-42 x 10% he number of germanium atoms per Intrinsic carries density of electrons, na: Ngan 12% 10" : =4-42x 101 This shows that Nz s ni. The density of holes after doping is given by (2°4x 10")? 442x108 =1°3x 10" cm-3, Thus the number of holes has been decreased from 2-4 oro m-* to 1.3 x 10 cm-® due to doping Similarly for P type semiconductor, the same relation will hold ie. np= but here p willbe denisity of majority carriers (holes) and will be density of minority carriers (electrons). In this case of electrons will decrease due to doping. An electric field of 1 volt cm™ is applied to a uniform Assuming that silver has 5°8 x 108 conduction electrons resistivity of 1.54x10-® ohms-m at 300°K, calculate velocity and mohility of electrons. (charge on electron is good conductor, only free etectrons The resistivity ¢ is given asgLeweNTs OF ELECTRONICS Bren E ote a ’ As ‘100 volt m=#; the drift velocity is given as 1 As Lott car” Teypnct0™tx 10007 m/sec. and resistivity at 300°K of 2 the conductivity fale: * germanium and (Ii) pure silicon, assuming that at the tra iste sxc 0'9/en% for Ge and 1'6% 10'/ern ic taking the carrier mobilities 10 ‘be 3600 cm/volt-sec for “and 1700 cm*/yolt-sec for holes in the case of Ge and 1500 for electrons and 500-cm*/y-sec for holes in the case of silicon. "(charge on electron= 1-602 10-9 coulombs). Solution. Conductivity o=ng (e+ pn): "where js; and #, are the mobilities for electrons and holes. ‘Thus for Ge crystal. 9=2'5 x 10x 1:602x 10-# (3600+ 1700) =0-0212 mho/om Bie | Resistivity p=! = hoy =47.2 obm-om. IT Pesdatiting ty o=16x 10x 1602 x 107” (1500 =5:12x 10-¢ mho/cm. ‘ a se adbitin 51g x 10-87 198,300 ohm cm. pi germanium at 300°K having a "/em® is doped with donor atoms ofBASIC SEMICONDUCTORS THEORY EX. 4. Anim tri density of 10! per ew of germanium crystal has a hole Peay the Rete dons room temperature. When doped with ity decreased rature. Calculat ised to 10" per cm® at thi fe the majority carrier de ep ne Fe lensity. ion. =For N Solution. heuer nd hole densities is given by nM Product of electron 7 n.p=n* Here ™=10" cm and p=10 cm* the imajority carrier density is given by 10% om = 10" cm Questions and Problems Explain how conductors, semiconductors and insulators are distin ‘guished from one another in terms of the forbidden energy 4P- Explain why the conductivity of a semiconductor increases and that of 4 metallic conductor decreases with an increase in temperature. Find the concentration of atoms (atoms/m*) in germanium and silicon. At. Wt. of Ge=72-6, At. Wi. of Si=28-1, Avogadro's number =602x 10" K.mole, density of Ge=S-32x10* kg/m’, and density of per ‘Si=2-33 x 10° kg/m’. [Hint For Ge, ; 6-02x10% atoms 1k mole 5-32 Concentration=——“mole 726 kg." =4-41x 10 atoms/m*). [Ans, 4:41x 10" atoms/mt, 5-0% 10" atoms/m"] ohm, m, and the electroa are 0-38 and 0:18 m’/volt, sec, Calculate the intrin- intrinsic resistivity of Ge at 27°C is 047 ; m at the given temperature.: es Semiconductor Diodes 21. Introduction, _The action ofa PN junction is the basis of the working of all Semiconductor devices, e4g., PN junction diodes, transistors, silicon controlled Tectifiers, field-effect-transistors, etc. Therefore, the explanation of the action of PN junction given in this chapter is “Applicable not only to the diode but also. to all semiconductor devices described in the subsequent chapters. In this chapter we will study the current-voltage characteristic of a PN junction and then describe applications of PN junction diodes as half-wave, _ full-wave and bridge rectifier, 2:2. PN Junction. . Tf one side of a single crystal of germanium or silicon is doped with acceptor impurity atoms and the other side of the same crystal is doped with donor impurity atoms, a PN junction is formed as “shown in Fig. 2:1. The methods of junction manufacture aré Tre, ® Donor atom O Acceptor. -atom + Holes = Electrons, r othe P-region | of the semiconductot ber of holes and the N-region, contains a FE acotrond In the P-region, the circles with a t acceptor atoms and the hole is ign just by the side of each circle, In the ith a positive sign inside represent donorELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS 20 ae ceptor atom in the sumetion is formed each a0c¢ A Bere ee Tira with, aiole, and each donor ate. in the P-region is associat reed with a free electron. Nrregion is associated with a fi MAN (ik clectrors and b tes is mn as the junction 3 of diffusion. In thi scrote the junction A ietion ‘trom N-region ‘nto the process the electrons crossing the J the Peregion very close tot ve Pregion recombine with holes Oy og the junction from | junction, Similarly the holes crossing idedacs ‘Pregion into the N-region recombine with electrons in pee very close to the junction. Consequently Hi WOEiiten-. neutralized over a very small region of wide BR Tol coats 10cm around the junction. Since this region does not contain mobile charges, itis called the depletion region, the space charge region or the transition region, In this region the acceptor atom } fn the left side of J become negative ions © and the donor atoms fn the ight side of J become positive ions @. Thus an internal potential difference Vp is produced across the junction. This PD. is called the internal votential barrier (I P.B.). The internal potential barrier Vj across the junction is given a AT NoNa Yon tog, (“eN) where k is Boltzmann's the junctic » Nis the mi Unit volume, Nz is the ni volume, and n, is the nui in an intrinsic ‘sample of *@) Constant, Tis the absolute temperature of umber of acceptor impurity atoms per umber of donor impurity atoms per unit n Sor electrons per unit volume f the semiconductor, “edt Bermanium junction di " shicon junction diodes at 25°C. Neagle internal potenti ' o=07V. The function of the trons and ee ae ve {0 Prevent further migration of elec- ds by dotted lines across the mere sented by external battery © Outside the le depletion Tegion AB. ei depletion sean the $a Positive charge, the BPR Nbechons and Pand N regions are still depletion region, there is 'mmobile negative charge the reader may refer i Ryder, to Electronics Ei PIR Prentice tian, India."SEMICONDUCTOR Diopes a 23. “Expressions for the PN Junction, The width x, of the depletion regi i ‘ ¥ gion in the N-region and the width x, in the P-region are given by E X= [EM Na e, he 7 gnitude of the potential rise in the N-regic «() * (2) where V, is the ma; ion, _V, is the magnitude of the Potential fall in the P-region, ¢, is the Permittivity of free space, afd € is the dielectric constant of the material. The total width d of the depletion region is given by d=x, +x, Ve i ‘a maNE g: (ictm) _ Where the internal potential barrier V, is given by Yo=Viths Pa regionELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS and V, and , are related by Vy Ne Vi" Ns sa(4) Vy Na tna) ‘The electric field Z at the junction is given by 2, ad, (5) sity e (x), electric field, ‘The variations of the space charge den: Ela and potential V(x) in the depletion, region are shown in Fig. 22. ® Fa, (3) shows that as. the impurity concentrations Ng and N, are increased the width of the depletion region becomes smaller 2-4, Forward Biased PN Junction. When the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the P-region and the negative terminal to the N-region [Fig. 2'3 (b)] so that the potential difference acts in opposition to the internal potential barrier, the junction is said to be forward biased. % es @ Donor atom | jj OAcceptor atom eee # Holes < ~ Eitcteons, PGEHMOOOOGoo| , : (0) N —__|srroo'] ooooe igege¢| veers] — pines Positive poten- € junction and thet SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES 23 ea, ea Tepels the electrons in the N-region also i Hy in Uile ‘process, if the applied potential n nal potential barrier, the positi donor ions and the negative Acceptor ions within the débIotion region regain electrons and holes Tespectively. Consequently the deple- tion region disappears and the internal potential barrier also dis. Appears. Therefore, under the action of the forward potential difference the majority cartiers, Ze. the electrons from the W. region Beemecmactes from the P.tegion flow across -the junction in opposite direction and a Current is said to flow in the forward direction, Although electrons and holes flow across the junction, the Dumber OF holes in the Piregion-and'the number of electrons in the N region always remain constant. An explanation for this is as follows: Each hole which moves from the P-region and enters the N region combines with an electron in the N-region. At the Sametime an electron is set free from a covalent bond in the P. Tegion. This electron moves towards the Positive terminal of the battery. The removal of this electron from a covalent bond gives Tise toa hole in the Prregion, In this way the loss of the hole in the P-region is made up. New holes which are created by this Process in the P-region then move towards the N-region. For each electron in the N-region, which combines with a hole, an electron enters the crystal from the negative terminal of the battery. Thus the source of the external potential difference compensates for loss of electrons in the N-region and holes in the P-region. In the P-region the current is carried by holes, in the N-region it is carried by electrons, but in the exter:.al circuit the total current is “due to the flow of electrons only. 2'5, ‘Reverse Biased PN Junction. _ When the positive terminal of a battery is connected to the “N-region and the negative terminal to the P region (Fig. 2 4) so ‘the applied potential difference is in the same direction as that ternal potential barrier, the junction is said to be reverse Under this condition the majority carriers (electrons in ‘region and holes in the P-region) are attracted away froin his. effect. inoreases. the number of negative and riba Be salon eaAseyey yp yttonee418 OF ELECTRONICS ' hs | > pi Sdio90 | 0E0 10% agi 000 | 09° |F° 1 EWORTTY ELECTRONS TT yond TY HOLES. ————— PN JUNCTION WITH REVERSE BIAS vig. 2-4 ran depletion region becomes wider and the internal potentiat eee. Since the depletion region does not contain ‘majority current-carriers, it acts as an’ insulator. Therefore, theo- s no current should flow in the external circuit. But in practice a very small current Jz of the order of a few micro- amperes flows in the reverse direction. An explanation for this ‘reverse current is as follows. Electrons forming covalent bonds th semiconductor atoms in the Pand N regions may absorb “energy from heat and light to cause breaking of some ovale: at bonds. Actually in Si-atoms at room temperature, one bond in ten is broken at any given time. Hence pairs of electrons sare continually produced in both the regions. Under tion of reverse bias the thermally generated holes in the ‘and the electrons in the N-region are attracted away from Consequently the electrons in the P-region and the Neregion are minority carriers, The flow of these opposite direction gives rise, to a small Pee son because. the number ee is small, The magnitude of Junction temperature, because SEMICON! Fig. 25 the P-r always junction, direction current \ bias con 26. Cu To of its fo Th diode w voltage _ against voltage. charact ing con Q) fore, th Obm’s | tor of e (2) the inte german This is | the pote from th directior WhSEMICONDUCTOR DIODES 25 Fig. 2-5 (b). The anode is always ol ee 1 the P-region and the cathode is wi spo always the N-region of the PN b oy ti Junction, The triangle points in the direction in which conyentional current will flow under the forward bias condition, ‘Asoo cHMobe Fig. 25 26. Current-Voltage Characteristic of a Semiconductor Dicde. To make use of the PN junction as a circuit element a study of its forward and reverse characteristic is necessary. (a) Forward characteristic. The circuit for the study of the forward characteristic of the diode when it is forward biased is shown in Fig. 2°6. The forward voltage is increased from zero in suitable equal steps and the tesulting current is recorded by the milliammeter in ‘the cir- cuit. Fig. 2:7 shows the graph of the forward current against the applied forward voltage. From the forward sil characteristic we get the follow- i. ing conclusions : Fig. 26 (1) The forward characteristic is not'a straight line. There- fore, the ratio V/Iis not constant, i.e. the diode does not obey Ohm’slaw, Hence a semiconductor diode is a non-linear conduc- tor of electricity. (2) For small values of the forward voltage Vr less than the internal potential barrier Vj (which is approximately 0.3 V for germanium diodes and 0°7 V for silicon diodes at 25°C) Ip is zero. _ This is because V, opposes Vy and, therefore, in this case (Vy > Ve) potential barrier prevents holes from P-region and ¢lectrons N-region to flow across the depletion region in oppositeELEMENTS OF ELECTRONICS 26 shown by the part OA of the characteristic. The forward voltage below which Jr is zero and just above which Ip starts increasing rapidly is called the cut-in, threshold, offset or pbreak-point yoltage. The cut-in voltage is equal to the potential barrier sed the current increases very (3) As Vr js further increas rapidly as shown by the steep part AB of the curve. An explana- tion of this sharp increase ‘of the forward current is as follows : Tnerease of the forward bias voltage increases the speed of the flow ‘of electrons and holes. When the electrons moving with increased Kinetic energy collide with crystal atoms, some covalent bonds of ihe atomernre broken... Consequently pairs’ of electron and hole are created. This effect increases the forward current. As the — increases the heating effect in the crystal increases. The laa oe in the material so that the temperature of the ain eh pe the generation of pairs of electron and hole ut temperature, the rise in the temperatnre causes increase in the current. Thus the whole effect is cumula- 02 04 06 08 10 12 +\—— 00 a:SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES 27 tive, For large values of Vr compared to V, the current increases exponentially with Vp, Therefore, under the forward bias condi- tion corresponding to the steep part of the curve the PN junction diode offers low resistance to the flow of the current, (b) Reverse Characteristic. The circuit for the study of the reverse characteristic of the diode when it is reverse biased is shown in Fi; 28, The reverse voltage Vz is increa- sed from zero in suitable equal steps and the resulting current is measured by the micro- ammeter. The lower part of [ Fig. 27 shows the graph of the Teverse current Jp against the = Teverse voltage Vz. From the Fig. 2:8 characteristic it is seen that : (1) As Vp is increased trom zero Fg increases and reaches its maximum value / at a small value of Vg. When Vp is further increased the reverse current is almost independent of the magui- tude of the reverse voltage uptoa certain critical value of Ve. This reverse current is called the reverse saturation current, or Jeakage current. This current is due to.a few minority carries (electrons in the P-region and holes in the N region). Since the major source of the minority carriers is thermally broken covalent bonds, this current depends on the junction temperature. This current increases approximately 7 percent/°C for both Si and Ge. It approximately doubles for every 10°C rise in temperature. (2) When Vx is increased beyond the critical value, corres- ponding to the point A, Zp increases rapidly, ‘The critical value of Vp is called the turn-over voltage. After the point B’, which is just beyond the curvature of the characteristic, is reached, a very small increase in Vx produces a large increase in Jp. The value of Ve corresponding to B’ is called the breakdown voltage, and beyond this voltage, the junction is said to be in the breakdown region. _ | There are two mechanisms which give rise to the breakdown _ ofa PN. junction under reverse bias condition. These mechanisms the peatious At PN sractien diode we 19.00