EC 104-Analog Electronics-1

UNIT-1

Dr. Manoj Kumar

USIC&T
 Atomic Structure
An atom is composed of :
•Nucleus ( which contains positively charged protons
and neutral neutrons)
•Electrons (which are négative charged and that orbit
the nucleus)
 Valence Electrons
•Electrons are distributed in various shells at different
distances from nucleus
• Electron energy increases as shell radius increases.
•Electrons in the outer most Shell are called as valence
electrons
•Elements in the period table are grouped according to
the number of valence electrons.
Valence Electrons
 Elemental/Compound Semiconductor
•Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge) are in group IV, and
are elemental semiconductors
•Galium arsenide (GaAs) is a goup III-V compound
semiconductor
 Silicon Crystal
• → At 0°K, each electron is in its lowest possible
energy state, and each covalent bounding position is
filled.

•→If a small electric field is applied, the electrons will

not move → silicon is an insulator
Silicon Atom Diagram at 0°K
 Intrinsic Silicon
• → If the temperature increases, the valence electrons
will gain some thermal energy, and breaks free from
the covalent bond → It leaves a positively charged
hole
• → In order to break from the covalent bond, a
valence electron must gain a minimun energy Eg:
Bandgap energy
Silicon Atom Diagram at Ambiant
Temp
 Insulators/Conductors
•Materials that have large bandgap energies (in the
range of 3 to 6 electron-volts (eV)) are insulators,
because at room temperature, essentially no free
electron exists in the material
•Materials that contain very large number of free
electrons at room temperature are conductors
 Semiconductors
•→ In a semiconductor, the bandgap energy is in the
order of 1 eV. The net flow of free electrons causes a
current.
•→ In a semiconductor, two types of charged particles
contribute to the current: the negatively charged
electrons and the positively charged holes
 Semiconductor Constants
•The concentration of electrons and holes directly
influence the magnitde of the current
• In an intrinsic semiconductor (a single crystal
semiconductor) the densities of holes and electrons
are equal.
ni: intrinsic carrier concentration for free
electrons (same for holes)

B: constant related to specific

semiconductor material
Eg: Bandgap energy (eV)
T: Temperature (°K)
K: Boltzman Constant
Semiconductor Constants
 Extrinsic Semiconductor / Doping
•The electron or hole concentration can be greatly
increased by adding controlled amounts of certain
impurities
•For silicon, it is desirable to use impurities from the
group III and V.
•An N-type semiconductor can be created by adding
phosphorus or arsenic
 Extrinsic Semiconductor / Doping
• The phosphorus (group V) atom is called donor
impurity because it donates an electron that is free to
move
•The boron (group III) has accepted a valence electron
(or donated a hole), it is therefore called acceptor
impurity
N-Type Semiconductor
P-Type Semiconductor
Range of
Conduciveness

The semiconductors fall somewhere midway

between conductors and insulators.
Range of
Conduciveness

Semiconductors have special electronic properties

which allow them to be insulating or conducting
depending on their composition.
Scientific Principle of Conduction
Valence Band

The highest occupied energy band is called the

valence band.
Most electrons remain bound to the atoms in this
band.
 Conduction Band

The conduction band is the band of orbitals that are

high in energy and are generally empty.
It is the band that accepts the electrons from the
valence band.
 Conductors

In a conductor, electrons can move freely among

these orbitals within an energy band as long as the
orbitals are not completely occupied.
 Conductors

In conductors, the valence band is empty.

 Conductors

Also in conductors, the energy gap is nonexistent or

relatively small.
 Insulators

In insulators, the valence band is full.

 Insulators

Also in insulators, the energy gap is relatively large.

 Semiconductors

In semiconductors, the valence band is full but the

energy gap is intermediate.
 Semiconductors

Only a small leap is required for an electron to enter

the Conduction Band.
Band Diagrams
Silicon
Intrinsic Silicon

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.
Intrinsic Silicon

The electron in the lattice knocked loose from its

position leaves behind an electron deficiency called
a "hole".
Current Flow

If a voltage is applied, then both the electron and the

hole can contribute to a small current flow.
Impurity
Doping

Doping (adding an impurity) can produce 2 types of

semi-conductors depending upon the element
added.
P-Type Doping

In P-type doping, boron or gallium is the dopant.

P-Type Doping

Boron and gallium each have only three outer

electrons.
When mixed into the silicon lattice, they form
"holes" in the lattice where a silicon electron has
nothing to bond to.
P-Type Doping

The absence of an electron creates the effect of a

positive charge, hence the name P-type.

Holes can conduct current. A hole happily accepts

an electron from a neighbor, moving the hole over a
space. P-type silicon is a good conductor.
N-Type

In N-type doping, phosphorus or arsenic is added to

the silicon in small quantities.
N-Type

Phosphorus and arsenic each have five outer

electrons, so they're out of place when they get into
the silicon lattice.
The fifth electron has nothing to bond to, so it's free
to move around.
N-Type

It takes only a very small quantity of the impurity to

create enough free electrons to allow an electric
current to flow through the silicon. N-type silicon is
a good conductor.
Electrons have a negative charge, hence the name
N-type.
P-N Junction

We create a p-n junction by joining together two

pieces of semiconductor, one doped n-type, the
other p-type.
P-N Junction

In the n-type region there are extra electrons and in

the p-type region, there are holes from the acceptor
impurities .
P-N Junction
In the p-type region there are holes from the
acceptor impurities and in the n-type region there
are extra electrons.
P-N Junction

When a p-n junction is formed, some of the

electrons from the n-region which have reached the
conduction band are free to diffuse across the
junction and combine with holes.
P-N Junction
Filling a hole makes a negative ion and leaves
behind a positive ion on the n-side.

A space charge builds up, creating a depletion

region.
P-N Junction

This causes a depletion zone to form around the

junction (the join) between the two materials.
This zone controls the behavior of the diode.
Forward Biasing

Forward biasing the p-n junction drives holes to the

junction from the p-type material and electrons to
the junction from the n-type material.
Forward Biasing

At the junction the electrons and holes combine so

that a continuous current can be maintained.
Reverse Biasing

The application of a reverse voltage to the p-n

junction will cause a transient current to flow as
both electrons and holes are pulled away from the
junction.
Reverse Biasing

When the potential formed by the widened depletion

layer equals the applied voltage, the current will
cease except for the small thermal current.
 When forward-biased, there is a small amount of
voltage necessary to get the diode going. In silicon,
this voltage is about 0.7 volts.

This voltage is needed to start the hole-electron

combination process at the junction.
Diode Characteristic

When reverse-biased, an ideal diode would block all

current. A real diode lets perhaps 10 microamps
through -- not a lot, but still not perfect.
• The dominant charge carriers in a doped semiconductor (e.g.
electrons in n-type material) are called majority charge carriers.
Other type are minority charge carriers
• The overall doped material is electrically neutral
 Diffusion

A substance, the purple dots, in Now that the gates have been
solution. A membrane prevents opened, the random movements of
movement of the water and the the molecules have caused,
molecules from crossing from overtime, the number of molecules
to be equal on the two sides of the
one side of the beaker to the
barrier.
other.
 p- n junction formation
What happens if n- and p-type materials are in close contact?

Being free particles, electrons start diffusing from n-type material into p-material

Being free particles, holes, too, start diffusing from p-type material into n-material

Have they been NEUTRAL particles, eventually all the free electrons
and holes had uniformly distributed over the entire compound crystal.
However, every electrons transfers a negative charge (-q) onto the p-
side and also leaves an uncompensated (+q) charge of the donor on the
n-side.
Every hole creates one positive charge (q) on the n-side and (-q) on the
p-side
 p- n junction formation
What happens if n- and p-type materials are in close contact?

p-type n-type

Electrons and holes remain staying close to the p-n junction because
negative and positive charges attract each other.
Negative charge stops electrons from further diffusion

Positive charge stops holes from further diffusion

The diffusion forms a dipole charge layer at the p-n junction interface.

There is a “built-in” VOLTAGE at the p-n junction interface that prevents

penetration of electrons into the p-side and holes into the n-side.
 p- n junction current - voltage characteristics
What happens when the voltage is applied to a p-n junction?

p-type n-type

The polarity shown, attracts holes to the left and electrons to the right.

According to the current continuity law, the current can only flow if all
the charged particles move forming a closed loop

However, there are very few holes in n-type material and there are
very few electrons in the p-type material.
There are very few carriers available to support the current through the
junction plane
For the voltage polarity shown, the current is nearly zero
 p- n junction current - voltage characteristics

What happens if voltage of opposite polarity is applied to a p-n junction?

p-type n-type

The polarity shown, attracts electrons to the left and holes to the right.

There are plenty of electrons in the n-type material and plenty of holes in
the p-type material.
There are a lot of carriers available to cross the junction.

When the voltage applied is lower than the built-in voltage,

the current is still nearly zero

When the voltage exceeds the built-in voltage, the current can flow through
the p-n junction
Diode current - voltage (I-V) characteristics
Semiconductor diode consists of a p-n junction with two
contacts attached to the p- and n- sides

p n
V 0

Where, I is the current flowing through the diode

I0 is the dark saturation current,
q is the charge on the electron,
V is the voltage applied across the diode,
η is the (exponential) ideality factor.
K is the Boltzmann constant
The experimental I-V characteristic of a Si