University of KwaZulu-Natal

School of Engineering

Examination: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2)

Date: December 2016
Duration: 2 hours Total Marks: 100

___________________________________________________________

QUESTION 1 - Solar Cell 20 marks

(a) Draw a well labeled power curve of a solar cell and use it to explain the existence of
a maximum power point on the curve.
(5)

(2) marks for commenting about the max area under the curve represents the max
power.

(b) The conversion efficiency of sunlight (Airmass = 1) of a Si solar cell is typically 10

– 15%. Why is the conversion efficiency so low?
(7)

The solar cell has a max eff of 28% (1) due to band gap limitations, i.e. E<Eg does not
create electron hole (e/h) pair (1) (1) and E>Eg will contribute to the creation of an e/h pair
the fraction of E remaining dissipates in the form of heat (1). Nonideal factors such as series
resistance (1) and reflection (1) from the semiconductor surface lowers the conversion
further to 10-15% (1).

(c) Assuming an operation temperature of 300 K, a long silicon pn-junction solar cell
with an area of 2 cm2 has the following parameters:

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 1
 Na = 3 x 1016 cm-3 Nd = 1019 cm-3
Dn = 18 cm2/sec Dp = 6 cm2/sec
τno = 5 x 10-6 sec τpo = 5 x 10-7 sec

Assume that the excess carriers are uniformly generated in the solar cell and that
JL = 25 mA/cm2.

Determine the maximum power output of the solar cell.

(8)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 2
QUESTION 2 – Light Emitting Diodes 7 marks

Explain how doping affects the internal quantum efficiency parameter, ηI, of an
LED.
(7)
The radiative recombination rate is proportional to p-type doping (2). As the doping
increases, the radiative recommendation rate increases. However, the injection
efficiency decreases as the p-type doping increases. (3).=> optimum doping
required to maximize the internal quantum eff(2).

QUESTION 3 – Semiconductor Heterojunctions 13 marks

A Schottky diode with n-type GaAs at T = 300 K yields the 1/C′ 2 versus VR plot shown
in the above figure, where C′ is the capacitance per cm2 and VR is the reverse bias
voltage.

3
(1/C’)2 x 1015

-1 0 1 2
VR (volts)
Given that the junction capacitance is determined theoretically by,

1/ 2
dx n  eε s Nd 
c ′ = eNd = 
dVR  2(Vbi + VR )

determine the following parameters:

(i) Vbi
(2)
By the graph approx. Vbi = 0.9 V (allow for range) (2)

(ii) Nd
(5)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 3
 (iii) φn
(3)

(iv) φB0
(2)

QUESTION 4 – Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors 42 Marks

(a) Draw the drain current versus drain source voltage curve of an n-channel enhancement
mode MOSFET. Indicate the saturation and non-saturation regions.
(8)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 4
 Note (2) marks for locating saturation and non-saturation regions.

(b) What problem does annealing the oxide layer of a MOSFET solve?
(7)
The source of trapped charge in the oxide layer is a big problem (1) the ‘annealing’ helps! This
charge is normally positive and is associated with broken or dangling covalent bonds (1) near
the oxide-semi interface(1). During the thermal formation of SiO2(1), oxygen diffuses through
the oxide and reacts near the Si-SiO2 (1) interface to form SiO2. Silicon atoms may also break
away from the Si material just prior to react to form SiO2(1). When the oxidation process is
terminated, excess Si may exist in the oxide near the interface resulting in dangling bonds…
annealing in H or N helps ‘neutralize’ the dangling bonds. (1)

(c) (i) Derive the following famous MOSFET equation,

C M = C gdT (1 + g m RL ) .
Your proof should include the small signal equivalent circuit of the MOSFET.
(15)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 5
 (ii) What popular name is the variable CM known by?
(2)
CM - Miller capacitance (2)

(d) (i) Calculate the ideal cutoff frequency of an n-channel MOSFET (fabricated from
silicon and silicon dioxide). The MOSFET has the following parameters:

µn = 400 cm2/V.s tox = 5000 nm

L = 2 µm W = 20 µm
VT = +0.75V

Assume the transistor is biased in the saturation region at VGS = 4 V and an

operational temperature of 300 K.
(3)

(ii) Comment on the fact that your answer in (i) is a maximum value, include a
sketch of a MOSFET.
(7)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 6
 Due to non-ideal fabrication process (2) => patristic/overlap capacitance (2) then a
drawing of a MOSFET indicating the physic location at drain and source side (3)

QUESTION 5 – CMOS 18 Marks

(a) Draw a CMOS inverter circuit and explain its operation.

(9)

Explanation (4)

(b) Explain the problem of ‘latch up’ and how it can be prevented.
(9)

(4)

Total 100 marks

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 7
 Data Sheet

Silicon, gallium arsenide, and germanium properties (T = 300 K)

Property Si GaAs Ge

Atoms (cm-3) 5.0 x 1022 4.42x1022 4.42x1022

Atomic weight 28.09 144.63 72.60
Crystal structure Diamond Zincblende Diamond
Density (g/cm-3) 2.33 5.32 5.33
Lattice constant (Å) 5.43 5.65 5.65
Melting Temperature (oC) 1415 1238 937
Dielectric constant 11.7 13.1 16.0
Bandgap energy (eV) 1.12 1.42 0.66
Electron affinity,χ, (volts) 4.01 4.07 4.13
Effective density of states in 2.8 x 1019 4.7x1017 1.04x1019
conduction band, Nc, (cm-3)
Effective density of states in 1.04 x 1019 7.0x1018 6.0x1018
valence band, Nv, (cm-3)
Intrinsic carrier concentration 1.5 x 1010 1.8x106 2.4x1013
(cm-3)

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 8
 Mobility (cm2/V-s)
Electron, µn 1350 8500 3900
Hole, µp 480 400 1900
Effective mass (density of
states)
Electrons (mn*/m0) 1.08 0.067 0.55
Holes (mp*/m0) 0.56 0.48 0.37

Physical Constants
Avogadro’s number NA = 6.02 x 1023 atoms per gram molecular weight
Boltzmann’s constant k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K
= 8.62 x 10-5 eV/K
Electronic charge 1.60 x 10-19 C
Free electron rest mass m0 = 9.11 x 10-31 kg
Permeability of free space µ0 = 4π x 10-7 H/m
Permittivity of free space ε0 = 8.85 x 10-14 F/cm
= 8.85 x 10-12 F/m
Planck’s constant h = 6.625 x 10-34 J-s
= 4.135 x 10-15 eV.s
ħ=h/2π=1.054 x 10-34 J-s
Proton rest mass M = 1.67 x 10-27 kg
Speed of light in vacuum c = 2.998 x 1010 cm/s
Thermal voltage (T = 300 K) Vt = kT/e = 0.0259 volt
kT = 0.0259 eV

A few useful formulae

Please note these are only a few equations; this page is not intended to be a complete set of ALL equations
used in the course.

L τp  µp 
I ( x) = I 0 exp(−αx) tn = Γph = 1 + 
µn E τn  µ n 

1 + Vm . expVm  = 1 + I L  I 
 V Voc = Vt ln1 + L 
 Vt   t  IS
 IS 

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 9
  
I = I L − I s exp V  − 1 N N 
Wµ nCox   t 
I D ( sat ) = (VGS − VT )2 V
Vbi = Vt ln a 2 d 
2L  ni 
 2ε V 
1/ 2

a =  s p 0  φ BN = Vbi + φn 𝑽𝑽𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 = 𝑽𝑽𝒃𝒃𝒃𝒃 + 𝑽𝑽𝒑𝒑 (𝒑𝒑 𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)

 eN a 
 − eφ BN   eV 
J ST = A*T 2 exp  J n = J ST exp a 
 kT   kT  𝒆𝒆𝒂𝒂𝟐𝟐 𝑵𝑵𝐚𝐚
𝑽𝑽𝐩𝐩𝐩𝐩 = 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

 1 D 1 Dp   J 
J s = eni2  . n + .  Va = Vt ln n 
 N a τ n N d τ p   J ST 

 eDn n p 0 eD p pn 0   Dp 
Js =  +  = eni2  Dn +  Ln = Dnτ no
 L L p  L N 
 n  n a Lp N d 

τp  µ  gm µ (V − V )
Γph = 1 + p  fT = = n GS 2 T
tn  µn  2πC gs 2πL

C M = C gdT (1 + g m RL )
gm
fT =
2π (C gsT + C M )

 Nc  ε ox Wµ n Cox
φn = Vt ln  Cox = g ms = (VGS − VT )
 Nd  tox L

Examination December 2016

Course & Code: Physical Electronics II (ENEL2PBH2) Page 10