Scribd
Upload
54 views5 pages

EDAC Reading Assignment

This document provides an overview of Chapter 1 of an EDAC reading assignment on semiconductor diodes. It covers topics such as semiconductor materials like germanium, silicon, and gallium arsenide; covalent bonding and intrinsic materials; energy levels; n-type and p-type materials; and light emission characteristics of diodes. It also discusses diode characteristics like resistance, capacitance, temperature sensitivity, and LED operation. The chapter introduces fundamental concepts about semiconductor diodes and their properties.

Uploaded by

John Ferd M. Fermin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
54 views5 pages

EDAC Reading Assignment

This document provides an overview of Chapter 1 of an EDAC reading assignment on semiconductor diodes. It covers topics such as semiconductor materials like germanium, silicon, and gallium arsenide; covalent bonding and intrinsic materials; energy levels; n-type and p-type materials; and light emission characteristics of diodes. It also discusses diode characteristics like resistance, capacitance, temperature sensitivity, and LED operation. The chapter introduces fundamental concepts about semiconductor diodes and their properties.

Uploaded by

John Ferd M. Fermin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

EDAC Reading Assignment

Chapter 1: Semiconductor Diodes

1.1 Introduction
 steady improvement in construction techniques, general characteristics, and
application techniques rather than the development of new elements and
fundamentally new designs
 miniaturization that has occurred in recent years
 first integrated circuit (IC) was developed by Jack Kilby
 miniaturization is limited by four factors:
 quality of the semiconductor material
 network design technique
 limits of the manufacturing and processing equipment
 strength of the innovative spirit in the semiconductor industry

1.2 Semiconductor Materials: Ge, Si, and GaAs
 semiconductors are a special class of elements having conductivity between that
of a good conductor and that of an insulator
 semiconductor materials fall into one of two classes:
 single-crystal - repetitive crystal structure (ex. germanium Ge, silicon Si)
 compound - constructed of two or more semiconductor materials of
different atomic structures (ex. GaAs, CdS, GaN, GaAsp)
 semiconductors used most frequently in the construction of electronic devices
are Ge, Si, and GaAs
 Germanium
- easy to find, available in fairly large quantities
- easy to refine to obtain very high levels of purity
- Germanium as the base material suffered from low levels of reliability due
primarily to its sensitivity to changes in temperature
 Silicon
- 1954 the first silicon transistor
- less temperature sensitive, but it is one of the most abundant materials on earth
 Gallium arsenide
- first GaAs transistor in the early 1970s, speed 5x that of Si
- difficult to manufacture at high levels of purity, more expensive, little design
support
- in time the demand for increased speed resulted in more funding for GaAs
research
1.3 Covalent bonding and intrinsic materials

 This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of electrons, is called


covalent bonding
 The term intrinsic is applied to any semiconductor material that has been
carefully refined to reduce the number of impurities to a very low level—
essentially as pure as can be made available through modern technology
 The number of carriers in the intrinsic form is important, but other characteristics
of the material are more significant in determining its use in the field. One such
factor is the relative mobility (mu n) (ability of the free carriers to move) of the
free carriers in the material
 Conductors - the resistance increases with an increase in heat
 Semiconductor materials - increased level of conductivity with application of heat
 Semiconductor materials have a negative temperature coefficient

1.4 Energy Levels


 The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher the energy state, and any
electron that has left its parent atom has a higher energy state than any electron
in the atomic structure
 Ge has the smallest gap and GaAs the largest gap
 An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb more energy than one in
the valence band of germanium to become a free carrier. Similarly, an electron in
the valence band of gallium arsenide must gain more energy than one in silicon
or germanium to enter the conduction band
 The wider the energy gap, the greater the possibility of energy being released in
the form of visible or invisible (infrared) light waves
 W = QV
= (1.6 * 10 -19 C)(1 V)
= 1.6 * 10 -19 J
and 1 eV = 1.6 * 10 -19 J
1.5 n-type and p-type materials
 A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the doping process is called
an extrinsic material
 two extrinsic materials of immeasureable importance to semiconductor device
fabrication: n -type and p -type materials
 An n -type material is created by introducing impurity elements that have five
valence electrons ( pentavalent ), such as antimony , arsenic , and phosphorus
 Diffused impurities with five valence electrons are called donor atoms
 The p -type material is formed by doping a pure germanium or silicon crystal
with impurity atoms having three valence electrons. The elements most
frequently used for this purpose are boron , gallium , and indium
 The diffused impurities with three valence electrons are called acceptor atoms.
 Electron versus Hole Flow
- a transfer of holes to the left and electrons to the right
- conventional flow , which is indicated by the direction of hole flow
 Majority and Minority Carriers
- In an n-type material ( Fig. 1.11a) the electron is called the majority carrier
and the hole the minority carrier
- In a p-type material the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the
minority carrier
 The n - and p -type materials represent the basic building blocks of
semiconductor devices.

In general, therefore, the higher the current through a diode, the lower is the dc
resistance level

At any current level on the vertical line, the voltage across the ideal diode is 0 V and
the resistance is 0

the dc resistance of a diode is independent of the shape of the characteristic in the


region surrounding the point of interest

In general, therefore, the lower the Q-point of operation (smaller current or lower
voltage), the higher is the ac resistance

The derivative of a function at a point is equal to the slope of the tangent line drawn
at that point

the dynamic resistance can be found simply by substituting the quiescent value of
the diode current into the equation

As with the dc and ac resistance levels, the lower the level of currents used to
determine the average resistance, the higher is the resistance level

An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements properly chosen to best represent


the actual terminal characteristics of a device or system in a particular operating
region
If the characteristics or specification sheet for a diode is not available the resistance
r av can be approximated by the ac resistance r d

Every electronic or electrical device is frequency sensitive.

the transition capacitance is the predominant capacitive effect in the reverse-bias


region whereas the diffusion capacitance is the predominant capacitive effect in the
forward-bias region

Log scales are often used to provide a broader range of values for a variable in a
limited amount of space

Temperature and applied reverse bias are very important factors in designs
sensitive to the reverse saturation current.

The Zener potential of a Zener diode is very sensitive to the temperature of


operation

In Si and Ge diodes the greater percentage of the energy converted during


recombina- tion at the junction is dissipated in the form of heat within the structure,
and the emitted light is insignificant

Diodes constructed of GaAs emit light in the infrared (invisible) zone during the
recombination process at the p–n junction.

The frequency spectrum for infrared light extends from about 100 THz (T tera 1012)
to 400 THz, with the visible light spectrum extending from about 400 to 750 THz

The response of the average human eye as provided in Fig. 1.51 extends from
about 350 nm to 800 nm with a peak near 550 nm

The wavelength and frequency of light of a specific color are directly related to the
energy band gap of the material.

A normalized plot is one where the variable of interest is plotted with a specific level
defined as the reference value with a magnitude of one.

The light intensity of an LED will increase with forward current until a point of
saturation arrives where any further increase in current will not effectively increase
the level of illumination
One of the major concerns when using an LED is the reverse-bias breakdown
voltage, which is typically between 3 V and 5 V (an occasional device has a 10-V
level

or many years the only colors available were green, yellow, orange, and red,
permitting the use of the average values of V F 2 V and I F 20 mA for obtaining an
approximate operating level

You might also like