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Lecture 4.

The document discusses carrier drift and diffusion in semiconductors and PN junction diodes. It explains that current has both drift and diffusion components. A depletion region forms at the PN junction with a built-in potential that opposes carrier diffusion. Under reverse bias, the potential increases and depletion width widens, resulting in minimal current flow.

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Agape Masue
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23 views27 pages

Lecture 4.

The document discusses carrier drift and diffusion in semiconductors and PN junction diodes. It explains that current has both drift and diffusion components. A depletion region forms at the PN junction with a built-in potential that opposes carrier diffusion. Under reverse bias, the potential increases and depletion width widens, resulting in minimal current flow.

Uploaded by

Agape Masue
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Carrier Drift and Diffusion; PN

Junction Diodes
OUTLINE
• Basic Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)
– Carrier drift and diffusion
• PN Junction Diodes
– Electrostatics
– Capacitance

Reading: Microelectronic Devices and Circuits;


Chapter 7- Junction Diodes by Clifton G. Fonstad

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 1,


4, Slide 1
Dopant Compensation

• An N-type semiconductor can be converted into


P-type material by counter-doping it with acceptors
in such way that NA > ND.
• A compensated semiconductor material has both
acceptors and donors.
N-type material P-type material
(ND > NA) (NA > ND)

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 2


Types of Charge in a Semiconductor

• Negative charges:
– Conduction electrons (density = n)
– Ionized acceptor atoms (density = NA)
• Positive charges:
– Holes (density = p)
– Ionized donor atoms (density = ND)

• The net charge density (C/cm3) in a semiconductor is

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 3


Carrier Drift

• The process in which charged particles move


because of an electric field is called drift.
• Charged particles within a semiconductor move with
an average velocity proportional to the electric field.
– The proportionality constant is the carrier mobility.

Hole velocity

Electron velocity

Notation:
μp ≡ hole mobility (cm2/V·s)
μn ≡ electron mobility (cm2/V·s)

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 4


Velocity Saturation

• In reality, carrier velocities saturate at an upper limit,


called the saturation velocity (vsat).

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 5


Drift Current
• Drift current is proportional to the carrier velocity
and carrier concentration:

vh t A = volume from which all holes cross plane in time t


p vh t A = # of holes crossing plane in time t
q p vh t A = charge crossing plane in time t
q p vh A = charge crossing plane per unit time = hole current
Hole current per unit area (i.e. current density) Jp,drift = q p vh
ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 6
Conductivity and Resistivity

• In a semiconductor, both electrons and holes


conduct current:

• The conductivity of a semiconductor is


– Unit: mho/cm
• The resistivity of a semiconductor is
– Unit: ohm-cm

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 7


Resistivity Example

• Estimate the resistivity of a Si sample doped with


phosphorus to a concentration of 1015 cm-3 and
boron to a concentration of 1017 cm-3. The electron
mobility and hole mobility are 700 cm2/Vs and 300
cm2/Vs, respectively.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 8


Electrical Resistance
V
I _
+
W
t
homogeneously doped sample

Resistance (Unit: ohms)

where ρ is the resistivity


ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 9
Carrier Diffusion

• Due to thermally induced random motion, mobile


particles tend to move from a region of high
concentration to a region of low concentration.
– Analogy: ink droplet in water
• Current flow due to mobile charge diffusion is
proportional to the carrier concentration gradient.
– The proportionality constant is the diffusion constant.

Notation:
Dp ≡ hole diffusion constant (cm2/s)
Dn ≡ electron diffusion constant (cm2/s)
ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 10
Diffusion Examples

• Linear concentration profile • Non-linear concentration profile


constant diffusion current varying diffusion current

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 11


Diffusion Current

• Diffusion current within a semiconductor consists of


hole and electron components:

• The total current flowing in a semiconductor is the


sum of drift current and diffusion current:

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 12


The Einstein Relation

• The characteristic constants for drift and diffusion are


related:

• Note that at room temperature (300K)

– This is often referred to as the “thermal voltage”.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 13


The PN Junction Diode

• When a P-type semiconductor region and an N-type


semiconductor region are in contact, a PN junction
diode is formed. V D
– +

ID

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 14


Diode Operating Regions

• In order to understand the operation of a diode, it is


necessary to study its behavior in three operation
regions: equilibrium, reverse bias, and forward bias.

VD = 0 VD < 0 VD > 0

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 15


Carrier Diffusion across the Junction

• Because of the difference in hole and electron


concentrations on each side of the junction, carriers
diffuse across the junction:

Notation:
nn ≡ electron concentration on N-type side (cm-3)
pn ≡ hole concentration on N-type side (cm-3)
pp ≡ hole concentration on P-type side (cm-3)
np ≡ electron concentration on P-type side (cm-3)

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 16


Depletion Region
• As conduction electrons and holes diffuse across the
junction, they leave behind ionized dopants. Thus, a
region that is depleted of mobile carriers is formed.
– The charge density in the depletion region is not zero.
– The carriers which diffuse across the junction recombine
with majority carriers, i.e. they are annihilated.

quasi-n quasi-n
eutral eutral
region width=Wdep region
ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 17
Carrier Drift across the Junction

• Because charge density ≠ 0 in the depletion region,


an electric field exists, hence there is drift current.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 18


PN Junction in Equilibrium

• In equilibrium, the drift and diffusion components of


current are balanced; therefore the net current
flowing across the junction is zero.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 19


Built-in Potential, V0

• Because of the electric field in the depletion region,


there exists a potential drop across the junction:

(Unit: Volts)

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 20


Built-In Potential Example

• Estimate the built-in potential for PN junction below.

– Note that

N P

ND = 1018 cm-3 NA = 1015 cm-3

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 21


PN Junction under Reverse Bias

• A reverse bias increases the potential drop across the


junction. As a result, the magnitude of the electric field
increases and the width of the depletion region widens.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 22


Diode Current under Reverse Bias
• In equilibrium, the built-in potential effectively
prevents carriers from diffusing across the junction.
• Under reverse bias, the potential drop across the
junction increases; therefore, negligible diffusion
current flows. A very small drift current flows, limited
by the rate at which minority carriers diffuse from the
quasi-neutral regions into the depletion region.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 23


PN Junction Capacitance
• A reverse-biased PN junction can be viewed as a
capacitor. The depletion width (Wdep) and hence the
junction capacitance (Cj) varies with VR.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 24


Voltage-Dependent Capacitance

VD

εsi ≅ 10-12 F/cm is the permittivity of silicon.


ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 25
Reverse-Biased Diode Application

• A very important application of a reverse-biased PN


junction is in a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO),
which uses an LC tank. By changing VR, we can
change C, which changes the oscillation frequency.

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 26


Summary
• Current flowing in a semiconductor is comprised of drift
and diffusion components:
• A region depleted of mobile charge exists at the
junction between P-type and N-type materials.
– A built-in potential drop (V0) across this region is established
by the charge density profile; it opposes diffusion of carriers
across the junction. A reverse bias voltage serves to enhance
the potential drop across the depletion region, resulting in
very little (drift) current flowing across the junction.
– The width of the depletion region (Wdep) is a function of the
bias voltage (VD).

ATC ETU08103 Lecture 4, Slide 27

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