ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics

Solid State Devices

Fall 2022

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban

Poshtiban 1
 Course Outline
• PN Junction and Solid-state technology
• Diodes in Industry
• Rectifier Diodes
• Signal Diodes
• Zener Diodes
• Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
• Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs)
• Transistor Switches
• Solid State Relays
• Voltage regulators

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 2

 Solid State Devices

Semiconductor is the basic ingredient that makes up

solid state devices.

It is called Semiconductor because it lies between the

metals (conductors) and the insulators in its ability to
conduct electricity.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 3

 Comparison of Conductor, Semiconductor and
Insulator
Material Resistance in Ω/𝒄𝒎𝟑 Category
Silver 10−4 Conductor
Aluminum 10−6 Conductor

Germanium 5 × 101 Semiconductor

Silicon 5 × 104 Semiconductor
Mica 1012 Insulator
Polyethylene 1015 Insulator

Prepared by: Dr. (Nilufar) Somayyeh Poshtiban, PhD, MSc

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics [email protected] Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 4
 Semiconductors vs. Conductors
Materials can be classified by their ability to conduct electricity. This ability is
related to the valence electrons.

Conductor Atom Semiconductor

Valence electrons are those

+29 electrons that occupy the +14
outer shell.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 5

 Silicon- Example of an intrinsic semiconductor
Silicon is an example of a single element semiconductor.
It has four electrons in its valence band. +14

Unlike metals, silicon forms strong covalent

+4
bonds (shared electrons) with its neighbors.
Intrinsic silicon is a poor conductor because
most of the electrons are bound in the crystal and +4 +4 +4

take part in forming the bonds between atoms.

+4

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 6

 Energy Band Gap in Conductor, Semiconductor
and Insulator

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 7

 Energy Gap in Semiconductor
In intrinsic silicon, a few electrons can jump the energy
gap between the valence and conduction band. Having
moved into the conduction band, a “hole” (vacancy) is
left in the crystal structure.

Conduction Free
band electron
Energy gap Heat
Energy
Valence Hole
band
Electron-hole pair

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 8

 Doping Semiconductors
N-type Semiconductors
Certain impurities will change the conductivity of
silicon. An impurity such as Antimony has an electron
that is not part of the bonding electrons so is free. This
creates an n-material.
Free (conduction) electron
Si from Sb atom

Si Sb Si

Si

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 9

 Doping Semiconductors
P-type Semiconductors
An impurity such as boron leaves a vacancy in the
valence band, creating a p-material. Both p- and n-
materials have energy levels that are different than
intrinsic silicon.
Si

Si B Si

Si

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 10

 Formation of the PN Junction
A p- and an n-material together form a pn junction.
When the junction is formed, conduction electrons move to the p-
region, and fall into holes. Filling a hole makes a negative ion and
leaves behind a positive ion in the n-region. This creates a thin
region that is depleted of free charges at the boundary.
Depletion region
p region n region
– +
– +
– +
– +
– +
– +
– +
– +

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 11

 The Diode
A diode is a semiconductor device with a single pn junction and metal
connections to leads.
• The P region is called the anode.
• The N region is called the cathode.

Anode Cathode
p n

Depletion
region

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 12
PN junction

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 13

 Typical Diode Packages

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 14
 Voltage-Current Characteristic of a
forward-biased Diode
Point A: zero-bias condition

Point B: the forward voltage is less

than the barrier potential of 0.7 V.

Point C: the forward voltage

approximately equals the barrier
potential.

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 15
 Voltage-Current Characteristic of a
reverse-biased Diode

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 16
 The complete V-I Characteristic Curve

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 17
Diodes in Industry
• Rectifier Diodes: A power device conducting from 1 to 1000
amps or even higher.
• Signal Diodes: A small-signal device with current typically in the
milliamp range.
• Zener Diodes: Voltage reference diodes for power supplies.
• Light emitting Diodes: Visual indicators.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 18

 Rectifier Diodes
• Normal PN junction diode conducts heavily when forward
biased ( low resistance direction) and only conducts slightly
when reverse-biased (high resistance direction).
• Rectifier diode is placed in series with a source of AC power.
• The diode is forward-biased and reverse-biased every cycle;
because current flows easily in one direction than the other,
rectification is accomplished.

Prepared by: Dr. (Nilufar) Somayyeh Poshtiban, PhD, MSc

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics [email protected] Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 19
 Half Wave Rectifier

The diode conducts

during the positive
half cycle.

Note: Diode is an ideal model in this circuit!

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 20
 Half Wave Rectifier Positive Cycle and Negative Cycle

The diode conducts

during the positive
half cycle.

It does not conduct

during the negative
half cycle.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 21

 Output of a Half Wave Rectifier

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 22
IN4001–IN4007 data sheet
Source: Copyright of Semiconductor
Component Industries, LLC.
Used by permission.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 23

Example:
What diode can be used in the following rectifier
circuit if its AC input is 115 volts?
• Hint: refer to the diode’s
maximum ratings as shown
on the datasheet for IN400*
in previous slide.

• The IN4003 can be used

because its reverse voltage
(VR) is 200 volts, which is
greater than input.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 24

 Zener Diode
A zener diode is a special diode that
has been optimized for operation in
the breakdown region.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 25

 Voltage Regulator with Zener Diode
Voltage regulation is the most common application of a zener diode.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 26

IN5333B series data sheet
Source: Copyright of Semiconductor Component Industries, LLC. Used by permission.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 27

IN5333B series data sheet (Contd)
Source: Copyright of Semiconductor Component Industries, LLC. Used by permission.

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
ELEC 254 Industrial Industrial Electronics, Ie
Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar All Poshtiban
rights reserved. 28
IN5333B series data sheet (Contd)
Source: Copyright of Semiconductor Component Industries, LLC. Used by permission.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori

Industrial Electronics, Ie

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 29

 Simple voltage regulator

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Industrial Electronics, Ie All rights reserved.
ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 30
 Example
Simple voltage regulator
• In the following circuit, what is the voltage across RL with a Vin of 10
volts using IN5338B.

Refer to the datasheet for

IN5338B:

VZ = 5.1 V
IZM = 930 mA

Prepared by: Dr. (Nilufar) Somayyeh Poshtiban, PhD, MSc

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics [email protected] Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 31
Light Emitting Diode (LEDs)
• LED is a ON junction that radiates energy as light
instead of heat.
• LED is constructed using semiconductor
materials such as gallium, phosphorous, and
arsenic rather than silicon.
• Diode can be produced to emit light of different
wavelength with colors such as red, greed,
yellow and blue.
• The LED chip is very small and radiates a low
level of light, but the light is magnified and
directed by a plastic lens.
• Note that anode is the longer of the two leads.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 32

 Transistor
• Transistor is an electronic device that acts like a valve to control the
amount of current passing through it.
• Transistor has three terminals:
1. One terminal brings current in.
2. Second terminal carries that current out.
3. Third terminal acts like this handle
and controls the amount of current
passing of this current through the
two other terminal.

• We control the amount of current in

transistor with an electrical signal at the
Third terminal.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 33

 Current Control in Transistor

I base
Current

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 34
 Transistor’s Operating Region

Operating Mode Transistor is …. Transistor acts like…

Saturation “ON” Open Valve
Short Circuit
Cut off “OFF” Closed Valve
Open Circuit
Active Partially ON Partially Open Valve
Variable Resistor

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 35
 Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
• A transistor is a three-terminal device.
• The bipolar junction transistor is formed by joining two PN junctions
together with the connecting semiconductor material common to both
junctions.
• BJTs come in two types:
• PNP
• NPN

• The important feature is that the current through two terminals can be
controlled by small changes in current or voltage at the third terminal.
• This control feature allows the device to amplify small AC signals or act as
an on-off switch.

Prepared by: Dr. (Nilufar) Somayyeh Poshtiban, PhD, MSc

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics [email protected] Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 36
 NPN transistor

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori

Industrial Electronics, Ie

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 37
PNP transistor

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori

Industrial Electronics, Ie

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.
ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 38
 BJT Voltages

Collector

Base

Emitter
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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 39
 BJT Currents

IB : Current entering base

IC: Current entering Collector
IE: Current leaving Emitter

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 40
Operation
• Three common configuration:
• Common base
• Common emitter
• Common collector

• Note that the term grounded is sometimes used instead of the term
common because the common element is usually returned to the
signal ground point in the circuit.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 41

Transistor circuit configurations

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban
ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics
All rights reserved.
42
 Transistor Switches
• In switching applications, the transistor is usually controlled in two
conduction states:
• ON State
• OFF State
• A switch appears as a short circuit when turned on and as an open
circuit when turned off.
• Ideally, It is desirable to switch the device on to off, with no time lost
between the two.
• Transistors do not fit this ideal description of a switch, but they can
serve as a useful approximation.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 43

Transistor switch and waveforms

When the output is at 20 volts (VCC),

transistor is off; and
there is no current flows through RL
(Ic = 0).

When the output is at 0 volt,

transistor is on; and a current
flows through RL.

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Industrial Electronics, Ie All rights reserved.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 44

Key terms in transistor switches
• Cutoff and saturation regions
• Active region
• Switching cycle

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 45

 Cutoff region operation
• A transistor is in the off state.
• The base-emitter junction is reversed biased.

Voltage name Voltage symbol Value

Collector-emitter voltage VCE VCC
Collector-base voltage VCB VCC + VBE
Base-emitter votlage VBE <0.7 V

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 46

Cutoff region operation (Contd)
• In the cutoff state, some current flows through the collector
base junction; however the current is very small. It is called
Leakage Current, ICO or ICBO.

• The power dissipation is:

PCO = VCO x ICO

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 47

 Saturation Region Operation
• A transistor is fully on.
• The base-emitter junction is forward-biased and transistor is held on.
Voltage name Voltage symbol Value
Collector-emitter voltage VCE 0
Collector-base voltage VCB -0.7 V
Base-emitter voltage VBE 0.7 V

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 48

Saturation Region Operation (contd)

𝑉𝑐𝑐 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑠𝑎𝑡
𝐼𝐶𝑠𝑎𝑡 =
𝑅𝐿

𝑉𝑅𝐿 = 𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑠𝑎𝑡

𝑃𝑠𝑎𝑡 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑠𝑎𝑡 × 𝐼𝐶𝑠𝑎𝑡

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 49

 Active Region Operation
• For a transistor not quite in saturation, the collector current is a
product of the base current (IB) and the current gain of transistor, hFE
or ßDC .

Ic = ßDC x IB

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 50

Example:
Calculate the collector current of transistor with a gain of 50 when it is not quite
saturated and when it is in saturation with a saturation voltage of 0.2V.

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
ELEC 254 Industrial Industrial Electronics, Ie
Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar All Poshtiban
rights reserved. 51
 Switching cycle
• The transistor switching cycle is when the transistor switches from
cutoff to saturation and back to cutoff.
• The switching cycle is comprised of two components:
• Turn-on transition
• Turn-off transition
• The switching cycle is illustrated on next slide, which highlights the
transition time in relation to the input signal.

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 52

 Transistor switching cycle
• Delay Time (td)
• Rise Time (tr)
• Storage Time (ts)
• Fall Time (tf)

Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.

James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
ELEC 254 Industrial Industrial Electronics, Ie
Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar All Poshtiban
rights reserved. 53
 Darlington Configuration
• In some industrial applications, the
current gain of a single transistor switch
is insufficient to provide the required
current to the load.
• Darlington configuration is used in these
situation, in which the current gain
becomes:

ℎ𝐹𝐸 = ℎ𝐹𝐸1 × ℎ𝐹𝐸2

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 54

Design of transistor drive circuits for
electromechanical relays
• A 12V DC relay
• The relay has DPDT
(double pole double
through) contacts.
• One normally open (NO)
contact has been used
to drive an to indicate
the ON/OFF status of
the relay.
ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 55
 Design of transistor drive circuits for
electromechanical relays
1

12V Relay
4

1N914
8 12V
16
S B
C

Red 1kΩ
E
5.1 kΩ
5V A

LED
K

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 56

 Design of transistor drive circuits for
electromechanical relays
• The 5VDC supply provides the transistor base current.
• The 10kohm resistor is to limit the transistor base current.
• When the switch (S) is closed:
• The transistor is On.
• The 12 V drops on inputs of Relay
• The Relay picks up (Turns ON)
• When the switch S is open:
• The transistor is in cutoff region
• The Relay will be released (turned OFF).

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 57

 Freewheeling Diode
• The 1N914 diode is used to protect transistor and relay against high
voltage spikes generated by the magnetic energy stored in the coil of
the relay.
• It is also called:
• Flyback diode
• Snubber diode
• Commutating diode
• Freewheeling diode
• Suppressor diode
• Clam diode
• Catch diode

ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 58

 Reference
• Chapter 3
James A. Rehg and Glenn J. Sartori
Industrial Electronics, Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

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ELEC 254 Industrial Electronics Instructor: Dr. Nilufar Poshtiban 59