BASIC ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

UNIT I
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Introduction - Evolution of electronics – Vacuum tubes to nano electronics - Characteristics of PN
Junction Diode — Zener Effect — Zener Diode and its Characteristics. Bipolar Junction Transistor
— CB, CE, CC Configurations and Characteristics — Elementary Treatment of Small Signal CE
Amplifier.

INTRODUCTION:

Electronics engineering, or electronic engineering, is an engineering discipline which

utilizes non-linear and active electrical components (such as semiconductor devices, especially
transistors, diodes and integrated circuits) to design electronic circuits, devices, Microprocessors
/Microcontrollers and systems including VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language)
Modelling for Programmable logic devices and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array). The
discipline typically also designs passive electrical components, usually based on printed circuit
boards.
Electronics Engineering is one of the largest and fastest growing fields of engineering. It
covers a wide range of applications which make our life easier and enjoyable such as Television,
Radio, computers, telecommunication etc. They help us to see, hear and communicate over vast
distances and do things faster.

EVOLUTION OF ELECTRONICS

The history of Electronic Engineering is a long one. Chambers Twentieth Century

Dictionary (1972) defines electronics as "The science and technology of the conduction of
electricity in a vacuum, a gas, or a semiconductor, and devices based thereon".
Electronic engineering as a profession sprang from technological improvements in the
telegraph industry during the late 19th century and in the radio and telephone industries during
the early 20th century. People gravitated to radio, attracted by the technical fascination it
inspired, first in receiving and then in transmitting. Many who went into broadcasting in the
1920s had become "amateurs" in the period before World War I.
The modern discipline of electronic engineering was to a large extent born out of
telephone, radio, and television equipment development and the large amount of electronic-
systems development during World War II of radar, sonar, communication systems, and advanced
munitions and weapon systems. In the interwar years, the subject was known as radio
engineering, The word `electronics' began to be used in the 1940s. In the late 1950s the term
'electronic engineering' started to emerge.
The electronic laboratories (e.g., Bell Labs in the United States) created and subsidized by
large corporations in the industries of radio, television, and telephone equipment. began churning
out a series of electronic advances. In 1948 came the transistor and in 1960 the integrated circuit.
which would revolutionize the electronic industry.

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In the U.K., the subject of electronic engineering became distinct from electrical
engineering as a university-degree subject around 1960. (Before this time, students of electronics
and related subjects like radio and telecommunications had to enroll in the electrical engineering
department of the university as no university had departments of electronics. Electrical
engineering was the nearest subject with which electronic engineering could be aligned, although
the similarities in subjects covered (except mathematics and electromagnetism) lasted only for
the first year of three-year courses.)
Electronic engineering (even before it acquired the name) facilitated the development of
many technologies including wireless telegraphy, radio, television, radar, computers and
microprocessors.

VACUUM TUBES TO NANO ELECTRONICS

Vacuum tubes coexisted with their progeny, the transistor, and even with ICs for a short
while. Although solid-state technology overwhelmingly dominates today's world of electronic,
vacuum tubes are still holding out in stunt- areas. You might, for example, still have a CRT
(cathode ray tube) as your television or computer screen. Tubes also remain in two small but
vibrant areas for entirely different reasons. The first involves microwave technology, which still
relies on vacuum tubes for their power-hand ling capability at high frequencies. The other-the
creation and reproduction of music-is a more complicated story. Tubes distort signals differently
than transistors when overdriven, and this distortion is regarded as being more "pleasant" by
much of the music community.
Vacuum Tubes are used in computing, switching, amplification and rectification right up to
60s. Then it died a quick death since most applications solid state device such as semiconductor
devices have replaced them. We all know that Semiconductor devices are small in size and
cheaper than vacuum tube devices. Silicon transistors are cheaper but they are slower and
susceptible to radiation. The performance of Silicon Transistors, far away from Vacuum Tube
devices due to their compact size, no heating time, reduced time for electrons to travel. But
actually electrons are about 10 times slower in solid material as than in vacuum.
Now NASA combined the advantages of Silicon Transistors and Vacuum Tubes, to form
'Nano Vacuum Tubes'. They have created it by etching tiny cavities in phosphorus doped silicon
NASA combined the advantages of Silicon Transistors and Vacuum Tubes, to form 'Nano Vacuum
Tubes'. and Source, Drain and Gate are placed around this cavity.
The size of the cavity is very small about 150nm, so there is minimum interaction with
electrons and air, avoiding the need for true vacuum thereby reducing the manufacturing
difficulties and cost. The term 'Vacuum Tube' is slightly misleading as true Vacuum is not created
in these devices.

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PN JUNCTION DIODE

A semiconductor diode is a two terminal electronic component with a PN junction. This is

also called as a Rectifier. The symbol of a diode is shown in the fig.

The anode which is the positive terminal of a diode is represented with A and the cathode, which
is the negative terminal is represented with K. To know the anode and cathode of a practical
diode, a fine line is drawn on the diode which means cathode, while the other end represents
anode.

Formation of a Diode:
If a P-type and an N-type material are brought close to each other, both of them join to
form a junction, as shown in the figure below.

A P-type material has holes as the majority carriers and an N-type material has electrons as
the majority carriers. As opposite charges attract, few holes in P-type tend to go to n-side, whereas
few electrons in N-type tend to go to P-side.
As both of them travel towards the junction, holes and electrons recombine with each other
to neutralize and forms ions. Now, in this junction, there exists a region where the positive and
negative ions are formed, called as PN junction or junction barrier as shown in the figure.

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The formation of negative ions on P-side and positive ions on N-side results in the
formation of a narrow-charged region on either side of the PN junction. This region is now free
from movable charge carriers. The ions present here have been stationary and maintain a region
of space between them without any charge carriers.
As this region acts as a barrier between P and N type materials, this is also called as Barrier
junction. This has another name called as Depletion region meaning it depletes both the regions.
There occurs a potential difference VD due to the formation of ions, across the junction called
as Potential Barrier as it prevents further movement of holes and electrons through the junction.

OPERATION OF P-N JUNCTION DIODE

When a diode or any two-terminal component is connected in a circuit, it has two biased
conditions with the given supply. They are Forward biased condition and Reverse
biased condition.
(i)Forward Biased Condition:
When a diode is connected in a circuit, with its anode to the positive terminal and cathode
to the negative terminal of the supply, then such a connection is said to be forward
biased condition. This kind of connection makes the circuit more and more forward biased and
helps in more conduction. A diode conducts well in forward biased condition.
When an external voltage is applied to a diode such that it cancels the potential barrier and
permits the flow of current is called as forward bias. When anode and cathode are connected to
positive and negative terminals respectively, the holes in P-type and electrons in N-type tend to
move across the junction, breaking the barrier. There exists a free flow of current with this, almost
eliminating the barrier.
With the repulsive force provided by positive terminal to holes and by negative terminal to
electrons, the recombination takes place in the junction. The supply voltage should be such high
that it forces the movement of electrons and holes through the barrier and to cross it to
provide forward current.
Forward Current is the current produced by the diode when operating in forward biased
condition and it is indicated by If.

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(ii) Reverse Biased Condition:

When a diode is connected in a circuit, with its anode to the negative terminal and cathode
to the positive terminal of the supply, then such a connection is said to be Reverse
biased condition. This kind of connection makes the circuit more and more reverse biased and
helps in minimizing and preventing the conduction. A diode cannot conduct in reverse biased
condition.
When an external voltage is applied to a diode such that it increases the potential barrier
and restricts the flow of current is called as Reverse bias. When anode and cathode are connected
to negative and positive terminals respectively, the electrons are attracted towards the positive
terminal and holes are attracted towards the negative terminal. Hence both will be away from the
potential barrier increasing the junction resistance and preventing any electron to cross the
junction.
The following figure explains this. The graph of conduction when no field is applied and
when some external field is applied are also drawn.

With the increasing reverse bias, the junction has few minority carriers to cross the
junction. This current is normally negligible. This reverse current is almost constant when the
temperature is constant. But when this reverse voltage increases further, then a point
called reverse breakdown occurs, where an avalanche of current flows through the junction. This
high reverse current damages the device.
Reverse current is the current produced by the diode when operating in reverse biased
condition and it is indicated by Ir. Hence a diode provides high resistance path in reverse biased
condition and doesn’t conduct, where it provides a low resistance path in forward biased
condition and conducts. Thus, we can conclude that a diode is a one-way device which conducts in
forward bias and acts as an insulator in reverse bias. This behaviour makes it work as a rectifier,
which converts AC to DC.

A diode is also used as a Switch. It helps a faster ON and OFF for the output that should occur in a
quick rate.

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V-I CHARACTERISTICS OF P-N JUNCTION DIODE

The following Fig. shows the static voltage-current characteristics for a low-power P-N
junction diode.

Forward Characteristics:
When the diode is forward-biased and the applied voltage is increased from zero, hardly
any current flows through the device in the beginning. It is so because the external voltage is being
opposed by the internal barrier voltage VB whose value is 0.7 V
for Si and 0.3 V for Ge. As soon as VB is neutralized, current through the diode increases rapidly
with increasing applied battery voltage. It is found that as little a voltage as 1.0 V produces a
forward current of about 50 mA. A burnout is likely to occur if forward voltage is increased
beyond a certain safe limit.

Reverse Characteristics:
When the diode is reverse-biased, majority carriers are blocked and only a small current
(due to minority carriers) flows through the diode. As the reverse voltage is increased from zero,
the reverse current very quickly reaches its maximum or saturation value I0 which is also known
as leakage current. It is of the order of nanoamperes (nA) for Si and microamperes (μA) for Ge.

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The value of I0 (or Is) is independent of the applied reverse voltage but depends on (a)
temperature, (b) degree of doping and (c) physical size of the junction.
As seen from Fig., when reverse voltage exceeds a certain value called break-down voltage
VBR, the leakage current suddenly and sharply increases, the curve indicating zero resistance at
this point. Any further increase in voltage is likely to produce burnout unless protected by a
current-limiting resistor.

These characteristics can be described by the analytical equation called Boltzmann diode equation
given below :

ZENER DIODE AND ZENER EFFECT

A Zener Diode, also referred to as a breakdown diode, is a specially doped semiconductor

device engineered to function in the reverse direction. When the voltage across a Zener diode’s
terminals is reversed and reaches the Zener Voltage (also known as the knee voltage), the junction
experiences a breakdown, allowing current to flow in the opposite direction. This phenomenon,
known as the Zener Effect, is a key characteristic of Zener diodes.
A Zener diode is a highly doped semiconductor device specifically designed to function in
the reverse direction. It is engineered with a wide range of Zener voltages (Vz), and certain types
are even adjustable to achieve variable voltage regulation.

Symbol:

The symbol used to represent a Zener diode in circuit diagrams is similar to that of a
regular diode, but with a unique addition. It consists of a triangle or arrowhead pointing towards
the cathode side (the side with the band) of the diode. This triangle is accompanied by two
perpendicular lines at the cathode end, one extending upwards and the other extending
downwards. These lines indicate the specific behaviour of the Zener diode and help distinguish it
from other types of diodes in circuit diagrams.

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WORKING OF ZENER DIODE:

A Zener diode functions similarly to a regular diode when forward-biased. However, in
reverse-biased mode, a small leakage current flows through the diode. As the reverse voltage
increases and reaches the predetermined breakdown voltage (Vz), current begins to flow through
the diode. This current reaches a maximum level determined by the series resistor, after which it
stabilizes and remains constant across a wide range of applied voltages.
There are two types of breakdowns in a Zener Diode: Avalanche Breakdown and Zener
Breakdown.

Avalanche Breakdown in Zener Diode:

Avalanche breakdown occurs in both normal diodes and Zener diodes when subjected to
high reverse voltage. When a significant reverse voltage is applied to the PN junction, the free
electrons gain enough energy to accelerate at high velocities. These high-velocity electrons collide
with other atoms, causing the ejection of additional electrons. This continuous collision process
generates a large number of free electrons, resulting in a rapid increase in electric current through
the diode. In the case of a normal diode, this sudden surge in current could permanently damage
it. However, a Zener diode is specifically designed to withstand avalanche breakdown and can
handle the sudden current spike. Avalanche breakdown typically occurs in Zener diodes with a
Zener voltage (Vz) greater than 6V.

Zener Breakdown in Zener Diode:

When the reverse bias voltage applied to a Zener diode approaches its Zener voltage, the
electric field within the depletion region becomes strong enough to attract and remove electrons
from their valence band. These valence electrons, energized by the intense electric field, break
free from their parent atoms. This phenomenon takes place in the Zener breakdown region, where
even a slight increase in voltage leads to a rapid surge in electric current..

CHARACTERISTICS OF ZENER DIODE

The diagram given below shows the V-I characteristics of the Zener diode.

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The V-I characteristics of a Zener diode can be divided into two parts as follows:
(i)Forward Characteristics
(ii) Reverse Characteristics

Forward Characteristics of Zener Diode:

The first quadrant in the graph represents the forward characteristics of a Zener diode.
From the graph, we understand that it is almost identical to the forward characteristics of P-N
junction diode.

Reverse Characteristics of Zener Diode:

When a reverse voltage is applied to a Zener voltage, a small reverse saturation current Io
flows across the diode. This current is due to thermally generated minority carriers. As the
reverse voltage increases, at a certain value of reverse voltage, the reverse current increases
drastically and sharply. This is an indication that the breakdown has occurred. We call this voltage
breakdown voltage or Zener voltage, and Vz denotes it.

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR

Basically, the bipolar junction transistor consists of two back-to back P-N junctions
manufactured in a single piece of a semiconductor crystal. These two junctions give rise to three
regions called emitter, base and collector. As shown in Fig.(a) junction transistor is simply a
sandwich of one type of semiconductor material between two layers of the other type. Fig.(a)
shows a layer of N-type material sandwiched between two layers of P-type material. It is
described as a PNP transistor. Fig.(b) shown an NPN – transistor consisting of a layer of P-type
material sandwiched between two layers of N-type material.
The emitter, base and collector are provided with terminals which are labelled as E, B and
C. The two junctions are : emitter-base (E/B) junction and collector-base (C/B) junction.

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The symbols employed for PNP and NPN transistors are also shown in Fig. The arrowhead
is always at the emitter (not at the collector) and in each case, its direction indicates the
conventional direction of current flow. For a PNP transistor, arrowhead points from emitter to
base meaning that emitter is positive with respect to base (and also with respect to collector)* For
NPN transistor, it points from base to emitter meaning that base (and collector as well)* is
positive with respect to the emitter.
1. Emitter: It is more heavily doped than any of the other regions because its main function is to
supply majority charge carries/ (either electrons or holes) to the base.
2. Base: It forms the middle section of the transistor. It is very thin (10–6 m) as compared to
either the emitter or collector and is very lightly-doped.
3. Collector: Its main function (as indicated by its name) is to collect majority charge carriers
coming from the emitter and passing through the base.

TYPES OF TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATIONS

Transistors ( BJTs ) are operated in three configuration namely,
1. Common Base Configuration (C.B)
2. Common Emitter Configuration (C.E)
3. Common Collector Configuration (C.C)

COMMON BASE CONFIGURATION (C.B)

In this circuit configuration, input is applied between emitter and base and output is taken
from collector and base. Here, base of the transistor is common to both input and output circuits
and hence the name common base configuration. A common-base configuration for N-P-N
transistor is shown in Fig.

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When emitter is open, IE = 0, but a small leakage current still flows in the collector circuit.
This Ileakage is abbreviated as ICBO , meaning collector-base current with emitter open.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CB CONFIGURATION

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COMMON EMITTER CONFIGURATION (C.E)

In this circuit as shown in the Fig, emitter is common to both base and collector. So this is
known as CE configuration or grounded emitter configuration. The input voltage VBE and output
current Ic are taken as the dependent variables. These depend upon the output voltage VCE and
input current lB.

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INPUT CHARACTERISTICS:

If the collector is shorted to the emitter, the transistor is similar to a Forward Biased Diode.
So IB increases as VBE increases. The input characteristics are as shown in fig. IB increases with VBE
exponentially, beyond cut-in voltage V𝜸. The variation is similar to that of Forward Biased Diode.
If VBE = 0, IB = 0, since emitter and collector junctions are shorted. If VCE increases, base width
decreases ( Early effect ), and results in decreased recombination. As VCE is increased, from
–1 to –3 IB decreases. V𝜸 is the cut in voltage.

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OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS:

The transistor is similar to a Collector Junction Reverse Biased Diode. The output
characteristics is divided into three regions namely,
1. Active Region. 2. Saturation Region 3. Cut-Off Region.
These are shown in Fig. If IB increases, there is more injection into the collector. So IC increases.
Hence characteristics are as shown.
The output characteristics are similar to a reverse biased p-n junction. (Collector Base
junction is reverse biased). They follow the equation.

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COMMON COLLECTOR CONFIGURATION (C.C)

Here the load resistor RL is connected in the emitter circuit and not in the collector circuit.
Input is given between base and ground. The drop across RL itself acts as the bias for emitter base
junction. The operation of the circuit similar to that of Common Emitter Configuration. When the
base current is IC0, emitter current will be zero. So no current flows through the load. Base current
IB should be increased so that emitter current is some finite value and the transistor comes out of
cut-off region.
Input characteristics IB vs VBC and Output characteristics IC vs VEC
The circuit diagram is shown in Fig.(a) and the characteristics are shown in Fig.(b) and (c).

. (a) (b)

(c)

The input characteristic of the common collector configuration is drawn between collector
base voltage VCE and base current IB at constant emitter current voltage VCE. The value of the
output voltage VCE changes with respect to the input voltage VBC and IB with the help of these
values, input characteristic curve is drawn. The input characteristic curve is shown below.

The output characteristic of the common emitter circuit is drawn between the emitter-
collector voltage VEC and output current IE at constant input current IB. If the input current IB is
zero, then the collector current also becomes zero, and no current flows through the transistor.

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The transistor operates in active region when the base current increases and reaches to
saturation region. The graph is plotted by keeping the base current IB constant and varying the
emitter-collector voltage VCE, the values of output current IE are noticed with respect to VCE. By
using the VCE and IE at constant IB the output characteristic curve is drawn.

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ELEMENTARY TREATMENT OF SMALL SIGNAL CE AMPLIFIER

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