Electronic Devices at a glance

Giovanni Ghione
Microwave and Optoelectronics Group (MOG)
Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Politecnico di Torino,
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
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Sometohistory
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• Before 1950 all electronics was based on vacuum

tubes providing rectification (diodes) and amplification
and switching (triodes, pentodes etc.)
• Between the and of 40s and 1960 there was a
dramatic development of semiconductor, solid-state
devices based on Germanium first and then of Silicon:
pentode
Anode
Emitter Collector

–pn diodes
Base
–bipolar transistors Cathode

–field-effect transistors: JFETs and MOSFETS

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The to edit Mastermarket
semiconductor title style

Global Semiconductor Market

700 B$ 40 B$

1.6 B$

SiC power device market ~ 1 B$ 2023

GaN device market ~ 300 M$ 2023
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semiconductor?

• Conductors (metals): the current - - - - - - - - • Doping unbalances the

flow is monopolar (electrons only) - - - - - - - - polarity of mobile charge
- - - - - - - - carriers in favor or
• Semiconductors (Si, Ge…): the - - - - - - -
current flow is (am)bipolar, due to - - - - - - - - electrons (-) or holes (+)
- - - - - - -
electrons (n,-q) and holes (p,+q), - - - - - - - - • Semiconductors can be
- - - - - - - + elementary (Si, Ge) or
q electron charge (absolute value)
- - - - - - - - compound (GaAs, InP,
• In insulators the mobile charge
Conductors (metals): high Insulators (dielectrics): almost GaN, SiC…)
carrier density is negligible  ~no density of mobile electrons (-) no mobile charge carriers
current flow
• In intrinsic semiconductors n~p, + - + - + - - - + - - - + + + - + +
doping leads to n>>p (n-type) or - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +
- + - + - - + - - - + + + - + + + -
p>>n (p-type)
- - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +
• Doping in Si consists in inserting + - + - + - - - + - - - + + + - + +
into the Si crystal a low - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +
- + - + - - + - - - + + + - + + + -
concentration of impurities, donors
(n-type) like Phosphorus and Pure (intrinsic) semiconductors: Doped n-type semiconductors: Doped p-type semiconductors:
low concentration of mobile a lot of mobile electrons, very a lot of mobile holes, very few
Arsenic, acceptors (p-type) like electrons (-) and holes (+) few holes electrons
Boron
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diode?

• In a resistor, the current flows

both ways, according to the sign Resistor
of the applied voltage
• In a diode, the current can flow
only in the direction of the arrow
 rectifying behavior
• Several structures operate as
diodes, e.g., the pn junction
• In a diode I(V) is nonlinear, a
straight line in a resistor
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diode title style
blocking current?
V
Forward bias: a large current
- - - - - - + - + + + + + + flows
- - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +
- - - - + - + - + - + + + + I
- - - + - - - - + + + + - + + +
- - - - + - + - + - + + + +
- - - - - - - - + + + + + + + +
- - - - - - + - + + + + + +
N-type P-type

V
- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - - + + + + + + I~0
- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - - + + + + + +
- - - - - - + + + + + + Reverse bias: almost zero
N-type P-type current flows
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The to bipolar
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transistor

• Bardeen, Brattain, Schockley –

Bell Labs, 23/12/1947
• Point-contact transistor on Ge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-contact_transistor
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What to
is a
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transistor?
Master title style

• A current source between two

terminals:
– drain/source in the field effect
transistor (FET), controlled by the
gate voltage
The bipolar transistor:
current controlled

– collector/emitter in the bipolar

junction transistor (BJT), controlled The field-effect transistor:
by the base current voltage controlled

Emitter Collector

Base
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MOSFET title transistor
field-effect style

Gate Length
 Click1960:
From to editintegrated
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circuits

 Discrete circuits: no
integration between
passive elements
(resistors, inductors,
capacitors) and active
elements (transistors)
 Hybrid integrated
discrete
circuits: integration of
interconnects and
passives on a
dielectric substrate
 Monolithic integrated
circuits: integration of integrated (PENTIUM PRO Multi-Chip-Module)
everything on a
semiconductor

hybrid (printed circuit board)

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integration

High-quality single-crystal Si wafers

Effective doping processes
Effective handling of metals and dielectrics  oxidation
Possibility to draw smaller and smaller circuits through
advanced lithographical processes
device downsizing
 Scaling down of MOSFET ICs – the
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beginning

(1971) (1985) (2000)

 Smaller and smaller: the
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disappearing MOSFET

1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 2030

DRAM
1/2 Pitch 70 50
[nm]
180 130 100 35

MPU Gate
Length
[nm] 140 85 65 45 32 22
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Moore’s edit- Master
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Transistors Per Die

1011
1010 What Gordon Moore observed in the 1960s
109
108
107
106
105
104
103
102
101
100
’60 ’65 ’70 ’75 ’80 ’85 ’90 ’95 ’00 ’05 ’10
Source: Intel
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Moore’s edit- Master
III title style
ClickMoore
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Master
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thanstyle
Moore?

Source: Intel

FINFET
From planar MOSFET to FINFET to
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GAAFET
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IBM to edit Master
all-around title
gate 12 nmstyle
(?) MOSFET (2021)
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Will to editcontinue
scaling Master title style
forever?

SIZE TRENDS: drastic reduction of Si area!

• In a Si crystal the atom
distance is around 0.3 nm
• Below a 3 nm gate there
would be approximately 10
Si atom planes! In fact, the
gate length has saturated to
~20 nm
• Other fundamental
limitations to scaling exist
suggesting that we are close
to the end of Moore’s law
• Performances and IC size
will improve in the future but
not simply by scaling!

Technology node (e.g. 20 nm)  till ~20 nm related to the gate length, more recently is a quite
conventional number, see e.g.: https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/technology_node
 Is there anything beyond Si?
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Compounds!

III-V GaAs InP GaSb InAs AlAs GaP GaN

II-VI CdTe HgTe ZnS CdSe
IV-IV SiC, SiGe
IV Si

Widegap (>2 eV)  high power

Narrowgap (<1 eV)  low noise low power
consumption high speed
General purpose elementary & compound
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compounds for?style
High speed

Compound
semiconductor ICs
cover today
applications almost
up to the THZ region
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GaAs toAnalog
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Integrated Circuit
GaN: very high power and high
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speed
 Click topower
Output edit Master title stylethe THz gap
vs. frequency:
 Clickcompounds:
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Fiat style
Lux!

• Compound semiconductors are the basis for optoelectronics:

–generating light (lasers, LEDs, displays),
–receiving light (photodetectors, image sensors)
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Evolution Master title style
of lighting

1700 - Candle 1900 – Incandescence 1995 – Compact 2010 – White LED

bulb ~18 lumen/W Fluorescent Lamp lamp ~90 lumen/W
~60 lumen/W
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Semiconductors title style
for energy: solar cells
Organic Semiconductor Thin Film transistors
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(OTFTS)  low cost / large area applications

Pentacene
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Building-integrated title style
(dye) solar cells

DSC Façade
Silicon Façade System System
at the University of at the CSIRO
Melbourne, Australia Energy Centre
Newcastle,
Australia
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E-waste edit “green
Master electronics”
title style
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyIpG7UJKyI&feature=youtu.be

Recycling E-waste through biodegradable

(Cellulose Nanofibryl – CNF) substrates
 To conclude: how to understand
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semiconductor devices

• Some very basics in electrostatics and quantum mechanics

• Semiconductor physics and basic laws  the drift-diffusion model
• Understanding basic structures: pn junction, [MS junction], MIS (MOS)
junction
• Putting everything together in assembling a device: diode, bipolar transistor,
field-effect transistor (MOSFET)
• Connecting the device with the circuit: circuit theory, phasor analysis, time-
domain analysis, one and two-port models
• Understanding the basic functions of devices: e.g., transistors 
amplification and switching