16.

Semiconductor devices
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Introduction -
We know that in p-n junction diode when the diode is forward biased it behaves as a
closed switch and current flows in the diode circuit. When the diode is reversing biased it
behaves as an open switch and no current flows through the diode circuit due to this switching
action it acts as a rectifier.
We know that materials can be classified as Conductors, insulators and semiconductors
on the basis of their conductivity. Those material whose conductivity lies between conductivity
of conductor and that of insulator are called semiconductor.
Semiconductors have conductivity in the range of 104 to 10-6 sm-1. The conductivity of
materials depends upon crystal structure nature of atomic bonding and availability of free
charges transmission of AC power is more economic than transmitting DC power. In India it is
230 V and has frequency, of 50 Hz

Working of simple circuit is shown in fig. AC main supply is connected to primary

transformer and its secondary is connected to rectifier circuit. AC voltage shown as a sinusoidal
waveform secondary of the transformer is converted into DC Voltage by diode rectifier; it is
shown in pulsating wave (b).
The output of rectifier contains AC component this AC component in DC output of a
rectifier is called ripple and shown in output of rectifier. and if is removed by using filter circuit
o/o of filter circuit is almost pure DC. The voltage regulator circuit shown after the filter
restricts Output voltage at this stage is across pure DC (d)
P-N Junction in Diode as a Rectifier:-
An AC voltage varies Sinusoidally if its value and direction changes in one cycle. The
conversion of AC voltage into a DC Voltage as called rectification, an electronic circuit which
rectifies AC voltage is called rectifier.
There are two types of rectifier circuits-
1) Half Wave Rectifier (HALF WAVE RECTIFIER) and
2) Full wave Rectifier (FULL WAVE RECTIFIER).
Half Wave Rectifier(HALF WAVE RECTIFIER):-

A simple HALF WAVE RECTIFIER circuit is shown in fig using only one diode. The
secondary Coil AB of a transformer is connected in series with diode D and load resistance RL.
The use transformer has two advantages-
1) To step up or step down the AC input voltage as per the requirement of the circuit.
2) To isolates the rectifier circuit from the main supply to reduce the risk of electric shock. Due
to this AC voltage across the coil AB it changes the polarity after every half cycle. When the
positive half cycle begins the voltage at the point A is at higher potential with respect to pt B.
the diode D is in forward bias. It conducts and current flows through the circuit.
When - Ve half cycle begins the potential at the point A is lower than point B. and diode is
reverse in bias no current is passed through the circuit.
Hence diode conducts only in positive half cycle and no current flows in negative half
cycle.
The waveform for input and output Voltages are shown in fig

Hence the form DC output voltage alternate obtained pulses.

b) Full Wave Rectifier in be discussed in HALF WAVE RECTIFIER. The output of HALF
WAVE RECTIFIER is available only in alternate the half cycles of the AC input. All - Ve half
cycles are lost and the efficiency of HALF WAVE RECTIFIERI s very poor. Rectifier circuit
using two diodes is more useful.
In FULL WAVE RECTIFIER, current flows through the load in - same direction during
both half cycles of input AC Voltage: the FULL WAVE RECTIFIER circuit consists of two
diodes conducting alternately.
 The circuit consist of a centre tapped transformer and diodes D1and D2. The diode D1 and
D2 are connected such that D1 and D2 conduct in positive half cycle and does negative half cycle
of input voltage. During positive half cycle the point A is at higher potential than that of the
point B and diode D1conducts. The current through the RL follows the AP Q R C. During
positive half cycle of input voltage, point B is at higher potential than point A and D2 conducts
the current through load Resistance RL follows the path BPQRC.
Thus, current flowing through load resistance is in the same direction during both the cycles.

Advantages of FULL WAVE RECTIFIER:-

1) Rectification takes place in both the cycles of the AC input.
2) Efficiency of a full wave rectifier is higher than that of a half wave rectifier.
3) The ripple in a full wave rectifier is less than that in a half wave rectifier.
Ripple factor: -The output of a rectifier consists of a small fraction of an AC component along
with DC called Ripple. This ripple is undesirable and is responsible for the fluctuations in the
rectifier output.
The effectiveness of a rectifier depends upon the magnitude of the ripple component in its
output.
The ratio of root mean square (rms) value of the AC component to the value of the DC
component in the rectifier output is known as the ripple facto ie. Ripple factor
r . m. s. value of AC component
Ripple factor =
value of DC component

A Capacitor filter
The pulsating voltage of rectifier output is applied across capacitor. As voltage across capacitor
rises, capacitor gets charged to point A and Supplies current to the load resistance. At the end of
quarter cycle, the Capacitor and gets charged to the peak voltage. Vp in Fig
The rectifier voltage begins to decrease the capacitor starts discharging through the load
resistance and voltage across it begins to drop. Voltage across load decreases only slightly up to
the pint B between next voltage peak recharges the capacitor immediately. This process is
repeated again and again and output Voltage waveform takes place shown in fig. This output is
unregulated DC wave form for regulated circuits are used to obtain regulated DC supply the
capacitor and filter circuit widely used because its low cost, small size and light weight,
this filter is suitable for small load current it is commonly used in battery eliminators. When
power supply connected to load there is drop in the output voltage? A power supply whose
OUTPUT changes when a load is connected across it is called unregulated power supply.
When the OUTPUT of power supply remains steady even after connecting load across it is
called regulated power supply power supply can be regulated by commonly using voltage
regulator circuit uses as a zener diode
Special Purpose Junction Diodes:-
Some special purpose junction diodes are
1) Zener diode 2) Photodiode 3) solar cell, 4) Light Emitting Diode (LED).
Zener diode: - A zener diode works on the principle of junction break down
Junction Break down:--We have studied that when reverse bias voltage of an ordinary function
diode is increased beyond a critical "Voltage the reverse current increases sharply to a high
value This critical voltage is called reverse break down voltage, The diode is damaged at this
stage.
Electrical breakdown of any material can be due to 1) Avalanche breakdown or 2) Zener
breakdown we will discuss only zener breaks down.
Zener breakdown: when the reverse voltage across a p-n junction diode is increased, the
electric field across the junction increases these results in a force of attraction on the negatively
charged electrons at the junction. Covalent bonds which hold the semiconductor and together
are broken due to this force and electrons are removed from the bonds free electrons available
for electrical conduction and result in a large current.
Zener break down occurs in diodes which are heavily doped. Zener breakdown does not result
in damage of a diode
Zener diode characteristics:-
A Zener diode is a p-n junction diode designed to work in the break down region and is used as
a voltage regulator or voltage Stabilizer
Symbol of Zener diode:-

I-V Characteristics of Zener diode

Zener diode behaves like normal diode when forward biased. When it is in reverse biased, It
shows break down that voltage is called as Zener voltage Vz.
Note that the voltage remains constant at Vz for increasing current the zener breakdown
occurs this property - used in a voltage regulator. Vz depends upon amount of doping for
heavily doped diode, the depletion layer is thin and break down occurs at lower reverse voltage
lightly doped diode has highest breakdown voltage and having breakdown voltage less than 6V
whose voltage greater than 6V operate in avalanche beak down region both are called Zener
diode.
When zener diode is operated in the breakdown region voltage across it remains constant
even if the current through it changes by large amount. A voltage regulator maintain a
constant Voltage across a load regardless of variation in applied input voltage and in the
load current Vz is connected in reverse bias to input voltage source Vi and Rs connected in
series. RL is connected in parallel with zener diode. So that (VR - Vz).
How Voltage is regulated using this circuit.
(a) Input voltage increases, current through Rs and zener diode also increases, so the increase
in voltage across Rs but voltage across zener diode does not change Rs absorb output
voltage and maintain constant voltage across load resistance.
(b)When input voltage is constant but RL decreases the load current increases.
(c)When there is no load in the circuit the load current will be zero ( IL=0) and all the circuit
current passes through Zener diode this results in max dissipation of power across Zener diode.
Working of zener regulator:-

Iz(min),Ix(max) be minimum and maximum zener current and Vz be the zener voltage Vs be

the voltage across Rs. Vs=(Iz(min).Rs ) ----------------(1)

From fig. Vin=(Vs+Vz) lower vale of i/p voltage is

Vin(low)=(Vs+Vz)

Vin(low)=( Iz(min).Rs +Vz)---------(2)

Similarly, voltage across Rs when current is maximum

Vs=(Iz(max).Rs ) and Vin(high) =(Vs+Vz) = Iz(max).R +Vz

maximum power rating Pz= Iz(max). Vz

If input Voltage (Vi) decreases current through Rs and Zener diode also decreases Vs across Rs
also decreases without any change in Vz.
Limitation: - The current through zener diode should never exceed the Iz(max) Value but current
exceed this value zener diode gets damage due to heating.
Applications of Zener diode:-
1) Voltage regulator: - fixed reference voltage provider in transistor biasing circuits peak
clipper or limited in a wave shaping circuit
2) Photodiode: - It is a special type of p-n junction diode which converts light energy into
electrical energy. It generates current when exposed to light; it is also called photo detector or
photo sensor

Very small amount of current flows through photodiode.

The p-n junction diode is placed inside glass material the junction of photodiode is exposed to
light other part of diode is painted with an opaque colour or covered.

Working Principle of photodiode: -

When a p-n junction diode is reverse biased reverse saturation current flows through junction.
The magnitude of this current is constant for reverse bias voltages. This current is minority
carriers on its either side the reverse current depends only on the conduction of the minority
carriers and not on the applied voltage. This current is called dark current because it flows even
when the photodiode is not illuminated.
When p-n junction is illuminated electron hole pair is generated in the depletion region. The
energy of the incident photons a larger that the band gap of the semiconductors material which
is used in photodiode the electrons and holes are separated the elections are attracted towards
anode and holes are attracted towards cathode. More carriers are available for conduction and
the reverse current is increased. The reverse current of a photodiode depends on the intensity
of the incident light.

It shows the reverse I-V Characteristic of a photo diode relation between intensity of
illumination and the reverse current of a photodiode.
The total current passing the photo current through photodiode is the sum of the photocurrent
and the dark current.
From this curve, reverse current increases initially with increase in the intensity of illumination.
Constant value of certain voltage is reached this constant value is called the saturation current of
the Photodiode.

Dark resistance: -Dark resistance is defined as the ratio of the maximum reverse voltage and
its dark current.
 Maximum reverse voltage
Rd =
Dark current
Advantages of photodiode:-
1) Quick response when exposed to light.
2) Linear response. The reverse current is linearly proportional to intensity of incident light.
3) High speed of operations.
4) Light weight and compact size.
5) Wide spectral response
6) Relatively low cost.
Disadvantages of photodiode:-
1) Its properties are temperature dependent, similar to many other semiconductor devices.
2) Low reverse current for low illumination levels.
Applications of photodiode:-
1) Counters and switches.
2) Burglar alarm systems.
3) Detection of visible and invisible radiations.
4) Circuits in which fast switching and high- speed operations are required.
5) Fiber optic communication systems.
6) Optocouplers,
7) Photo sensors/detectors, for accurate measurement of light intensity.
8) Safety electronics like fire and smoke detectors
Solar cell or photocell:-
Solar energy have many uses which is available in free of cost and pollution free there are two
major types of devices converting solar energy in disable form
a) Photo thermal devices which convert solar energy into heat energy utilized for providing hot
water.
b) Photovoltaic devices which convert solar energy into electrical energy. It is also known as
photovoltaic cell.
A solar cell works as a source of Dc power.
Structure of solar cell:-
In this structure of solar cell, it consists of p-n junction. The n-side of the function faces solar
radiation. The p-side is relatively thick and is at the back of the solar cell both ‘p’ and ‘n’ inside
coated with a conducting material. The n-side is coated with antireflection coating which
allows visible light to pass through it. The main function of this coating is to reflect heat
radiation and protect the solar cell from heat. The contact on the n-side is called front contact
and p-side is called backs contact.
The material used for fabricating which has two important requirements-
1) It must be photosensitive material which absorb light and raises electrons to a higher energy
state.
2) Higher energy electrons generated should be taken from the solar cell into an
external circuit.
Working of solar cell:-
When light is incident on a solar cell the following events takes place.
1) Electron- hole pair generated in the depletion region.
2) The electrons and holes are separated and collected at the cathode and anode.
3) The carriers are accumulated and generate a voltage across solar cell.
4) Power produced is utilized in the load resistance.
Current produced in a solar cell is called light generated current.
This is two-step process.
The first step process is absorption of incident photon to generated electron- hole pairs. That
pair will be generated in solar cell provided that incident photon has energy greater than that
band gap. Normally electrons and holes produces recombine and lost, but photo generated
electron and holes are spatially separated and prevented from recombination in a solar cell.

Fig shows that light generated electron in p-type region reaches p-n junction it is swept due
to the electric field and reaches the n-type region and it is majority carries the hole light
generated hole reaches p-type region and majority carrier. Due to this positive and
negative charges accumulated on p and n region of the solar cell and can be used as a voltage
sources.
 Curve drowns in fourth quadrant it shows that power delivered is maximum.
Criteria for selection of material for solar cell:-
1) Its band gap should be between 1.0 eV to 1.8 eV.
2) It should have high optical absorption (conversion of light into electrical energy).
3) It should have good electrical conductivity.
4) Material should be easily available.

Use of solar cell:-

These cells are used for charging batteries during day time so that batteries can supply
power during night.
Bipolar Junction Transistor:-
1) A Junction transistor is a semiconductor device having two junctions and three
terminals.
2) The current in a transistor is carried by both the electrons and the holes. Hence it is
called as a bipolar junction transistor.
3) A Transistor has three doped regions which form a structure with two junction
diodes connected back to back .
i) Emitter - it is a thick heavily doped region ii) Base - it is the thin, lightly
doped central region iii) Collector –-it is on the other side of the base. It is
moderately doped region. Its area is larger than that of the emitter and the base.

Types of Transistor:-
There are two types of transistor
a) n-p-n transistor b) p-n-p transistor
a) n-p-n transistor
i) A p-type semiconductor (base ) layer separates two layers of the
n-type semiconductor (emitter) and collector
ii) It is obtained by growing a thin layer of the p-type semiconductor in
between two thick layers of n-type semiconductor.

Circuit symbol of n-p-n BJT

 n-p-n
iii) For n-p-n transistor the direction of conventional current is away from the
base to the emitter.
b) p-n-p transistor:
I. A n-type semiconductor (base) layer seperates two layers of p – type
semiconductor (emitter and base).
II. It is obtained by growing a thin layer of n-type semiconductor in between
two relatively thick layers of p-type semiconductor
III. Structure of p-n-p transistor (BJT)

Circuit symbol of p-n-p transistor (BJT)

p-n-p

IV. The direction arrow indicates the direction of conventional

V. Current in the transistor, it points away from the emitter to the base.
VI. Depletion Regions - There are two depletion regions in the transistor i) at
emitter base junction ii) at the base – collector junction.
VII. Current - the emiiter current IE, the base current IB and the collector current
IC flows through the transistor.
VIII. Resistance - The emitter base junction has a high resistance.

Biasing a transistor: -There are two p-n junctions in a transistor the emitter base (E-B)
junction of the collector - base (C-B) junction. They can be biased in different ways as follows:
F-F biasing: - both junctions are in forward bias
R-R biasing: - both junctions are in reverse bias
F-R biasing: - The emitter base junction is forward biased and collector-base junction is reverse
biased. This is called as F-R biasing of a transistor and it is the most common method of biasing
a transistor. This helps in easy flow of the majority carriers supplied by the emmiter through the
transistor.
Working of a n-p-n transistor:-

1) E-B junction is forward biased and the C-B junction is reverse biased as shown in figure
2) When the biasing voltage VBE is greater than the barrier potential (0.6 to 0.7V for silicon
transistor) many electrons enter the base region and form the emitter current IE as shown
in the fig
3) These electrons can now flow in two directions. They can either flow through the base
circuit and constitute the base current (IB) or they can flow through the collector circuit
and contribute towards the collector current . As the base is thin and lightly doped the
base current is small (5 % IE) more than 95 % emitter injected electrons enter the into the
collector hence IC is much more larger than IB(95 % IE) majority of the electrons injected
into by the emitter into the base are thus collected by the collector circuit.
4) p-n-p transistor works exactly the same way except that the majority charge carriers are
holes.
From the schematic working in the fig we can write
IE = IB + IC , as IB is very small hence IC=IE

Transistor Configuration:-

1) Common Emitter Configuration:

The emitter of the transistor is common to both the input and the output

2) Common Base Configuration:

The base of the transistor is common to both the input and output fig

p-n-p n-p-n
3) Common Collector Configuration:
The collector of the transistor is common to the input and the output.

p-n-p n-p-n

The Common Emitter (CE) Configuration:-

Fig: The common emmiter (CE) configuration

1) In the common emitter or grounded emitter configuration the input signal is applied
between the base and the emitter while the output is obtained between the collector and
the emitter as shown in above figure.
2) In this type of configuration the current flowing out of the transistor must be equal to the
currents flowing int the transistor IE = IC + IB-----------(1)
3) As the load resistance (RL) is connected in series with the collector , the current gain
quite large. The current gain is called the current amplification factor ()
4) The current gain (): It is defined as the ratio of collector current to the base current
βDC=IC / IB---------------(2) i.e IC=βIB;
5) The current gain (αDC) :- It is defined as the ratio of collector current to the emitter
current
αDC = IC/IE-------------(3) IC=αIE

Above eq (4) and (5) give relation between αDC and βDC. For any transistor , αDC close to
1(0.92 to 0.98) and βDC from 20 to 200. For general purpose if βDC =100 then one
electron will flow from the base terminal frequency 100 electrons flowing from emitter to
the collector.
The Common Emitter (CE) characteristic:

Fig: Circuit to study common Emitter (CE) characteristic

The Input Characteristics:-

1) The variation of the base current IB with base emitter voltage VBE is called input
characteristics. To study the input characteristics VCE is kept constant VBE is increased
in small steps and Ib is increased.
2) As we see from the figure initially the current is very small. When the voltage VBE is
more than the barrier potential the characteristic is similar to that of the forward biased
diode.
3) The input dynamic resistance is defined as the ratio of change in the base emitter
voltage and the corresponding change in the base current at a constant collector base
voltage

The Output Characteristics:-

The variation of the collector current IC is with variation in the collector emitter
voltage, when the base current IB is kept constant is called as the output characteristics of a
transistor.

Fig: a) Input characteristics b) Output characteristics

1) Collector current IC is independent of VCE as long as the collector emitter junction is
reverse biased.
2) Collector current IC is large for large values of the base current IB when VCE is
constant
3) The output dynamic resistance of a transistor is defined as the ratio of the change in
the collector emitter voltage VCE and the change in the collector current IC for constant
base current IB.
Ro=
Transistor as an amplifier:-
Amplifier is a device which is used for increasing the amplitude of the alternating signal
(voltage, current or power)
1) For the study of an amplifier a n-p-n transistor in common emitter configuration is used
in the figure
2) A small sinusoidal input signal (Vin) is superimposed on the DC bias as shown in fig.
The small change in the input signal will produce variation in the base current Ib and the
collector current.

Working of an amplifier:-

1) When the input Vi is not applied :

For the output loop, using Kirchhoff’s law
VCC=VCE + VCE + ICRL------------(1)
For the input loop we have
VBB = VBE + IBRB -------------(2)
When some AC signal (Vi= 0) is applied, we can write
VBE + Vi = VBE + IBRB + IB (IB + ri)-----------(3)
The change in VBE can be related as to the input resistance(ri) and change in the base
current IB
Hence using eq. ri = VBE/IB we can write

Vi = IB (RB + ri) = IBri-----------(4)

Because RB is small changes in the base current causes change in collector current
AC current gain βAC = iC/iB

The change in the base current IB cause change in the collector current IC. This
changes the voltage drop across the local resistance because Vcc is constant. We can write

VCC = VCE + ICRL = 0

VCE = -ICRL
The change in the output voltage VCE is the output V0
Hence we can write
V0 = VCE = βACRLIB--------------(5)

Now we can define the voltage gain AV of the amplifier as

AV = V0/Vi = VCE/(riIB) ---------------(6)

The voltage gain is hence given by

 Av = -βACRL/ri, -ve indicates that input voltage are out phase.
βAC is current gain, therefore the power gain Ap as
Ap = βACAV
Transistor can be used to gain power (βAC > 1)

Logic Gates:-
Analogue signal:-Continuously varying signal (voltage or current) are called analog
signal for ex sinusoidal voltage
Digital signal: - A signal (voltage or current) which can have only two discrete values is
called a digital signal. For ex square wave is digital signal

Digital circuit: - An electronic circuit that handles only a digital signal is called a digital
circuit. The branch of electronics which deals with digital circuits is called digital
electronics.

Logic Gates: - A digital circuit with one or more input signals but only one output signal is
called as logic gate.

 It is the switching circuit that follows certain logical relationship between the input
and output voltage they also control the flow of the signal or information.
Therefore they are known as logic gates.
 The output of the logic gate can have only one possible state i.e either a high
voltage(+5V) or low voltage (0V)
 There are five common gates:
1) NOT 2) AND 3) OR 4) NAND 5) NOR

Truth Table: - A truth table shows all possible combinations of the input and corresponding
outputs. It defines the function of a logic gate.

Boolean expression: - The mathematical statement that provides the relationship between the
input and output of a logic gate is called a Boolean expression.

NOT Gate:-

 It is basic logic gate. It has one input and one output. It produces a high output or ‘1’ if
the input is low or ‘0’ When the input is high or ‘1’,the output is low or ‘1’
 It produces a negated version of the input at its output. This is why it is also known as an
inverter
  Boolean equation of NOT Gate is:

 Symbol of NOT Gate :

 Truth Table:

OR Gate:-
 An OR gate has one or more inputs and one output.
 It is also called logical addition.
 The output Y is 1 or high when either input A or input B or both are 1 or high.
 Boolean equation of OR gate is Y=A + B
 Symbol of OR Gate:

Truth Table:-

AND gate:-
 AND gate has two or more inputs and one output. The AND operation represents a
logical multiplication. The output y of AND gate is high or 1 only when input A or input
B are both 1 and high simultaneously.
 Boolean Expression: Y = A . B
 Symbol of AND Gate:

 Truth Table:-
NOR gate:-
 The NOR gate is formed by connecting the out
 Put of an OR gate to the input of a NOT gate.
 The output of NOR gate is exactly opposite to that of OR gate.
 The output y of a NOR gate is high or 1 only when both the inputs are as follows are low
or 0.
 Boolean expression:-

 Symbol:-
 Truth table:-

NAND gate:-
 The NAND gate is formed by connecting the output of an OR gate to the input of an
NOT gate.
 Output of the NAND gate is exactly opposite to that of AND gate.
 The output y of a NAND gate is negation i.e low or 0 when both the inputs are high or 1.
 Boolean expression:-
 Symbol:-

 Truth table:-

Exclusive OR /X-OR gate:-

 The output of an exclusive OR gate goes ‘High’ only when its two input terminals are at
different logic levels with respect to each other. An odd number of high or ‘1’ at its input
gives high or ‘1’ at the output.
 The output is ‘high’ when either of the inputs A or B is high, but not if both A & B are
high
 The Exclusive-OR logic function is very useful in many different types of computational
circuits.
 The ability of Exclusive -OR gate to compare two logic levels and produce an output
value dependent upon the input conditions is very useful in computational logic gates
 Boolean expression:-

 Symbol:-

 Truth table:-