Basic Electrical & Electronic Engineering (Electronics)

ASSIGNMENT – 1 AY: 2024-25 (II SEM)

3. Construct a PN-Junction diode and explain its working.

Ans: A PN-Junction diode is a type of semiconductor device that consists of two types of materials, p-type
(positive) and n-type (negative), joined together at a junction. The p-type material has an excess of holes (positive
charge carriers), while the n-type material has an excess of electrons (negative charge carriers).

When a p-type and n-type material are joined together, the electrons from the n-type material diffuse into the p-type
material, filling some of the holes. This creates a region around the junction, known as the depletion region, where
there are no charge carriers. The depletion region acts as a "barrier" to the flow of current. When a PN-Junction
diode is forward-biased, meaning that the p-type material is connected to a positive voltage and the n-type material is
connected to a negative voltage, the depletion region is reduced, allowing current to flow through the diode. The
current flows from the p-type material, through the depletion region, and into the n-type material.

When a PN-Junction diode is reverse-biased, meaning that the p-type material is connected to a negative voltage and
the n-type material is connected to a positive voltage, the depletion region is increased, preventing current from
flowing through the diode.

V-I Characteristics of PN Junction Diode

In the current–voltage characteristics of junction diode, from the first quadrant in the figure current in the forward
bias is incredibly low if the input voltage applied to the diode is lower than the threshold voltage (Vr). The threshold
voltage is additionally referred to as cut-in voltage. Once the forward bias input voltage surpasses the cut-in voltage
(0.3 V for germanium diode, 0.6-0.7 V for silicon diode), the current spectacularly increases, as a result the diode
functions as short-circuit. The reverse bias characteristic curve of diode is shown in the fourth quadrant of the figure
above. The current in the reverse bias is low till breakdown is reached and therefore the diode looks like as open
circuit. When the reverse bias input voltage has reached the breakdown voltage, reverse current increases
spectacularly.

The characteristics of a PN-Junction diode include:

- Forward voltage drop: The voltage required to forward-bias the diode, typically around 0.7V for silicon diodes.

- Reverse breakdown voltage: The voltage at which the diode breaks down and allows current to flow in the
reverse direction.

- Current-voltage (I-V) curve: A graph showing the relationship between the current flowing through the diode and
the voltage applied across it.

4. Explain about the evolution of electronics.

Ans: Electronics is the study of flow and control of electrons. Thus, the branch of electronics engineering is to study
the behaviour of an electron when they flow through various materials or devices like resistor, capacitor,
semiconductor devices etc under different conditions of applied electric field. The device which controls the flow of
electrons is called electronic devices.

History of Electronics:

1. Vacuum tube: It is also called as electron tube or valve and it was first developed by John Ambrose Fleming in
1904. The vacuum tube is a tube in which gas is removed and thus vacuum is created. The basic working principle of
vacuum tubes is thermionic emission. When you heat up a metal the thermal energy makes some electrons loose.
The vacuum tube consisted of two electrodes a cathode and an anode placed on either side of the tube. When the
cathode is heated up due to thermionic emission the electrons are loosened and while applying positive voltage to the
anode, these negatively charged electrons (e-) are attracted towards anode. By creating vacuum that is by removing
the gas the path is made clear for the electrons to move from cathode to anode. Thus current is created. It was bulky
and used lot of electrical power and because of the heat produced it reduced the life of tube.

Uses: Vacuum tubes were used in early computers as switch or amplifier.

2. Transistor: Transistor was invented in 1947 by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain while working under William
Shockley at Bell Labs and they were awarded Nobel prize. Transistor is a three terminal semiconductor device used
to amplify or regulates current or voltage flow and acts as a switch or gate for electronic signals like faucet controls
the flow of water. A voltage or current applied to one pair of transistor’s terminals controls the current through
another pair of terminals and it can amplify the signal also. Mostly silicon and germanium is used for manufacturing.
Transistors are smaller in size than vacuum tubes and consume less and generate almost no heat.

Uses: The first application of transistor was in Radios in 1950's

3. Integrated circuits’: Integrated circuits is a set of electronic circuits on one small piece (chip) of semiconductor
material normally silicon. Integrated circuits were first developed on September 12th 1958 by Jack Kilby at Texas
instrument with five integrated components resistors, capacitors, distributed capacitors and transistors. An integrated
circuit can hold transistors, resistors and capacitors. These integrated circuits can perform calculations and store data
using either digital or analog technology.

Uses: IC’s found numerous applications from cars (automotive controls), televisions, computers, microwaves,
portable devices like laptops, MP3, play stations, cameras, cellular phones to ship equipments, aero planes, space
crafts.

Evolution of Integrated Circuit:

SSI- Small Scale Integration (Tens of transistors-1950s)

MSI- Medium Scale Integration (Hundreds of transistors-1960s)

LSI-Large scale integration (Thousands of transistors-1970s)

VLSI- Very Large-Scale integration (Tens of thousands of transistors-1980s)

4. Very Large-Scale integration (VLSI): VLSI began in the 1970s. Before the introduction of VLSI technology
most ICs had a limited set of functions. VLSI involves packing more and more logic devices into smaller and
smaller areas. In other words, it’s the process of combining millions of components into a single chip.
Uses: Used in digital camera, cell phones, computers, automated machines etc. The advantages of VLSI design
are High speed, Low power, physically smaller, Higher reliability, More functionality.