Unit I - Part 1

Nautical Electronics
Semiconductors & Diodes

UNIT 1
Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

Assistant Professor, IMU
Introduction
 Electronic devices and circuits deal with the study of mostly
semiconductor devices and their associated concepts.
 Based on the electrical conductivity, the materials in nature are

classified into three types: Conductors, Insulators and
Semiconductors.
 Conductors are those having very good conductivity.

 Insulators are those having very poor conductivity.
 Semiconductors are those having conductivity(resistivity) level

between conductor and insulator.
Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

Contd...
 Properties of Semiconductors:
 Semiconductors have the resistivity which is less than insulators

and more than conductors.
 Semiconductors have negative temperature co-efficient. The

resistance in semiconductors, increases with the decrease in
temperature and vice versa.
 The conducting properties of a Semiconductor changes, when a

suitable metallic impurity is added to it, which is a very important
property.

Energy band structure of materials
 Figure(a) represents the insulator in which the forbidden energy gap is

large. e.g. diamond (Eg=6eV)
 Figure(b) represents the semiconductor in which the forbidden energy gap

is about 1eV.
e.g. For Ge, Eg = 0.785 eV and for Si, Eg = 1.21 eV
 Figure(c) represents the conductor in which there is no forbidden energy

gap.

Semiconductors
 Most of the electronic devices are made from semiconductor materials.
 Semiconductors are of two types: Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors

Contd...
 A pure form of semiconductor is called an intrinsic
semiconductor. e.g. Silicon(Si)and Germanium(Ge).
Other examples: Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Indium
Antimonide (InSb),etc
 But intrinsic semiconductor finds less applications

because of less conduction at room temperature.
 In semiconductor, the conduction is due to both

electrons and holes.

Condcution in Semiconductors

Contd...
 Due to the thermal energy supplied to the crystal, some
electrons tend to move out of their place and break the
covalent bonds.
 These broken covalent bonds, result in free electrons which
wander randomly. But the moved away electrons creates an
empty space or valence behind, which is called as a hole.
 These holes are assumed to be positive charge and moving
ina direction opposite to that of electrons.
 The movement of holes constitute the current in
semiconductor is called hole current.

Seimconductors(Contd…)
 To increase the conductivity of intrinsic semiconductor, doping is done.
The result is extrinsic semiconductor.
 Doping is the process of adding impurity to an intrinsic semiconductor.

The impurities added, are generally pentavalent and trivalent impurities.
 Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types: P-type and N-type.

 Adding pentavalent impurities(donor) such as phosphorous, arsenic and
antimony to get N-type semiconductor. It increases the number of electrons
than that of holes.
 Adding trivalent impurities(acceptor) such as boron or aluminium to get P-

type. It increases the number of holes than that of electrons.

N-Type Semiconductor
Arsenic atom is added to the germanium atom, four of the
valence electrons get attached with the Ge atoms while one
electron remains as a free electron.
In N-type extrinsic semiconductor, as the conduction takes

place through electrons, the electrons are majority carriers
and the holes are minority carriers.
P-Type Extrinsic Semiconductor
 Boron atom is added to the germanium atom, three of the
valence electrons get attached with the Ge atoms, to form
three covalent bonds.
 But, one more electron in germanium remains without
forming any bond. As there is no electron in boron remaining
to form a covalent bond, the space is treated as a hole.
In P-type extrinsic semiconductor, as

the conduction takes place through
holes, the holes are majority carriers
while the electrons are minority
carriers.

Conductivity of Semiconductor
 In an intrinsic semiconductor, the number of electrons is equal to the
number of holes.
 At room temperature, we can find few electrons and holes. They

move in opposite direction in an electric field E.
 Further, electrons move with its mobility μn and holes move with
mobility μp.
 Let the number of electrons be n and number of holes be p

 The total current density in an intrinsic semiconductor is
J = Jn + Jp = qnμnE + qpμp E = σE
where the conductivity, σ = (nμn+pμp)q and q is the charge

Conductivity of Semiconductor(Contd…)
 In case of extrinsic semiconductor,
the conductivity of an N-type semiconductor is is σn
= nμnq
the conductivity of an P-type semiconductor is is σp
= pμpq

Fermi level in semiconductors
 The highest energy level that an electron can occupy at the
absolute zero temperature is known as the Fermi Level.
 Fermi level in intrinsic semiconductor: Fermi level is at the
middle of the forbidden energy gap.
 Fermi level in Extrinsic semiconductor is shown below:

Movement of Fermi level(EF) with Temperature
 In a N-type semiconductor, at very high temperature, more number of

electrons and holes are formed.
 Concentration of thermally generated electrons in the conduction band is far

greater than concentration of donor electrons.
 Hence, number of holes become equal to the number of electrons.
 Semiconductor becomes intrinsic and EF returns to the middle of the

forbidden energy gap.
 Hence it is concluded that as temperature of P-type or N-type semiconductor

increases, EF progressilvely moves towards the middle of the forbidden gap.


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Nautical Electronics

Semiconductors & Diodes

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

 Based on the electrical conductivity, the materials in nature are

 Conductors are those having very good conductivity.

 Semiconductors are those having conductivity(resistivity) level

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

 Semiconductors have the resistivity which is less than insulators

 Semiconductors have negative temperature co-efficient. The

 The conducting properties of a Semiconductor changes, when a

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

 Figure(a) represents the insulator in which the forbidden energy gap is

 Figure(b) represents the semiconductor in which the forbidden energy gap

 Figure(c) represents the conductor in which there is no forbidden energy

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

 Semiconductors are of two types: Intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

 But intrinsic semiconductor finds less applications

 In semiconductor, the conduction is due to both

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

 Doping is the process of adding impurity to an intrinsic semiconductor.

 Extrinsic semiconductors are of two types: P-type and N-type.

 Adding trivalent impurities(acceptor) such as boron or aluminium to get P-

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

In N-type extrinsic semiconductor, as the conduction takes

In P-type extrinsic semiconductor, as

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

 At room temperature, we can find few electrons and holes. They

 Let the number of electrons be n and number of holes be p

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

 In a N-type semiconductor, at very high temperature, more number of

 Concentration of thermally generated electrons in the conduction band is far

 Hence, number of holes become equal to the number of electrons.

 Semiconductor becomes intrinsic and EF returns to the middle of the

 Hence it is concluded that as temperature of P-type or N-type semiconductor

Dr.G.Veera Senthil Kumar,

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