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Semiconductor Devices

Semiconductors are materials with conductivity between conductors and insulators. They are used to manufacture both discrete devices and integrated circuits on semiconductor wafers. Semiconductor behavior can be manipulated through doping, which introduces impurities to control conductivity. Common semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide. Thyristors are semiconductor devices that control electric power by acting as switches with three terminals: anode, cathode, and gate. Bridge rectifiers convert alternating current to direct current using diodes arranged in a bridge circuit configuration.

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80 views19 pages

Semiconductor Devices

Semiconductors are materials with conductivity between conductors and insulators. They are used to manufacture both discrete devices and integrated circuits on semiconductor wafers. Semiconductor behavior can be manipulated through doping, which introduces impurities to control conductivity. Common semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide. Thyristors are semiconductor devices that control electric power by acting as switches with three terminals: anode, cathode, and gate. Bridge rectifiers convert alternating current to direct current using diodes arranged in a bridge circuit configuration.

Uploaded by

Kobby Brine
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICESS

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity
between conductors (generally metals) and nonconductors
or insulators (such as most ceramics). They are used
extensively in electronic circuits and conducts current, but
only partly.
Semiconductors can be compounds such as gallium
arsenide or pure elements, such as germanium or silicon.
Semiconductor devices are manufactured for both
discrete devices and integrated circuits, which consist of
from a few to billions of devices manufactured and
interconnected on a single semiconductor substrate or
wafer.
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Semiconductor materials are useful by their behavior
which can be easily manipulated by the addition of
impurities is known as doping.
Semiconductor conductivity can be controlled by the
electric or magnetic field, by exposure to light or
heat, or by the mechanical deformation of a doped
mono crystalline grid; thus, semiconductors can
make excellent sensors.
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Doping of silicon is done by adding a small amount of
impurity atoms and also for phosphorus or boron,
significantly increases the number of electrons or holes
within the semiconductor.

When a doped semiconductor contains excess holes it


is called “p-type”(positive for holes)semiconductor,
and when it contains some excess of free electrons, it is
known as “n-type”(negative for electrons)
semiconductor, is the sign of charge of the majority
mobile charge carriers. The junctions which formed
where n-type and p-type semiconductors are joined
together is called p–n junction.
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
• Silicon
Silicon (SI) is most widely used material in semiconductor
devices. It’s having lower raw material cost and relatively
simple process. Its useful temperature range makes it
currently the best compromise among the various competing
materials. Silicon used in semiconductor device manufacturing
is presently fabricated into bowls that are large enough in
diameter to allow the manufacture of 300 mm (12 in.) wafers.
• Germanium
Germanium (Ge) was a widely used in early semiconductor
material, but its thermal sensitivity makes less useful than
silicon. Nowadays, germanium is often alloyed with (Si) silicon
for use in very-high-speed SiGe devices; IBM is a main
producer of such devices.
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
• Gallium arsenide
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is also widely used with
high-speed devices, but so far, it has been difficult to
form large-diameter bowls of this material, limiting
the wafer diameter sizes significantly smaller than
silicon wafers thus making mass production of
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) devices significantly more
expensive than silicon.
THYRISTOR
Thyristors are an interesting class of semiconductor
devices. They share similar characteristics with other solid-
state components made from silicon, like diodes and
transistors. It is a four-layer device with alternating P-type
and N-type semiconductors (P-N-P-N).
In its most basic form, a thyristor has three terminals:
anode (positive terminal), cathode (negative terminal),
and gate (control terminal). The gate controls the flow of
current between the anode and cathode.
THYRISTOR
The primary function of a thyristor is to control
electric power and current by acting as a switch. For
such a small and lightweight component, it offers
adequate protection to circuits with large voltages
and currents (up to 6000 V, 4500 A).
THYRISTOR

• It is attractive as a rectifier because it can switch


rapidly from a state of conducting current to a state of
non-conduction.

• In addition, its cost of maintenance is low and,


operating under the right conditions, remains
functional in the long term without developing a fault.
THYRISTOR
• Thyristors are used in a wide range of electric circuits,
from simple burglar alarms to power transmission
lines.

• Thyristor includes many types of switches, some of


them are SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier), GTO (Gate
Turn OFF), and IGBT (Insulated Gate Controlled Bipolar
Transistor) etc. But SCR is the most widely used device
HOW DO THYRISTORS WORK
A thyristor with a P-N-P-N structure has three
junctions: PN, NP, and PN. If the anode is a positive
terminal with respect to the cathode, the outer
junctions, PN and PN are forward-biased, while the
center NP junction is reverse-biased. Therefore, the
NP junction blocks the flow of a positive current from
the anode to cathode.
HOW DO THYRISTORS WORK
The thyristor is said to be in a forward blocking state.
Similarly, the flow of a negative current is blocked by
the outer PN junctions. The thyristor is in a reverse
blocking state.

Another state a thyristor can exist in is the forward


conducting state, whereby it receives a sufficient
signal to switch on, and it starts conducting.
BRIDGE RECTIFIERS
Bridge Rectifiers are circuits that convert alternating
current (AC) into direct current (DC) using diodes arranged
in the bridge circuit configuration. Bridge rectifiers
typically comprise of four or more diodes. The output
wave generated is of the same polarity irrespective of the
polarity at the input.
Bridge Rectifiers are widely used in power supplies that
provide necessary DC voltage for the electronic
components or devices. They can be constructed with
four or more diodes or any other controlled solid-state
switches.
BRIDGE RECTIFIERS
Depending on the load current requirements, a
proper bridge rectifier is selected. Components’
ratings and specifications, breakdown voltage,
temperature ranges, transient current rating, forward
current rating, mounting requirements, and other
considerations are taken into account while selecting
a rectifier power supply for an appropriate electronic
circuit’s application.
TYPES OF BRIDGE RECTIFIERS
Bridge rectifiers are primarily of two types, viz., Single-
Phase Rectifiers and Three-Phase Rectifiers.
The Single phase bridge rectifier consists of four
diodes for converting AC into DC, whereas a three-
phase rectifier uses six diodes as shown in the figure.
These can be uncontrolled or controlled rectifiers
depending on the circuit components such as diodes,
thyristors, and so on.
Smoothing Circuit is a circuit used to remove ripple
from the output of a direct current power supply.

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