ECE2 Fall 2020

Name:_________________________

ECE 2 Final
(150 points maximum, there are 10 bonus points)
18 December 2020

Name: ______________________ID #___________________

Do not communicate with anyone, by any means during the test and for 24 hours afterward
except the instructor or TA (by Campuswire).
This test is open book, open note, open internet. The only restriction is on communicating
with another person.
You have 3.5 hours to complete the test (including download and upload). (I expect you to
start at a time shortly after 11:15 am (PST) and finish at a time within 3 hours of the start
time leaving enough time to upload.) The time at which you turn in the test will be recorded.
Anything after 2:45 pm will be considered late and will incur a penalty unless there are
extreme extenuating circumstances (which will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis).

Academic Integrity Statement –

I affirm that I have abided by the UCLA student code of conduct during the entire period
of the test and submission (from 11:15 am to 2:45 pm PST, Friday, 18 December).
Specifically, I am affirming section 102.01a: which reads (in part): “failure to observe
the expressed procedures or instructions of an academic exercise (e.g. examination
instructions…) [is considered cheating]”

Signature __________________________________

Read the question and the possible answers before attempting any calculations. Be sure to
write and sign your name on the first page.

Section 1 (80 points) Multiple choice – The multiple-choice part of the exam is on CCLE in
the Finals Week tab. It will open at 11:15 am and stay open from 11:15 am to 2:45 pm.
Please be sure to submit it when you have completed it. It should take less than 1.5 hours.
There is nothing to print out and nothing to upload. There is no partial credit (except that a
few of the questions have a 2nd best answer that gets you about 25% credit). You may want to
have a pad and paper and your calculator handy when you are working the problems.

Section 2 (70 points) Problems – Section 2 will be attached to this cover sheet in a PDF
document and will also be found on CCLE in the Finals Week tab. My preference is that you
print it out and do all of your work on the test pages. When you are finished, upload it as you
would upload homework. If you cannot print, work the problems on blank pages clearly
indicating which part of which problem you are working. Then upload as usual. If you do
work the problems on blank pages do not change the order!
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

Section 2: Problems (70 + 10 points)

Instructions (Please follow the instructions carefully):

You must work problem 1. You can choose either problem 2 or problem 3. The bonus
problem 4 is optional; work it only if you have time.

Show your work. Full credit for the correct answer with work shown. Sensible answers
(correct order of magnitude) get partial credit (Generous partial credit for an incorrect
answer with the correct ideas if clear and brief).

Each of the free response questions is in multiple parts over two pages. There should be
more than enough space for any work. If you do look up quantities on tables or graphs,
that is perfectly acceptable… just indicate that in a short sentence.

Do not leave blanks! Instead, if you are stumped, write down the one equation you think
is most applicable to the problem and one or two sentences of how you would approach
the problem.

Remember to read the problem carefully and provide all the information that is requested
in your answer. You should heed instructions to approximate. Some of the exact
answers would be far too complex and time consuming… don’t waste your time.

A single PDF document with pages in the correct order is the preferred upload format.
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

1) (40 points) p+n diode with step doping- An abrupt p+n silicon diode has the
configuration shown below with doping on the n-side in 2 steps.

a. (5) Given that L1 = 1μm and the semiconductor is in equilibrium, on the axis immediately
below the diode schematic, plot the charge in the space charge (depletion) region. The
vertical scale is logarithmic but has both positive and negative values. The horizontal scale
matches the diode schematic above (one line is at x=0 and the other at x = L1, the end of
the line on the right is L2).

b. (10) On the axis below that, plot the absolute value of the electric field. Indicate with
arrow(s) the direction of the electric field. Label the peak of the electric field E0.
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

c. (10) Write a symbolic expression for V0, the contact potential of the junction, derived from
part b in terms of the peak field E0, the L’s and the given doping values (call them Na, Nd1
and Nd2). Your expression should be as simple as possible and valid to within 5% of the
exact expression for the case you solved in a,b above. (You may ignore any insignificant
terms)

d. (5) Given that V0 = 0.93, find the value of E0 using your symbolic expression in c.

e. (10 pts) Suppose that avalanche breakdown occurs for values of E0 > 3 x 105 V/cm.
At what value of reverse voltage on the junction in this problem will E0 reach the
breakdown threshold (a value of V within 10% gets full credit)?
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

2) (30 pts) Solar Cell - An ideal diode solar cell with an area of 5 cm2 has IV
characteristics as shown under AM1 illumination (100 mW/cm2) at 300K. The
reverse saturation current of the diode (w/o illumination), is I0=10-11 Amps. The open
circuit voltage shown is 0.62V.

a) (5) Estimate an upper bound to the output power of the solar cell (in mW) into an
optimum load (a value to within 30% is ok). Upper bound means that the true
answer is guaranteed to be less than your answer here.

b) (5) Estimate the optimum load resistance RL (full credit for RL within 10% of
optimum… watch the units! 4/5 for RL within 20%).

(continued on next page)

ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

c) (10) Notice the axis on the right-hand side labeled Power (mW). Plot the power of
the solar cell as a function of voltage on the same plot on the previous page. (You
are plotting the power for different values of RL.) Label the right-hand axis with
appropriate numbers. (Use this space for calculation)

d) (5) Calculate the efficiency of the cell.

e) (5) On cloudy days the illumination (irradiance) is reduced to 50 mW/cm2.

Calculate the efficiency of the cell under those conditions but with the same load
resistance as in b).
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

3) (30 pts) Less than ideal silicon diode- The plot below is of an ideal diode. The
actual diode contains series and parallel resistances. Sketch the changes to the ideal
diode characteristic that account for the series and parallel resistances described
below. In the end you should have a solid line that shows diode current for all values
of voltage from 0.1 to 1.5V.

a. (5 pts) The parallel resistance of the diode is 20 MΩ. Sketch this carefully on the plot
above (two points and a smooth curve is sufficient). Label that part “a”

b. (5 pts) The series resistor is composed of a layer of low doped semiconductor with
sheet resistance of 10 Ω/square. The resistor is 10 μm wide and 50 μm long.
Calculate the series resistance.

(continued on next page)

ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

c. (10 pts) Modify the plot above to take into account this value of series resistance (use
this space for any calculations needed). Label that part “c”

d. (5 pts) Write down a model equation for the current in the diode with your parameters
included. The equation can contain I and V on both sides, you don’t need to solve it.

e. (5 pts) If high level injection were present in the diode when the current reached 10
mA, how would the IV characteristic that you drew change (indicate quantitatively
where, in terms of current and voltage, and qualitatively how)?
ECE2 Fall 2020
Name:_________________________

4) (10 bonus points) Regarding the last 2 demo videos posted in Week 10, the ones
where two different LEDs were illuminated by white light, answer the following
questions with one or two sentences at most (some with one or two words). Read all
of the questions first. You don’t need to put any of the specific information asked for
in b-d in answer a.

a) Describe what you saw in the demo (setup, stimulus, measured response)

b) What approximate voltage was measured in the first demo and what color was the
LED?

c) What semiconductor could it have been made of (only one needed)?

d) What approximate voltage was measured in the second demo and what color was
the LED?

e) What semiconductor could it have been made of?

f) Why did the two LEDs have different voltages under illumination?