PHY 111

Handout IV
1.3 JUNCTION DIODES, TRANSISTORS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Semiconductor - this is a class of solids whose electrical conductivity lies between a
conductor and an insulator e.g. silicon and germanium (generally group IV elements). At 0
K all its valence electrons are firmly bound to the nucleus; it is an insulator. At room
temperature the covalent bond is broken hence creating charge carriers; (thermal energy
overcomes the energy binding the electrons to the nucleus); it becomes a conductor.
Therefore a semiconductor is a solid which is a conductor at room temperature and an
insulator at 0K.

1.31 P- and N-Semiconductors

When a semiconductor has charge carriers, which are thermally generated, it is called a pure
or intrinsic semiconductor. Mostly these charge carriers are relatively few in number. To
improve the conductivity of silicon, impurities are introduced. The process of introducing
an impurity is called doping. The impurities are atoms from elements in group III or V.
This type of semiconductor is called impure or extrinsic semiconductor.

p-type semiconductors

When silicon is doped with atoms from group III, e.g. Boron. The boron atom has less
electrons in its outer shell and so in bonding with silicon there is a deficiency or missing
electron in the matrix. This missing electron is called a hole. The hole is mobile because it
can be filled by an electron from a neighbouring atom and move about as a positive charge
carrier. Such an tom as boron in silicon which causes a deficiency is called an acceptor
atom. If a semiconductor has a large number of acceptor atoms then it has more holes than
electrons and it is said to be p-type. The semiconductor has excess holes and hence is
positively charged.
n-type semiconductor
When silicon is doped with atoms from group V e.g Arsenic, the semiconductor has excess
electrons as charge carriers, hence negatively charged.
The Arsenic atom has more electrons in its outer shell and so in bonding with silicon there
is an extra electron in the matrix. Such an atom as Arsenic in silicon which provides an
extra electron is called a donor atom. If a semiconductor has a large number of donor atoms
then it has more electrons than holes and it is said to be n-type. The semiconductor has
excess of electrons and hence is negatively charged. Thus in n-type the majority carriers are
electrons.

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1.32 P-N Junction Diodes
A diode is an electrical element that allows current to flow only in one direction. When a p-
type semiconductor is joined to an n-type semiconductor, the electrons from the n-type
move to the p-type semiconductor side and recombine with the holes. The holes disappear
and excessive negative charge appears on this side.

Similarly, an excessive positive charge builds up in the n-semiconductor. Because of the

negative charges on one side and the positive charges on the other the p.d is formed which
opposes further flow of charge, hence forming a barrier or junction and hence forcing
positive and negative polarity.

Junction Diode connected to a battery

When the p-n junction diode is connected as shown, the holes cross over to the n-type and
electrons cross over to the p-type, then an appreciable current flows through the circuit,
hence the diode is foward biased. When the polarities of the battery are reversed, a very
small current flows in the circuit, hence the diode is reverse biased. This time only the
minority (carriers which were thermally generated) negative charges flow from p to n, and
minority positive charges flow from n to p.

The characteristics of the diode can be summarised on the graph below.

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1.33 Rectification
Rectification is the process to convert a.c voltage to d.c voltage. Diodes are mostly used.

Half-wave rectification

During the positive half cycle the diode D is forward biased, so there is a voltage drop
across R. But during the negative half cycle the diode D is reverse biased, there is no
voltage drop across R.

Full-wave rectification
Rectification by centre-tapped secondary

During the positive half-cycle D1 is forward biased and during the negative half-cycle the
diode D2 is forward biased and D1 is reverse biased. The voltage output is as shown in
diagram (ii). The capacitor C helps to filter out the a.c voltage so that we have only the
steady-state d.c as shown in the diagram (iii).

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Bridge Circuit
This is a full wave rectification with diodes networked in a bridge form.

On the positive half-cycle D1 and D3 are forward biased while D2 and D4 are reverse
biased. The current flows through R. During the negative half-cycle D2 and D4 are
forward biased and D1 and D3 are reverse biased. Still current flows through R. Capacitor
C is used for filtering the a.c voltage so that we only remain with steady-state d.c voltage.
1.4 TRANSISTORS
A transistor is a single crystal of semiconducting material doped in such a way that a piece
of p-type material is fixed between two pieces of n-type material, or such that a piece of n-
type material is fixed between two pieces of p-type material. These are called n-p-n or p-n-p
transistors respectively. They can function as an amplifier, switch or oscillator.

Foward and Reverse-bias

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- The Emitter is heavily doped and it emits and ejects electrons across the base.
- The Base is lightly doped and it passes electrons to the collector.
- The Collector collects electrons from the base.
The current in an n-p-n transistor is due mainly to electrons flowing from the emitter to the
collector. The base is much thinner than the emitter and the collector. When a transistor is
in use the base-emitter junction is normally forward-biased and the base-collector junction is
reverse-biased. For n-p-n the base must be positive with respect to the emitter and the
collector must be positive with respect to the base.
When the VEB is greater than the barrier potential, the emitter electrons enter into the base.
Because of the small base and high field in the collector, most of the electrons will cross
over the collector hence very few will flow through the base. Hence the base current will be
small.
n-p-n transistors are most widely used. This is because they can be used for higher
frequencies than the p-n-p types as the main charge carriers are electrons which have greater
mobility than holes.
The transistor above can be compared to two diodes, connected back to back.

For n-p-n

For p-n-p

Note: The voltage to overcome the barrier voltage in the Base-Emitter junction is given as
VBE = 0.6V for silicon
VBE = 0.2V for germanium

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Transistor Connections
Transistors can be connected into circuits in three different ways:

(i) Common emitter connection

(ii) Common base connection

(iii) Common collector connection

The common emitter connection is the most widely used and is the only one that we shall
consider.

Transistor in active mode

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From the diagram and Kirchoff's voltage law,
I e  I b  I c ………………………………………………….(i)
Divide the above equation by Ic
Ie Ib
  1 …………………………………………………………...(ii)
Ic Ic
The relationship between Ib and Ic is called current gain d.c . This is also the static value of
the forwarded current transfer ratio hfE.
I
i.e. h fE   d .c  c ………………………………………………(iii).
Ib
The ratio of Ic to Ie is given by

Ic
 d .c  ……………………………………………………….(iv).
Ie
Usually it is a unity because most electrons flow across the base to the collector.
Substituting (iii) and (iv) in (ii) we get
1 1
 1
 dc  dc
 dc
  dc 
1   dc
Transistor Characteristics: Common emitter circuit

(a) Input Characteristics

VCE is kept constant and the base-emitter voltage VBE is measured at various values of base
current Ib. A typical graph for silicon is shown below:

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Ib is negligibly small until Vbe exceeds about 0.6V and thereafter small changes in Vbe cause
large changes in Ib. The input resistance is
Vbe
ri 
Ib

(b) Output (collector) Characteristics

Ib is kept at a low value, say 10A and Ic is measured as VCE is increased in stages by
varying RC. This is repeated for various values of Ib to give a family of curves as shown
below.

Two of the most important and basic uses of a transistor is as a switch or as an amplifier. As
a switch, the transistor operates before saturation point. It changes over rapidly from the
"off" state in which IC = 0 (cut-off) to the "on" state in which IC is maximum (saturation).
As an amplifier, it operates after the saturation where IC varies linearly with VCE for a given
VCE
Ib. Output resistance ro   very large (10K to 50K).
I C
Note: IC depends on Ib more than depending on VCE.

Typical transistor circuit

C1 - isolates the d.c component in the input signal of the circuit.

C2 - prevents undesirable feedback of the amplified signal to the base-emitter circuit.

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C3 - Isolates the d.c component in the output signal.
RL - produces the output VO
RB - provides the necesary base-bias.

Example
Let RB=1M, VBB=30V, VCC=30V, RE=10K, RC=5K and =100. Calculate Ie, Ic, Ib,
VC, VE and VCE.

Soln
VBB=IBRB+VBE+IERE

But IC/Ib= and IEIC.  = IE/Ib.

IE R 
VBB  RB  VBE  I E RE  I E  B  RE   VBE
   
 V  VBE 30  0.6
I E  BB   1.5mA
RB 1  106
 RE  10  10 3
 102
VCC  VC  I C RL
 VC  VCC  I C RL  30  1.5  10 3  5  103  30  7.5  22.5V
VC  VCE  VE
VE  I E RE
 VCE  VC  VE  22.5  15  7.5V
IC 1.5  103
IB    15A
 102.

Homework 4
1. The diagram below shows a possible voltage amplifier.
Given that for the transistor while in operation VCC=10V, VCE=0.5VCC, VBE=0.5V,
IC=3mA, the current gain =200. Calculate R1, Ib and R2.

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2. Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic conduction in semiconductors. Explain
the terms donor impurity and acceptor impurity. Explain the effect of an increase of
temperature on intrinsic conduction. How does this differ from the effect of an
increase in temperature on a metallic conductor?
3. Give an account of the mechanism of the flow of electric current in the n-type and p-
type semiconductors. Explain the process by which a current is carried by the doped
material. Describe the structure of a solid-state diode. Draw a circuit diagram
showing a reverse-biased diode and explain why very little current will flow.

1.5 CATHODE RAY OSCILLOSCOPE (CRO)

A CRO is an instrument for plotting one varying physical quantity - p.d, sound, pressure,
heart beat - against current, displacement or time. The following are the main parts of the
CRO

(a) Electron gun

The gun comprises an indirectly heated cathode C, a grid G, and the two anodes A1 and
A2. G has a negative voltage with respect to C, and controls the number of electrons
reaching A from C. The brightness of the screen S, is controlled by controlling the voltage
on G; i.e. if the voltage is made less negative, then the brightness increases. The anodes
have positive potential relative to C. They accelerate the electrons to a high speed down the
tube (A2=1000V, A1=200 to 300V and G is between -50V to zero).

(b) Deflecting system

The beam from A2 passes first between a pair of Y-plates and X-plates, which deflect the
beam vertically and horizontally respectively.

(c) Fluorescent Screen

The screen S is coated with a phosphor such as zinc sulphide, which produces light or
fluorescence when struck with fast moving electrons.

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(d) Time base
When the voltage is applied to the Y-plates, the electron beam is deflected to the vertical.
To trace the wave-form of the voltage applied to the Y-plates, the X-plates are used to
provide the time-axis.

Uses of the CRO

1. Measures a.c and d.c voltages
2. Measures frequencies
3. Measures phase differences
4. Measures small time differences.

Homework 5
1. Two signals of identical voltage, amplitude and frequency, but different phase are fed to
a cathode ray oscilloscope, one to the X-plates and one to the Y-plates. Sketch and
briefly explain what form of trace you would get if the phase difference was
(i) zero
(ii) 900
(iii) 1800
2. (a) Draw a labelled diagram of a cathode ray tube showing to which of the electrodes
the following controls would be connected: brilliance, focus, X and Y shifts, time
base.
(b) Explain how you would use an oscilloscope to measure an alternating p.d of the
order of 10V peak-to-peak.

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