G. D.

GOENKA PUBLIC SCHOOL, DWARKA

CLASS XII
SEMICONDUCTORS

Syllabus : Energy bands in conductors, semiconductors and insulators (qualitative ideas only)
Semiconductor diode - I-V characteristics in forward and reverse bias, diode as a rectifier;

Classification of solids

Resistivity ρ(Ωm) Conductivity σ(Sm–1)

Metals 10–2 – 10–8 102 – 108
Semiconductors 10–5 – 106 10–6 – 105
Insulators 1011 – 1019 10–19 – 10–11

Semiconductors:
(i) Elemental semiconductors: Si and Ge
(ii) Compound semiconductors: Examples are:
• Inorganic: CdS, GaAs, CdSe, InP, etc.
• Organic: anthracene, doped pthalocyanines, etc.
• Organic polymers: polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.
Solids can further be divided in terms of energy bands:
When the atoms come together to form a solid, they are close to each other. So the outer orbits of electrons
from neighbouring atoms would come very close or could even overlap. This would make the nature of
electron motion in a solid very different from that in an
isolated atom. Thus, in a crystal due to inter-atomic
interaction valence electrons of one atom are shared by
more than one atom in the crystal. Now splitting of energy
levels takes place. The collection of these closely spaced
energy levels with continuous energy variation is called
an energy band.
Valence Band The energy band which includes the energy levels of the valence electrons is called the
valence band. This band may be partially or completely filled with electrons but never be empty. The
electrons in this band are not capable of taking part in conduction of current.
Conduction Band This band lies above valence band. This band is either empty or partially filled with
electrons. Electrons present in this band take part in the conduction of current.
Forbidden Band This band is completely empty. The minimum energy required to shift an electron from
valence band to conduction band is called band gap (Eg).

Metals Semi-conductors Insulators

When the conduction band is Here a finite but small band gap A large band gap Eg exists
partially filled and the valance band (Eg < 3eV) exists and at room (Eg>3eV) between the
is partially empty or when the temperature some electrons from conduction and valence
conduction and valance bands valence band can acquire enough band. There are no electrons
overlap. When there is overlap energy to cross the energy gap in the conduction band, and
electrons from valence band can and enter the conduction band. therefore
easily move into the conduction These electrons (though small in no electrical conduction is
band making large number of numbers) can move in the CB. possible. Electrons cannot be
electrons available for electrical Hence, the resistance of excited from the VB to the CB
conduction. Thus, the resistance of semiconductors is not as high as by thermal excitation.
metals is low or the conductivity is that of the insulators.
high.
Types of Semiconductor
(i) Intrinsic Semiconductor: A semiconductor in its pure state is called intrinsic semiconductor.
(a) An intrinsic semiconductor at T = 0 K behaves like insulator.
(b) At T > 0 K, some electrons jump from VB to CB.

(ii) Extrinsic Semiconductor: A semiconductor doped with suitable impurity to increase its conductivity.
On the basis of doped impurity extrinsic semiconductors are of two types
(i) n- type Semiconductor : Extrinsic semiconductor doped with pentavalent impurity like As, Sb, Bi, etc in
which negatively charged electrons works as charge carrier, is called n type semiconductor.

Every pentavalent impurity atom donate one electron in the crystal, therefore it is called a donor atom. the
donor energy level ED is slightly below the bottom EC of the conduction band and electrons from this level
move into the conduction band with very small supply of energy. At room temperature, most of the donor
atoms get ionised but very few (~10–12) atoms of Si get ionised. So, the conduction band will have most
electrons coming from the donor impurities.

(ii) p -type Semiconductor: Extrinsic semiconductor doped with trivalent impurity like Al, B, etc, in which
positively charged holes works as charge carriers, is called p -type semiconductor.
Every trivalent impurity atom has a tendency to accept one electron, therefore it is called an acceptor atom.
The acceptor energy level EA is slightly above the top EV of the valence band. With very small supply of
energy an electron from the valence band can jump to the level EA and ionise the acceptor negatively.
At room temperature, most of the acceptor atoms get ionised leaving holes in the valence band.

In a doped semiconductor at thermal equilibrium nenh = ni 2

where ne and nh are the number density of electrons and holes and ni is number density of intrinsic carriers,
i.e., electrons or holes.

In n -type semiconductor, ne >> nh

In p - type semiconductor, ne << nh
1
Electrical conductivity of extrinsic semiconductor is given by σ = = e (ne μe + nh μh ), where ρ is resistivity, μe
ρ

and μh are mobility of electrons and holes.

Energy gap for Ge is 0.72 eV and for Si it is 1.1 eV.

Formation of p-n JUNCTION

Two important processes occur during the formation of a p-n junction: diffusion and drift.
In n-type semiconductor, the concentration of electrons is more compared to the concentration of holes.
Similarly, in a p-type semiconductor, the concentration of holes is more than the concentration of electrons.
Due to the concentration gradient across p-, and n- sides, holes diffuse from p-side to n-side (p →n) leaving
behind an ionised acceptor on p-side and electrons diffuse from n-side to p-side (n → p) leaving behind an
ionised donor on n-side. This motion of charge carries gives rise to diffusion current across the junction.
The ionised donor (positive charge) and the ionised acceptor (negative charge) are immobile as they are
bonded to the surrounding atoms. Thus a layer of positive charge on n-side and a layer of negative charge
on p-side of the junction is developed.
This space-charge region on either side of the junction together is known as depletion region as the
electrons and holes taking part in the initial movement across the junction depleted the region of its free
charges. The width of this region is of the order of 10-5m.
Further due to the positive space-charge region on n-side of the junction and negative space charge region
on p-side of the junction, an electric field directed from positive charge towards negative charge develops.
Due to this field, an electron on p-side of the junction moves to n-side and a hole on n-side of the junction
moves to p-side. The motion of charge carriers due to the electric field is called drift. Thus a drift current,
which is opposite in direction to the diffusion current starts.
As the diffusion process continues, the space-charge regions on either side of the junction extend, thus
increasing the electric field strength and hence drift current. This process continues until the diffusion current
equals the drift current. Thus a p-n junction is formed. In a p-n junction under equilibrium there is no net
current. The potential difference across the depletion layer is called potential barrier.
Barrier potential for Ge is 0.3 V and for Si is 0.7 V.

A semiconductor diode is a p-n junction with metallic contacts provided at the ends for the application of an
external voltage. It is a two terminal device.

Symbol:

p-n junction diode under forward bias

Barrier potential
In this biasing, the p-side is connected to positive terminal and n-side to (1) without battery,
(2) Low battery voltage, and
negative terminal of a battery. In this biasing, forward current flows due to (3) High voltage battery.

majority charge carriers. The width of depletion layer decreases.

If Vo is the value of potential barrier with no biasing, then when applied voltage V>Vo, the diode starts
conducting. The current first increases very slowly, almost negligibly, till the voltage across the diode crosses
Vo, known as threshold voltage or cut-in voltage. After this, the diode current increases significantly
(exponentially), even for a very small increase in the diode bias voltage.
In forward bias, electrons from n-side diffuses to p-side where they are minority carriers (and holes from p-
side to n-side). This process is known as 'minority carrier injection'.

p-n junction diode under reverse bias

In this biasing, the p-side is connected to negative terminal and n-side to positive terminal of a battery.
In this biasing, reverse current flows due to minority charge carriers. The width of depletion layer increases.
The current under reverse bias is essentially voltage independent upto a critical reverse bias voltage,
known as breakdown voltage (Vbr ). When V = Vbr, the diode reverse current increases sharply as a large
number of covalent bonds break, resulting in the increase of large number of charge carriers. Hence, current
increases at breakdown voltage.
Even a slight increase in the bias voltage causes large change in the current.

V-I characteristic curve of a diode

The forward bias resistance is low as compared to the reverse bias resistance.

For diodes, a quantity called dynamic resistance is defined as the ratio of small change in voltage ΔV to a
small change in current ΔI.
JUNCTION DIODE AS A RECTIFIER
A device which convert alternating current or voltage into direct current or voltage is known as rectifier. The
process of converting AC into DC is called rectification.

Half-Wave Rectifier

A half-wave rectifier converts the half cycle of applied AC signal into DC signal.
During the positive half-cycle of ac let point A is positive and B is negative.
Thus the diode is forward biased.
There is a current through the load resistor RL and we get an output voltage.
Whereas there is no current in the negative half cycle as the diode is reverse biased.
In the next positive half-cycle, again we get the output voltage.
Thus rectified output of this circuit is only for half of the input ac wave it is called as half-wave rectifier.

Full -Wave Rectifier

This circuit uses two diodes, and thus gives rectified output voltage corresponding to both the positive
as well as negative half of the ac cycle.
The secondary of the transformer is provided with a centre tapping and so it is called centre-tap transformer.
Suppose the input voltage to A with respect to the centre tap at any instant is positive. Then the voltage at B
being out of phase will be negative. So, diode D1 gets forward biased and conducts while D2 being reverse
biased is not conducting.
Hence, during this positive half cycle we get an output current and an output voltage across the RL. In the
next half cycle, voltage at A becomes negative and the voltage at B would be positive. In this part of the
cycle diode D1 would not conduct but diode D2 would, giving an output current and output voltage across RL
during the negative half cycle of the input ac.
Thus, we get output voltage during both the positive as well as the negative half of the cycle.

To get steady dc output from the pulsating voltage from the full wave rectifier, normally a capacitor is
connected across the output terminals (parallel to the load RL) or an inductor in series with RL.
These additional circuits filter out the ac ripple and give a pure dc voltage and are called filters.
When the voltage across the capacitor is rising, it gets charged. When there is a load, it gets discharged
through the load and the voltage across it begins to fall. Thus the output remains near the peak value
till the next half cycle. In the next half-cycle of rectified output it again gets charged to the peak value.
The rate of fall of the voltage across the capacitor depends upon the inverse product of capacitor C and
the effective resistance RL used in the circuit and is called the time constant.