Recap of Atomic Structure


Most fundamental unit of matter is atom with Nucleus as central body.

Nucleus has two types of sub-particles called Protons & Neutrons.

Third type of particles in atoms are called Electrons.

Electrons are negatively charged particles and orbit around the nucleus.

Protons are positively charged particles while Neutrons are electrically
neutral. Number of protons give the Atomic number (Proton Number)

An electron has same amount of charge as Proton, but opposite in
polarity.

An atom has equal number of electrons and protons.

Protons and neutrons have almost same mass. Almost the entire mass of
the atom is concentrated in the nucleus.

Proton is 1850 times heavier than the electron. Number of protons +
neutrons = Mass Number (Atomic Mass Number)

There is no difference in electrons, protons and neutrons of different
materials, difference lies in number and arrangement of these particles.
 Recap of Atomic Structure

Atomic Number: Number of protons in an atom

Orbits / Shells: Electrons in an atom are arranged around the
nucleus in different orbits/shells.
Max Number of electrons in an orbit/shell → 2n2
Max Number of electrons in 1st orbit:

2 Max Number of electrons in 2nd orbit:

8 Max Number of electrons in 3rd orbit:

18 Max Number of electrons in 4th orbit:

32
 Recap of Atomic Structure

Classical Mechannics model of electron's motion is akin to planetary
model i.e. Electrons rotating in a circular/ elliptical orbit around the
nucleus. Since accelerated charges radiate energy in accordance with
classical laws of electromagnetism, an electron must radiate energy
resulting in fall of its total energy by the amount of emitted energy.
Consequently, the radius of the electron's orbit must decrease continually
leading to its fall in to the nucleus. Since, the frequency of radiation
depends upon the size of the circular orbit, energy radiated would have a
frequency that is gradually changing. This conclusion is incompatible with
the sharply defined frequencies of spectral lines.

Bohr Model of atom resolves above mentioned incompatibility with
following postulations:-
Atom possess discrete energy states as against all energies expressed
by classical mechanics. At discrete energy states, electron does not emit
energy and is said to be in stationary or nonradiating state.
Radiation is emitted only when the electron transitions from one
stationary state corresponding to one energy state (W2) to another one
(W1). Freq of radiation = (W2-W1)/h where h is planck's constant.
 Recap of Atomic

Structure
Atomic Energy Levels: For Bohr Atom, for
each integral value of n, shown against each
horizontal line in the diagram represents an
energy-level expressed in electron-volts. At
individual atom level, horizontal axis has no
significance. But when interatomic distance
reduces, the X-axis represents the separation
of atoms within a crystal. In such cases, the
energy levels are not constant, but rather are
functions of inter-atomic distance x.
 As the electron is given more and more energy,
it moves into stationary states with higher
energy levels that are farther and farther away
from nucleus.

When energy is large enough, electron moves
out of the field of influence of the ion and
becomes detached from it. Energy required for
this process to occur is called the Ionization
potential, which the highest energy state in
the energy diagram; 13.6eV for hydrogen.
 Recap of Atomic Structure

Schrodenger explained the wave nature of electron as part of
Quantum Mechanics, where in four quantum numbers are defined to
express the total energy, orbital angular moementum, the component of
this angular momentum along a fixed axis in space and the electron
spin. These four quantum numbers are:
Principal Quantum number “n” is an integer 1,2,3,.... which
determines the total energy associated with a particular state. This
quantum number define sthe size of classical elleiptical orbit and is
same as the quantum number n of Bohr atom.
Orbital Angular Quantum Number 'l' – it takes on value 0,1,2,...
(n-
1) and expresses the shape of the classical orbit.
Orbital Quantim Number mi : +1, +2,.....,+l gives the orientation of
the orbit with respect to the applied magnetic field.
Electron Spin ms : In addition to traversing around the nucleus, an
electin must spin around itself. Spin quantum number ms has two
pssible values +1/2 or -1/2.
 Recap of Atomic Structure
Pauli's Exclsuion Principle states that no two electrons in an electronic
system can have the same set of quantum numbers n, l, mi and ms.
Electronic Shells:
All the electrons in an atom with same value of 'n' belong to the same shell
identified as K, L, M,N ....corresponding to n=1,2,3,4...... respectively.
A shell is divisible in to subshells corresponding to different values of 'l' and
are identified as s, p, d, f... corresponding to l = 0,1, 2, 3,...respectively
As per Pauli's exclsuion principle, the distribution of electrons in an atom
among the shells and subshells is indicated in the table below:-
 Recap of Atomic Structure
 There are two states for n=1 corresponding to l=0, ml=0 and ms =+1/2.
These are called 1s states

There are two states for n=2 corresponding to l =0, ml=0 and ms =+1/2.
These constitute 2s subshell. In addition, there are six energy levels
corresponding to n=2, l =1, m l = 0 or +1 and ms =+1/2. These are
designated as 2p subshell.Hence, total number of electrons in the L shell
is 2 +6 =8.

Similarly, a 'd' subshell contains a maximum number of 10 electrons, an
'f' subshell contains maximum of 14 electrons.
 Recap of Atomic
 Atomic number ZStructure
gives the number of electrons orbiting the nucleus. Atomic
number of Na (Sodium) is 11, thus it has 2 electrons in first orbit and 8
electrons in 2nd orbit and 1 electron in 3rd orbit.

Electronic configuration of Na is designated as 1s2 2s22p6 3s1. Thus, Na has
single electron in outermost unfilled subshell and is said to be monovalent.

This property is possessed by all the alkali metals (Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs).
This is the reason for these elements to be in the same group in the periodic
table and have similar property.

Inner-shell electrons are very strongly bound to the atom and cannot be
easily removed. Electrons closest to the nucleus are the most tightly bound
and thus have the lowest enrgy.

Atoms for which the electrons exist in closed shells form stable
configurations. Inert gases He, Ne, A, Kr and Xe have either completely
filled shells or atleasr have completely filled subshells.

Electronic Configuration of Group-IV Elements:
 Energy Band Theory of Crystals
 Electronic energy levels in a single
free atom are unaffected as other
atoms are far apart to have impact
on one another.

Most elements are crystalline in
structure comprising of array of
atoms with regular repitition in three
dimensional space. Thus in a
crystalline structure, neighbouring
atoms affect the energy levels of the
outer shell electrons, while the inner-
shell energy levels remain largely
unaffected.

Energy levels of the outer
electrons of atoms in a crystalline
structure get spread out in a band of
closely spaced energy states.
 Energy Band Theory of Crystals
 In a crystal of 'N' atoms (of
C/Si/Ge/Sn), the energy levels
resemble that of an isolated atom if
the atoms are assumed to be far
apart from each other to have an
impact on energy levels of outer
shell electrons.

The outer two subshells will contain
two 's' electrons and two 'p'
electrons. Ignoring inner-shell levels,
there are 2N electrons completely
filling the 2N possible 's' levels (refer
adjacent figure), all at the same
energy. The 'p' atomic subshell has
6 possible states, and in a crystal of
N atoms, 6N possible 'p' states only
1/3rd will be filled.
 Energy Band Theory of Crystals

As interatomic distance decreases, an
atom will exert an electric force on its
neighbors. Because of this coupling
between atoms, the atomic wave function
overlap and the crystal becomes an
electronic system which obeys Pauli
exclusion principle.
 Thus 2N s states spread out in energy with
very small separation level. As 'N' is very
large (~1023 cm-3), the total spread
between the minimum and maximum
energy level may be several electron volts.
Large number of closely spaced discrete
energy lavels form an Energy Band (lower
shaded region). The 2N states in this band
are completely filled with 2N electrons.

Similarly, the upper shaded region is a
band of 6N states with 2N of which are
occupied by electrons.
 Energy Band Theory of Crystals

There is an energy gap (a forbidden
band) between the two bands.

This gap decreases as the atomic
spacing decreases. For small enough
distances, these bands will overlap.
Under such conditions, the 6N upper
states merge with the 2N lower states,
giving total 8N levels, half of which
are occupied by 2N + 2N = 4N
available electrons.

At this spacing, each atom has given up
4 electrons to the band; these electrons
are no longer in 's' or 'p' subshells of an
isolated atom, but rather belong to the
whole crystal and the element is said to
be tetravalent and this band occupied
by the four electrons is called Valence
Band.
 Energy Band Theory of Crystals
 If the spacing between the atoms is
decreased below the distance at which
the bands overlap the interaction
between the atoms becomes very large.
 The energy band structure then
depends upon the orientation of atoms
relative to another in space and upon
the atomic number which determines
the electrical constitution of each atom.
At this situation, the energy-band
diagram is as shown in the figure.
 At the crystal-lattice spacing, the
valence band filled with 4N electrons is
separated by a forbidden band (no
allowed energy states) of extent Eg from
an empty upper band consisting of 4N
additional states. The upper vacant
band is called Conduction band.
 Electron Energy Levels
 Each isolated atom has a certain number of orbits for its electrons.
These orbits represent energy levels for the electrons. Generally
represented in integral multiples of E=h.ν; where h is planck's constant.

Only discrete values of electron energy levels are possible, such as
n=1,2,3... in increasing order of energy. Unit of energy level is eV.

1eV energy is the amount of energy required by an electron to move
through a potential difference of 1 Volt. 1EV = 1.6 X 10-19Joules.

1
 Electron Energy Levels

Electrons orbiting closer to nucleus are tightly bound and possess
less energy. Electrons in higher orbits have greater energy and hence
can be easily knocked out of their orbit.

Valence electrons (in outermost shell) have max energy and take
active part in chemical reactions and in bonding of atoms.

Energy of electrons can be increased by heat, light or radiation.
Consequently, electrons lift to higher energy levels and then atoms
are said to be excited.

When electrons fall back to their original energy state, they give out
energy.
 Energy Bands

Atoms bond together to form solids.

In solids, orbit of an electron is affected by the nuclei and electrons of
other atoms.
 Since each electron occupies a different position in the solid, no two
electrons see exactly the same pattern of surrounding charge.
Consequently, these electrons have different energy states.

Simple energy-level configuration changes to energy-band due to
clustering of electrons with very slight change in energy at each orbit.
N

1
 Silicon



Atom
Atomic Number of Silicon: 14
st
It has 2, 8 & 4 electrons in 1 nd
,2 &3 rd
Energy
 shells.
3rdshell/band is the Valence Band

All 3 bands of Silicon are filled, but 3rd band Conduction Band
has 4 electrons & can take 4 more electrons. EG Energy Gap

Atoms in solid Silicon share 4 electrons with Valence Band
(3rd Band)
four neighboring atoms by forming covalent
2nd Band
bond to achieve the stable state and by doing
so all permissible energy levels are filled. 1st Band


If all energy levels are occupied by the available electrons, then there are
no free electrons available to contribute to flow of current.
 An electron from valence band can jump to conduction band if supplied
with energy > EG. (For Si EG =1.12eV and Ge EG = 0.72eV). This band is
called Forbidden Energy Gap.

Free electrons in conduction band experience negligible nuclear
attraction and are free to roam randomly throughout the solid.
 Energy Band Structure
Insulator, Semiconductor & Metal

Free electrons in conduction band, under an electric field, act as charge
carriers from one point to another. A material can conduct electricity, if it
has movable charge carriers.

A metal (Cu or Ag) has large number of free electrons at room temp
and there is no forbidden energy gap due overlapping of valence and
conduction bands. Valence band electrons can easily become free
electrons without supply of extra energy for flow of electric current. This is
why metals are good conductors.
 Energy Band Structure
Insulator, Semiconductor & Metal

An Insulating Materials have large forbidden gap (> 5 eV). Due to this
valence band electrons cannot jump to conduction band except at very high
temperature or voltage. This is why insulators are bad conductors.

For Semiconductors, forbidden energy gap is not too wide (0.72 eV for
Ge and 1.12 eV for Si). Additional energy at room temp is sufficient to lift
electrons from valence band to conduction band. Therefore at room temp,
semiconductors are capable of conducting some electric current.
 Energy Band Structure
Insulator, Semiconductor & Metal

An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb more energy than
one in the valence band of germanium to become a free carrier.

Similarly an electron in the valence band of gallium arsenide must gain
more energy than one in silicon or germanium to enter the conduction
band.

The difference in energy gap requirements reveals the sensitivity of each
type of semiconductor to changes in temperature.
 Energy Band Structure
Insulator, Semiconductor & Metal

Energy gap between the valence and conduction band is expressed in eV
(electron-Volt).
 Unit of measure is derived from an expression for W(energy) = QV. It
expresses the amount of work done to move an electron through a potential
of 1 volt. W = QV = (1.6 X10-19 C) . (1 V) = 1.6 X 10-19 Joules
1 eV = 1.6 X 10-19
Joules
 Classification of Materials based on their
Electrical Conductivity

Metals - high electrical conductivity (~1028 electrons/cubic m).
Example – Silver, Copper, Aluminum

Insulators - least electrical conductivity (~107 electrons/cubic m).
Example - Diamond (carbon), Porcelain, glass, quartz

Semiconductors – Materials that have electrical conductivity in between
conductors and insulators. Examples: Germanium, Silicon
• Semiconductors are neither good conductors nor good insulators
• At room temperature, their electrical conductivity is lower than good
conductors but better than insulators.
• At higher temperature, semiconductors have better conductivity
contrary to conductors whose conductivity decreases.
• Alternatively, resistivity of semiconductors decreases at higher
temperature i.e. they have negative temperature coefficient of
resistance.
• Conductivity of semiconductors can be altered by a large extent by
adding impurities of certain materials.
Resistivity of Materials (at Room Temperature)
Resistivity of Materials (at Room Temperature)
CAS – Chemical Abstract Service IUPAC- International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
 Recap of Atomic Structure

Hydrogen (1 proton/no neutron)

Aluminum (13protons/14 neutrons)

Silicon ((14p/ 14n)

Phosphorus (15p/16n)

Germanium (32p/41n)

Group III (13) IV (14) V

(15)
B (5)-(2,3) C (6)-(2,4)
Al (13)-(2,8,3) Si (14)-(2,8,4) P (15)-(2,8,5)
Ga (31)-(2,8,18,3) Ge (32)-(2,8,18,4) As (33)-(2,8,18,5)
In (49)-(2,8,18,18, 3) Sb (51)-(2,8,18,18,5)
Atomic Structure of Si, Ge,Ga &
As
 Covalent Bonding & Intrinsic Materials

Silicon has 14 orbiting electrons, germanium has 32 electrons, gallium
has 31 electrons, and arsenic has 33 orbiting electrons.

For germanium and silicon there are four electrons in the outermost shell,
which are referred to as valence electrons .
Gallium has three valence electrons.
Arsenic has five valence electrons.
Atoms that have four valence electrons are called tetravalent .
Atoms with three valence electrons are called trivalent.
Atoms with three valence electrons are called pentavalent .
 Term Valence indicates that the potential (ionization potential) required to
remove any one of these electrons from the atomic structure is much lower
than that required for any other electron in the structure.
 Covalent Bonding & Intrinsic Materials

Bonding of atoms, by the sharing of
electrons, is called Covalent Bonding.
 In a pure silicon or germanium crystal the
four valence electrons of one atom form a
bonding arrangement with four adjoining
atoms, as shown.
 GaAs is a Compound Semiconductor - in
this there is sharing of electrons between
the two different atoms, as shown.
 Each atom of gallium or arsenic, is
surrounded by atoms of the
complementary type. There is sharing of
electrons similar in structure to that of Ge
and Si, five electrons are provided by
the As atom and three by the Ga atom
 Covalent Bonding & Intrinsic Materials

Covalent bonds have stronger bond between the valence electrons and their
parent atom. Valence electrons can absorb sufficient kinetic energy from
external natural causes (heat or light) to break the covalent bond to
assume the “free” state. Electrons in free State are sensitive to applied
electric fields.

At room temperature, there are approximately 1.5 X 10 10 free carriers per
cubic cm (cm3) of intrinsic silicon material. Free carriers in an intrinsic
material, created due to external causes, are referred to as intrinsic carriers.

Table below presents the number of intrinsic carriers per cm 3 (ni ) for Ge,
Si, and GaAs. Ge has the highest number and GaAs the lowest. Ge has
more than twice the number as GaAs.
 Mobility of Free Carriers in Intrinsic
Materials

Besides the number of carriers in the intrinsic material, relative mobility
of the carrier is a very important performance factor.
 Relative mobility (μn ) refers to the ability of the free carriers to move
throughout the material.

Table below presents the mobility of free carriers in different materials.
Mobility affects the response time of an electronic device. Example:
Mobility of free carriers in Ge is double than that of Si, this justifies use of
Ge in high-speed radio frequency applications.
 Intrinsic Materials

A semiconductor is “Intrinsic” in nature if it has been refined to
reduce the number of impurities to an extremely low level.
Impurity levels of 1 part in 10 billion are achievable.

 High level of purity is necessary as addition of one part of impurity

(of proper type) per million in a silicon wafer can change the intrinsic
material from a relatively poor conductor to a good conductor of
electricity.


The process of introducing impurities in semiconductors to change
their electrical characteristics is called Doping.

.
 Impact of Application of Heat on
Semiconductors and Conductors
Conductors:

The resistance increases with increase in heat, because the
numbers of carriers in a conductor do not increase significantly with
temperature, but their vibration pattern about a relatively fixed location
makes it increasingly difficult for a sustained flow of carriers through
the material.

Such materials have a positive temperature coefficient.
Semiconductors:
 They exhibit increased level of conductivity with increase of
temperature because number of valence electrons increase as a result
of breaking down of covalent bonds due absorption of sufficient thermal
energy.

Such materials have a negative temperature coefficient.
 Types of Semiconductors

A perfect semiconductor material with no
impurities or lattice defects is called an
Intrinsic Semi-conductor. Practically, the
impurity should be less than 1 part in 100
million parts of semiconductor for it to qualify
as intrinsic semiconductor.

Semiconductors such as Si and Ge have 4
electrons (tetravalent) in the outermost shell.
 In crystal structure of these material, atoms ar e
arranged in tetrahedron structure with one
atom at each vertex.

Each atom contributes 4 valence electrons to
the crystal; each atom shares one electron
each from its 4 neighbors, thus forming
covalent bonds.

Because of covalent bonding, electrons are
tightly bound to the crystal – and are not
available for conduction.
 Intrinsic Semiconductors
At T= 0 deg Kelvin At T> 0 deg Kelvin
- Valence band is filled with electrons. - Electron-Hole pairs are generated
- Conduction band is empty. No Charge - Electron-Hole pairs are the only
Carriers.
charge carriers in intrinsic materials
- Perfect Insulator at absolute zero temp
Since electrons and holes are created
in pairs – the electron concentration
in conduction band, n electrons/cubic
cm, is equal to concentration of holes
in valence band, p holes/cubic cm.
Each of these intrinsic carrier
concentration is denoted by ni

Thus for intrinsic materials

n = p = ni

Electron-hole pairs in covalent bonding

model in Si crystal
 Electron-Hole Current in in Intrinsic
Semiconductors
In Conductors: Electrons cause currents (unipolar charge movement).
In Semiconductors: Current is caused by electrons and holes (bipolar
charge carriers). Electrons cause electron current and holes cause
hole current

Conduction Band Electron flow

Valence Band

Electron Hole Flow

hole
 Conduction in Intrinsic Semiconductors

Random motion of electrons gets
modified when a battery is
connected across a semiconductor.
Holes move towards -ve terminal
and electrons towards +ve terminal
resulting in net movement called
drift.
 Holes and electrons move in
opposite direction, resulting current
is additive and is called drift
current I = Ih + Ie

Effect of Temperature on
Conduction:
In an intrinsic Ge,
concentration of free
electrons/holes at room temperature
(300 deg K) is
2.5 X 1019 per m3, which results in very low conductivity. Increase in
temperature raises electron-hole pair generation.
 Extrinsic Semiconductors

Intrinsic (pure) semiconductor is of little use.
 Pure (intrinsic) semi-conductors are manipulated by adding small
quantities of impurities to alter their electrical conductivity several
times at room temperature.

Doping: is the process of adding impurities to intrinsic semi-conductors.
Doping is done after a semiconductor has been refined to a very high
degree.

Dopants are added in highly controlled and precise amounts to get the
necessary concentration of charge carriers/conductivity. Donor type
impurity of 1 part in 108 improves the conductivity of Ge at 30o C by a
factor of 12.
 A doped semiconductor is called Extrinsic Semiconductor. It has high
electrical conductivity than intrinsic semiconductor. Extrinsic
Semiconductors are of two types:-
– P-type: (has trivalent type impurities)
– N-type (has pentavalent impurities)
 Extrinsic Semiconductors

Dopants are of two types:
Donor Type and
Acceptor Type

Donor Type– are of Pentavalent type i.e. 5 electrons in outermost
(valence) shell. Examples: Group V elements Phosphorus (P), Arsenic
(As), Antimony (Sb), and Bismuth (Bi)
Donor atoms share one electron for each covalent bond with Ge/Si
atom and one free electron per donor atom. Energy required to detach
this 5th electron is 0.01eV in Ge and 0.05eV in Si.
Concentration of free electrons increases and holes decreases.
On adding donor impurity, allowable energy level is introduced below
CB which is a discrete level as impurity atoms are far apart in crystal
structure.
 Extrinsic Semiconductors
 Acceptor Type– Trivalent i.e. 3 electrons in outermost (valence)
shell. Examples: Group III elements Boron (B), Aluminum
(Al), Gallium (Ga) and Indium(In).
Acceptor atoms share one electron for each covalent bond with
Ge/Si atom and have one hole per acceptor atom.
Creates an allowable discrete energy level just above VB. A very
small energy is required by an electron to leave VB and occupy
acceptor energy level leaving a hole behind in VB.
Hence due to doping, concentration of holes increases (which
become majority carriers) and concentration of free electrons
decreases.
– Addition of impurity by 1 part in 108 increases conductivity of Ge
at 30o C by 12 times.
 N-Type Semiconductor

A pentavalent impurity from Group V
elements (Sb, As or P) is added.
 Impurity atom with 5 valence electrons
replaces Si atom in its crystalline structure.
Covalent bonds are formed with 4 silicon
atoms. 5th electron cannot form covalent
bond and requires little energy to free itself.

At room temperature, each impurity atom
donates one free electron to the conduction
band. These donated electrons are excess
electrons available in addition to thermally
generated electrons.

Diffused impurities with five valence
electrons are called donor atoms.

Since electrons are the majority carriers,
this is called N-Type Semiconductor.

5th electron, when free, leaves behind +vely
charged immobile ion of impurity atom.
 N-Type Semiconductor

Doping process establishes large number of
free carriers in the n -type material. Doped
material is electrically neutral as number of
protons are equal to the number of free and
orbiting electrons in the structure.

Effect of Doping on Conductivity. Discrete
Donor Energy Level Eg appears in the
forbidden band of the parent material (Refer
Fig). Free electrons due to the added
impurity sit at this energy level and require
less energy as compared to electrons of
parent material to move into the conduction
band at room temperature resulting in large
number of free carriers in the conduction
band. This increases the conductivity
significantly.
 At room temperature, intrinsic Si material has
about one free electron for every 1012 atoms.
If impurity level is 1 in 10 million (107 ), the
ratio 1012 /107 =105 indicates that carrier
 Charge Carriers in N-Type Semiconductor

N-type semiconductor has -ve charges as major charge carriers. However,
intrinsic or doped with minority, it is electrically neutral.

Types of charges in N-type semiconductor:
Negative charge carriers (electrons) donated by donor atoms. Negative
charge of these electrons is balanced by immobile ions.
Free electrons and holes generated in pair due thermal energy balance
each other electrically
Consequently, the semiconductor is electrically neutral.
Majority carriers are electrons and holes are minority carriers.

If voltage is applied across the s/c, free electrons will move to positive
terminal and holes will move to -ve terminal
 P-Type Semiconductor

Acceptor Type - A trivalent impurity from
Group III elements (B, Ga or In) is added.

Impurity atom with 3 valence electrons
replaces Si atom in its crystalline
structure. Covalent bonds are formed
with 3 silicon atoms. 4th Si electron
cannot form covalent bond, because
neighboring impurity atom does not have
a 4th electron in its valence shell. This
vacancy of an electron is called a Hole.
 Deficiency of an electron (Hole) in
impurity atom has a tendency to attract
an electron from neighboring bonds.

An electron with additional energy of
0.01eV can jump to occupy the vacant
position. At room temp, this energy can
be easily attained.

Holes are the majority carriers, this is
called P-Type Semiconductor.
 Charge Carriers in P-Type Semiconductor

When an electron jumps from adjacent covalent bond to fill the
vacancy in the incomplete bond around the impurity atom, following
happens:-
 A vacancy is created in the adjacent bond from where the electron
jumps, which has a +ve charge associated with it (hole).
 Due to filling of vacancy in the impurity atoms, it becomes a -ve
ion
which is immobile due to its tightly held position in the crystal.

There is, therefore, a transfer of holes to the left and electrons to the
right, as shown below. The direction of hole flow is treated as the
conventional flow.
 Majority and Minority Charge Carriers
 Number of free electrons in intrinsic Ge or Si is only due to electrons in the
valence band that have acquired sufficient energy from external sources to
break the covalent bond. Vacancies left behind in the covalent bonds
represent very limited supply of holes.
 In an n -type material, the number of holes does not change significantly
from its intrinsic level. However, the number of free electrons far outweighs
the number of holes due added impurities. Thus in an n-type material,
electrons are the majority carriers and the holes the minority carrier.

Similarly, in a p-type material, holes are the majority carriers and the
electrons the minority carrier.
 Majority and Minority Charge Carriers

When the fifth electron of a donor atom leaves the parent atom, the atom
remaining acquires a net positive charge: hence the plus sign in the figure
below represents a Donor-Ion.
 Similarly, when an acceptor-atom acquires an electron due breaking of an
adjacent covalent bond, the acceptor atom acquires a net negative
charge: hence the minus sign in the figure below represents a Acceptor-
Ion.

The n - and p -type materials represent the basic building blocks of
semiconductor devices.
 Effect of Temperature on Extrinsic
Semiconductors

Addition of small amount of donor or acceptor type impurity produces
large number of charge carriers in an extrinsic semiconductor.
Hence, conductivity of extrinsic semiconductor is many times higher
than an intrinsic semiconductor.
 If temperature of N-type semiconductor is raised beyond the room
temperature, concentration of thermally generated minority charge
carriers (electron-hole pairs) increases due to breaking of covalent
bonds.

Eventually at a particular temperature, number of holes becomes
approximately equal to number of electrons. At this temperature,
extrinsic semiconductor behaves like an intrinsic semiconductor.

This is critical temperature of operation is 85o C for Ge and 200o C for
Si.
 Effect of Temperature on Extrinsic
Semiconductors

Addition of small amount of donor or acceptor type impurity produces
large number of charge carriers in an extrinsic semiconductor.
Hence, conductivity of extrinsic semiconductor is many times higher
than an intrinsic semiconductor.
 If temperature of N-type semiconductor is raised beyond the room
temperature, concentration of thermally generated minority charge
carriers (electron-hole pairs) increases due to breaking of covelent
bonds.

Eventually at a particular temperature, number of holes becomes
approximately equal to number of electrons. At this temperature,
extrinsic semiconductor behaves like an intrinsic semiconductor.

This is critical temperature of operation is 85o C for Ge and 200o C for
Si.
 p-n Junction
Why?

Semiconductor devices like transistors and diodes are the basic
building units of electronic equipment.

A PN junction is the basic building block of many semi-conductor
devices like diodes and transistors.
How is it formed?

A p-n Junction is formed when donor impurities are added into one
side and acceptors into other side of a single crystal (Ge or Si)
ensuring that the crystalline structure remains continuous at the
boundary.
Most Important Property of a P-N Junction

Ability to conduct in one direction only. In reverse direction, it exhibits
very high resistance. Such a junction makes a very useful device called
semiconductor diode.
Phenomena During Creation of PN Junction
Three important phenomena occur during creation of p-n junction:
Diffusion
Formation of Space Charge/ Depletion Region
Drift

PN Junction without any external bias

 Processes on Formation of PN Junction

In a PN-Junction, n-type semiconductor has electrons as the majority
carriers and the p-type has holes as the majority carriers.

Following phenomenon occurs when a PN junction is formed by doping:
Concentration gradient of charge carriers in p and n-type regions
causes movement of electrons from "n to p" side and holes from "p to
n" side through the junction. This is called “initial movement“.
When an electron leaves the n-side region, it leaves behind an
ionised donor (a positive charge ) at the n-side.
Similarly when a hole is diffused to n-side, it leaves behind an
ionised acceptor (a negative charge) at the p-side.
 Processes on Formation of PN Junction
 The movement of electrons from n-side to p-side and holes from p to n-side
is called “Diffusion” and resulting current is called “Diffusion Current“.
 Diffusion of holes and free electrons happens due to their random
movement under thermal energy and difference in their concentrations in the
two regions.
 All the electrons and holes in the two regions do not recombine as a
restraining force develops after diffusion of some holes and free electrons.
This restraining force generated automatically due to creation of an
electric field by the immobile charged ions is called Barrier Potential.
 Consequently, total recombination of holes and electrons cannot occur.
 Diffusion

Concentration
Gradient of
electrons

Concentration
Gradient of holes

Diffusion Current: Flow of charge carriers (electrons or holes) in a

semiconductor from a region of higher concentration to lower concentration
is called Diffusion. This requires a concentration gradient. Higher is the
gradient, more is the diffusion current.
 Space Charge/ Depletion Region

Electron moving from n to p side leaves a +ve immobile ion at the n-side.

A hole moving from p to n-side leaves a -ve immobile ion at the p-side.

When more and more electrons leave the n-region & more and more holes
leave the p-region, a region of positive and negative charges is formed
at the junction due to immobile charged ions.

Positive charges get accumulated near the n-side junction and negative
charges get accumulated near the p-side junction. This region is known as
“Depletion/ Space Charge/ Transition” region.

This is the region from where mobile charge carriers have either been
diffused away or forced away by the electric field. The only elements left in
the depletion region are ionized donor or acceptor impurities.

Depletion region is formed by the “initial movement” of electrons and
holes, and the region gets “depleted” from the free mobile charge
carriers.
 Drift Current

Accumulation of -ve charges on p-side and +ve charges on the n-side
of junction results in formation of an electric field directed from positive
charge to negative charge.

This electric field causes electrons to move from p side to n side (p–>n)
and the holes to move from n side to p side (n–>p). This motion of
charge carriers due to electric field is known as “Drift”.

Current resulting from the flow of electrons and holes due to this electric
field (generated by immobile charged ions in depletion region) is known
as “Drift current”.

Drift Current: Flow of charge carriers due to applied voltage or
external field is called Drift Current. Drift current is opposite in
direction to the diffusion current.

Semiconductors have both drift current and diffusion current as
compared to conductors that only have drift current.
 Equilibrium State of pn Junction

When pn junction is created, Diffusion process occurs first.

This results in creation of Depletion region at the junction due to the
diffusion of charge carriers across the junction.

Depletion region results in formation of an “electric field” which gives
rise to creation of electric field.

Electric field results in start of “drift current”.

So initially “diffusion current” will be the highest and drift current will be
very small. Gradually as the “depletion region” formation continues,
drift current builds up and diffusion current falls down.

When diffusion current becomes exactly equal and opposite to drift
current, the junction comes to a state of equilibrium.

At this state, there is no “net current” and hence the formation of
pn junction is complete.
How is equilibrium maintained at the junction?

Movement of electrons from n-side to p-side during diffusion causes n-
region to become positively charged compared to p-region. This results in
creation of “potential difference” across the n-region and p-region at the
junction.

At the state of “equilibrium“, this potential difference prevents any further
flow of electrons from n-side to p-side. For any further movement of
electrons, this potential difference has to be overcome.

In the absence of any external influence, further flow of charge carriers
across the formed pn junction is not possible. Consequently, the
junction remains at the state of “equilibrium” with zero net current.

This potential difference is called “barrier potential“ as it creates a
“barrier” to the further movement of electrons from n-side to p-side.

Barrier potential is about 0.7 volts for silicon PN junction and 0.3 volts
for Germanium PN junction.
 Biasing of a PN Junction Diode

Bias refers to the application of an
external voltage across the terminals of
a device to extract a response. A PN
junction diode is a two-terminal device
which has following three optionsfor
biasing:
No bias (VD = 0V)
Forward bias (VD < 0V)
Reverse bias (VD > 0V)
 Under no-bias conditions, state of
equilibrium is achieved between the
flow of majority and monority charge
carriers across the junction.

Consequently, at 'No Bias' condition,
the net flow of charge in one direction
is zero i.e. There is no effective flow of
current.
 PN Junction with Reverse Bias

When P-side is connected to -ve terminal and N-side to +ve terminal
of battery, PN junction is said to be reverse biased.

This causes holes from P-side to get attracted to -ve terminal of battery and
electrons on N-side to enter +ve terminal of battery.

Thus majority carriers of P& N regions move away from the junction.

This widens the depletion region and increases the barrier potential.

Increased barrier potential makes it difficult for the majority carriers to diffuse
across the junction effectively reducing the majority carrier flow to zero.

Number of minority carriers entering the depletion region will not
change resulting in flow of current of same magnitude as that of No Bias
state.
 PN Junction with Reverse Bias

If temperature remains fixed, rate of generation of minority carriers remains
constant resulting in constant current flow due to minority carriers whether the
reverse biased voltage remains high or low. This current is called Reverse
Saturation Current IS (range is nA in Si and µA in Ge). Saturation term is used
as it reaches its maximum value quickly and does not change significantly with
change of reverse-biased voltage

Reverse biased PN junction has a very high resistivity region (space charge/
depletion region) sandwiched between P & N regions.

P & N regions act as plates of a capacitor and the space charge/depletion region
acts dielectric. Hence PN junction in reverse biased state has an effective
capacitance called Transition or Depletion Capacitance.
 Forward Biasing a PN Junction

Connecting +ve terminal of a battery to P-side and -ve terminal to N-side of PN
junction results in forward-biasing of junction.

In forward-biased condition, holes from p-side get repelled towards the junction
and electrons get repelled from N-side towards the junction.

Because of acquired energy, some of the holes and free electrons penetrate the
depletion region and recombine with immobile charged ions. which causes
width of depletion region to shrink.

Consequently, the width of depletion region reduces (potential barrier reduces)
and more majority carriers from P & N sides diffuse across the junction
to
recombine, which results in movement of charge carriers in the space charge/
depletion region.
 Forward Biasing a PN Junction

For recombination of each electron & hole at the junction, a free electron enters
the N-region from the -ve battery terminal and drifts towards the junction.
Similarly, an electron breaks a covalent bond on the P-side and enters the +ve
battery terminal. Hole created due to breaking of bond drifts towards the
junction.

This process creates a continuous electron current in the external circuit.
Majority carriers (holes on P-side & electrons on N-side) cause flow of
current in the p-n semiconductor (diode).

Increase in voltage causes depletion width to decrease until flood of electron
passes through the junction and the current increases exponentially. Removal of
battery stops current flow.
 Diode Current
Shockley's Equation for the Diode Current – (for Forward & Reverse
Biased regions):-

Note: Ideality factor 'n' is also referred as “ƞ”

 V-I Characteristics of a PN Junction Diode


It is a graphical representation of
applied voltage and current flowing
through the PN junction diode. X-axis
represents applied voltage and Y-axis
depicts the current flowing through the
diode.

Following are the regions of operation
of a pn junction (refer diagram):-
Forward biased region
Reverse biased
region Breakdown
region
 Forward V-I Characteristics

As the voltage across the diode is increased, diode does not conduct
well until the applied voltage crosses the barrier potential.

The voltage at which current starts to increase rapidly is called cut-in or
Knee voltage.

At this point, small increase in voltage causes rapid increase in current.
Reverse V-I Characteristics of p-n Junction Diode

For reverse biasing, negative terminal of a battery is connected to the
p-side and the positive terminal to the n-side of semiconductor.

When external reverse voltage is increased, the free electrons from
the n-side and the holes from the p-side of the semiconductor are
moved away from the junction. This increases the width of depletion
region.

Wide depletion region of reverse biased junction blocks the majority
charge carrier current while allowing the flow of minority charge carrier
(free electrons on p-side and holes on n-side of semiconductor)
current. This current is called Reverse Current.

On p & n sides, very small number of minority charge carriers are
present. Hence, a small voltage applied on the diode pushes all the
minority carriers towards the junction. Since increase in reverse
voltage does not increase the current, it is called Reverse Saturation
Current.
 Reverse V-I characteristics of p-n Junction Diode

In reverse biased p-n junction diode,
VR : Reverse voltage
IR : Reverse current.

When Reverse voltage is increased,
the current reaches its max level and
further increase in voltage does not
increase the electric current. This
current is called Reverse Saturation
Current.

The reverse current increases with
increase in temperature as generation of
minority carriers increases. However,
reverse saturation current is independent of
reverse voltage.

In reverse bias, diode current is very small
(µA for Ge and nA for Si diodes). It
remains small for all voltages less than
breakdown voltage.
 PN Junction – Breakdown Region

PN junction allows very small current to flow,
under reverse biased condition. This current
is mainly due to minority carriers and
independent of applied voltage.

If reverse biased voltage is made too high
and increased beyond a certain point, the
current through the junction increases
abruptly. This voltage is called Breakdown
Voltage VBV.

Exceeding this voltage can cause irreversible
damage to the PN junction diode. As the
reverse voltage increases, the velocity of
minority carriers causing Reverse Saturation
current IS increases and they
will have sufficient kinetic energy to release
additional carriers.

There are two processes that can cause the
breakdown of PN-junction:
 PN Junction – Breakdown Region

Avalanche Breakdown: As the
reverse biased voltage across the diode
increases, the velocity of the minority
carriers responsible for the reverse
saturation current increases.

Eventually, their velocity and associated
kinetic energy is sufficient to release
additional carriers through collisions with
other stable atomic structures. That is, an
ionization process (breaking of
covalent bonds) results wherein valence
electrons absorb sufficient energy to
leave the parent atom. These additional
carriers further aid the ionization process
to a point to cause an avalancheeffect.

Avalanche breakdown phenomenon
occurs for lightly doped PN diodes and
requires collision of minority carriers.
 PN Junction – Breakdown Region

Avalanche region can be brought
closer to the vertical axis by increasing the
doping level of p & n regions of the diodes.
 As VBV decreases to very low levels, such
as -5V, Zener Breakdown mechanism
occurs to increase reverse current sharply.
It occurs because there is a strong electric
field which directly ruptures the
covalent bonds to generate additional
charge carriers resulting in increase of
current.

The above mechanism of breakdown,
prevalent at low levels of VBV, is called
Zener Breakdown and the region is called
Zener Region. Such diodes are called
Zener Diodes.

Zener breakdown voltage is lower than
Avalanche Breakdown voltage.
 PIV Rating

The breakdown region of the semiconductor diode should be avoided
to prevent permanent change of the behaior of the device.
 The maximum reverse-bias potential that can be applied before
entering the breakdown region is called the peak inverse voltage
(referred to as the PIV rating) or the peak reverse voltage (PRV)
rating.

If an application requires a PIV rating greater than that of the PIV of a
single diode, a number of diodes of the same characteristics can be
connected in series.

Diodes are also connected in parallel to increase the current-carrying
capacity.
 Comparison of Si, Ge and GaAs Diodes

Comparison of V- I
characteristics of Si, GaAs,
and Ge diodes is shown in
the adjacent Figure.
 Knee Voltage VK is
about
0.3 V for Ge, 0.7 V for Si,
and 1.2 V for GaAs.
 Shape of the curve in the
reverse-bias region is similar
for each material, but there
is difference in the
magnitudes of Reverse
Saturation Currents. For
GaAs, the reverse saturation
current is typically about 1
pA, compared to 10 pA for
Si and 1 mA for Ge which is
a significant difference in
levels.
 Ideal Diode

The ideal diode or perfect diode is a two terminal device, which
completely allows the current without any loss under forward bias and
completely blocks the current with infinite loss under reverse bias.

In real life, Ideal diodes actually do not exist. V-I characteristics of
ideal diodes is used to study the diode circuits.

It is actually not possible to design a real diode, which behaves
exactly like an ideal diode. However, a well-designed diode behaves
almost like a perfect diode or ideal diode.

An ideal diode acts like an automatic switch.
 Ideal Diode vs Actual Diode

Imp Property: Unidirectional
conduction.

An ideal diode is a perfect conductor in
fwd bias state ( with zero voltage drop
across it and zero resistance)
RF = VD / ID = 0 / ID = 0 Ω

Perfect insulator in Rev bias state (zero
current passing through it, infinite
resistance)
RR = VD / ID = VD /0=∞Ω

Analogy: can be drawn to a switch:
Close in FWD and Open in Rev bias

In reality, Diode has small voltage drop
when FWD biased, indicating resistive
nature.
 Static (dc) Resistance

Application of dc voltage to a diode in
FWD state will result in operating point
'Q' on the diode char curve based on
the applied voltage Vd and Id current
drawn by it.

The resistance of the diode at the
operating point is Rd = Vd / Id is
called the static resistance or the
dc resistance of the diode and is
independent of the shape of the diode
characteristic curve.

The dc resistance at or below the knee
will be greater than the resistance in
the vertical rise section of the curve.

In general, higher the current through
the diode, lower is the dc resistance.
 Diode Equivalent Circuit

An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements chosen to best
represent the actual terminal characteristics of a device or system in a
particular operating region.

The equivalent circuit of the device can be inserted in the schematic
without severely affecting the actual behavior of the system, for further
analysis in a traditional manner.

Piecewise-Linear Equivalent Circuit

 Piecewise-linear Equivalent Circuit
 The equivalent Circuit is obtained by approximating
the characteristics of the device by straight-line
segments. Though straight-lines do not represent
the actual characteristics in the knee region, but it is
a good approximation.
 For the sloping section, the average ac resistance
provides the equivalence of the actual device. It
defines the resistance level of the device when it is
in the “on” state.
 Ideal diode is included to indicate the direction of
conduction through the device with reverse-bias
condition being the open-circuit state of the device.

Since a silicon diode conducts after VD reaches 0.7
V in forward bias state, a battery VK opposing the
conduction direction is included in the equivalent
circuit to represent that the voltage across the
device must be greater than the threshold battery
voltage before conduction through the device in the
direction dictated by the ideal diode is established.
When conduction is established the resistance of
the diode is specified as rav .
 Diode Simplified Equivalent Circuit
 For applications where resistance rav is
sufficiently small in comparison to the
other elements of the network, rav can be
ignored
 Removing rav from the equivalent circuit is
the same as implying that the
characteristics of the diode appear as
shown in the adjacent figure.

This approximation is frequently used in
circuit analysis.

Reduced equivalent circuit, shown in the
figure, indicates that the forward biased
silicon diode has a drop of 0.7 V across it
in the conduction state at any level of
diode current.
 Diode Ideal Equivalent Circuit
 Resistance rav was removed from
the equivalent circuit in the
simplified version of equivalent
circuit.

To take the analysis a step further,
ignoring 0.7-V level will yield
the characteristic curve as shown
in the adjacent figure.

In this case, the equivalent circuit
will be reduced to that of an
ideal diode.

This approximation of the diode
can be used without a serious
loss in accuracy in those
schematics where network
resistances and voltage sources
are much larger than rav and VK.
Diode Equivalent Circuit
 Diode Specification Sheet
Data on semiconductor devices provided by the manufacturer includes
following important specifications:
Forward voltage VF (at a specified current and temperature)
Maximum forward current IF (at a specified temperature)
Reverse saturation current IR (at a specified voltage and
temperature)
Reverse-voltage rating PIV or PRV or V(BR)
Capacitance levels
Reverse recovery time trr
Operating temperature range
Maximum power dissipation level at a
particular temperature:

PDmax = VD.ID
where ID and VD are the diode current and voltage, respectively, at a
 Zener Diodes
 The Zener region shown in the figure has a
near vertical drop at a reverse-bias potential
VZ . The curve drops down and away from the
horizontal axis reveals that the current in the
Zener region has a direction opposite to that
of a forward-biased diode.
 The slight slope to the curve in the Zener
region indicatels that there is a level of
resistance to be associated with the Zener
diode in the conduction mode. This region of
unique characteristics is employed in the
design of Zener diodes. Graphic symbol of
Zener Diodes is shown in the figure.

For the semiconductor diode the “on” state
supports current in the direction of the arrow
in the symbol. For the Zener diode the
direction of conduction is opposite to that of
the arrow in the symbol. Polarity of VD and VZ
are as shown.
 Zener Diode
 Location of the Zener region can be changed by varying the doping
levels. An increase in doping that produces an increase in the number
of added impurities, which reduces Zener potential.

Zener diodes are available with Zener potentials of 1.8 V to 200 V
with
power ratings from 1⁄4 W to 50 W.

Because of its excellent temperature and current capabilities, silicon is
the preferred material in the manufacture of Zener diodes. Silicon
Zener diode can be assumed to be ideal with a straight vertical line at
the Zener potential.

Slight slope in the characteristic curve requires piecewise equivalent
model of Zener Diode in each region.

In the Reverse-bias region, the equivalent model of a Zener diode
below VZ has a very large resistor.

For the forward-bias region, the piecewise equivalent is the
same as
described for a normal diode i.e a voltage source and a small
Zener Diode Characteristics with Equivalent Model
End