Unit-I

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What is meant by doping? Why is it necessary for semiconductors?

Ans: Doping is the process of adding impurities to a pure semiconductor. It increases
the conductivity of a semiconductor.
2. Differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors.
Ans:
Intrinsic Semiconductors Extrinsic Semiconductors
Pure semiconductors Impure semiconductors
Conductivity is less Conductivity is high
Number of holes and electrons are equal Number of holes and electrons are not equal
Fermi energy level lies at the centre of  In n-type Fermi-level lies near the bottom of
forbidden energy gap.  conduction band and in p-type near the top of
valence band.

3. Define terms (i) Mobility (ii) Diffusion (iii) Drift.

Ans:
Mobility: It is defined as the average particle drift velocity per unit electric field.
Diffusion: Which is the flow caused by variations in the concentration i.e.
Concentration gradients.
Drift: It is the movement caused by electric fields.
4. Define Break down voltage and what are the types of break down voltages?
Ans: Break down voltage is the maximum reverse voltage at which there will be
sudden rise in the reverse current. There are two types of break down voltages namely
Avalanche Breakdown and Zener Breakdown.

5. What is Hall Effect? Write its applications.

Ans:
Hall Effect: When a specimen (metal or semiconductor) carrying a current I is placed
in a transverse magnetic field of flux density B, an electric field  or voltage VH is
developed at right angles to both the magnetic field and the current. This phenomenon
is called the Hall Effect. 
OR

The Hall Effect is the production of a potential difference across an electrical

conductor when a magnetic field is applied in a direction perpendicular to that of the
flow of current.
Applications: This phenomenon is used for determining.
(i) Whether a semiconductor is of n-type or p-type
(ii) Carrier concentration
(iii) Conductivity of the material
(iv) Carrier mobility
(v)  Magnetic field intensity.

6. Draw the energy band diagram of a semiconductor.

Ans:

7. Explain Zener and avalanche breakdown.

Ans:
S.No Zener breakdown. Avalanche breakdown.
1 Occurs in heavily doped diodes Occurs in lightly doped diodes
2 Ionization takes place by electric field Ionization takes place by collisions
3 Occurs even with less than 5V Occurs at higher voltages
4 The V-I characteristics is very sharp in The V-I characteristics is not as
breakdown region. sharp as zener breakdown.
5 The breakdown voltage decreases as The breakdown voltage increases as
junction temperature increases. junction temperature increases.
 o
8. Determine the energy gap of silicon and Germanium semiconductors at 400 K
Temperature.
Ans: The temperature dependence of the energy bandgap has been experimentally
determined yielding the following expression for Eg as a function of the
temperature T:

Where Eg(0), a and b are the fitting parameters. These fitting parameters are listed for
germanium, silicon and gallium arsenide in the table below:

Germanium Silicon
Eg(0) [eV] 0.7437 1.166
 [eV/K] 4.77 x 10-4 4.73 x 10-4
 [K] 235 636

4.73  104  4002

Eg  Si   1.166 
Energy gap of silicon: 400  636 =1.166-0.073=1.093

4.77  104  4002

Eg  Ge   0.7437 
Energy gap of Germanium: 400  235 =0.7437-0.073=0.6707

9. Explain Zener diode regulator.

Ans: A zener diode is always operated in its reverse biased condition. A
voltage regulator circuit can be designed using a zener diode to maintain a constant
DC output voltage across the load in spite of variations in the input voltage or changes
in the load current.

From the Zener characteristics we know that under reverse bias condition the voltage
across the diode remains almost constant although the current through the diode
increases. Thus the voltage across the zener diode serves as a reference voltage.
Hence the diode can be used as a voltage regulator.
 10. What is the purpose of filter?
Ans: The purpose of filter is to block the undesired frequencies and allow desired
frequencies. In rectifiers, filter blocks AC signals and allows only pure DC signals.

11. Define Regulation and PIV as referred to rectifier circuit?

Ans:
Voltage Regulation: The variation of DC output voltage as a function of DC load
current is called voltage regulation. Voltage regulation is generally expressed as a
percentage i.e.
VNL  VFL
% Voltage Re gulation  100
VFL
Where
VNL  No Load Voltage and VFL  Full Load Voltage

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is defined as the maximum reverse voltage that a
diode can withstand without destroying the junction.

12. What are the advantages of full wave rectifier over half wave rectifier?
Ans:
The advantages of full wave rectifier over half wave rectifier are
1) Efficiency is high.
2) Ripple factor is less.
3) PIV is high.
4) TUF is high.
5) Frequency is high.

13. What is the difference between full wave rectifier and bridge rectifier?
Ans:
S.No Full Wave Rectifier Bridge Rectifier
1 It uses center tapped transformer. It does not use center tapped transformer.
2 One diode conducts in each half cycle of input. Two diodes conduct in each half cycle of input.
3 The transformer is less effectively used. The transformer is used more effectively.
4 PIV is high. PIV is less.

14. What is PIV? Compare PIVs of bridge and center tap rectifiers.
Ans:
Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is defined as the maximum reverse voltage that a
diode can withstand without destroying the junction. The PIV of bridge rectifier is Vm
Whereas the PIV of Full wave rectifier is 2Vm.
15. Define percentage regulation. What must be the value of percentage regulation
for an ideal voltage regulator?
Ans:
Voltage Regulation: The variation of DC output voltage as a function of DC load
current is called voltage regulation. Voltage regulation is generally expressed as a
percentage i.e.
VNL  VFL
% Voltage Re gulation  100
VFL
Where
VNL  No Load Voltage and VFL  Full Load Voltage

 The value of percentage regulation for an ideal voltage regulator must be low.
 LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. A specimen of silicon square cross section of 4cm  4cm has length of 5cm.It is
subjected to voltage of 2V across its length and current flowing through it is
6mA.Calculate (i) Concentration of free electrons (ii) drift velocity of electrons.
Assume mobility of electrons as 1300 cm / V  sec and charge on one electron as
2

1.6 1019 .
Solution:
(i) Concentration of free electrons
I
Drift velocity of electrons (  ) 
(ii)  Aq
3
Current I  6mA  6 10 A
Charge on electron  q   1.6  1019
Area of cross section( A)  4cm  4cm  
Ideality Factor Silicon     1
6 103 A
  19
 2.34375 1015 cm / s
1 4cm  4cm  1.6 10  

2. Find the resistivity of an intrinsic germanium. If

i  2.5 1313 / cm3

e  1800cm 2 / v  s
h  3800cm 2 / v  s
Ch arg e on an electron (e)  1.6 1019 C
Solution:
Conductivity ( )  eni  µe  µh   
  1.6 1019 C  2.5 1313 / cm3  1800cm 2 / v  s  3800cm 2 / v  s   

  4 106 / cm3  5600cm 2 / v  s   

  22.4 103  1cm 1

1 1
Re sistivity( )=   44.64cm
 22.4 103  1cm 1
 3. What is an ideal diode? How can it be represented as switch? Draw its
equivalent circuit and its V-I characteristics.
Ans: A diode is said to be an Ideal Diode when it is forward biased and acts like a
perfect conductor. Similarly, when the diode is reversed biased, it acts as a perfect
insulator.
An Ideal diode also acts like a switch. When the diode is forward biased it acts like
a closed switch as shown in the figure below.

Whereas, if the diode is reversed biased, it acts like an open switch as shown in the
figure below.

The V-I characteristics of an Ideal diode are shown in the figure below.

4. How is a p-n junction formed? Draw the circuit diagram of p-n junction diode in
forward and reverse bias. Explain its operation and give V-I characteristics.
Ans:
P-N Junction Formation:
When a p-type semiconductor is joined with an n-type semiconductor, a p-n junction
is formed. The region where the p-type and n-type semiconductors are joined is called
p-n junction.  This p-n junction forms a most popular semiconductor device known as
diode. 

Circuit diagram of p-n junction diode in forward bias:

Circuit diagram of p-n junction diode in reverse bias:

 V-I characteristics of p-n junction diode:

In forward bias the current first increases very slowly till the voltage across
the diode crosses a certain voltage. After the characteristic voltage the diode current
increases exponentially, even for a very small increase in the diode bias voltage. This
voltage is called threshold voltage or knee voltage or cut in voltage .The knee voltage
V  0.3v V  0.7v
for Germanium diode and  for Silicon diode.

For the diode in reverse bias the current is very small and almost remains
constant with change in bias. It is called reverse saturation current. At very high
reverse bias, the current suddenly increases .This voltage is called the Breakdown
voltage.

5. Write short notes on Transistorized IC regulator.

Ans:
The most popular Transistorized IC voltage regulators is IC 723. The
functional diagram of the voltage regulator is shown below. It consists of a voltage
reference source (Pin 6), an error amplifier with its inverting input on pin 4 and non-
inverting input on pin 5, a series pass transistor (pins 10 and 11), and a current
limiting transistor on pins 2 and 3. The device can be set to work as both positive and
negative voltage regulators with an output voltage ranging from 2 V to 37 V, and
output current levels up to 150 mA. The maximum supply voltage is 40 V, and the
line and load regulations are each specified as 0.01%.
6. Derive an expression for current in a diode.
Ans:
The relation between voltage and current can be derived based on the laws of
solid matter physics. Using a relatively simple model of a p-n junction, one can
derive the following formula for the relationship between the voltage across and the
current through a diode.

I D  I S  e  1
qVD
nkT
 
Where

ID=Current through the diode.

IS= Reverse saturation current, in the order of µA.

e = Euler’s constant=2.718281828.
19
q=Charge on the electron= 1.6 10 coulombs.

VD= Voltage across the diode.

η= Ideality factor, 1 for Germanium and 2 for Silicon.

23
k= Boltzmann constant, equals 1.38 10 J/K.
 T= Absolute Junction temperature of diode, in degree Kelvin=300 0K.

7. What is a rectifier? With neat sketch explain the operation of half wave rectifier
and find ripple factor, efficiency and TUF.
Ans:
Rectifier is an electronic circuit that converts a bipolar signal to uni-polar
signal i.e. an ac signal to dc signal.

Half wave rectifier: A circuit which rectifies half of the a.c wave is called half wave
rectifier.
Fig shows the circuit for half wave rectification. The a.c. voltage (Vs) to be
rectified is obtained across the secondary ends S 1 and S2 of the transformer. The
P-end of the diode D is connected to S1 of the secondary coil of the transformer.
The N-end of the diode is connected to the other end S2 of the secondary coil of the
transformer, through a load resistance R L. The rectified output voltage
Vdc appears across the load resistance RL.

Working:
During the positive half cycle of the input a.c. voltage V s, S1 will be positive
and the diode is forward biased and hence it conducts. Therefore, current flows
through the circuit and there is a voltage drop across RL. This gives the output
voltage as shown in Fig.
During the negative half cycle of the input a.c. voltage (Vs), S1 will be
negative and the diode D is reverse biased. Hence the diode does not conduct. No
current flows through the circuit and the voltage drop across R L will be zero. Hence
no outp ut voltage is obtained. Thus corresponding to an alternating input signal,
unidirectional pulsating output is obtained.
Ripple Factor: Ripple factor is defined as the ratio of RMS value of the ac
component in the output to the dc component present in the output.

RMS value of ac component of output

 Ripple Factor    
dc component of output

Vr , rms

Vdc

V 2 rms  V 2 dc
  
Vdc

2
V 
   rms   1
 Vdc 
Vm Vm
where Vrms  and Vdc 
2 
2
 Vm 
  2
 
  2  1 =    1 =1.21
 Vm  2
  

Efficiency: The ratio of dc output power to ac input power is known as rectifier

efficiency “η”.

2
V 2 dc  Vm 
 
dc output power Pdc RL  4
   2   2  2  0.406
ac input power Pac V rms  Vm  
RL  
 2 
 %  40.6%
Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF): It is the ratio of dc power delivered to the
load to the ac power rating of the transformer.

dc power delivered to the load Pdc

TUF  
ac power rating of the transformer Pac rated

V 2 dc V 2 m 1 Vm
where Pdc   2  Vdc 
RL  RL 
Vm I m Vm Vm Vm
where Pac   =  I m 
2 2 2 2 RL RL
V 2m 1

 2
RL 2 2
 TUF   2  0.286
Vm Vm
 
2 2 RL

8.With neat sketch explain the operation of full wave rectifier and find ripple
factor, efficiency and TUF.
Ans:
In centre-tap full wave rectifier, only two diodes are used, and are connected
to the opposite ends of a centre-tapped secondary transformer as shown in the figure
below. The centre-tap is usually considered as the ground point or the zero
voltage reference point.
Working of Centre-Tap Full Wave Rectifier

As shown in the figure, an ac input is applied to the primary coils of the transformer.
This input makes the secondary ends P1 and P2 become positive and negative
alternately.

For the positive half of the ac signal, the secondary point P1 is positive, GND point
will have zero volts and P2 will be negative. At this instant diode D1 will be forward
biased and diode D2 will be reverse biased. Therefore diode D1 will conduct and D2
will not conduct during the positive half cycle. Thus, the positive half cycle
appears across the load resistance RLoad.

During the negative half cycle, the secondary ends P1 becomes negative and P2
becomes positive. At this instant, the diode D2 will be forward biased and D1 will be
reverse biased. The diode D2 will conduct and D1 will not conduct during the
negative half cycle.
Ripple Factor: Ripple factor is defined as the ratio of RMS value of the ac
component in the output to the dc component present in the output.

RMS value of ac component of output

 Ripple Factor    
dc component of output

Vr ,rms

Vdc

V 2 rms  V 2 dc
 
Vdc
 2
V 
   rms   1
 Vdc 
Vm 2Vm
where Vrms  and Vdc 
2 

2
 Vm   V 2m 
 2    2 
   1 =  2 2   1 =    1 =0.482
 2Vm   4V m   8 
    2 
    

Efficiency: The ratio of dc output power to ac input power is known as rectifier

efficiency “η”.

2
V 2 dc  2Vm 

dc output power Pdc RL    8
   2   2  0.812
ac input power Pac V rms  Vm  2

RL  
 2

%  81.2%
Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF): It is the ratio of dc power delivered to the
load to the ac power rating of the transformer.

dc power delivered to the load Pdc

TUF  
ac power rating of the transformer Pac rated

V 2 dc 4V 2 m 1 2Vm
where Pdc   2  Vdc 
RL  RL 
Vm I m V V Vm
where Pac   = m m I m 
2 2 2 RL 2 RL
 4V 2 m 1

2 RL 8
 TUF   2  0.812
Vm
 m
V 
2 RL 2

In full wave rectifier the secondary current flows through each half separately in
every cycle while the primary of transformer carries current continuously. Hence TUF is a
calculated for primary and secondary windings separately and then the average is determined.

 The primary of the transformer is feeding two half wave rectifiers separately.
 These two half wave rectifiers work independently of each other but feed a
common load.
 We know that TUF for Half Wave Rectifier is 0.287.
Therefore

TUF for primary winding =2×TUF of HWR=2×0.287=0.574

Hence the average TUF for Full Wave Rectifier is

TUF of primary  TUF of primary 0.574  0.812

TUFavg    0.693
2 2

9.Explain Bridge Rectifier with its wave forms. Derive (i) PIV (ii) Ripple factor
(iii) TUF (iv) Form Factor.
Ans:
Bridge rectifier:A bridge rectifier is shown in Fig. There are four diodes D 1,
D2, D3 and D4 used in the circuit, which are connected to form a network. The input
ends A and C of the network are connected to the secondary ends S 1and S2 of the
transformer. The output ends B and D are connected to the load resistance R L. The
output signal corresponding to the input signal is shown in Fig.
Working:

During positive input half cycle of the a.c. voltage, the point A is positive with
respect to C. The diodes D1and D3 are forward biased and conduct, whereas the
diodes D2 and D4 are reverse biased and do not conduct.

During negative half cycle, the point C is positive with respect to A. The
diodes D2 and D4 are forward biased and conduct, whereas the diodes D 1and
D3 are reverse biased and they do not conduct.

Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV): It is defined as the maximum reverse voltage that a
diode can withstand without destroying the junction. The PIV of bridge rectifier is Vm

Ripple Factor: Ripple factor is defined as the ratio of RMS value of the ac
component in the output to the dc component present in the output.
RMS value of ac component of output
 Ripple Factor    
dc component of output
Vr ,rms

Vdc
V 2 rms  V 2 dc
  
Vdc
 2
V 
   rms  1
 Vdc 
V 2Vm
where Vrms  m and Vdc 
2 
2
 Vm   V 2m 
 2    2 
    1 =  22   1 =    1 =0.482
 2Vm   4V m   8 
    
   2 

Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF): It is the ratio of dc power delivered to the

load to the ac power rating of the transformer.

V 2 dc 4V 2 m 1 2Vm
where Pdc   2  Vdc 
RL  RL 
Vm I m V V Vm
where Pac   = m m I m 
2 2 2 RL 2 RL

4V 2 m 1

2 RL 8
 TUF   2  0.812
Vm
 m
V 
2 RL 2

Form Factor: It is defined as the ratio of rms value to the average or DC value of
load voltage or load current i.e
Vm
Form Factor ( FF ) 
rms value V
 rms  2    1.11
average value Vdc 2Vm 2 2

10.Explain capacitor filter with full wave rectifier with required waveforms.
Derive ripple factor equation.
Ans: The full-wave rectifier with capacitor filter is shown in the figure below:
Operation: During the positive quarter cycle of the ac input signal, the diode
D1 is forward biased the capacitor C gets charges through forward bias diode D 1 to the peak
value of input voltage Vm.


In the next quarter cycle from 2 to π the capacitor starts discharging through
RL,because once the capacitor gets charges to Vm, the diode D1 gets reverse biased and stops

conducting, so during the period from 2 to π the capacitor C supplies the load current.
3
In the next quarter half cycle, that is π to 2 of the rectified output voltage, if the
input voltage exceeds the capacitor voltage, making D2 forward biased, this charges the
capacitor back to Vm.
3
In the next quarter half cycle, that is, from 2 to2π, the diode gets reverse biased and
the capacitor supplies the load current.

In Full Wave Rectifier, as the time required by the capacitor to charge is very small
and it discharges very little due to large time constant, hence ripple in the output gets reduced
considerably. The output waveform is shown in figure below:

Expression for Ripple factor:

 Let, T= Time period of ac input signal.
T
2 =Half of the time period.
T1=Time for which diode is conducting.
T2=Time for which diode is not conducting.

During time T1, capacitor gets charged and this process is quick. During time T 2,
capacitor gets discharged through RL. As time constant RLC is very large, discharging
process is very slow and hence T2>>T1.

Let Vr be the peak to peak value of ripple voltage, which is assumed to be triangular
as shown in the figure below:

It is known mathematically that the rms value of such a triangular waveform is,
Vr
Vrms 
2 3
During the time interval T2, the capacitor C is discharging through the load resistance RL.
dQ
i
The charge lost is, Q = CVr But dt
T2

 Q   idt  I dcT1
0
As integration gives average or dc value
I dc .T1  C.Vr
Hence
 I dc.T1
Vr 
C
But T1 +T2=T Normally T1 >>T2

T1  T2  T1  T1  T
Vdc Vr I
But I dc  where Vdc  Vm   Vm  dc
RL 2 2 f .C
Vdc.
Vr 
f .C.RL
Vrms
Ripple Factor ( ) 
Vdc
Vr Vdc
 
2 3.Vdc 2 3. f .C.RL .Vdc

1

2 3. f .C.RL