Semiconductor: Types and Band structure

What are Semiconductors?

Semiconductors are the materials which have a conductivity and resistivity in

between conductors (generally metals) and non-conductors or insulators (such
ceramics). Semiconductors can be compounds such as gallium arsenide or pure
elements, such as germanium or silicon.

Examples of Semiconductors: Gallium arsenide, germanium, and silicon are some of the most
commonly used semiconductors. Silicon is used in electronic circuit fabrication and gallium arsenide is
used in solar cells, laser diodes, etc.

Types of Semiconductors Semiconductors can be classified as:

 Intrinsic Semiconductor

 Extrinsic Semiconductor

Intrinsic Semiconductor An intrinsic type of semiconductor material is made to be

very pure chemically. It is made up of only a single type of element. Germanium
(Ge) and Silicon (Si) are the most common type of intrinsic semiconductor
elements.

Extrinsic Semiconductor The conductivity of semiconductors can be greatly

improved by introducing a small number of suitable replacement atoms called
IMPURITIES. The process of adding impurity atoms to the pure semiconductor is
called DOPING. Usually, only 1 atom in 107 is replaced by a dopant atom in the
doped semiconductor. An extrinsic semiconductor can be further classified into:

 N-type Semiconductor

 P-type Semiconductor
PN JUNCTION DIODE
A p-n junction diode is two-terminal or two-electrode semiconductor device, which allows
the electric current in only one direction while blocks the electric current in opposite or reverse
direction. If the diode is forward biased, it allows the electric current flow. On the other hand, if
the diode is reverse biased, it blocks the electric current flow. P-N junction semiconductor
diode is also called as p-n junction semiconductor device.

SYMBOL

WORKING OF DIODE

As diode is a two terminal device, the application of a voltage across its terminal leaves three
possibilities

i) No Bias (VD = 0v)

ii) Forward Bias (VD > 0v)

iii) Reverse Bias (VD < 0v)

NO BIAS (VD = 0v)

➢ In this case, no external voltage is applied to the PN junction diode.

➢ Due to concentration gradient, the holes from P region diffuse to the N region where they
combine with the free electrons and the free electrons from the N region diffuse to the P region
where they combine with the holes
➢ The negative immobile acceptor ions in P region and positive donor ions in N region are left
uncovered in the vicinity of junction.

➢ Now no further diffusion of holes and free electrons takes place across the junction because
the holes trying to diffuse to N region are repelled by immobile positive ions and the electrons
trying to diffuse in P region are repelled by immobile negative ions.

➢ The region contains immobile ions near the junction where charge carriers are depleted is
called Depletion layer.

FORWARD BIAS (VD > 0v)

➢ When diode is connected in forward bias condition, the negative terminal of the battery is
connected to the N type material and positive terminal of the battery is connected to the P type
material.

▪ ➢ If the external voltage becomes greater than the value of the potential; barrier approx. 0.7
volts for silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium, the potential barrier opposition will overcome and
current will start to flow

. ➢ This is because the negative voltage repels electronics towards the junction giving them the
energy to cross over and combine with the holes being pushed in opposite direction towards
the junction by the positive voltage.

REVERSE BIAS (VD < 0v)

➢ In reverse bias condition, the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the P type
material and positive terminal of the battery is connected to N type material.

➢ The electrons of N type material attract towards the positive electrodes and move away
from the junction, while the holes in the P type material are also attracted away from the
junctions towards the negative electrodes.

➢ Due to which the depletion layer grows wider due to lack of electrons and holes. The result
is that a high potential barrier is created thus preventing current flowing through the
semiconductor material.

V-I CHARACTERISTIC OF PN JUNCTION DIODE

The V-I characteristic of a diode is simply a curve or graph between the voltage applied across is
terminal and the current that flows through it. The entire graph can be divided into two parts
namely
i) Forward characteristic
ii) Reverse characteristic

In forward characteristic

➢ The diode said to be in forward bias. In this graph VF represent the forward voltage where
as IF represents the forward current.

➢ If the external voltage is less than barrier potential, diode allows only small amount of
current which is considered as negligible.

➢ Once the applied voltage is slightly greater than the barrier potential, the diode current
increases rapidly and diode conducts heavily.

➢ The voltage at which current start increasing is called Knee voltage. Its value is 0.7v for
silicon and 0.3v for germanium

In reverse characteristic

➢ When the applied reverse voltage is below the breakdown voltage, the diode current is
small and remains constant.

➢ As the reverse voltage is increased to a sufficiently large value, the diode reverse current
increases rapidly. The applied reverse voltage at which this occurs is called as Breakdown
voltage of a diode.

APPLICATION:

✓ Rectifier circuit

✓ Clipping and clamping circuit

✓ Voltage multiplier

✓ AM detector
ZENER DIODE
Zener diode is defined as The semiconductor which is heavily doped to operate in reverse
direction or in breakdown region. The Zener diode behaves just like a normal general-purpose
diode consisting of a silicon PN junction and when biased in the forward direction, that is
Anode positive with respect to its Cathode, it behaves just like a normal signal diode passing
the rated current. However, unlike a conventional diode that blocks any flow of current
through itself when reverse biased, that is the Cathode becomes more positive than the
Anode, as soon as the reverse voltage reaches a pre determined value, the zener diode begins
to conduct in the reverse direction.

Symbol

Zener Diode Circuit

Working of Zener Diode

The basic principle behind Zener diode working is based on the cause of breakdown when the
diode is in the reverse biased condition. For a Zener diode there are two types of breakdown:

 Zener breakdown

 Avalanche breakdown
Avalanche Breakdown

 A conventional reverse biased diode, when subjected to its breakdown voltage allows a
significant amount of current. But when this reverse breakdown voltage is exceeded, the diode
experiences an avalanche breakdown.

 When we increase the voltage through Zener in reverse bias mode, first current increases
uniformly with it but after it reaches the breakdown state, the current increases massively for a
very small or negligible change in voltage. The change is sharper in Zener than the normal
diode.

Causes of Breakdown

 The breakdown is caused by two effects, the Avalanche effect and the Zener effect. The Zener
effect is dominant in voltages up to 5.6 volts and the avalanche effect takes over above that.

 They are both similar effects, the difference being that Zener effect is a quantum
phenomenon and the avalanche effect is the movement of electrons in the valence band like in
any electric current.

 Avalanche effect also allows a larger current through the diode than the Zener effect.

V-I Characteristics of Zener Diode

The diagram given below shows the V-I characteristics of the Zener diode. When the Zener
diode is connected, in forward bias, diode acts as a normal diode. But Zener breakdown voltage
occurs when the reverse bias voltage is greater than a predetermined voltage.
Application of Zener Diode

i) Voltage regulator
ii) overvoitage protection
iii) wave form clipping
iv) voltage reference
v) switching operation

JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (JFET)

There are two basic configurations of junction field effect transistor, the N-channel JFET and the
P-channel JFET. The N-channel JFET’s channel is doped with donor impurities meaning that the
flow of current through the channel is negative (hence the term N-channel) in the form of
electrons.

Likewise, the P-channel JFET’s channel is doped with acceptor impurities meaning that the flow
of current through the channel is positive (hence the term P channel) in the form of holes. N-
channel JFET’s have a greater channel conductivity (lower resistance) than their equivalent P-
channel types, since electrons have a higher mobility through a conductor compared to holes.
This makes the N-channel JFET’s a more efficient conductor compared to their P-channel
counterparts.

Construction and symbol of n channel jfet

It consists of a N – type material bar which is made up of silicon ,ohmic contacys (terminals)
made at two ends of the bar ,are called source and drain

Source (S):this terminal is connected to the negative terminal of the battery .electrons which
are majority carriers in the n-type bar through this terminal.

Drain (D) :This terminal connected to the positive terminal of the battery ,the majority carriers
cleave through this terminal.
Gate (G) :Heavily doped p-type silicon is diffused on both sides of the n-type silicon bar by
which PN junctions are formed . these layers are joined together and are called Gate

Channel : the n region between the two pgates is call the channel. Since channel is in the ntype
bar, the fet is known as N-channel JFET

Working of N-Channel JFET (Gate = 0V, Drain = +ive Vge)

 If a small negative voltage ( -VGS ) is now applied to the Gate the size of the depletion
region begins to increase reducing the overall effective area of the channel and thus
reducing the current flowing through it, a sort of “squeezing” effect takes place
 So by applying a reverse bias voltage increases the width of the depletion region which
in turn reduces the conduction of the channel.
 Since the PN-junction is reverse biased, little current will flow into the gate connection.
As the Gate voltage ( -VGS ) is made more negative, the width of the channel decreases
until no more current flows between the Drain and the Source and the FET is said to be
“pinched-off” (similar to the cut-off region for a BJT). The voltage at which the channel
closes is called the “pinch-off voltage”, ( VP )

Drain Characteristics

Drain Characteristics of N-Channel JFET

The voltage VGS applied to the Gate controls the current flowing between the Drain and the
Source terminals. VGS refers to the voltage applied between the Gate and the Source while VDS
refers to the voltage applied between the Drain and the Source. Because a Junction Field Effect
Transistor is a voltage controlled device, “NO current flows into the gate!” then the Source
current ( IS ) flowing out of the device equals the Drain current flowing into it and therefore ( ID
= IS ). The characteristics curves example shown above, shows the four different regions of
operation for a JFET and these are given as:

• Ohmic Region – When VGS = 0 the depletion layer of the channel is very small and the JFET
acts like a voltage controlled resistor.

• Cut-off Region – This is also known as the pinch-off region were the Gate voltage, VGS is
sufficient to cause the JFET to act as an open circuit as the channel resistance is at maximum

• Saturation or Active Region – The JFET becomes a good conductor and is controlled by the
Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) while the Drain-Source voltage, ( VDS ) has little or no effect.

• Breakdown Region – The voltage between the Drain and the Source, (VDS) is high enough to
causes the JFET’s resistive channel to break down and pass uncontrolled maximum current .

Drain current in the active region.

ID = Drain current

IDSS= Drain current wit Vgs =0

Vgs= The gate to source voltage

Vp= The pinch off voltage

Transfer characteristics
 Transfer Characteristics of N-Channel JFET

The characteristics curves for a N-channel junction field effect transistor are the
same as those above, except that the Drain current ID decreases with an
increasing positive Gate-Source voltage, VGS. The Drain current is zero when VGS
= VP. For normal operation, VGS is biased to be somewhere between VP and 0.
Then can calculate the Drain current, ID for any given bias point in the saturation
or active region.

JFET Applications
 JFET is used as a switch.

 JFET is used as a chopper.

 Used as an amplifier.

 Used as a buffer.

 Used in the oscillatory circuits because of its low frequency drift.

 Used in communication equipments, such as FM and TV receivers because of

their low modulation distortion.

 Used as voltage controlled resistors in operational amplifiers.

 JFETs are used in cascade amplifiers and in RF amplifiers.

Feature N-Channel JFET P-Channel JFET

Channel Type N-type (electrons P-type (holes majority)

majority)

Gate Type P-type N-type

Feature N-Channel JFET P-Channel JFET

Gate-Source Negative to control Positive to control

Voltage conduction conduction

Current Carrier Electrons Holes

Electron Mobility Higher (better Lower

conduction)

Application More common for high- Less common, used

Preference performance where polarity suits
UNI JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (UJT)
Unijunction transistor (abbreviated as UJT), also called the double-base diode is a
2 layer, 3-terminal solid-state (silicon) switching device. The device has-a unique
characteristic that when it is triggered, its emitter current increases re
generatively (due to negative resistance characteristic) until it is restricted by
emitter power supply. Since the device has one p n junction and three leads p n
junction and three leads

UJT structure, Equivalent circuit and Symbol

Construction of a UJT
The basic structure of a unijunction transistor is shown in figure. It essentially
consists of a lightly-doped N-type silicon bar with a small piece of heavily doped
P-type material alloyed to its one side to produce single P-N junction. The single
P-N junction accounts for the terminology unijunction. The silicon bar, at its ends,
has two ohmic contacts designated as base-1 (B1) and base- 2 (B2), as shown and
the P-type region is termed the emitter (E). The emitter junction is usually located
closer to base-2 (B2) than base-1 (B1) so that the device is not symmetrical,
because symmetrical unit does not provide optimum electrical characteristics for
most of the applications.
 The symbol for unijunction transistor is shown in figure. The emitter leg is drawn
at an angle to the vertical line representing the N-type material slab and the
arrowhead points in the direction of conventional current when the device is
forward-biased, active or in the conducting state. The basic arrangement for the
UJT is shown in figure. A complementary UJT is formed by diffusing an N-type
emitter terminal on a P-type base. Except for the polarities of voltage and current,
the characteristics of a complementary UJT are exactly the same as those of a
conventional UJT.

 The device has only one junction, so it is called the unijunction device.
 The device, because of one P-N junction, is quite similar to a diode but it
differs from an ordinary diode as it has three terminals.
 The structure of a UJT is quite similar to that of an N-channel JFET. The
main difference is that P-type (gate) material surrounds the N-type
(channel) material in case of JFET and the gate surface of the JFET is much
larger than emitter junction of UJT.
 In a unijunction transistor the emitter is heavily doped while the N-region is
lightly doped, so the resistance between the base terminals is relatively
high, typically 4 to 10 kilo Ohm when the emitter is open.
 The N-type silicon bar has a high resistance and the resistance between
emitter and base-1 is larger than that between emitter and base-2. It is
because emitter is closer to base-2 than base-1.
 UJT is operated with emitter junction forward- biased while the JFET is
normally operated with the gate junction reverse-biased.
 UJT does not have ability to amplify but it has the ability to control a large
ac power with a small signal. It exhibits a negative resistance characteristic
and so it can be employed as an oscillator.
Operation of a UJT
Imagine that the emitter supply voltage is turned down to zero. Then the
intrinsic stand-off voltage reverse-biases the emitter diode, as mentioned above.
If VB is the barrier voltage of the emitter diode, then the total reverse bias voltage
is VA + VB = η VBB + VB. For silicon VB = 0.7 V. Now let the emitter supply voltage
VE be slowly increased. When VE becomes equal to η VBB, IEo will be reduced to
zero. With equal voltage levels on each side of the diode, neither reverse nor
forward current will flow
When emitter supply voltage is further increased, the diode becomes forward-
biased as soon as it exceeds the total reverse bias voltage (η VBB + VB). This value
of emitter voltage VE is called the peak-point voltage and is denoted by VP. When
VE = VP, emitter current IE starts to flow through RB1 to ground, that is B1. This is
the minimum current that is required to trigger the UJT. This is called the peak-
point emitter current and denoted by IP. Ip is inversely proportional to the inter
base voltage, VBB.

Now when the emitter diode starts conducting, charge carriers are injected into
the RB region of the bar. Since the resistance of a semiconductor material
depends upon doping, the resistance of region RB decreases rapidly due to
additional charge carriers (holes). With this decrease in resistance, the voltage
drop across RB also decrease, because the emitter diode to be more heavily
forward biased. This, in turn, results in larger forward current, and consequently
more charge carriers are injected causing still further reduction in the resistance
of the RB region. Thus the emitter current goes on increasing until it is limited by
the emitter power supply. Since VA decreases with the increase in emitter
current, the UJT is said to have negative resistance characteristic. It is seen that
the base-2 (B2) is used only for applying external voltage VBB across it. Terminals
E and B1 are the active terminals. UJT is usually triggered into conduction by
applying a suitable positive pulse to the emitter. It can be turned off by applying a
negative trigger pulse.

UJT Characteristics
The static emitter characteristic (a curve showing the relation between
emitter voltage VE and emitter current IE) of a UJT at a given inter base voltage
VBB is shown in figure. From figure it is noted that for emitter potentials to the
left of peak point, emitter current IE never exceeds IEo. The current IEo
corresponds very closely to the reverse leakage current ICo of the conventional
BJT. This region, as shown in the figure, is called the cut-off region. Once
conduction is established at VE = VP the emitter potential VE starts decreasing
with the increase in emitter current IE. This Corresponds exactly with the
decrease in resistance RB for increasing current IE. This device, therefore, has a
negative resistance region which is stable enough to be used with a great deal of
reliability in the areas of applications listed earlier. Eventually, thevalley point
reaches, and any further increase in emitter current IE places the device in the
saturation region.

. Three other important parameters for the UJT are IP, VV and IV and are defined
below:

Peak-Point Emitter Current Ip: It is the emitter current at the peak point. It
represents the minimum current that is required to trigger the device (UJT). It is
inversely proportional to the inter base voltage VBB.

Valley Point Voltage V: The valley point voltage is the emitter voltage at the
valley point. The valley voltage increases with the increase in inter base voltage
VBB.

Valley Point Current IV: The valley point current is the emitter current at the
valley point. It increases with the increase in inter-base voltage VBB.

Special Features of UJT.

The special features of a UJT are:

1. A stable triggering voltage (VP) — a fixed fraction of applied inter base voltage
VBB.
2. A very low value of triggering current.

3. A high pulse current capability.

4. A negative resistance characteristic.

5. Low cost.

Applications of UJT.
 Relaxation oscillators.
 Switching Thyristors like SCR, TRIAC etc.
 Magnetic flux sensors.
 Voltage or current limiting circuit.
 Bistable oscillators.
 Voltage or current regulators.
 Phase control circuits.