BASIC ELECTRONICS

EE-312
 TEXT BOOKS

1. Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory by Boylestad

Nashelesky
2. Electronic Devices by Thomas L Floyed
 COURSE OBJECTIVES
• Understanding of Semiconductor device construction and
theory of operation
• Learning performance of devices and their electrical
characteristics
• Understanding of Semiconductor device types, biasing
techniques
• Learning device circuit design and applications
• Understanding dc and ac analysis of diode, bipolar junction
transistors and field effect transistor
Semiconductors Materials,
Silicon and Germanium
 Electronics Engineering
• Branch of engineering which deals with the flow of electrons
• A discipline that utilizes the behaviour and effects
of electrons for the production of electronic devices
Applications of Electronics:
• Home Appliances
• Medical Applications
• Robotics
• Mobile Communication
• Computer Communication
 Atomic Structure
• Atom is the basic building block
of all the elements
• It consists of central nucleus of
positive charge around which
small negatively charged
particles called electrons revolve
in different paths or orbits
• An Electrostatic force of attraction
between electrons and the
nucleus holds up electrons in
different orbits
Atomic Structure
• Nucleus is the central part of an
atom and contains protons and
neutrons
• A proton is positively charged
particle, while the neutron has
the same mass as of proton, but
has no charge. Therefore,
nucleus of an atom is positively
charged
atomic weight = no. of protons +
no. of neutrons
 Atomic Structure
• An electron is a negatively charged particle having negligible
mass
• The charge on an electron is equal but opposite to that on a
proton
• Number of electrons is equal to the number of protons in an
atom under ordinary conditions
• An atom is neutral as a whole
atomic number = no. of protons or electrons in an atom
• The number of electrons in any orbit is given by 2n 2 where n is
the number of the orbit
Atomic Structure
• The number of electrons in any orbit is given by 2n 2 where n is
the number of the orbit
• For example,
I orbit contains 2x12 = 2 electrons
II orbit contains 2x22 = 8 electrons
III orbit contains 2x32 = 18 electrons and so on
Positive and Negative ions
• Protons and electrons are equal in number
• If an atom loses an electron it has lost negative charge
so it becomes positively charged and is referred as
positive ion
• If an atom gains an electron it becomes negatively charged and
is referred to as negative ion
 Valence Electrons
• The electrons in the outermost orbit of an atom are known as
valence electrons
• The outermost orbit can have a maximum of 8 electrons
• The valence electrons determine the physical and chemical
properties of a material
• When the number of valence electrons of an atom is less than
4, the material is usually a metal and a conductor
• Examples of conductor are sodium, magnesium and aluminum,
which have 1, 2 and 3 valence electrons
Valence Electrons
• When the number of valence electrons of an atom is more than
4, the material is usually a non-metal and an insulator
• Examples are nitrogen, sulphur and neon, which have 5,6 and 8
valence electrons respectively
• When the number of valence electrons of an atom is 4 the
material has both metal and non-metal properties and is usually
a semi-conductor
• Examples are carbon, silicon and germanium
 Free Electrons
• The valence electrons of different materials possess different
energies
• The greater the energy of a valence electron, the lesser it is
bound to the nucleus
• In certain substances, particularly metals, the valence electrons
possess so much energy that they are very loosely attached to
the nucleus
• The loosely attached valence electrons move at random within
the material and are called free electrons
• The valence electrons, which are loosely attached to the
nucleus, are known as free electrons
Energy Bands
• A single isolated atom has an electron in any orbit has definite
energy
• When atoms are brought together as in solids, an atom is
influenced by the forces from other atoms
• An electron in any orbit can have a range of energies rather
than single energy
• These range of energy levels are known as Energy bands
 Energy Bands
• Within any material there are two distinct energy bands in which
electrons may exist valence band and conduction band
Energy Bands
• The range of energies possessed by valence electrons is
called valence band
• The range of energies possessed by free electrons is called
conduction band
• Valence band and conduction band are separated by an energy
gap in which no electrons normally exist this gap is called
forbidden gap
Conductors
• Those substances which allow electric current to pass through
them
• Examples, Copper, Aluminium
• In terms of energy bands, conductors are those substances in
which there is no forbidden gap
• Valence and conduction band overlap
• For this reason, very large number of electrons are available
for conduction even at extremely low temperatures
Insulators
• Those substances which do not allow electric current to pass
through them
• Examples are rubber, glass, wood etc
• In terms of energy bands, insulators are those substances in
which the forbidden gap is very large
• Valence and conduction band are widely separated
• Insulators do not conduct electricity even with the application of
a large electric field or by heating or at very high temperatures
Semiconductors
• Those substances whose conductivity lies in between that of a
conductor and insulator
• Examples are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide etc
• In terms of energy bands, semiconductors are those
substances in which the forbidden gap is narrow
• Valence and conduction bands are moderately separated
• Smaller electric field is required to push the electrons from
valence band to conduction band
• At low temperatures the valence band is completely filled and
conduction band is completely empty. Therefore, at very low
temperature a semi-conductor actually behaves as an insulator
Conduction in Solids
• Conduction in any given material occurs when a voltage of
suitable magnitude is applied to it
• Causes the charge carriers within the material to move in a
desired direction
• This may be due to electron motion or hole transfer or both
Electron Motion
• Free electrons in the conduction band are moved under the
influence of the applied electric field
• Electrons have negative charge they are repelled by the
negative terminal of the applied voltage and attracted
towards the positive terminal
 Hole Transfer
• Hole transfer involves the movement of holes
• Holes may be thought of positive charged particles and as such
they move through an electric field in a direction opposite to that
of electrons
Flow of Electrons and Holes
Electric Current and Charge Carriers
• In a good conductor the current flow is due to free electrons
• In a semiconductor the current flow is due to both holes and
electrons moving in opposite directions
• The flow of electric current is constituted by the movement of
electrons in conduction band and holes in valence band,
electrons and holes are referred as charge carriers
• The unit of electric current is ampere and its symbol is ‘A’
Classification of Semiconductors
Intrinsic Semiconductor
• A semiconductor in an extremely pure form is known as Intrinsic
semiconductor
• Examples are silicon, germanium
• Both silicon and Germanium are tetravalent (having 4 valence
electrons)
• Each atom forms a covalent bond or electron pair bond with the
electrons of neighboring atom
Intrinsic Semiconductor
Low Temperature
• At low temperature, all the valence electrons are tightly
bound with the nucleus hence no free electrons are available for
conduction
• The semiconductor therefore behaves as an insulator at
low temperature
Room Temperature
• At room temperature, some of the valence electrons gain
enough thermal energy to break up the covalent bonds
• This breaking up of covalent bonds sets the electrons free and
available for conduction
• When an electron escapes from a covalent bond and becomes
free electron a vacancy is created in a covalent bond. Such a
vacancy is called hole
• Hole carries positive charge and numbers of holes are equal to
the number of electrons since; a hole is nothing but an absence
of electrons
Room Temperature
Extrinsic Semiconductor
• When an impurity is added to an intrinsic semiconductor its
conductivity changes
• The process of adding impurity to a semiconductor is called
doping and the impure semiconductor is called extrinsic
semiconductor
• Depending on the type of impurity added, extrinsic
semiconductors are further classified as n-type and p-type
semiconductor
N-type Semiconductor
• When pentavalent impurity is added to a pure semiconductor it
is called as n-type semiconductor
• Addition of pentavalent impurity provides a large number of free
electrons in a semiconductor crystal
• Typical example for pentavalent impurities are arsenic, antimony and
phosphorus
• Such impurities which produce n-type semiconductors are known as
donor impurities because they donate or provide free electrons to the
semiconductor crystal
• To understand the formation of n-type semiconductor, consider a
pure silicon crystal with an impurity say arsenic added to it as shown
in figure 1.5.
N-type Semiconductor
• To understand the formation of n-type semiconductor, consider
a pure silicon crystal with an impurity say arsenic added to it as
shown in figure
N-type Semiconductor
• Silicon atom has 4 valence electrons and arsenic has 5 valence
electrons
• When arsenic is added as impurity to silicon, the 4
valence electrons of silicon make covalent bond with 4 valence
electrons of arsenic
• The 5th valence electrons finds no place in the covalent bond, it
becomes free and travels to the conduction band
• For each arsenic atom added, one free electron will be available
in the silicon crystal
N-type Semiconductor
• Due to thermal energy, still hole election pairs are generated
• The number of free electrons are very large in number when
compared to holes
• In an n-type semiconductor electrons are majority charge
carriers and holes are minority charge carriers
• Since the current conduction is pre-dominantly by free
electrons( negatively charges) it is called as n-type
semiconductor
P-type Semiconductor
• When a small amount of trivalent impurity is added to a pure
semiconductor it is called p-type semiconductor.
• The addition of trivalent impurity provides large number of holes
in the semiconductor crystals
• Examples are gallium, indium or boron
• Such impurities which produce p-type semiconductors are
known as acceptor impurities because the holes created can
accept the electrons in the semi conductor crystal
P-type Semiconductor
P-type Semiconductor
• Silicon atom has 4 valence electrons and gallium has 3
electrons
• When gallium is added as impurity to silicon, the 3 valence
electrons of gallium make 3 covalent bonds with 3 valence
electrons of silicon
• The 4th valence electrons of silicon cannot make a covalent
bond with that of gallium because of short of one electron
• This absence of electron is called a hole
• For each gallium atom added one hole is created
P-type Semiconductor
• Due to thermal energy hole-electron pairs are generated
• The number of holes is very large compared to the number of
electrons
• In a p-type semiconductor holes are majority carriers and
electrons are minority carriers
• The current conduction is predominantly by hole( positive
charges) it is called as p-type semiconductor