This document provides an overview of semiconductor diodes, including PN junction diodes. It discusses intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, doping to create N-type and P-type materials, the PN junction, depletion region and built-in voltage calculations. Forward and reverse bias characteristics are examined along with current equations. Energy band diagrams are presented for the PN junction under zero, forward and reverse bias. Other topics covered include drift and diffusion current densities, transition and diffusion capacitances, switching characteristics and breakdown mechanisms in PN junction diodes. Ratings for diodes such as maximum current and voltage are also defined.

1. Semiconductor Diode
T.Ramprakash
AP/ECE
Ramco Institute of Technology
1

2. Semiconductor Diode
• PN junction diode
• Current equations
• Diffusion and Drift Current Densities
• Energy Band diagram
• Forward and Reverse bias characteristics
• Transition and Diffusion Capacitances
• Switching Characteristics
• Breakdown in PN Junction Diodes
2

3. Semiconductor Diode
• Introduction to Semiconductors
• PN junction diode Constructions
• Zero Bias - Built in Voltage Calculation and Depletion Width calculation
• Forward Bias Characteristics
• Reverse Bias Characteristics
• Current equations
• Diffusion and Drift Current Densities
• Energy Band diagram
• Transition and Diffusion Capacitances
• Switching Characteristics
• Breakdown in PN Junction Diodes 3

4. Semiconductor
4

5. Semiconductor
• A semiconductor is a material which has electrical
conductivity to a degree between that of a metal and
that of an insulator.
• Conductivity of
– Silicon  50 X 103 Ω–cm
– germanium  50 Ω-cm
• Semiconductors are the foundation of modern
electronics including
– transistors,
– solar cells,
– light -emitting diodes (LEDs),
– quantum dots,
– digital and analog integrated circuits
5

6. Silicon Vs Germanium
Silicon (14) Germanium (32)
6

7. Classification of Semiconductor
• Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Extrinsic Semiconductor
7

8. Intrinsic Semiconductor
• A pure form of Semiconductor
• The concentration of electrons (ni) in the conduction band =
concentration of holes (pi) in the valance band. (ni = pi)
• Conductivity is poor
• Eg. Pure Silicon, Pure Germanium (Tetravalent)
8

9. Extrinsic Semiconductor
• A Impure form of Semiconductor
• To increase the conductivity of intrinsic semiconductor, a small
amount of impurity (Pentavalent or Trivalent) is added.
• This process of adding impurity is known as Doping.
• 1 or 2 atoms of impurity for 106 intrinsic atoms.
• Electron concentration ≠ Hole concentration
• One type of carrier will predominate in an extrinsic semiconductor
9

10. Classification of Extrinsic Semiconductor
• N Type Semiconductor
• P Type Semiconductor
10

11. N Type Semiconductor
• A small amount of pentavalent impurities is added
• It is denoting one extra electron for conduction, so it is called
donor impurity (Donors)
• +ve charged Ions
• Electron concentration > Hole Concentration
• Most commonly used dopants are
– Arsenic,
– Antimony and
– Phosphorus
11

12. P Type Semiconductor
• A small amount of trivalent impurities is added
• It accepts free electrons in the place of hole, so it is called
Acceptor impurity (Acceptors)
• - ve charged Ions
• Hole concentration > Electron Concentration
• Most commonly used dopants are
– Aluminum,
– Boron, and
– Gallium
12

13. Mass Action Law
• Under thermal equilibrium the product of the free electron
concentration and the free hole concentration is equal to a
constant equal to the square of intrinsic carrier
concentration.
np = ni
2
13

14. Electrical Neutrality in Semiconductor
Positive Charge Density
p  Hole Concentration
N
D
 Concentration of donor ions
Negative Charge Density
n  Electron Concentration
N
A
 Concentration of Acceptor ions
Total + ve charged density = Total – ve charged density
p + ND = n + NA 14

15. Charge Density in a Semiconductor
P Type Material
NA > ND {ND ≈ 0}
pp + ND = np + NA
NA = pp – np { pp >> np}
NA = pp
Mass action Law: np pp = ni
2
N Type Material
ND > NA {NA ≈ 0}
pn + ND = nn + NA
ND = nn – pn { nn >> pn}
ND = nn
Mass action Law: nn pn = ni
2
D
i
N
n
pn
2

A
i
p
N
n
n
2

15

16. Conductivity of Semiconductor
EJ
EnpqJ
EqnEqpJ
EqnJ
EqpJ
JJJ
np
np
nn
pp
np
.
)(
)(













1
The resistivity of a semiconductor is
np qnqp  The conductivity of a semiconductor is
16

17. Conductivity of Semiconductor


1
The Resistivity of a semiconductor is
np qnqp  The Conductivity of a semiconductor is
q = 1.6*10-19 coulomb
17

18. Problems
Consider an Intrinsic Silicon bar of cross section 5 cm2 and length
0.5 cm at room temperature 300o K. An average field of 20 V/cm
is applied across the ends of the silicon bar.
Assume, Electron mobility = 1400 cm2/v-s
Hole mobility = 450 cm2/v-s
Intrinsic carrier concentration = 1.5*1010 cm3
Calculate,
I. Electron hole component of current density
II. Total current in the bar
III. Resistivity of the Bar
18

19. PN Junction Diode
anode cathode
19

20. Dopant distribution in PN Junction Diode
20

21. Dopant distribution in PN Junction Diode
E
n~0, and donor ions
are exposed
p~0, and acceptor
ions are exposed
Space Charge Region
21

22. 22

23. Calculation of Depletion Width
23

24. Calculation of Depletion Width
24

25. Calculation of Depletion Width
Similarly, In N side region,
Therefore, the total built in potential Vbi
W.K.T, Thermal Equilibrium,
Substituting in the above equation,
25

26. Calculation of Depletion Width
26

27. PN Junction Forward bias
27

28. Forward bias Characteristics
- VF( )
28

29. PN Junction Reverse bias
29

30. Reverse bias Characteristics
+ VR( )
Reverse Saturation Current
30

31. Characteristics of PN Junction
31

32. Diode Current Equation
The Diode equation relating the voltage V and current I is given
by,
32

33. Diode Current Equation
At x= 0
At Thermal Equilibrium At Forward Bias
33

34. Diode Current Equation
34

35. Diode Current Equation
Considering Carrier generation and recombination,
35

36. Diode Current Equation
At room temperature, VT = 25.8 mv
Therefore, I = Io [e(40 V/η ) -1] 36

37. Problems
When a reverse bias is applied to a germanium PN junction diode,
the reverse saturation current at room temperature is 0.3 micro
amps. Determines the current flowing in the diode when 0.15 V
forward bias is applied at room temperature.
Given I0 = 0.3 X 10 -6 A
Vf = 0.15 V
I = Io [e(40 V/η ) -1]
I = 0.3 * 10-6 (e(40 * 0.15) -1)
I = 0.120 mA
37

38. Problems
The reverse saturation current of a silicon PN junction diode is 10
micro A. Calcualte the diode current for the forward bias voltage
0.6 V at 25oC
VT = T/ 11,600
= (273 + 25)/11600
= 0.0257 V
I = 1.174 A
38

39. Drift Current Density
EqnJ
EqpJ
nn
pp
Drift
Drift



 A/cm2
A/cm2
The flow of electric current due to the motion of the charge carriers under
The influence of an external electric field is called Drift Current
DriftDriftDrift
np JJJ 
EqnEqpJ npDrift  
EnpqJ npDrift )(  
EJDrift . 39

40. Diffusion Current Density
 In a semiconductor material, the charge carriers have the tendency
to move from the region of the higher concentration to that of lower
concentration of the same type of charge carriers.
 This movement results in a current called Diffusion Current
40

41. Diffusion Current Density
Concentration Gradients
Diffusion Coefficients
41

42. Total Current
Total Current in P type semiconductor
Jp = Jp Drift + Jp Diffusion
Total Current in N type semiconductor
Jn = Jn Drift + Jn Diffusion
42

43. Energy Band Diagram – Intrinsic Semiconductor
EC
EV
EfiEg
ni = NC e[-(Ec – Efi)/KT)
43

44. Energy Band Diagram – N type and P type
44

45. qVbi
E1
E2
E0 =
p n
Energy Band Diagram
Vbi = |E1| + |E2|
E1 = EFi - EFp
E2 = EFn - EFi
45

46. Energy Band Diagram
)ln(2
in
N
q
KT
V
D

46

47. Energy Band Diagram
)ln(1
in
N
q
KT
V
A

47

48. Energy Band Diagram
)ln( 2
i
bi
n
NN
q
KT
V
DA

Vbi = |E1| + |E2|
)ln(2
in
N
q
KT
V
D
)ln(1
in
N
q
KT
V
A

48

49. Energy Band Diagram – Forward Bias
49

50. Energy Band Diagram – Reverse Bias
50

51. Transition Capacitance
• The parallel layers of oppositely charged
immobile ions on the two side of the junction
form the capacitance CT
• CT is Transition or Space charge or depletion
region capacitance.
• The Total Charge density of a p type material
with area of the junction A is given by,
Q = q NA W A
Where dQ is the increase in charge and
dV is the change in voltage.
51

52. Transition Capacitance
52

53. Transition Capacitance
• The relation between potential and charge
density is given by the Poisson's equation.
• At x = Wp, V = VB,
q
53

54. Transition Capacitance
• Differentiating w.r.to V, we get .
q
q
A q NA
= A q NA
q
54

55. Transition Capacitance
CT = 20 pF // zero bias
CT = 5 to 200 pF
55

56. Diffusion Capacitance
• The capacitance that exists in a forward biased
junction is called a diffusion or storage
capacitance (CD)
• CD >> CT
Where dQ represents change in the
number of minority carrier when
change in voltage.
56

57. Diffusion Capacitance
Diffusion hole current in the N side Ipn(x)
At, x = 0
Ipn(0) ≈ I
57

58. Diffusion Capacitance
Diff. w.r.to V
58

59. Diffusion Capacitance
• CD increases for forward bias.
• CD is negligible for reverse bias.
• CD ranges from 10 pF to 1000pF
• CD is high for low frequency
• CD is low for high frequency
59

60. Switching Characteristics
• Recovery time
–Forward Recovery Time
–Reverse Recover Time
60

61. Switching Characteristics
VF/RL
VR/RL
IO
61

62. Switching Characteristics
• When the applied voltage to the PN junction
diode is suddenly reversed in the opposite
direction, the diode response reaches a
steady state after an interval of time.
• This is called recover time.
• The forward recovery time tfr, is defined as the
time required for forward voltage or current
to reach a specified value after switching
diode from its reverse to forward biased state
• Forward recovery time posses no serious
problem
62

63. Switching Characteristics
• When the PN junction diode is forward biased, the
minority electron concentration in the P region is
approximately linear.
• If the junction is suddenly reverse biased, at t1, then
because of this stored electronic charge, the reverse
current IR is initially of the same magnitude as the
forward current
• The injected minority carrier have remained stored and
have to reach the equilibrium state, this is called
storage time (ts)
• The time required for the diode for nominal recovery
to reach its steady state is called transition time (tt)
tRR = ts + tt
63

64. Switching Characteristics
• For commercial switching type diodes the
reverse recovery time trr ranges from less than
1 ns to as high as 1 µs.
• The operating frequency should be a
minimum of approximately 10 times trr.
• If a diode has trr of 2ns, the maximum
operating frequency is
fmax = 1/T  1/(10*2*10-9)  50 MHz
64

65. Break down in PN Junction Diodes
65

66. Avalanche Break Down
• Thermally generated minority carriers cross the
depletion region and acquire sufficient kinetic energy
from the applied potential to produce new carrier by
removing valence electrons from their bonds. These
new carrier will in turn collide with other atoms and
will increase the number of electrons and holes
available for conduction.
• The multiplication effect of free carrier may
represented by
66

67. Zener Break down
• Zener breakdown occurs in highly doped PN junction
through tunneling mechanism
• In a highly doped junction, the conduction and valance
bands on opposite sides of the junction are sufficiently
close during reverse bias that electrons may tunnel
directly from the valence band of the P side into the
conduction band on the n side
67

68. Diode Ratings
• Maximum Forward Current
– Highest instantaneous current under forward bias condition that can
flow through the junction.
• Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)
– Maximum reverse voltage that can be applied to the PN junction
– If the voltage across the junction exceeds PIV, under reverse bias
condition, the junction gets damaged. (1000 V)
• Maximum Power Rating
– Maximum power that can be dissipated at the junction without
damaging the junction.
– It is the product of voltage across the junction and current through the
junction. 68

69. Diode Ratings
• Maximum Average Forward Current
– Maximum amount of average current that can be permitted to flow in the
forward direction at a special temperature (25o C)
• Repetitive Peak Forward Current
– Maximum peak current that can be permitted to flow in the forward direction
in the form of recurring pulses.
– Limiting value of the current is 450 mA
• Maximum Surge Current
– Maximum current permitted to flow in the forward direction in the form of
nonrecurring pulses.
– It should not be more that a few milliseconds. (30 A for 8.3 ms) 69

70. Diode Ratings
• D.C. or Static Resistance (RF)
– It is defined as the ratio of the voltage to the current
(V/I) in the forward bias characteristics of PN junction
Diode
RF = V / I
• A.C. or Dynamic resistance (rf)
– It is defined as the reciprocal of the slope of the volt-
ampere characteristics
rf = change in voltage / resulting change in current
rf = ∆V/ ∆I
70

71. Reference
1. Donald A Neaman, “Semiconductor Physics and
Devices”, Fourth Edition, Tata Mc GrawHill
Inc.2012.
2. Salivahanan. S, Suresh Kumar. N, Vallavaraj.A,
“Electronic Devices and circuits”, Third Edition,
Tata Mc Graw- Hill Inc.2008.