UNIT-4 Conduction in Semiconductors

Basic Electronics: Conduction in Semiconductors, Conduction Properties of Semiconductor Diodes, Behaviour of the PN Junction, PN Junction Diode, Zener Diode, Photovoltaic Cell, Rectifiers, L, C, & L-C filters, Bipolar Junction Transistor, Field Effect Transistor, Transistor as an Amplifier. Digital Electronics: Boolean algebra, Binary System, Logic Gates and Their Truth Tables.

1. Conduction in Semiconductors: Semiconductors are substances that only conduct electricity

under certain conditions. Intrinsic semiconductors, which include Silicon, Germanium, and sometimes tin, are semiconductors that occur naturally and don't undergo any sort of chemical doping. These substances can often be recognized by characteristic crystal lattice structures that they form.

2.

A semiconductor is a material whose electrical conductivity increases with increasing temperature. This broad definition distinguishes semiconductors from metals, whose electrical conductivity decreases as the temperature increases. In general, there are two basic classifications of semiconductors: intrinsic semiconductors and extrinsic semiconductors. Unlike extrinsic semiconductors, intrinsic semiconductors are naturally occurring elements within nature. The defining characteristic of these intrinsic semiconductor elements is their four valence electrons each occupying a different orbital.

Semiconductor Structure: The most well known electric conductors are metals. Metals are
able to carry an electric flow because of their available free electrons that can pass from one atom to the next. This enables the electric flow (which is merely composed of electrons flowing across a substance) to travel through the length of the metal. Semiconductors work in a very different manner. All intrinsic semiconductors are group 14 elements, and thusly only have 4 valence P electrons available for bonding in their outermost shell. Because of these 4 electrons, group 14 elements like Silicon are able to form crystal lattice structures composed of countless atoms of that element. The image below depicts the bonding structure well:

As shown, all of the electrons are used up in the covalent bonding structure, seemingly leaving none available to carry a current. Lacking any foreign doping agent that would introduce more foreign electrons, intrinsic semiconductors rely on a different mechanism for carrying a current.

Band Theory:Metals and semiconductors have a unique property that separates them from nonconductive insulators. In metals and insulators, the difference between energy orbitals are so small that electrons can be excited from lower energy orbitals to higher energy levels. These small orbital energy differences are referred to as bands. Unlike the discrete energy levels that you are taught about in beginning chemistry, these bands are so close together in energy that it takes a very small amount of energy to promote electrons to these higher band levels. The higher energy level that the valence electrons can be excited to is referred to as the conduction band, because the electrons in this band are free to carry an electric current.

As shown in the diagram above, the key difference between semiconductors and conductors is that conductors have a natural overlap between their valence electrons and the conduction band, while semiconductors have a noticeable gap between the two. The result is that the electrons of conductors are able to carry a current under any condition. Meanwhile, the conductive ability of semiconductors requires energy to be put into the semiconductor material. As the energy input into the semiconductor is increased, more electrons are promoted into the conduction band, increasing the number of available conducting electrons. This energy usually comes in the form of heat, which is why semiconductors are able to conduct more effectively as they rise in temperature.

Hole Conduction:As heat is added to the semiconductor, electrons promoted to the conduction band
leave behind an empty spot in the lattice structure where they were previously situated. This concept of an electron hole is an important one in understanding the mechanism by which lattice structures are able recruit additional electrons for conductivity. By definition, an electron hole is the opposite of an electron. It represents the lack of an electron where an electron could potentially be situated or previously was situated in an otherwise full electron shell. In this case, electron holes result from electrons leaving their place in the

lattice structure :Electron holes have an important role in increasing the conductive abilities of
semiconductors. Hole conduction first requires an electron to experience excitation in order to leave its valence band to the conduction band. Once the valence electron has left, neighboring electrons are pulled into the electron holes, filling existing electron holes while creating new neighboring ones. Once heat is put into the semiconductor and electrons begin continually crossing into the conduction band, hole conduction begins constantly moving electrons across the semiconductor, adding to the overall electron flow. This increases the conductive ability of the semiconductor, constantly allowing new electrons to cross into the conduction gap.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic:Semiconductors are categorized into one of 2 groups: intrinsic or extrinsic.
Unlike intrinsic semiconductors, which are naturally occurring group 14 elements, extrinsic semiconductors are artificially doped. They have impurities introduced to add additional electrons to the lattice, allowing increased conduction. The semiconductor industry heavily favors the use of extrinsic semiconductors because of the difficulty of obtaining large amounts of pure intrinsic semiconductors. Additionally, because of the added foreign electrons, extrinsic semiconductors are able to conduct more effectively than intrinsic semiconductors. However, intrinsic semiconductors still find many uses in today's world, especially in transistors and electronic product manufacturing.

Problems

1. Explain the fundamental differences between a metallic conductor and a semiconductor. 2. What are the two conduction mechanisms that allow semiconductors to effectively conduct electricity? 3. What disadvantages do intrinsic semiconductors have when compared to extrinsic semiconductors?

Answers
1. A metallic conductor relies on its available free electrons to carry an electric current. This is possible because the valence band and the conduction band have a large overlap in conductors, so the valence electrons are freely able to move to the conduction band. On the other hand, semiconductors have a larger gap between the valence and conduction bands, and thusly require some sort of energy input to be promoted to the conduction band. This is why semiconductors become more conductive as temperature increases. 2. Semiconductors rely on band conduction and hole conduction to create an electron flow. Band conduction involves the promotion of electrons to the conduction band away from the lattice valence band. Additionally, hole conduction replaces the lost electrons, allowing a continual flow of electrons into the conduction band. 3. For intrinsic semiconductors, you must have a large amount of the pure substance, while extrinsic semiconductors use their impurities to add electrons to the total conduction. Its often difficult to isolate enough pure substance to make an intrinsic semiconductors. Additionally, extrinsic semiconductors have more available electrons to conduct a current.

2. Behaviour of the PN Junction:

A pn junction is formed at the boundary between a p-type and n-type semiconductor created in a single crystal of semiconductor by doping, for example by ion implantation, diffusion of dopants, or by epitaxy (growing a layer of crystal doped with one type of dopant on top of a layer of crystal doped with another type of dopant). If two separate pieces of material were used, this would introduce a grain boundary between the semiconductors that severely inhibits its utility by scattering the electrons and holes.

A silicon pn junction with no applied voltage.

Properties of a pn junction The pn junction possesses some interesting properties that have useful applications in modern electronics. A p-doped semiconductor is relatively conductive. The same is true of an n-doped semiconductor, but the junction between them can become depleted of charge carriers, and hence nonconductive, depending on the relative voltages of the two semiconductor regions. By manipulating this non-conductive layer, pn junctions are commonly used as diodes: circuit elements that allow a flow of electricity in one direction but not in the other (opposite) direction. This property is explained in terms of forward bias and reverse bias, where the term bias refers to an application of electric voltage to the pn junction.

The V-I characteristics of a p-n junction diode:

3. The Junction Diode: A semiconductor diode in which the rectifying characteristics occur at an alloy, diffused, electrochemical, or grown junction between n-type and p-type semiconductor materials. Also known as junction diode. The effect described in the previous tutorial is achieved without any external voltage being applied to the actual PN junction resulting in the junction being in a state of equilibrium. However, if we were to make electrical connections at the ends of both the N-type and the P-type materials and then connect them to a battery source, an additional energy source now exists to overcome the barrier resulting in free charges being able to cross the depletion region from one side to the other. The behaviour of the PN junction with regards to the potential barrier width produces an asymmetrical conducting two terminal device, better known as the Junction Diode. Zener Diode:Zener diodes are very similar to avalanche diodes (above) but they do not depend on the acceleration of the charge carriers randomly generated by heat in the depletion layer. Rather the high electric field directly breaks down the bonds in the crystal lattice to create electron-hole pairs. Practical devices need heavy doping and a very thin space charge layer which is too thin to accelerate the thermally generated charge carriers to sufficient energy to start the avalanching process. Zener diodes are thus less temperature dependent than avalanche diodes. By controlling the doping levels the onset of the avalanche effect can be made to occur at different voltages making the Zener diode suitable as a voltage reference device.

Photovoltaic Cell: A solar cell (also called a photovoltaic cell) is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It is a form of photoelectric cell (in that its electrical characteristics-- e.g. current, voltage, or resistance-- vary when light is incident upon it) which, when exposed to light, can generate and support an electric current without being attached to any external voltage source. The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Greek (phs) meaning "light", and from "Volt", the unit of electro-motive force.

A solar cell made from a monocrystalline silicon wafer

Theory Photovoltaic Cell:The solar cell works in three steps:

1.Photons in sunlight hit the solar panel and are absorbed by semiconducting materials, such as silicon. 2.Electrons (negatively charged) are knocked loose from their atoms, causing an electric potential difference. Current starts flowing through the material to cancel the potential and this electricity is captured. Due to the special composition of solar cells, the electrons are only allowed to move in a single direction. 3.An array of solar cells converts solar energy into a usable amount of direct current (DC) electricity.

Polycrystalline photovoltaic cells

3. Materials presently used for photovoltaic solar cells include monocrystalline silicon,
polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium selenide/sulfide 4. Manufacture:

(1)Early solar powered calculator (2)Because solar cells are semiconductor devices, they share some of the same processing and manufacturing techniques as other semiconductor devices such as computer and memory chips.

Rectifiers:

How Do Rectifiers Work? There are many different types of rectifiers that are used in electronics to serve wholly different purposes. The two major varieties that warrant serious analysis are half-wave rectifiers and full-wave rectifiers. One or the other of these two basic types of rectifiers is found in the vast majority of consumer electronics. Either way, both forms of rectifier work by changing alternating current into direct current; it's only the method that is different. How Do Half-Wave Rectifiers Work? Half-wave rectifiers work by passing half of the alternating electrical current through one or more diodes, thereby converting that half of the alternating current into direct electrical current. Half-wave rectifiers aren't very efficient because they convert only half of the alternating current (either the positive or the negative charge) into direct current. On the other hand, half-wave rectifiers are much less complicated and require only one diode to function. How Do Full-Wave Rectifiers Work? Full-wave rectifiers are more complex than half-wave rectifiers, but they are also much more efficient. Fullwave rectifiers generally use four diodes to function. They pass the alternating current through the four-diode system, changing the entire current into a direct current. What Are Rectifiers Used For? Rectifiers are used in the vast majority of consumer electronics today and are required for most devices to work properly. Most electronics need a direct current to function, but the standard form of electricity that is

transmitted to homes is alternating current. Because of this, rectifiers are needed to change the alternating current into direct current inside the electronics so that they can function correctly.

7.L, C, & L-C filters:

L and C will tend to resonate, and this property can be exploited in designing band-pass and band-stop filter circuits. Series LC circuits give minimum impedance at resonance, while parallel LC (tank) circuits give maximum impedance at their resonant frequency. Knowing this, we have two basic strategies for designing either band-pass or band-stop filters. For band-pass filters, the two basic resonant strategies are this: series LC to pass a signal (Figure below), or parallel LC (Figure below) to short a signal. The two schemes will be contrasted and simulated here:

Series resonant LC band-pass filter.

Transistor:Junction transistors are formed from a three-layer semiconductor sandwich with a very thin
middle layer creating two P-N junctions configured like two diodes back to back. In operation one of the junctions is reverse biased the other forward biased. Bipolar transistors are so named because the main conduction channel employs both electrons and holes to carry the main electric current through the device.

NPN Transistor In an NPN transistor the outer layers which form the emitter and collector are N type semiconductors doped with an impurity to supply extra electrons, while the thin base layer, typically only 1 micron thick, is a P type semiconductor doped with a different impurity which provides holes. A typical NPN transistor is supplied by a positive battery voltage on the collector while the emitter is held at ground potential. With no voltage, or a negative voltage, on the base, no current, other than leakage current, can flow between the emitter and the collector because the base-collector junction is reverse biased.

If a positive voltage is applied to the base, the emitter-base junction becomes forward biased and electrons flow from the emitter into the base but because the base is very thin and lightly doped only a few electrons recombine with holes and since the reverse biased base-collector junction is depleted of charge carriers, most of the electrons entering the base are swept away towards the positive terminal of the collector flowing across the reverse biased junction. It is important to keep the base region as thin and as free from defects as possible, in order to minimise recombination losses of the minority carriers (electrons in this case). The current associated with the electron travel, flows in the opposite direction between the collector and the emitter. In this way a small current entering the base can cause a much larger current flowing between the collector and the emitter. In other words the transistor acts as an amplifier.

PNP Transistor: In a PNP transistor the emitter and collector are made from P type semiconductors and the
base is an N type material. It behaves in a similar way to the NPN transistor except that all the potentials are reversed and the electrons travel in the opposite direction.

The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is theoretically a symmetrical device and should operate the same if the emitter and collector leads were interchanged, however in practice the collector is made much larger than the emitter in order to catch as many as possible of the charge carriers provided by the emitter and also to act as a heat sink. The BJT has traditionally been the analogue designer's transistor of choice, due largely to its high transconductance (the ratio between the change on output current to the voltage change which caused it : gm=Iout/Vin). The junction transistor is a current controlled device as opposed to a voltage controlled device and because the base-emitter diode is forward biased, the junction transistor has the disadvantage of a low input impedance which loads down the signal source connected to the transistor base. The FET by contrast is a voltage controlled device and does not have this loading problem since the input diode junction is reversed biased providing a very high input impedance and drawing only very small currents

Thyristor or Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)

The thyristor is a four layer P-N-P-N device with different levels of doping for each layer. The cathode is the most heavily doped and the gate and anode are less heavily doped. The central N type layer is only slightly doped and is also thicker than the other layers enabling it to support a high blocking voltage.

In operation the thyristor may be considered as an NPN and a PNP transistor connected back to back, forming a positive feedback loop within the device. The output of one transistor is fed to the input of the second and the output of the second transistor is in turn fed back to the input of the first. A small trigger pulse on the gate will turn the thyristor on and once a current starts to flow, it quickly builds up until both transistors are fully turned on or saturated and the only way it can be turned off is by removing the supply voltage. The device is designed to act as a switch and can carry very high currents.

Digital Electronics
Boolean algebra: BOOLEAN ALGEBRA
Boolean logic, or Boolean algebra as it is called today, was developed by an English mathematician, George Boole, in the 19th century. He based his concepts on the assumption that most quantities have two possible conditions - TRUE and FALSE. This is the same theory you were introduced to at the beginning of this chapter. Throughout our discussions of fundamental logic gates, we have mentioned Boolean expressions. A Boolean expression is nothing more than a description of the input conditions necessary to get the desired output. These expressions are based on Boole's laws and theorems.

Basic operations:
1 .OR GATE 2.NOT GATE 3.AND GATE PURPOSE : Boolean algebra is used primarily by design engineers. Using this system, they are able to arrange logic gates to accomplish desired tasks. Boolean algebra also enables the engineers to achieve the desired output by using the fewest number of logic gates. Since space, weight, and cost are important factors in the design of equipment, you would usually want to use as few parts as possible.

Laws:

2. Binary System:
Binary numbers are closely related to digital electronics. With digital electronics a 1 means that current / electricity is present and a 0 means it is not present. The different parts of a computer communicate through pulses of current (1s and 0s). As we all know, computers can calculate complex equations and perform complex mathematics at lightening speed. Calculating using only 1s and 0s is called the BINARY SYSTEM. Although a computer will only process 1s and 0s there comes a point when the 1s and 0s have to be converted into our usual decimal numbers - that we are familiar with. We tend to use the DECIMAL SYSTEM when attempting maths. This system deals with numbers that we are using on a daily basis: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 10s, 100s, 1000s etc..... As the BINARY system is composed of only two numbers (1s and 0s) you may be wandering how it is possible to count beyond one. The table below will help you understand how this is done.

Look at the row that represents the decimal number 10 (diagram below). The table can be used to convert this decimal number to a binary number. The table shows that DECIMAL 10 is composed of one number 8 and one number 2. Zeros are used to fill the blank spaces which gives 1010 as the binary equivalent of decimal 10.

Next look at the way decimal 60 is converted to its binary equivalent. 60 is composed of one 32, one 16, one 8, and one 4. The blanks are filled with zeros giving 111100 as the binary equivalent of decimal 60.

The important point to remember is that when converting from decimal to binary OR from binary to decimal, you must write down the top section of the table (seen in yellow above) and underneath enter the binary number.

QUESTIONS: 1. What do you notice about the way the numbers along the top section of the table increase - from right to left (yellow section of table)? 2. Complete the table by writing the binary equivalent of decimal numbers 44, 19, 27 and 7, in the spaces available.

Counting in binary: binary is a base-2 system, each digit represents an increasing power of 2, with the
rightmost digit representing 20, the next representing 21, then 22, and so on. To determine the decimal representation of a binary number simply take the sum of the products of the binary digits and the powers of 2 which they represent. For example, the binary number: 100101 is converted to decimal form by: [(1) 25] + [(0) 24] + [(0) 23] + [(1) 22] + [(0) 21] + [(1) 20] = [1 32] + [0 16] + [0 8] + [1 4] + [0 2] + [1 1] = 37 To create higher numbers, additional digits are simply added to the left side of the binary representation.

Fractions in binary: Fractions in binary only terminate if the denominator has 2 as the only prime factor. As
a result, 1/10 does not have a finite binary representation, and this causes 10 0.1 not to be precisely equal to 1 in floating point arithmetic. As an example, to interpret the binary expression for 1/3 = .010101..., this means: 1/3 = 0 21 + 1 22 + 0 23 + 1 24 + ... = 0.3125 + ... An exact value cannot be found with a sum of a finite number of inverse powers of two, and zeros and ones alternate forever.

Binary System, Logic Gates and Their Truth Tables: Refer to faree c -notes. 2nd unit.

BY: SHUBHAM KHANDELWAL (FARRE.IN)