Foundations of Electronics

By Pragnan Chakravorty
Director, CARET
M.Tech (IIT Kharagpur), Member-IEEE(USA), ACM(USA) Member IEEE :Communication. Soc, Microwave Theory and Techniques Soc, Antenna & Wave Propagation. Soc

Clique for Applied Research in Electronic Technology Advaita Corporation

Discovery of Charge
As early as 3000BC human civilization discovered charge in form of shocks from electric fishes. In ancient Egypt people would call those fishes as thunder of the Nile. Static charges and their effects were observed and texted by Thales around 600BC which were perhaps the earliest recorded evidence of the presence of electric charges. In the year 1600 William Gilbert coined the term electric from amber(electron in Greek) which when rubbed with fur could attract objects like feather. Charges were believed to be fluids until early 1900s when atomic theories got established. Charges are measured in Coulombs

Catfish

Amber

Discovery of Electron
Efforts of great scientists like Rutherford, Millikan etal, from 1870-1900, discovered the fundamental particles of charges and in 1894 George Stoney named them as electrons.

Electron Beam

Electrons around the Nucleus

What is Electronics Engineering ? It is the study and the use of electronic properties and energy of different materials to develop devices and applications .

Electronic Materials
All materials are electronic materials because electrons are one of the fundamental constituents of an atom which is the building block of any material. Materials are classified into three groups in the context of electronics

Atomic Structures & Properties

Electronic energy of the outermost shell of an atom can only be practically used. The shell is called valence shell and the electrons in it are valence electrons. The valence electrons form different types of bonds with other atoms to make molecules and compounds. These valence electrons can also be energized to come out of their shells and start moving freely, this becomes the basis of an electronic/electric current.

Comparing Conductor & a Semiconductor

Copper

Germanium

Despite almost the same atomic structure, germanium is a semiconductor while copper is conductor. In germanium, higher number of electrons in the valence shell ensures greater bonding with the nucleus unlike copper. Higher bonding force with the nucleus ensures higher energy requirement to energize the electrons in valence band to move into conduction band hence germanium is a semiconductor.

Energy Band/Gap
Since electrons within the valence shell have different energy levels , a band or of energy is needed to stimulate the electrons to conduct. This phenomenon is effectively understood by energy band diagrams

Conduction band is the one where the electrons are energized enough to conduct or make an electric current upon an application of electric field. Valence band of energy pertains to the electrons of valence shells.

How much energy in eV?

Electronic energy can be quantized in Electron Volts (eV). One eV corresponds to the energy produced by one volt of potential difference acting upon a charge of one electron.

Questions from the Blue: How many electrons are there in one coulomb of charge? What is potential difference and how is it related to energy? What is an electric field? One coulomb of charge is so framed that when its acted upon by one volt of potential difference then it should produce on joule of energy. Therefore: if number of electrons in one coulomb is Nc then: Nc x1.6 x 10^-19 = 1 or Nc = 1/1.6 x 10^-19 = 6.25 x 10^18 electrons

What is an Electric Field?

Fields/Fundamental Forces Dynamics of the Universe is governed by fields/fundamental forces and fundamental particles. Electric or Electromagnetic field is one of the fundamental fields and electron is one of the fundamental particles. Following are the 1) Gravitational field. 2) Electromagnetic Field. 3) Weak Field. 4) Strong Field. Electroweak Field Fundamental Particles: Subatomic Fields There are 12 fundamental particles grouped as quarks and leptons.

The Standard Model

Gravitational Field/ Force m1 r m2

Electric Field/ Force q1 r q2

Fundamental forces seem to follow inverse square law i.e. forces between the particles are inversely proportional to the square of the distance of separation between them. In fact Albert Einstein proposed a theory called unified field theory which tells that all fundamental fields emanate from a single mother field called a unified field. For our present consideration we can use the similarities between the fundamental fields to understand each other better i.e. we can now understand electric field better by relating it to gravitational field.

Gravitational Field & Electric Field Analogy

m1

r Gravitational field

m2

q1

r Electric Field

q2

Atomic Bonds in Electronic Materials

Ionic Bond

Covalent Bond

Insulator

Semiconductor

Conductor

Metallic Bond

Fundamental Electric Currents

Conduction Current. Convection Current. Diffusion Current. Displacement Current

Current in Semiconductor

Extrinsic Semiconductors
N-Type Semiconductor P-Type Semiconductor

Effect of Donor/Acceptor in the Energy Band Diagram

N-Type & P-Type Semiconductors

The P-N Junction

Current in P-N Junction Diode

Forward Bias

Reverse Bias

Zener Diode & PIV/PRV

Diode Model

Diode Packaging

Diode Testing