Two Mark Question

EC6201 Electronic Devices

1.1

Om Sakthi
Adhiparasakthi Engineering College, Melmaruvathur 603319
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
EC6201 Electronic Devices
Unit 1 Semiconductor Diodes
Two Mark Question and Answer
1. Define semiconductor.
A semiconductor is a substance which has resistivity between conductor and insulator.
The energy gap between conduction band and valence band is very small which is equal to 1
eV.
2. Define PN junction diode.
The PN junction diode is one of the semiconductor devices with two semiconductor materials
in physical contacts, one with excess of holes and other with excess of electrons.
A PN junction diode may be found from the single crystal intrinsic semiconductor by doping
of it with acceptor impurities and remainder with donors.
3. What is the characteristic of PN junction diode?
Ability to allow the flow of current in only one direction.
In the opposite direction, it offers very high resistance.
4. What are the properties of semiconductor?
It is formed by covalent bond.
It has crystalline structure.
The resistivity of a semiconductor is less than that of an insulator but more than that of
conductor.
It has almost filled valence band and nearly empty conduction band with small energy gap.
5. What is meant by intrinsic semiconductor?
A pure semiconductor is called intrinsic semiconductor.
In an intrinsic semiconductor, even at room temperature, electron hole pairs are created.
When electric field is applied across an intrinsic semiconductor, the current conduction take
place by two processes, namely, free electrons and holes.
Though the total current inside the semiconductor is due to free electrons and holes, the
current in the external wire is fully by electrons.
6. What is meant by extrinsic semiconductor?
Due to poor conduction at room temperature, the intrinsic semiconductor as such is not
useful in the electronic devices.
Hence the current conduction capability of the intrinsic semiconductor should be increased.
This can be done by adding a small amount of impurity to the intrinsic semiconductor, so
that it become impure or extrinsic semiconductor. This process of adding impurity is called
doping.
The amount of impurity added is very small, say 1 or 2 atoms of impurity for 10 intrinsic
atoms.
7. Define doping.
The process of adding a small amount of impurity to the intrinsic semiconductor is called
doping.
8. Differentiate between N type and P type semiconductor.
S. No.
N type semiconductor
P type semiconductor
1.
Pentavalent impurity added to intrinsic Trivalent impurity added to intrinsic
semiconductor
semiconductor
2.
Pentavalent impurity donate one electron to Trivalent impurity accepts one electron
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Adhiparasakthi Engineering College

Two Mark Question

EC6201 Electronic Devices

1.2

conduction band
from conduction band
3.
Majority charge carrier is electron
Majority charge carrier is holes
4.
Minority charge carrier is holes
Minority charge carrier is electrons
9. State mass action law.
Under thermal equilibrium, for any semiconductor, the product of number of holes and
number of electrons is constant and is independent of the amount of donor and acceptor
impurity.
This relation is called mass action law and is given by
 =  
10.
Define drift current.
The drift current is defined as the flow of electric current due to the motion of the charge
carrier under the influence of external electric field.
11.
Define diffusion current.
The movement of charge carrier from the region of higher concentration to the lower
concentration of the same type of charge type of charge carrier leads to diffusion current.
Diffusion current depends on material of the semiconductor, type of charge carrier, and the
concentration gradient.
12.
What is the barrier potential of germanium and silicon?
For germanium,
 = 0.3

For silicon,
 = 0.72

13.
State Boltzmann relationship of kinetic gas theory.
If the hole concentration at the edges of the space charge region are  and  in p and n
material respectively, the barrier potential across the depletion layer is
 , then
 =    
where
 - volt equivalent of temperature.
This is called Boltzmann relationship of kinetic gas theory.
14.
State law of the junction.
For the forward bias, the hole concentration at the junction  0 is greater than the thermal
equilibrium value  .
 0 =   
15.
Write the expression for diode current.
 =     1
 - diode current
 - diode reverse saturation current at room temperature

- external voltage
- a constant, 1 for Ge and 2 for Si

 - thermal voltage
!"

 =
#
! - Boltzmann constant, = 1.380666 10' ( )/!
# - charge of an electron = 1.60219 10',- .
" - temperature of the diode junction !
16.
Define static resistance.
The static resistance of a diode is defined as the ratio of voltage to current.
It is denoted by /.

/=

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Adhiparasakthi Engineering College

Two Mark Question

EC6201 Electronic Devices

1.3

17.
Define dynamic resistance.
The dynamic resistance of the diode is defined as the reciprocal of the slope of the current
voltage characteristics of the diode.
It is denoted by 0.

0=

18.
Define reverse resistance.
The reverse resistance offered by the PN junction diode is under reverse bias condition.
It is very large compared to the forward resistance.
Reverse resistance is in the range of 23.
19.
Define reverse saturation current in PN junction diode.
Under reverse bias condition, thermally generated minority carriers, electron in the P region
and holes in the N region, wander over to the junction and flow towards their majority
carrier side giving rise to small reverse current called reverse saturation current.
The magnitude of reverse saturation current mainly depends on junction temperature.
20.
Define breakdown voltage in PN junction diode.
For large applied voltage, the free electrons from the N type moving towards the positive
terminal of the battery acquire sufficient energy to move with high velocity to dislodge valence
electrons from semiconductor atoms in the crystal.
These newly liberated electrons, in turn, acquire sufficient energy to dislodge other parent
electrons.
Thus a large number of electrons are formed which is commonly called as avalanche of free
electrons.
This leads to the breakdown of the junction leading to very large current.
The reverse voltage at which the junction breakdown occurs is called breakdown voltage.
21.
Why reverse saturation current depends on junction temperature?
The magnitude of reverse saturation current mainly depends on junction temperature
because the major source of minority carriers is thermally broken covalent bonds.
22.
What are the current components of PN junction diode?
Current due to electron in P side, 
Current due to holes in P side, 
Current due to electron in N side, 
Current due to holes in N side, 
23.
Define transition capacitance.
The capacitance due to depletion layer is known as depletion capacitance or transition
capacitance or space charge capacitance.
45 67
. =
=
4
8
24.
Define diffusion capacitance.
The rate of change of injected charge with applied voltage is called diffusion capacitance.
:
.9 =


25.
Define forward recovery time.
It is the time difference between the 10% point of the diode voltage and the time when this
voltage reaches and remains within 10% of its final value.
26.
Define storage time.
The interval of time for the stored minority charge to become zero is called storage time.
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Adhiparasakthi Engineering College

Two Mark Question

EC6201 Electronic Devices

1.4

27.
Define transition time.
The time which elapses between the time when the stored minority charge becomes zero and
the time when the diode is recovered is called transition time.
28.
What is meant by impact ionization?
In reverse biased diode, a thermally generated carrier falls down the junction barrier and
acquires energy from applied voltage. The sufficient kinetic energy to disrupt the covalent
bond, at this, carrier collides with crystal. This is known as impact ionization.
29.
What is meant by avalanche multiplication?
In reverse biased diode, a thermally generated carrier falls down the junction barrier and
acquires energy from applied voltage. The sufficient kinetic energy to disrupt the covalent
bond, at this, carrier collides with crystal. A new electron hole pairs are created in addition to
the original carrier. These new carrier in turn, may also acquire enough energy from the
applied field collide with another crystal ion and create still another electron hole pair. This is
a cumulative process and is known as avalanche multiplication.
30.
What are the applications of PN junction diode?
Rectifiers in DC power supplies
Clamping circuits used as DC restorer in TV receiver and voltage multipliers
PN diodes in demodulating circuit
Switch in digital logic circuits used in computer
Clipping circuit used as wave shaping circuits used in TV receivers, radio, computers and
radars.
Zener diode in voltage regulator
Varactor diodes in tuning sections of radio and TV receivers
Detectors in optical communication circuits
Tunnel diodes as relaxation oscillator at microwave frequencies
Light emitting diodes in digital displays
LASER diodes in optical communications.

Prepared by Mr. R. Sivarajan, Assistant Professor & Mr. B. Elango, Assistant Professor
Adhiparasakthi Engineering College