The Devices:

Diode Once Again

Si Atomic Structure
Electron Configuration:

First Energy Level:

2
Second Energy Level: 8
Third Energy Level: 4

Doping Process
Doping: The process of adding impurities to the intrinsic material
giving the material a Positive or Negative characteristic.
N

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI
N

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI
P

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

Covalent
Bonding;

Pentavalent
Doping;

Trivalent Doping;

Undoped Material
Shares its 4 electrons
w/other atoms and
forms a pure crystal.

Donor Material

Impurities that have

missing electron,
called Holes or P type
Material. + charged.

Impurities that have an

excess of electrons. N
type Material, called
Electrons.
Electrons - charged

Acceptor Material

n-type material
N

Donor Material w/an excess electron in the

covalent bond w/Silicon
displays a Negative charge.
Majority Carriers are Electrons.

SI
N

SI

SI

SI
N

SI

SI
N

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

N
SI

SI

SI

N
SI

SI

p-type material
P

Acceptor Material has a missing electron in the

covalent bond w/Silicon,
displays a Positive charge.
Majority Carriers are Holes.
Holes

SI

SI
P

SI

SI

SI
P

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

SI

P
SI

SI

SI

P
SI

SI

SI

I
P

Remember
Majority Current Carriers, Holes or
Electrons.
Electrons

N Type Material:
Material
covalent
charge.

P Type Material:
Material
covalent
charge.

2 Current Carriers:
Carriers

Donor Material with an excess electron in the

bond in Silicon & displays a Negative

Majority Carriers are Electrons.

Acceptor Material has a missing electron in the

bond in Silicon, & displays a Positive

Majority Carriers are Holes.

Holes

Majority & Minority

Intrinsic impurities inherent in
silicon result in current flow in the opposite
direction to Majority flow. Becomes evident in
heat, leakage and break down of the device.

Minority Current carriers

The pn Junction in Si Material

The pn junction is made from a
single crystal with the impurities
diffused into it. The n end has a
surplus of negative electrons.
The p end has a surplus of holes.

Depletion region

At the junction, electrons fill

holes so that there are no free
holes or electrons there.
The actual junction becomes an
insulating layer. This barrier
must be overcome before
current can flow through the
pn junction.

The pn Junction in Si Material

cathode

anode

When a battery is connected as shown, the negative terminal pushes

negative electrons towards the junction. The positive terminal pushes
holes towards the junction. A high enough voltage will overcome the
barrier and a current will flow through the pn junction.
There is a voltage across the diode of 0.7V for the silicon. The
junction is said to be FORWARD BIASED. The p-type is the anode of
the diode, the n-type the cathode, as shown by the diode symbol. The
resistor limits the current to a safe level.

The pn Junction in Si Material

cathode

anode

When the battery is connected as shown, the positive terminal of the

battery attracts negative electrons away from the barrier. The
negative terminal attracts holes away from the barrier. The insulating
barrier widens and no current flows.
The junction is REVERSED BIASED. If the reverse voltage is made
high enough, then the junction will break down and electrons will flow
from anode to cathode (under normal conditions, electrons flow from
cathode to anode, when forward biased).

FORWARD
BIASED

REVERSED
BIASED

-Depletion
+
Region

Depletion
+
Region

Depletion
-Region
-

+
+

Region

I
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Depletion Region
Zero bias conditions
p more heavily doped
than n (NA > NB)
Electric field gives rise
to potential difference in
the junction, known as
the built-in potential

hole diffusion
electron diffusion
p

(a) Current flow.

n
hole drift
electron drift
Charge
Density

x
Distance

Electrical
Field

Potential

(c) Electric field.

-W 1

(b) Charge density.

W2

(d) Electrostatic
potential.

Built-in Potential
N AND
0 T ln

2
n
i

Where T is the thermal voltage

kT
T
26mV (at 300 K )
q
ni is the intrinsic carrier concentration for

1
1
16
,
N

10
,
B
3
3

cm
cm

15
pure Si (1.5 X 10 cm at 300K), so for N A 10
10

0 26 ln

-3

10151016

10 2

1.5 *10

mV 638mV

Models for Manual Analysis

+

ID = IS(eV D/T 1)

VD

+
+

VD

(a) Ideal diode model

Accurate
Strongly non-linear
Prevents fast DC bias
calculations

ID

VDon

(b) First-order diode model

Conducting diode replaced
by voltage source VDon=0.7V
Good for first order
approximation

Typical Diode Parameters

Geometry, doping and material
constants lumped in Is
+
VD

Diffusion coefficient
minority carrier concentration

ID = IS(eV D/T 1)

Dn=25 cm2/sec

q=1.6*10-19 coulombs

Dp=10cm2/sec

pn0=0.3*10 /cm

Wn=5 m

np0=0.6*104/cm3

Wp=0.7 m

W2=0.15 m
W1=0.03 m

D p

D n

I S qAD ( WnpWn 02 W pn Wp 01 )
typical value
I S 10 17 A / m 2

Secondary Effects: Breakdown

Cannot bear too large reverse biases

Drift field in depletion region will get extremely large
Minority carriers caught in this large field will get very energetic
Energetic carriers can knock atoms and create a new n-p pair
These carriers will get energetic, too, and so on: thus large currents!
0.1

Two types
Avalanche breakdown

ID (A)

Above mechanism

Zener breakdown

More complicated

0.1
25.0

15.0

5.0
VD (V)

5.0

Can damage diode

Diode SPICE Model

Required for circuit simulations

Must capture important characteristics but also remain efficient
Extra parameter in the model: n (emission coefficient, 1 n 2)
Fixes non-ideal behavior due to broken assumptions

Additional series resistance accounts for body+contact

Nonlinear capacitance includes both CD and Cj

I D I S (eVD /nT 1)

RS
+
VD
-

ID

CD