p-n JUNCTION AND ITS

APPLICATION

IN SOLAR CELL
 INDEX

S.NO TOPIC PAGE NO



AIM OF THE PROJECT:

TO INVESTIGATE:

1. BASIC CONCEPTS REGARDING SEMICONDUCTORS AND

FORMATION OF P-N JUNCTION
2. APPLICATION OF P-N JUNCTION IN SOLAR CELL
INTRODUCTION:
When we click, swipe, tap, or speak to an electronic device, we do expect it to
respond immediately and follow our instructions. But what about searching,
quantifying, optimizing, and delivering the desired results? In most cases, it's
semiconductors.
The term "semiconductor" refers to a critical component of millions of
electronic devices used in education, research, communications, medical,
transportation, energy, and other industries. Today's personal computers,
smartphones, cars, data centre servers, and game consoles rely on
semiconductors for both core operation and advanced functionality. For
example, when you use your laptop to book a vacation, search for restaurant
recommendations, stream a movie, or access your email, your laptop's
semiconductor-based central processing unit (CPU) and Graphics processing
units (GPUs) perform computational functions and instantly turn questions into
answers.

A semiconductor is a material that has an electrical conductivity value falling

between that of a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductors are employed in
the manufacture of various kinds of electronic devices (diodes, transistors, and
integrated circuits). As discrete components, they are used as power devices,
optical sensors, and light emitters etc. They have a wide range of current and
voltage handling capabilities. As a developing area there is a prospective future
as the key elements for majority of electronic systems, serving communications,
signal processing, computing etc.

Even the Solar cell (also known as a photovoltaic cell or PV cell) which is a part
of solar panels that is used to harvest the renewable energy source of sunlight is
basically a p-n junction diode, which is again an application of semiconductor.

Solid-state materials are commonly grouped into three classes: insulators,

semiconductors, and conductors. The study of semiconductor materials began in
the early 19th century. The elemental semiconductors are those composed of single
species of atoms, such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn) in column IV
and selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te) in column VI of the periodic table. There are,
however, numerous compound semiconductors, which are composed of two or
more elements like Gallium arsenide (GaAs).

PHTOVOLTAIC OR SOLAR CELLS

MODEL OF FIRST
TRANSISITOR

OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICE

HISTORY:
The invention of the transistor
in 1947 by John Bardeen,
Walter H. Brattain, and William B. Shockley of the Bell research staff provided
the first of a series of new devices with remarkable potential for expanding the
utility of electronic equipment. Transistors, along with such subsequent
developments as integrated circuits, are made of crystalline solid materials
called semiconductors, which have electrical properties that can be varied over
an extremely wide range by the addition of minuscule quantities of other
elements.

In 1959, the bipolar integrated circuit (ICs) was invented. This invention had a
major impact on the history of semiconductors, and it marked the emergence of
the IC era. Being small in size and light in weight, the IC was widely used in a
variety of electric appliances. As IC progresses toward high performance and
multiple functions, its field of application is expanding broadly. Semiconductors
are now used in every corner of our society and support everyday life

BRIEF TIMELINE OF HISTORY OF

SEMICONDUCTOR

BARDEEN, BRATTAIN, AND SHOCKLEY

OF THE BELL RESEARCH STAFF
DEVELOPING THE FIRST TRANSISTOR
TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTORS

SEMICOND
UCTOR

Intrinsic Semiconductor

An intrinsic type of semiconductor material is made to be very pure chemically. It is made up

of only a single type of element. Germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) are the most common
types of intrinsic semiconductor elements. They have four valence electrons (tetravalent).
They are bound to the atom by a covalent bond at absolute zero temperature.

When the temperature rises due to collisions, few electrons are unbounded and become free
to move through the lattice, thus creating an absence in its original position (hole). These free
electrons and holes contribute to the conduction of electricity in the semiconductor. The
negative and positive charge carriers are equal in number.

Extrinsic Semiconductor

The conductivity of semiconductors can be greatly improved by introducing a small number

of suitable replacement atoms called IMPURITIES. The process of adding impurity atoms to
the pure semiconductor is called DOPING.

An extrinsic semiconductor can be further classified into types:

N-Type Semiconductor P-Type Semiconductor

 Mainly due to electrons  Mainly due to holes

 Entirely neutral  Entirely neutral
 I = Ih and nh >> ne  I = Ih and nh >> ne
 Majority – Electrons and  Majority – Holes and
Minority – Holes Minority – Electrons
TERMS RELATED TO SEMICONDUNCTOR:
There are few terms that we come across when we talk about semiconductors and
properties. Some of the common terms are as follows:

1. Holes and Electrons in Semiconductors

Holes and electrons are the types of charge carriers accountable for the flow
of current in semiconductors. Holes are the positively charged electric
charge carrier, whereas electrons are the negatively charged particles. Both
electrons and holes are equal in magnitude but opposite in polarity

2. Conduction Band and Valence Band in Semiconductors

(i) Valence Band

The energy band involving the energy levels of valence electrons is
known as the valence band. It is the highest occupied energy band.
When compared with insulators, the band gap in semiconductors is
smaller. It allows the electrons in the valence band to jump into the
conduction band on receiving any external energy.

(ii) Conduction Band

It is the lowest, unoccupied band that includes the energy levels of
positive (holes) or negative (free electrons) charge carriers. It has
conducting electrons resulting in the flow of current. The conduction
band possess a high energy level and is generally empty. The
conduction band in semiconductors accepts the electrons from the
valence band.
p-n JUNCTION:
A p–n junction is a boundary or interface between two types of semiconductor
materials, p-type and n-type, inside a single crystal of semiconductor. The "p"
(positive) side contains an excess of holes, while the "n" (negative) side contains
an excess of electrons in the outer shells of the electrically neutral atoms there.
This allows electric current to pass through the junction only in one direction. The
p- and n-type regions creating the junction are made by doping the semiconductor
with suitable dopants like (Phosporous, galium, etc)

p–n junctions are elementary "building blocks" of semiconductor electronic

devices such as diodes, transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and
integrated circuits; they are the active sites where the electronic action of the
device takes place. For example, a common type of transistor, the bipolar junction
transistor (BJT), consists of two p–n junctions in series, in the form n–p–n or p–n–
p; while a diode can be made from a single p-n junction.

(a) Semiconductor diode, (b) Symbol for p-n junction diode.

FORMATION OF p-n JUNCTION:
Two important processes occur during the formation of a p-n junction: DIFFUSION and
DRIFT. We know that in an n-type semiconductor, the concentration of electrons (number of
electrons per unit volume) is more compared to the concentration of holes. Similarly, in a p-
type semiconductor, the concentration of holes is more than the concentration of electrons.
During the formation of p-n junction, and due to the concentration gradient across p-, and n-
sides, holes diffuse from p-side to n-side and electrons diffuse from n-side to p-side. This
motion of charge carriers gives rise to DIFFUSION CURRENT across the junction.

When an electron diffuses from n to p, it leaves behind an ionised donor on n-side. This
ionised donor (positive charge) is immobile as it is bonded to the surrounding atoms. As the
electrons continue to diffuse from n to p, a layer of positive charge (or positive space-charge
region) on n-side of the junction is developed. Similarly, when a hole diffuses from p to n due
to the concentration gradient, it leaves behind an ionised acceptor (negative charge) which is
immobile. As the holes continue to diffuse, a layer of negative charge (or negative space-
charge region) on the p-side of the junction is developed. This space-charge region on either
side of the junction together is known as DEPLETION REGION as the electrons and holes
taking part in the initial movement across the junction depleted the region of its free charges.
The thickness of depletion region is of the order of one-tenth of a micrometre.

Due to the positive space-charge region on n-side of the junction and negative space charge
region on p-side of the junction, an electric field directed from positive charge towards
negative charge develops. Due to this field, an electron on p-side of the junction moves to n-
side and a hole on n-side of the junction moves to pside. The motion of charge carriers due to
the electric field is called drift. Thus a drift current, which is opposite which is opposite in
direction to the diffusion current starts.

Initially, diffusion current is large and drift current is small. As the diffusion process
continues, the space-charge regions on either side of the junction extend, thus increasing the
electric field strength and hence drift current. This process continues until the diffusion
current equals the drift current. Thus a P-N JUNCTION is formed. In a p-n junction under
equilibrium there is no net current. The loss of electrons from the n-region and the gain of
electron by the p-region causes a difference of potential across the junction of the two
regions. The polarity of this potential is such as to oppose further flow of carriers so that a
condition of equilibrium exists. The n-material has lost electrons, and p material has acquired
electrons. The n material is thus positive relative to the p material. Since this potential tends
to prevent the movement of electron from the n region into the p region, it is often called a
BARRIER POTENTIAL.
SOLAR CELL (Photovoltaic cells)
A. INTRODUCTION
A solar cell also known as photovoltaic cells is essentially a p-n junction that
produces an emf when exposed to sun radiation. It runs on the same principle
(photovoltaic effect) as a photodiode, except that no external bias is applied and the
junction area is kept significantly larger in order to permit more solar radiation to
be incident because we are interested in more power.

A p-Si wafer of about 300 µm is taken to which a thin layer (~0.3 µm) of n-Si is
grown on one-side by diffusion process. The other side of p-Si is coated with a
metal (back contact). Metal finger electrode (or metallic grid) is placed on top of
the n-Si layer. This serves as a first point of contact. The metallic grid takes up
only a small portion of the cell area (15%), allowing light to enter from the top.

The generation of emf by a solar cell, when light falls on, it is due to the following
three basic processes: generation, separation and collection—

(i) Generation of e-h pairs due to light (with hν > Eg) close to the junction;
(ii) Separation of electrons and holes due to electric field of the depletion
region. Electrons are swept to n-side and holes to p-side;
(iii) The electrons reaching the n-side are collected by the front contact and
holes reaching p-side are collected by the back contact. Thus p-side
becomes positive and n-side
becomes negative giving rise to
photovoltage

A TYPICAL PHOTO VOLTAIC CELL

WORKING OF PHOTO VOLTAIC

CELL
When an external load is connected a photocurrent (IL) flow through the load.
Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5 eV are ideal materials for solar cell
fabrication. Solar cells are made with semiconductors like Si (E g = 1.1 eV), GaAs
(Eg = 1.43 eV), CdTe (Eg = 1.45 eV), CuInSe2 (Eg = 1.04 eV), etc. The important
criteria for the selection of a material for solar cell fabrication are:

(i) band gap (~1.0 to 1.8 eV),

(ii) high optical absorption (~104 cm–1),
(iii) electrical conductivity,
(iv) availability of the raw material, and
(v) cost.
Note that sunlight is not always required for a solar cell. Any light with photon
energies greater than the bandgap will do. Solar cells are used to power electronic
devices in satellites and space vehicles and also as power supply to some
calculators. Production of low-cost photovoltaic cells for large-scale solar energy is
a topic for research

B.

APPLICATION
Solar power is an indefinitely renewable source of energy as the sun has been
PROCESS INCLUDED DURING THE MAKING OF SOLAR CELLS FROM
SILICONE
radiating an estimated 5000 trillion kWh of energy for billions of years and will
continue to do so for the next 4 billion years. A solar cell being a p-n junction
application can be a useful machinery to harvest such good source of energy and
put forth to human use. Some of the main application of solar cells has been given
below:
1. Solar Cell for Transportation
Solar energy is used in cars. This solar power is created by photovoltaic cells.
This electricity is transferred to the storage battery or powers the motor. Ed
Passerini was the first person to build a solar car. The first powered car was
created in the year 1977

2. Solar Cells in Calculators

Solar-powered calculators use photovoltaic cells. These calculators work with
solar energy. The light from sun
gives power for the operation of
calculators. Solar calculators work
very well in outdoor light

3. Solar Cell Panels

On the rooftop, solar panels are
kept. It is used as a solar heater
which heats the water. This water can be used for bathing. Also, another use it
helps in generating power. People can store this energy in
the backup battery and can use during power cut issues.
Or people can store this energy and use it to generate
electricity in their house and save money by reducing the
electricity bill

CONCLUSION:
Semiconductor devices are called such because they are neither prominent
conductors nor insulators. These devices maintain a balance between both the
properties of conductors and insulators and allow partial passage to the flow of
electricity through them. Their wide application shows how big of an impact it
plays on daily life. Being an emerging field of study, their important feature like p-
n junction being implemented in many devices like diodes, transistors, solar cell,
etc. Further the implementation of p-n junction in the diodes known as Solar cells
or Photo-voltaic cells plays a very positive role in harvesting one of the most
abundant renewable resource the solar energy. This not only helps people in using
as an alternate form of energy but it saves money as it reduces the electricity bill.
Solar panels maintenance is simple and affordable so the maintenance cost is also
low. Further this source of energy is very Eco-friendly one. Thus, there is no doubt
that semiconductors changed the world beyond anything that could have been
imagined before them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 NCERT PHYSICS TEXTBOOK
 WIKIPEDIA www.wikipedia.org
 BRITANNICA www.britannica.com