Basic Electronics and

Circuits
ELE 1201
Department of Physics (Electronics)
Salman Mahmood
  After completing this course, students should be able to:
 I. Understand solid-state physics and electronics.
Learning  II. Understand calculations and role of passive and active
components in an electronics circuit.
Outcomes  III. Understand step by step integration of semi-conductor
materials in electronic module development.
 IV. Troubleshoot, improvise and create functional electronic
circuits using state of the art software.
  Solid State Physics
 The Diode
 The Basic Transistor
Course  FETs. JFETs, MOSFETs.
Contents  Modulation and Demodulation
 Integrated circuits
 Operational Amplifiers
 Digital Electronics
  The Atom
 Materials Used in Electronics
 Current in Semiconductors
 N-Type and P-Type Semiconductors
Solid State  The PN Junctions

Physics  Diode Operation, Voltage-Current (V-I) Characteristics

 Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) Structure, Operation, and
Characteristics and Parameters
 Junction Field Effect Transistors (JFETs) Structure
 Characteristics and Parameters and Biasing
 Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET (MOSFET) Structure,
Characteristics and Parameters and Biasing
  ATOMS
 All Atoms: electrons, protons and neutrons
 Except normal hydrogen atom, which does not have a neutron!
The Atom  Each element in the periodic table has a unique atomic structure.
 All atoms in a given element : same number of protons!
 At first, the atom: a tiny indivisible sphere
 For most practical purposes in electronics: the Bohr model suffices
is commonly used because it is easy to visualize
Atomic Model
  An atom is the smallest particle of an element that retains the
characteristic of that element.
 Each of known 118 elements has atoms that are different from the
atoms of all other elements.

The Bohrs  This gives each element a unique atomic structure.

 According to classical Bohr model, atom have a planetary type of
Model structure that consists of a central nucleus surrounded by orbiting
electrons.
 The nucleus consist of positively charged particles called Protons,
and uncharged particles called neutrons. The basic particles of
negative charge are called electrons.
  Electrons that are in orbits farther from the nucleus have higher
energy and are less tightly bound to the atom than those closer to
the nucleus.
 This is because the force of attraction between the positively
charged nucleus and the negatively charged electron decreases with
increasing distance from the nucleus.
Electron  Electrons with the highest energy exist in the outermost shell of an
atom and are relatively loosely bound to the atom.
Mobility  This outermost shell is known as the valence shell and electrons in
this shell are called valence electrons.
 These valence electrons contribute to chemical reactions and
bonding within the structure of a material and determine its
electrical properties.
 When a valence electron gains sufficient energy from an external
source, it can break free from its atom. This is the basis for
conduction in materials.
 MATERIALS  Insulators

USED IN  Conductors
 Semiconductors and how they differ
ELECTRONICS
  We consider only, Solids whose atoms are
arranged in a repetitive three dimensional
structure called lattice. For example, Copper,
Crystalline Silicon and diamond (carbon).

solids  Shall not consider, Solids whose atoms are not

arranged in such repetitive patterns, i.e. wood,
plastic, glass, and rubber.
  All materials are made up of atoms. These atoms contribute to the
electrical properties of a material, including its ability to conduct
electrical current.
 For purposes of discussing electrical properties, an atom can be
Insulators, represented by the valence shell and a core that consists of all the
Conductors, inner shells and the nucleus. This concept is illustrated in Figure 1–
6 for a carbon atom.
Semiconducto  Carbon is used in some types of electrical resistors. Notice that the
rs carbon atom has 4 electrons in the valence shell and 2 electrons in
the inner shell. The nucleus consists of 6 protons and 6 neutrons,
so the 6 indicates the positive charge of the 6 protons.  The core
has a net charge of 4 (6 for the nucleus and for the 2 inner-shell
electrons)
Atomic Bands
  An insulator is a material that does not conduct electrical current
under normal conditions.
 Most good insulators are compounds rather than single-element
materials and have very high resistivities.  Valence electrons are
Insulators tightly bound to the atoms; therefore, there are very few free
electrons in an insulator.
 Examples of insulators are rubber, plastics, glass, mica, and
quartz.
  A conductor is a material that easily conducts electrical current.
Most metals are good conductors.
 The best conductors are single-element materials, such as copper
(Cu), silver (Ag), gold (Au), and aluminum (Al), which are
Conductors characterized by atoms with only one valence electron very
loosely bound to the atom.
 These loosely bound valence electrons become free electrons.
 Therefore, in a conductive material the free electrons are valence
electrons
  A semiconductor is a material that is between conductors and
insulators in its ability to conduct electrical current.
 A semiconductor in its pure (intrinsic) state is neither a good
conductor nor a good insulator.
 Single-element semiconductors are antimony (Sb), arsenic (As),
Semiconducto astatine (At), boron (B), polonium (Po), tellurium (Te), silicon (Si),
and germanium (Ge).
rs  Compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide, indium
phosphide, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon germanium
are also commonly used.
 The single-element semiconductors are characterized by atoms
with four valence electrons. Silicon is the most commonly used
semiconductor.
  Recall that the valence shell of an atom represents a band of
energy levels and that the valence electrons are confined to that
band.
 When an electron acquires enough additional energy, it can leave
the valence shell, become a free electron, and exist in what is
known as the conduction band.
Band Gap  The difference in energy between the valence band and the
conduction band is called an energy gap or band gap.
 This is the amount of energy that a valence electron must have in
order to jump from the valence band to the conduction band.
 Once in the conduction band, the electron is free to move
throughout the material and is not tied to any given atom.
Comparison of  Silicon is a semiconductor and copper is a conductor. Bohr
a diagrams of the silicon atom and the copper atom are shown in
Figure 1–8.
Semiconducto  Notice that the core of the silicon atom has a net charge of 4 (14
r Atom to a protons 10 electrons) and the core of the copper atom has a net
charge of 1 (29 protons 28 electrons).
Conductor  The core includes everything except the valence electrons.
Atom
Comparison of
a
Semiconducto
r Atom to a
Conductor
Atom
  The atomic structures of silicon and germanium are compared in
Figure 1–9.
 Silicon is used in diodes, transistors, integrated circuits, and other
Silicon and semiconductor devices.
Germanium  Notice that both silicon and germanium have the characteristic
four valenc
 e electrons.
Si and Ge
 CURRENT IN  An intrinsic (pure) silicon crystal at room temperature has
sufficient heat (thermal) energy for some valence electrons to
SEMICONDUC jump the gap from the valence band into the conduction band,
TORS becoming free electrons.
The creation
  When an electron jumps to the conduction band, a vacancy is left
in the valence band within the crystal.
 This vacancy is called a hole.
 For every electron raised to the conduction and by external
Conduction energy, there is one hole left in the valence band, creating what is
called an electron-hole pair.
Electrons and  Recombination occurs when a conduction-band electron loses
Holes energy and falls back into a hole in the valence band.
 To summarize, a piece of intrinsic silicon at room temperature
has, at any instant, a number of conduction band (free) electrons
that are unattached to any atom and are essentially drifting
randomly throughout the material.
 The
generation
  When a voltage is applied across a piece of intrinsic silicon,
 The thermally generated free electrons in the conduction band,
Electron and which are free to move randomly in the crystal structure, are now
easily attracted toward the positive end.
Hole Current  This movement of free electrons is one type of current in a semi
conductive material and is called electron current.
Electron and
Hole Current
  Another type of current occurs in the valence band, where the
holes created by the free electrons exist.
 Electrons remaining in the valence band are still attached to their
atoms and are not free to move randomly in the crystal structure
as are the free electrons.
 However, a valence electron can move into a nearby hole with
Contd… little change in its energy level, thus leaving another hole where it
came from.
 Effectively the hole has moved from one place to another in the
crystal structure,
 Although current in the valence band is produced by valence
electrons, it is called hole current to distinguish it from electron
current in the conduction band.
  It is interesting to contrast the two types of charge movement in a
semiconductor with the charge movement in a metallic conductor,
such as copper.
 Copper atoms form a different type of crystal in which the atoms
are not covalently bonded to each other but consist of a “sea” of
positive ion cores, which are atoms stripped of their valence
electrons.
Electron and  The valence electrons are attracted to the positive ions, keeping
Hole Current the positive ions together and forming the metallic bond.
 The valence electrons do not belong to a given atom, but to the
crystal as a whole.
 Since the valence electrons in copper are free to move, the
application of a voltage results in current.
 There is only one type of current—the movement of free electrons
—because there are no “holes” in the metallic crystal structure.
  Semiconductive materials do not conduct current well.
 This is because of the limited number of free electrons in the
conduction band and holes in the valence band.
 Intrinsic silicon (or germanium) must be modified by increasing the
number of free electrons or holes to increase its conductivity and
N-TYPE AND make it useful in electronic devices. This is done by adding
impurities to the intrinsic material.
P-TYPE  Two types of extrinsic (impure) semiconductive 63materials, n-type
SEMICONDUC and p-type. N-TYPE AND P-TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS
TORS  Since semiconductors are generally poor conductors, their
conductivity can be drastically increased by the controlled addition
of impurities to the intrinsic (pure) semiconductive material.
 This process, called doping, increases the number of current carriers
(electrons or holes). The two categories of impurities are n-type and
p-type.
 N-Type  To increase the number of conduction-band electrons in intrinsic
silicon, pentavalent impurity atoms are added.  These are atoms
Semiconducto with five valence electrons such as arsenic (As), phosphorus (P),
r bismuth (Bi), and antimony (Sb).
 Four of the antimony atom’s valence electrons are used to form
the covalent bonds with silicon atoms, leaving one extra electron.
 This extra electron becomes a conduction electron because it is
not involved in bonding. Because the pentavalent atom gives up
an electron, it is often called a donor atom.
 The number of conduction electrons can be carefully controlled by
the number of impurity atoms added to the silicon.
 A conduction electron created by this doping process does not
leave a hole in the valence band because it is in excess of the
number required to fill the valence band.
N
  Majority and Minority Carriers Since most of the current carriers
are electrons, silicon (or germanium) doped with pentavalent
atoms is an n-type semiconductor (the n stands for the negative
charge on an electron).
 The electrons are called the majority carriers in ntype material.
Contd.. Although the majority of current carriers in n-type material are
electrons, there are also a few holes that are created when
electron-hole pairs are thermally generated.
 These holes are not produced by the addition of the pentavalent
impurity atoms. Holes in an n-type material are called minority
carriers.
  To increase the number of holes in intrinsic silicon, trivalent impurity atoms are
added. These are atoms with three valence electrons such as boron (B), indium
(In), and gallium (Ga).
 .  The number of holes can be carefully controlled by the number of trivalent
impurity atoms added to the silicon.
 A hole created by this doping process is not accompanied by a conduction (free)
P-Type electron. P-Type Semiconductor
Semiconducto  Majority and Minority Carriers Since most of the current carriers are holes, silicon
(or germanium) doped with trivalent atoms is called a p-type semiconductor.
r  The holes are the majority carriers in p-type material. Although the majority of
current carriers in p-type material are holes, there are also a few conductionband
electrons that are created when electron-hole pairs are thermally generated.
 These conduction-band electrons are not produced by the addition of the
trivalent impurity atoms.
 Conduction-band electrons in p-type material are the minority carriers.
P
  When you take a block of silicon and dope part of it with a trivalent impurity and the other
part with a pentavalent impurity, a boundary called the pn junction is formed between the
resulting p-type and n-type portions.
 diodes, certain transistors, solar cells, and other devices
 A p-type material consists of silicon atoms and trivalent impurity atoms such as boron.
 The boron atom adds a hole when it bonds with the silicon atoms.
 However, since the number of protons and the number of electrons are equal throughout
the material, there is no net charge in the material and so it is neutral. An n-type silicon
THE PN material consists of silicon atoms and pentavalent impurity atoms such as antimony.
 As you have seen, an impurity atom releases an electron when it bonds with four silicon
JUNCTION: atoms.
 Since there is still an equal number of protons and electrons (including the free electrons)
throughout the material, there is no net charge in the material and so it is neutral. The PN
Junction 76
 If a piece of intrinsic silicon is doped so that part is ntype and the other part is p-type, a pn
junction forms at the boundary between the two regions and a diode is created, as
indicated in Figure 1–19(a).  The p region has many holes (majority carriers) from the
impurity atoms and only a few thermally generated free electrons (minority carriers).
 The n region has many free electrons (majority carriers) from the impurity atoms and only
a few thermally generated holes (minority carriers).
Formation
Cntd
  The free electrons in the n region are randomly drifting in all
directions.

Formation of  At the instant of the pn junction formation, the free electrons near
the junction in the n region begin to diffuse across the junction
the Depletion into the p region where they combine with holes near the junction,
 Before the pn junction is formed, recall that there are as many
Region electrons as protons in the n-type material, making the material
neutral in terms of net charge. The same is true for the p-type
material.
 When the pn junction is formed, the n region loses free electrons
as they diffuse across the junction.
 This creates a layer of positive charges (pentavalent ions) near the
junction.
 As the electrons move across the junction, the p region loses
holes as the electrons and holes combine.
 This creates a layer of negative charges (trivalent ions) near the
junction.
 These two layers of positive and negative charges form the
depletion region
 The term depletion refers to the fact that the region near the pn
junction is depleted of charge carriers (electrons and holes) due to
diffusion across the junction.
 Keep in mind that the depletion region is formed very quickly and
is very thin compared to the n region and p region.
  After the initial surge of free electrons across the pn junction, the
depletion region has expanded to a point where equilibrium is
established and there is no further diffusion of electrons across the
junction. This occurs as follows.
 As electrons continue to diffuse across the junction, more and
Formation of more positive and negative charges are created near the junction
the Depletion as the depletion region is formed.
 A point is reached where the total negative charge in the
Region depletion region repels any further diffusion of electrons
(negatively charged particles) into the p region (like charges repel)
and the diffusion stops.
 In other words, the depletion region acts as a barrier to the
further movement of electrons across the junction.
  Any time there is a positive charge and a negative charge near
each other, there is a force acting on the charges as described by
Coulomb’s law.  In the depletion region there are many positive
charges and many negative charges on opposite sides of the pn
junction. The forces between the opposite charges form an
Barrier electric field.
Potential  This electric field is a barrier to the free electrons in the n region,
and energy must be expended to move an electron through the
electric field.
 That is, external energy must be applied to get the electrons to
move across the barrier of the electric field in the depletion region.
 Energy  Notice that as the energy level of the n-region conduction band
Diagrams of has shifted downward, the energy level of the valence band has
also shifted downward.
the PN  It still takes the same amount of energy for a valence electron to
Junction and become a free electron.

Depletion  In other words, the energy gap between the valence band and the
conduction band remains the same.
Region