DEE20023

TOPIC 1:
INTRODUCTION
TO
SEMICONDUCTOR

1 DEE20023-semiconductor device
 Doa mula kelas

“Ya Tuhan, lapangkanlah dadaku, mudahkanlah

segala urusanku, dan lepaskanlah kekakuan lidahku,
agar mereka mengerti perkataanku.” (Thaha: 27)
 By the end of this class, students
should be able to:

 Define a semiconductor.
 Explain the characteristics of N-type and P-type semiconductors.
 Illustrate the formation of a PN junction
 Illustrate the meaning of forward biased voltage and reverse biased
voltage.
 Identify the effects when a P-N junction is supplied with forward biased
and reverse biased voltage on the following items:
– Area of depletion region
– Junction resistance
– Current flow (including leakage current)
 Explain why breakdown occurs when P-N junction is reverse biased.

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 DEFINITION OF SEMICONDUCTOR

 
A semiconductor is a solid whose
electrical conductivity is in between that of a
conductor and that of an insulator, and can be
controlled over a wide range, either permanently or
dynamically.

Example of semiconductor: Silicon & Germanium

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Silicon - Atomic Structure
IV
Periodic Table of Elements
(abridged)

valence electrons (4)

nucleus (outermost shell) 14
Si

28.0855
Atomic Number (Z)

n=1
Atomic Mass [amu]
n=2

core electrons (10) n=3

(inner shells)
1s22s22p63s23p2 5
 Diagrams of Atoms

 Atom: negative electrons orbit a small

positive nucleus
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 Cont..

~ Tiny particles of matter called protons and neutrons make up

the center of the atom; electrons orbit like planets around a star.

~ The nucleus carries a positive electrical charge, owing to the

presence of protons (the neutrons have no electrical charge
whatsoever), while the atom's balancing negative charge resides
in the orbiting electrons.

~ The negative electrons are attracted to the positive protons just

as planets are gravitationally attracted by the Sun, yet the orbits
are stable because of the electrons' motion.

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 Cont..

 Electron shells in an atom were formerly designated by letter

rather than by number. The first shell (n=1) was labeled K, the
second shell (n=2) L, the third shell (n=3) M, the fourth shell
(n=4) N, the fifth shell (n=5) O, the sixth shell (n=6) P, and the
seventh shell (n=7) Q.
 The maximum number of electrons that any shell may hold is
described by the equation 2n2, where “n” is the principle
quantum number.
 Thus, the first shell (n=1) can hold 2 electrons; the second shell
(n=2) 8 electrons, and the third shell (n=3) 18 electrons. (Figure
below)

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 7 orbit / shell

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 EXAMPLE QUESTION

 Question 1
Allumminium has 13electrons, determine the number of
electron at electron orbit?

 Question 2
Determine the number of electron at electron orbit:-
Carbon - 6 electron
Germanium - 32 electron
Phosphorus - 15 electron

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Classifications of Material

Classes of material according to

conductivity are:
1.Insulators
2.Conductors
3.Semiconductors
 CHARACTERISTICS OF EV
NUMBER
 Valence: The electrons in the outer most shell, or valence shell, are known as
valence electrons. These valence electrons are responsible for the chemical
properties of the chemical elements.
 1-3 ev - conductor
- low resistance which allows electrical current flow
 5-8 ev - insulator
- have a high resistance so current does not flow.
• 4 ev - semiconductor
- materials that essentially can be conditioned to act as
good conductors, or good insulators, or any thing in
between.

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 The Covalent Bond

 Atoms can combine to achieve an octet of

valence electrons by sharing electrons.
 This shared electron bonding is known as
covalent bonding.
 The center atom (and the others by
extension) has completed its valence shell by
sharing electrons

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 The Covalent Bond

How Sharing of Electrons

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 Disturbing factor stability :-

 Heat
 Temperature rise
 Doping (absorption)
 Potential different.

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 Advantages of Silicon

 Si – can accept more overheat before

change to conductor.
 Less easily damaged by heat when soldering
 Very low leakage current when reverse
voltage. (Ge-high leakage current)

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TWO TYPE OF CHARGE CARRIERS

which is which is
negatively positively
charge charge
 P-type and N-type characteristics

 Current carrier – free electron and hole

 Free electron – negative current carrier
 Hole – positive current carrier

Hole

Free electron

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 2 TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR:

 Intrinsic Semiconductor
- Pure semiconductors.
- Ex : Germanium & Silikon
 Extrinsic Semiconductor
- Pure semiconductor + impurity
- This process called doping (absorption) process.
- 2 categories of impurity – trivalen and pentavalen.
- Ex : trivalen- Alluminium, Boron, Gallium.
pentavalen- Antimoni, Arsenik, Phosphorus

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 Formation of N-type
 Pure semiconductor (silicon) + pentavalen atom (arsenik)
Si
Si Si Si

Free electron
Si Ar Si

Si Si Si

Figure 1.6
Silicon absorb with Arsenik

 This creates an excess of negative (n-type) electron charge

carriers.
 The electrons are the majority carriers, while holes are the
minority carriers in N-type materials
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 Formation of P-type

 Pure semiconductor (silicon) + trivalen atom (Indium)

 The purpose of P-type doping is to create an abundance of
holes
 a hole behaves as a quantity of positive charge
Si
Si Si Si

Si In Si

the vacancy left behind by the

Si Si Si
electron is known as a hole.

Figure 1.7

Silicon absorb with Indium

 the holes are the majority carriers, while electrons are the
22 minority carriers in P-type materials
 PN junctions

 These are p-type and n-type semiconductors brought together

in close contact, creating what is called the depletion region.
 The 'depletion region' is so named because it is formed from
a conducting region by removal of all free charge carriers,
leaving none to carry a current.
 The importance of this contact or junction is the creating of a
region between the p and n layers where p-type holes can
recombine with n-type free electrons producing light, such as in
light emitting diodes (LEDs).

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 PN junctions

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 PN junctions

 In PN junction, without an external applied voltage, an

equilibrium condition is reached in which a potential difference
is formed across the junctions.
 This potential difference is called built-in potential or threshold
voltage.
 Threshold voltage for silicon is 0.7V and Germanium is 0.3V.

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 Forward bias voltage

 Forward-bias occurs when the P-type block is connected to the

positive terminal of a battery and the N-type block is connected
to the negative terminal, as shown below:

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 Forward bias voltage

 The 'holes' in the P-type region and the electrons in the N-type
region are pushed towards the junction.
 This reduces the width of the depletion zone.
 The positive charge applied to the P-type block repels the
holes, while the negative charge applied to the N-type block
repels the electrons.
 As electrons and holes are pushed towards the junction, the
distance between them decreases. This lowers the barrier in
potential.

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 Forward bias voltage

 With increasing bias voltage, eventually the no conducting

depletion zone becomes so thin that the charge carriers can
tunnel across the barrier, and the electrical resistance falls to
a low value.
 The electrons which pass the junction barrier enter the P-type
region (moving leftwards from one hole to the next, with
reference to the above diagram).
 An electron starts flowing around from the negative terminal to
the positive terminal of the battery.
 The thin depletion zone produces very little electrical resistance
against the flow of electrons

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 Reverse bias voltage

 Connecting the P-type region to the negative terminal of the

battery and the N-type region to the positive terminal, produces
the reverse-bias effect.
 Because the P-type region is now connected to the negative
terminal of the power supply, the 'holes' in the P-type region
are pulled away from the junction, causing the width of the no
conducting depletion zone to increase.

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 Reverse bias voltage

 Similarly, because the N-type region is connected to the

positive terminal, the electrons will also be pulled away from
the junction.
 This effectively increases the potential barrier and greatly
increases the electrical resistance against the flow of charge
carriers.
 For this reason there will be minimal electric current across
the junction.

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 Forward and Reverse bias

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 BREAKDOWNS LIMIT

 At the middle of the junction of the p-n material, the depletion

region widens with increasing reverse bias.
 The electric field grows as the reverse voltage increases.
 When the electric field increases beyond a critical level, the
junction breaks down and currant begins to flow, usually by
either the Zener or avalanche breakdown processes.
 Both of these breakdown processes are non-destructive and
reversible so long as current density does not exceed levels
that could cause thermal damage.

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 IV curve

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 QUICK REVIEW

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 Conclusion:
 Define a semiconductor.
 Explain the characteristics of N-type and P-type semiconductors.
 Illustrate the formation of a PN junction
 Illustrate the meaning of forward biased voltage and reverse biased
voltage.
 Identify the effects when a P-N junction is supplied with forward biased
and reverse biased voltage on the following items:
– Area of depletion region
– Junction resistance
– Current flow (including leakage current)
 Explain why breakdown occurs when P-N junction is reverse biased.

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