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Operação Física
dos Diodos

Chapter 3
Diodes
 Intrinsic
Semiconductors
A silicon atom has four valence
electrons, and thus it requires
another four to complete its
outermost shell. This is achieved by Si Crystal
sharing one of its valence electrons
with each of its four neighboring
atoms. Each pair of shared electrons
forms a covalent bond. The result is
that a crystal of pure or intrinsic Two-dimensional representation of the silicon
silicon has a regular lattice structure, crystal. The circles represent the inner core of
silicon atoms, with +4 indicating its positive
where the atoms are held in their
charge of +4q, which is neutralized by the
position by the covalent bonds. charge of the four valence electrons. Observe
Figure shows a two-dimensional how the covalent bonds are formed by sharing
of the valence electrons. At 0 K, all bonds are
representation of such a structure.
intact and no free electrons are available for
current conduction.
At room temperature, sufficient thermal energy exists to
break some of the covalent bonds, a process known as
thermal generation. As shown in figure, when a covalent bond
is broken, an electron is freed. The free electron can wander
away from its parent atom, and it becomes available to
conduct electric current if an electric field is applied to the Si Crystal
crystal. As the electron leaves its parent atom, it leaves
behind a net positive charge, equal to the magnitude of the
electron charge. Thus, an electron from a neighboring atom
may be attracted to this positive charge, and leaves its
parent atom. This action fills up the “hole” that existed in the
ionized atom but creates a new hole in the other atom. This
process may repeat itself, with the result that we effectively
have a positively charged carrier, or hole, moving through the
silicon crystal structure and being available to conduct electric
current. The charge of a hole is equal in magnitude to the At room temperature, some of the covalent
charge of an electron. We can thus see that as temperature bonds are broken by thermal generation. Each
increases, more covalent bonds are broken and electron– broken bond gives rise to a free electron and a
hole pairs are generated. The increase in the numbers of free hole, both of which become available for
electrons and holes results in an increase in the conductivity current conduction.
of silicon.
Thermal generation results in free electrons and holes in equal numbers and
hence equal concentrations, where concentration refers to the number of
charge carriers per unit volume (cm3). The free electrons and holes move
randomly through the silicon crystal structure, and in the process some
electrons may fill some of the holes. This process, called recombination,
results in the disappearance of free electrons and holes.

The recombination rate is proportional to the number of free electrons and

holes, which in turn is determined by the thermal generation rate. The latter is
a strong function of temperature. In thermal equilibrium, the recombination
rate is equal to the generation rate, and one can conclude that the
concentration of free electrons n is equal to the concentration of holes p,
(3.1)

ni denotes the number of free electrons and holes in a unit

volume (cm3) of intrinsic silicon at a given temperature.
Results from semiconductor physics gives ni as:

(3.2)

k = 8,62 x 10-5 eV/K (Boltzman´s constant)

For Si:
B = 7,3x 1015 cm-3 K-3/2
EG = 1,12 eV

EG is the minimum energy required to break a covalent bond and thus

generate an electron hole pair.
Example 3.1

(3.2)
 Doped
Semiconductors
 Doped Si Crystal
n-type material

Doping involves introducing impurity atoms into the silicon

crystal in sufficient numbers to substantially increase the
concentration of either free electrons or holes but with little
or no change in the crystal properties of silicon. To increase
the concentration of free electrons, n, silicon is doped with
an element with a valence of 5, such as phosphorus.

Thus each phosphorus atom donates a free electron to the

silicon crystal, and the phosphorus impurity is called a donor.

A silicon crystal doped by a pentavalent

element. Each dopant atom donates a free
electron and is thus called a donor. The doped
semiconductor becomes n type.
If the concentration of donor atoms is ND, where is usually much greater than ni , the concentration of free
electrons in the n-type (nn) silicon will be:

The concentration of holes in the n-type (pn) can be find using the following relationship:

(3.3)

We note that in n-type silicon the concentration of free electrons will be much larger than that of holes. Hence
electrons are said to be the majority charge carriers and holes the minority charge carriers in n-type silicon.
 Doped Si Crystal
p-type material

To obtain p-type silicon in which holes are the majority charge

carriers, a trivalent impurity such as boron is used. Figure
shows a silicon crystal doped with boron. Note that the boron
atoms replace some of the silicon atoms in the silicon crystal
structure.

Since each boron atom has three electrons in its outer shell, it
accepts an electron from a neighboring atom, thus forming
covalent bonds. The result is a hole in the neighboring atom
and a bound negative charge at the acceptor (boron) atom. It A silicon crystal doped with a trivalent impurity.
follows that each acceptor atom provides a hole. Each dopant atom gives rise to a hole, and the
semiconductor becomes p type.
If the acceptor doping concentration is NA, where is usually much greater than ni , the hole concentration
(pp) becomes:

The concentration of minority electrons can be found by using the relationship:

It should be emphasized that a piece of n-type or p-type silicon is electrically neutral: the charge of the majority
free carriers (electrons in the n-type and holes in the p-type silicon) are neutralized by the bound charges
associated with the impurity atoms.
Example 3.2
Current Flow in
Semiconductors
 There are two distinctly different mechanisms for the movement of charge carriers and hence for current
flow in semiconductors: drift and diffusion.

Drift Current

An electric field E established in a bar of

silicon causes the holes to drift in the
direction of E and the free electrons to
drift in the opposite direction. Both the
hole and electron drift currents are in the
direction of E.

The holes acquire a velocity vp-drift given by:

(3.8)

μp is a constant called the hole mobility: It represents the degree of ease by which holes move through
the silicon crystal in response to the electrical field E. For intrinsic silicon μp = 480 cm2/V.s.
 Current density of holes (Jp) and electron (Jn)

Let the concentration of holes be p and that of free electrons n. Consider a plane perpendicular to the x
direction, sendo A a área da seção transversal e q a carga do eletron . In one second, the hole charge
that crosses that plane will be:
(3.10)

The current density (Jp) is:

(3.11)
 The free electrons acquire a velocity vp-drift given by:

μn is a constant called the electron mobility: It represents the degree of ease by which holes move
through the silicon crystal in response to the electrical field E. For intrinsic silicon μn = 1350 cm2/V.s.

The current component due to the drift of free electrons can be found in a similar manner.
The total drift current density can now be found by summing of J p and Jn :

(σ is the conductivity)

(⍴ is the resistiviy)
Example 3.3
Observe that doping the silicon reduces its resistivity by a factor of about 10 4, a truly remarkable change !
 Diffusion Current
Carrier diffusion occurs when the density of charge carriers in a piece of semiconductor is not uniform. For
instance, if by some mechanism the concentration of, say, holes, is made higher in one part of a piece of
silicon than in another, then holes will diffuse from the region of high concentration to the region of low
concentration.

The magnitude of the current at any point is proportional to the slope of the concentration profile, or the
concentration gradient, at that point.

Jp is the hole-current density (A/cm2)

Dp is a constant called the diffusion constant

or diffusivity of holes
For Si Dp = 12 cm2/s
In the case of electron diffusion resulting from an electron concentration gradient, a similar relationship applies:

Jp is the hole-current density (A/cm2)

Dn is a constant called the diffusion constant

or diffusivity of electrons
For Si Dn = 35 cm2/s

Relationship between D and μ

(Einstein Relationship)

VT ≈ 25.9 mV at 27oC.
(termal voltage)
 pn junction
in equilibrium,
forward biased and
reverse biased
 A diode has three operating conditions:

No Applied Bias (VD=0)

Reverse-Bias (VD < 0)

Forward-Bias (VD > 0)

 pn junction
in equilibrium
The charge of these holes is neutralized by an equal The bound positive charge neutralizes the charge of
amount of bound negative charge associated with the majority electrons.
the acceptor atoms.

The minority electrons are generated in the p-type The minority holes are generated by thermal
material by thermal ionization. ionization but
 (diffusion current)

Because the concentration of holes is high in the p region and low in the n region, holes diffuse across the junction
from the p side to the n side. Similarly, electrons diffuse across the junction from the n side to the p side. These
two current components add together to form the diffusion current ID, whose direction is from the p side to the n
side.

The holes that diffuse across the junction into the n region quickly recombine with some of the
Holes majority electrons present there and thus disappear from the scene.

(p side) Since recombination takes place close to the junction, there will be a region close to the junction that
is depleted of free electrons.
 (diffusion current)

The electrons that diffuse across the junction into the p region quickly recombine with some of the
Electrons majority holes there, and thus disappear from the scene.

(n side) Since recombination takes place close to the junction, in the p material close to the junction, there
will be a region depleted of holes.

The charges on both sides of the depletion region cause an electric field E to be established across the region in the
direction indicated by the figure.

Thus the resulting electric field opposes the diffusion of holes into the n region and electrons into the p region.

The voltage drop across the depletion region acts as a barrier that has to be overcome for holes to diffuse into the n
region and electrons to diffuse into the p region. The
 (diffusion current)
(drift current)

In addition to the current component ID due to majority-carrier diffusion, a component due to minority carrier drift
exists across the junction.

Some of the thermally generated holes in the n material move toward the junction and
Holes reach the edge of the depletion region. There, they experience the electric field in the
(n side) depletion region, which sweeps them across that region into the p side.

Some of the minority thermally generated electrons in the p material move to the edge of
Electrons the depletion region and get swept by the electric field in the depletion region across that
(p side) region into the n side.
 (diffusion current)
(drift current)

Under open-circuit conditions (Fig. 3.9) no external current exists; thus the two opposite currents across the junction
must be equal in magnitude:

With no external voltage applied, the barrier voltage V0 across the pn junction can be shown to be given by:

Typically, for silicon at room temperature, V0 is

in the range of 0.6 V to 0.9 V.

When the pn junction terminals are left open-circuited, the voltage measured between them will be zero. This is
because of the contact voltages existing at the metal semiconductor junctions at the terminals, which counter and
exactly balance the barrier voltage.
 Width and Charge in the Depletion Region

The figure shows a

junction in which NA >> ND,
a typical situation in
practice.
 A largura da camada de depleção (W)
NA ND

The figure shows a junction in

which NA > ND , a typical
situation in practice.
Usually unequal dopings are used.
The width of the depletion layer
will not be the same on the two Note that we have denoted the
sides. Rather, to uncover the same minority carrier concentrations
amount of charge, the depletion in both sides by npo and pn0,
layer will extend deeper into the with the additional subscript
more lightly doped material. “0” signifying equilibrium.
A largura da camada de depleção (W)

In actual practice, it is usual for one side of

the junction to be much more heavily doped
than the other, with the result that the
depletion region exists almost entirely on
one side (the lightly doped side).
 A largura da camada de depleção (W)

The width W of the depletion layer can be shown to be given by:

𝜖 S is the electrical permittivity of silicon.

𝜖S = 11.7 𝜖0 = 11,7 x 8,85x10-14 = 1.04x10-12 F/cm

Typically W is in the range 0.1 μm to 1 μm.

xn and xp can be rewritten as:

 A largura da camada de depleção (W)

The charge stored on either side of the depletion region can be expressed in terms of W by:
Example 4:
 pn junction
with applied voltage
 pn junction
reversed biased
The externally applied reverse-bias voltage is in the direction to
add to the barrier voltage, and it does, thus increasing the
effective barrier voltage to (Vo + VR) as shown in the equations
below.

This reduces the number of holes that diffuse into the n region
and the number of electrons that diffuse into the p region. The
end result is that the diffusion current is dramatically reduced. A
reverse-bias voltage of a volt or so is sufficient to cause I D=0 , and
the current across the junction and through the external circuit
will be equal to IS.
 pn junction
forward biased
Here the applied voltage is in the direction that subtracts from
the built-in voltage, resulting in a reduced barrier voltage across
the depletion region.

Most importantly, the lowering of the barrier voltage will enable

more holes to diffuse from p to n and more electrons to diffuse
from n to p. Thus the diffusion current increases substantially
and, as will be seen shortly, can become many orders of
magnitude larger than the drift current Is.
 The current-voltage
relationship
(Shockley´s Equation)
Minority carrier Distribution (pn (x) and np (x) in a forward-biased junction
(NA >> ND )

npo << pno if NA >> ND (as shown in example 3.4)

The concentration of holes in the n region at the edge of the depletion region will increase considerably. In
fact, an important result from device physics shows that the steady-state concentration at the edge of the
depletion region will be:

(If V=0, pn(xn)=pno)

The forward-bias voltage V results in an excess concentration of minority holes given by:

The total hole concentration in the n material will be given by:

The exponential decay is characterized by the constant Lp, which is called the
diffusion length of holes in the n material. The smaller the value of Lp, the faster
the injected holes will recombine with the majority electrons, resulting in a steeper
decay of minority carrier concentration.
 If x=xn

An exactly parallel development can be applied to the electrons that are injected from the n to the p region,
resulting in an electron diffusion current given by:
Substituting for pno = ni2 / ND and nno = ni2 / NA gives:

Shockley´s Equation !
Example 5:

before

(baixo valor ! )
Similalry In can be find using:
I= Ip + In
Capacitive Effects in
pn Junctions
 Depletion or Junction Capacitance

When a pn junction is reverse biased with a voltage VR, the charge stored on either side of the depletion region
is given by:

A depletion or junction capacitance (Cj)is define as:

The value of at zero reverse-bias can be obtained:

We point out that in the pn junction we have been studying, the doping concentration is made to change
abruptly at the junction boundary. Such a junction is known as an abrupt junction.

There is another type of pn junction in which the carrier concentration is made to change gradually from one
side of the junction to the other. To allow for such a graded junction.

1/3 < m < ½, depending on the manner in which the

concentration changes from the p to the n side.
 Diffusion Capacitance

Consider a forward-biased pn junction. In steady-state, minority carrier distributions in the p and n materials
are established, as shown in figure below. Thus a certain amount of excess minority carrier charge is stored in
each of the p and n bulk regions (outside the depletion region). This charge-storage phenomenon gives rise to
another capacitive effect.
The excess hole charge stored in the n region can be found from the shaded area under the exponential as
follows:

It is shown that:

Qp

The time constant Ԏp is known as the

excess minority carrier (hole)
lifetime. It is the average time it takes
for a hole injected into the n region to
recombine with a majority electron.
A relationship similar can be developed for the electron charge stored in the p region:

The time constant Ԏn is known as the

excess minority carrier (electron)
lifetime. It is the average time it takes
for a electron injected into the p
region to recombine with a majority
hole.
This charge can be expressed in terms of the diode current I= I P + in as:

The time constant ԎT is called called

the mean transit time of the junction.

If NA >> ND it can be shown that ԎT ≈ Ԏp

For small changes around a bias point, we can define an incremental diffusion capacitance (Cd) as:

It can be shown that:

where I is the forward-bias current. Note that is directly proportional to the forward current I and thus C d is
negligibly small when the diode is reverse biased.