INDEX

 Certificate
 Declaration
 Acknowledgement
 Introduction
 Properties of P-n Junction Diode
 Principle of P-n Junction Diode
o Depletion Region
o Forward Biased
o Reverse Biased
o P-n Junction Diode
o Forward Biased P-n Junction Diode
o Forward Biased Characterstics
o Reversed Biased P-n Junction Diode
o Reverse Biased Characteristics
 Applications of P-n Junction Diode
 Bibliography
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to my physics teacher for his encouragement and for all
facilities that he provided for this project work. I sincerely appreciate this magnanimity by taking me into his fold for
which I shall remain indebted to him.

I extend my heartily thanks to our practical teacher who guided me to the successful completion of this opportunity to
express my deep sense of gratitude for his invaluable guidance , comments sympathetic attitude and immense
motivation which has sustained my efforts at all stages for this project work.

I also express sincere thanks to my family and friends who extended helping hands in completing this
project.

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME!!!

 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that project work titled “A STUDY ON PN JUNCTION AND DIODES” being submitted by SATYAM RAJ,
a student of class XII of Sudhir Memorial Institute [session 2019-20] has successfully completed the project work as
per as the syllabus of standard XII under my supervision

__________________ ___________________

Internal Examiner External Examiner

 Declaration
This project is absolutely genuine and doesn’t indulge in plagiarism of any kind. The references taken
in making this project have been declared at the end of this report. I would like to express my
gratitude to all the teachers and staff for supporting me while making this project.

_______________________

Student’s Signature
 INTRODUCTION
Conductorsare materials that permit electrons to flow freely from particle to particle. Examples of conductors
include metals, aqueous solutions of salts (i.e., ioniccompounds dissolved in water), graphite, and the human body.

Insulators are materials that impede the free flow of electrons from atom to atom and molecule to molecule.
Examples of insulators include plastics, Styrofoam, paper, rubber, glass and dry air.

Semiconductorsare those substances whose conductivity lies between conductors and insulators. e.g., Germanium,
Silicon, Carbon etc.
 PN JUNCTION
 Also known as a diode.
 One of the basics of semiconductor technology.
 Created by placing n-type and p-type material in close contact.
 Diffusion – mobile charges (holes) in p-type combine with mobile
charges (electrons) in n-type.
 Region of charges left behind (dopant fixed in crystal lattice)
 Group III in p-type (one less than Si-negative charge).
 Group IV in n-type (one more proton than Si-positive charge).
 Region is totally depleted of mobile charges –“depletion region”
 Electric field forms due to fixed charges on the depletion
region.
 Depletion region has high resistance due to lack of mobile charges.

PROPERTIES OF PN JUNCTION
 The p- and n- sides of PN Junction before the contact.
 The P-N Junction after contact, in equilibrium and in open circuit.
 Carrier concentrations along the whole device, through the p-n junction.
 Net space charge density across the p-n junction.
 PRINCIPLES OF PN JUNCTION
DEPLETION REGION
In semiconductor physics, the depletion region, also called depletion layer, depletion zone, junction region, space
charge region or space charge layer, is an insulating region within a conductive, doped semiconductor material
where the mobile charge carriers have been diffused away, or have been forced away by an electric field. The only
elements left in the depletion region are ionized donor or acceptor impurities.
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. Understanding the depletion region is key to explaining
modern semiconductor electronics: diodes, bipolar junction transistors, field-effect transistors,
and variablecapacitance diodes all rely on depletion region

.Forward bias
Forward bias (P positive with respect to N) narrows the depletion
region and lowers the barrier to carrier injection (shown in the
figure to the right). In more detail, majority carriers get some
energy from the bias field, enabling them to go into the region and
neutralize opposite charges. The more bias the more neutralization
(or screening of ions in the region) occurs. The carriers can be
recombined to the ions but thermal energy immediately makes
recombined carrier transition back as Fermi energy is in proximity.
When bias is strong enough that the depletion region becomes very
thin, the diffusion component of the current greatly increases and
the drift component decreases. In this case, the net current is
rightward in the figure of the p–n junction. The carrier density is
large (it varies exponentially with the applied bias voltage), making the junction conductive and allowing a large
forward current.The mathematical description of the current is provided by the Shockley diode equation. The low
current conducted under reverse bias and the large current under forward bias is an example.

Reverse bias
Under reverse bias (P negative with respect to N), the potential
drop (i.e.,voltage) across the depletion region increases. In more
detail, majority carriers are pushed away from the junction, leaving
behind more charged ions. Thus the depletion region is widened and
its field becomes stronger, which increases the drift component of
current and decreases the diffusion component. In this case, the
net current is leftward in the figure of the p–n junction. The carrier
density (mostly, minority carriers) is small and only a very
small reverse saturation current flows.
PN JUNCTION DIODE
If one side of a single crystal of pure semiconductor (Germanium or Silicon) is doped with
acceptor impurity atoms and the other side is doped with donor impurity atoms, a PN
junction is formed as shown in Fig. P region has a high concentration of holes and N region
contains a large number of electrons.
As soon as the junction is formed, free electrons
and holes cross through the junction by the process
of diffusion. During this process, the electrons
crossing the junction from N-region into the P region,
recombine with holes in the P-region very close to
the junction. Similarly holes crossing the junction
from the P-region into the N-region, recombine with
electrons in the N-region very close to the junction.
Thus a region is formed, which does not have any
mobile charges very close to the junction. This region
is called depletion region. In this region, on the left side of the junction, the acceptor atoms
become negative ions and on the right side of the junction, the donor atoms become
positive ions .
An electric field is set up, between the donor and acceptor ions in the depletion region. The
potential at the N-side is higher than the potential at P-side. Therefore electrons in the N-
side are prevented to go to the lower potential of P-side. Similarly, holes in the P-side find
themselves at a lower potential and are prevented to cross to the N-side. Thus, there is a
barrier at the junction which opposes the movement of the majority charge carriers. The
difference of potential from one side of the barrier to the other side is called potential
barrier. The potential barrier is approximately 0.7V for a silicon PN junction and 0.3V for a
germanium PN junction. The distance from one side of the barrier to the other side is called
the width of the barrier, which depends upon the nature of the material.
Forward Biased
PN Juncti on Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to P-side and negative terminal to the N-side, so that the
potential difference acts in opposite direction to the barrier potential, then the PN junction diode is said to be forward
biased.
When the PN junction is forward biased (Fig), the applied positive potential repels the holes in the P-region, and the
applied negative potential repels the electrons in the N-region, so the charges move towards the junction. If the applied
potential difference is more than the potential barrier, some holes and free electrons enter the depletion region.

Hence, the potential barrier as well as the width of the depletion region are reduced. The positive donor ions and
negative acceptor ions within the depletion region regain electrons and holes respectively. As a result of this, the
depletion region disappears and the potential barrier also disappears. Hence, under the action of the forward potential
difference, the majority charge carriers flow across the junction in opposite direction and constitute current flow in
the forward direction.

Forward Bias Characteristics

The circuit for the study of forward bias characteristics of PN junction diode is shown in Fig a. The voltage between P-
end and N-end is increased from zero in suitable equal steps and the corresponding currents are noted down. Fig b
shows the forward bias characteristic curve of the diode. Voltage is the independent variable. Therefore, it is plotted
along X-axis. Since, current is the dependent variable, it is plotted against Y-axis. From the

characteristic curve, the following conclusions can be made. (i) The forward characteristic is not a straight line.
Hence the ratio V/I is not a constant (i.e) the diode does not obey Ohm's law. This implies that the semiconductor diode
is a non-linear conductor of electricity. (ii) It can be seen from the characteristic curve that initially, the current is
very small. This is because , the diode will start conducting, only when the external voltage overcomes the barrier
potential (0.7V for silicon diode). As the voltage is increased to 0.7 V, large number of free electrons and holes start
crossing the junction. Above 0.7V, the current increases rapidly. The voltage at which the current starts to increase
rapidly is known as cut-in voltage or knee voltage of the diode.
Reverse Biased
PN Junction Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to the N-side and negative terminal
to the P-side, so that the applied potential difference is in the same direction as that of
barrier potential, the junction is said to be reverse biased.
When the PN junction is reverse biased (Fig), electrons in the N region and holes in the P-
region are attracted away from the junction.
Because of this, the number of negative ions in the P-region and positive ions in the N-
region increases. Hence the depletion region becomes wider and the potential barrier is
increased.

Since the depletion region does not contain majority charge carriers, it acts like an
insulator. Therefore, no current should flow in the external circuit. But, in practice, a very
small current of the order of few microamperes flows in the reverse direction. This is due to
the minority carriers flowing in the opposite direction. This reverse current is small, because
the number of minority carriers in both regions is very small. Since the major source of
minority carriers is, thermally broken covalent bonds, the reverse current mainly depends
on the junction temperature.

Reverse Bias Characteristics

The circuit for the study of reverse bias characteristics of PN junction diode is shown in Fig a. The voltage is
increased from zero in suitable steps. For each voltage, the corresponding current readings are noted down. Fig b
shows the reverse bias characteristic curve of the diode. From the characteristic curve, it can be concluded that, as
voltage is increased from zero, reverse current (in the order of microamperes) increases and reaches the maximum
value at a small value of the reverse voltage. When the voltage is further increased, the current is almost independent
of the reverse voltage upto a certain critical value. This reverse current is known as the reverse saturation current or
leakage current. This current is due to the minority charge carriers, which depends on junction temperature.
 APPLICATIONS PN JUNCTION
Due to this characteristic, the diode finds number of applications as given below:

 Rectification

The conversion of alternating current into direct current is known as rectification. A p-n junction diode
allows electric current when it is forward biased and blocks electric current when it is reverse biased. This
action of p-n junction diode enables us to use it as a rectifier.

 Diodes are used in clamping circuits for DC restoration.

 Diodes are used in clipping circuits for wave shaping.
 Diodes are used in voltage multipliers.
 Diodes are used as switch in digital logic circuits used in computers.
 Diodes are used in demodulation circuits.
 Laser diodes are used in optical communications.
 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are used in digital displays.
 Diodes are used in voltage regulators.
 CONCLUSION
The p-n junction is the basic building block for other s/c devices. Understanding of junction theory serve as the
foundation to understanding other s/c devices.Modern p-n junctions are fabricated using “planar technology”.When p-n
junction is formed – the uncompensated –ve ions (NA-) on the p-side and uncompensated +ve ion (ND+) on n-side.
Thus, depletion region formed at the junction.At thermal equilibrium, the drift current (due to the electric field)
balanced by diffusion current (due to concentration gradients of the mobile carriers).When +V applied to p-side – large
current will flow through the junction, while when –V applied virtually no current flows.Practical devices depart from
ideal characteristics because of carrier generation & recombination in the depletion layer, high injection under
forward bias and series-resistance effect.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 NCERT textbook class 12

 NCERT physical lab manual
 INTERNET
 www.yahoo.com
 www.scribd.com
 www.google.com
 www.google.com/wikipedia/p-n+junction/