Chapter 9

Semiconductors & Diodes

Jaesung Jang

Semiconductors
PN Junction
Rectifier Diodes
DC Power Supply

Ref: Sedra/Smith, Microelectronic Circuits, 3rd ed., 1990,

Chap. 3

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 Semiconductor Materials
• Semiconductors conduct less than metal conductors but more
than insulators.
– Some common semiconductor materials are silicon (Si), germanium
(Ge), and carbon (C).
• Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor material in the
electronics industry.
– Almost all diodes, transistors, and ICs manufactured today are made
from silicon.

• Intrinsic semiconductors are semiconductors in their purest

form.
• Extrinsic semiconductors are semiconductors with other atoms
mixed in.
– These other atoms are called impurity atoms.
– The process of adding impurity atoms is called doping.
2
Semiconductor Materials (cont.)
Figure below illustrates a bonding diagram of a silicon crystal.
(Intrinsic Semiconductors)

Valence electrons: electrons in

the outermost ring
Si: 4 valence electrons

8 valence electrons are needed for

stability. Figure on the right is stable.

3
 Semiconductor Materials (cont.)
Extrinsic Semiconductors

 Doping is a process to add impurity

atoms to an intrinsic semiconductor.

 N-Type semiconductors are made by

doping intrinsic semiconductor with a
pentavalent (5) impurity.-> free
electrons: majority current carriers

 Donors: Arsenic (As), antimony (Sb)

or phosphorous (P)

Covalent bonds (공유결합)

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 Semiconductor Materials (cont.)
Extrinsic Semiconductors

 P-Type semiconductors are made by

doping intrinsic semiconductor with a
trivalent (3) impurity. -> holes: majority
current carriers

 Acceptors: Aluminum (Al), boron (B)

or gallium (Ga)

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
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 The PN Junction & Diode
 The diode is made by joining p- and n-type
semiconductor materials.
 The doped regions meet to form a p-n
junction.
 Diodes are unidirectional devices that allow
current to flow in one direction.
 Diodes have polarity.

Anode Lead

} Diodes

Cathode Lead 6
 The PN Junction & Diode (cont.)
 The important effect here is that when a free Electrically neutral
electron leaves the n side and falls into a hole
on the p side due to diffusion, two ions are
created; a positive ion on the n side and a
negative ion on the p side.
Diffusion
 Figure to the right shows a p-n junction with Electric field
free electrons on the n side and holes on the
p side.

 The free electrons are represented as dash

(-) marks and the holes are represented as VO=0.7V for silicon
small circles (○). Depletion region

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 The PN Junction & Diode (cont.)
 The term bias is defined as a control voltage or current.
 Forward bias: bias to allow for currents to flow easily through the
diode.
 n side: negative, p side: positive

 Reverse bias: bias to block currents through the diode.

 n side: positive, p side: negative
 In the reverse bias, an external voltage pulls majority current
carriers away from the pn junction, widening the depletion zone.
 When we increase the reverse bias voltage more and more, the
pn diode will be filled with the depletion zone and a very small
amount of electrical currents (reverse saturation currents) can flow.

currents
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 Volt-Ampere Characteristic Curve of a
Diode
• Figure below is a graph of diode current versus diode voltage for a silicon diode
both forward- and reverse-bias voltages.
• Forward-bias Region: About 0.6-0.8 V of forward bias, the diode current
increases sharply. -> simple model for a diode has 0.6-V drop across it.
• Reverse-bias Region: The current in the reverse direction is constant and is
order of 10-15A. i ≈ - IS
• Breakdown Region: A great deal of reverse current will flow when the magnitude
of the reverse voltage exceeds a threshold value of breakdown voltage.

Volt-ampere 
i  I S e nV T

 1  I S e nV T
for i  I S
characteristic curve of a I S is a saturation constant and is of the order of 10 -15 A,
silicon diode. VT is the thermal voltage and about 25 mV at room
temperatur e, and n is between 1 and 2 depending on the
diodoe material and structure, which is normally 1.

+ _ 9
i
Circuit Models for the Semiconductor Diode
Three different approximations can be used when analyzing diode circuits.
The one used depends on the desired accuracy of your circuit calculations.

The first approximation treats a forward-biased diode like a closed

switch with a voltage drop of zero volts, as shown below.

Ideal diode

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Circuit Models for the Semiconductor Diode

The second approximation treats a forward-biased diode like an ideal diode in

series with a battery, as shown below

0.6 V for Si Diode

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Circuit Models for the Semiconductor Diode
 The third approximation of a diode includes the bulk resistance, rB.
 The bulk resistance, rB is the resistance of the p and n materials.
 The third approximation of a forward-biased diode is shown below.

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Circuit Models for the Semiconductor Diode

First approximation

Second approximation Third approximation

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Circuit Models for the Semiconductor Diode

Assume initially that the ideal diode does not conduct,

and replace it with an open circuit.
R2
v1  V S  8V
R1  R 2
v D  v1  v 2   3V  the diode is reverse biased.

Assume initially that the ideal diode does conduct,

and replace it with a short circuit.
V S  v1 v v  VB
 1  1  v1  8 .75V
R1 R2 R3
v1  v 2  V B  11V  the current is flowing
in the reverse direction. 14
 Rectifier Diodes
 A circuit that converts the ac power-
line voltage to the required dc value is
called a dc power supply.
The most important components in
power supplies are rectifier diodes
(정류 다이오드).
Diodes are able to produce a dc output
voltage because they are unidirectional
devices allowing current to flow through
them in only one direction.

When the top of the transformer

secondary voltage is positive, D1 is
forward-biased, producing current flow
in the load.
 When the top of the secondary is
negative, D1 is reverse-biased and acts
like an open switch. This results in zero Half-wave rectifier
current in the load, RL.

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 Rectifier Diodes (cont.)

Second approximation

V ac  30 V
V s  peak   1 .414  30  42 .42 V
42.42 - 0.7  41.72 V
f = 60 Hz V dc (  average)  0 .318 (  - average)  41.72  13.27 V

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 Rectifier Diodes (cont.)
 The circuit shown below is called a full-wave rectifier.
 When the top of the secondary is positive, D1 is forward-biased, causing current to
flow in the load, RL.
 When the top of the secondary is negative, D2 is forward-biased, causing current to
flow in the load, RL.
 The combined output voltage produced by D1 and D2 are shown in the next slide.

1   A sin 2ft

1   A sin 2ft

Full-wave rectifier

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Rectifier Diodes (cont.)

V ac  15 V
V s  peak   1 .414  15  21 .21 V
21.21 - 0.7  20.51 V
V dc (  average)
 2  0 .318 (  - average)  20.51  13.04 V

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 Rectifier Diodes (cont.)
Filter

A half-wave rectifier with its output filtered by the capacitor, C.

 
t

V ripple  Vout ( peak )  1  e R L C 
 
 

Output ripple voltage of the half-wave rectifier is illustrated.

This ripple is going to be adjusted by a voltage regulator to produce a DC output.
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 Special Diodes
• Semiconductor diodes can be manufactured to emit different colors of
light or regulate voltage.

• Light-emitting diode (LED) is a diode that emits a certain color light when
forward-biased. The color of light emitted by an LED is determined by the
type of material used in doping.

• A zener diode is a special diode that has been optimized for operation in
the breakdown region and it is commonly used in voltage regulation.

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