ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would want to convey my heartfelt gratitude to our principal Mrs.S.Sathya

for her invaluable advice and assistance in completing us project. She was there to
assist us every step of the way, and her motivation is what enabled us to
accomplish our task effectively. I would also like to thank all of the other
supporting personnel who assisted us by supplying the equipment that was
essential and vital, without which I would not have been able to perform efficiently
on this project.

I would also want to thank S.Amritha our Physics ma’am for accepting my
project in my desired field of expertise. I also like to thank my friends and parents
for their support and encouragement as I worked on this assignment
 INDEX
 Introduction
 Properties of P-n Junction Diode
 Depletion Layer Formation
 Formation in a P-n Junction Diode
 Forward Biased
 P-n Junction Diode
 Forward Biased P-n Junction Diode
 Forward Biased Characteristics
 Bibliography
SEMICONDUCTORS
INTRODUCTION
Conductors are materials that permit electrons to flow \
freely from particle to particle. Examples of conductors
include metals, aqueous solutions of salts (i.e., ionic
compounds 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.
Semiconductors are 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.

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 variable
capacitance diodes all rely on depletion region.
 Formation in a P-N Junction

A P-N junction in forward bias mode, the depletion width

decreases. Both p and n junctions are doped at a le/cm3 doping
level, leading to built -potential of ~ 0.59V.Observethe different
Quasi Fermi levels for conduction band and valence band in n
and p regions (red curves).A depletion region forms
instantaneously across a p—n junction. It is most easily
described when the junction is in thermal equilibrium or in a
steady state: in both of these cases the properties of the system
do not vary in time; they have been called dynamic equilibrium.
Electrons and holes diffuse into regions with lower
concentrations of electrons and holes, much as ink diffuses into
water until it is uniformly distributed. By definition, N-type
semiconductor has an excess of free electrons compared to the
P-type region, and P-type has an excess of holes compared to the
N-type region. Therefore, when N-doped and P-doped pieces
placed together form a junction, electrons migrate into the P-side
and holes migrate into the N-side. Departure of an electron from
the N-side to the P-side leaves a positive donor ion behind on
the N-side, and likewise the hole leaves a negative acceptor ion
on the P\side. Following transfer, the diffused electrons come
into contact with holes on the P-side and are eliminated by
recombination .Likewise for the diffused holes on the N-side.
The net result is the diffused electrons and holes are gone,
leaving behind the charged ions adjacent to the interface in a
region with no mobile carriers (That's why it is called the
depletion region; carriers are being depleted). The
uncompensated ions are positive on the N side and negative on
the P side. This creates an electric field that provides a force
opposing the continued exchange of charge carriers. When the
electric field is sufficient to arrest further transfer of holes and
electrons, the depletion region has reached its equilibrium
dimensions. Integrating the electric field across the depletion
region determines what is called the built-in voltage (also called
the junction voltage or barrier voltage or contact potential).
Mathematically speaking, charge transfer in semiconductor
devices is due both to conduction driven by the electric field
(drift) and by diffusion. For a P-type region, where holes
conduct with electrical conductivity σ and diffuse with
diffusion constant D, the net current density is given by

j=σE-D∇qp

with q the elementary charge(1.6x10-19 coulomb) and p the hole

density (number per unit volume . Conduction forces the holes
along the direction of the electric field. Diffusion moves the
carriers in the direction of decreasing concentration, so for holes
a negative current results for a positive density gradient. Of the
carriers are electrons, we replace the whole density ρ by the
negative of the electron density n; in some cases, both electrons
and holes must be included.) When the two current components
balance, as in the p—n-junction depletion region at dynamic
equilibrium, the current is zero due to the Einstein relation,
which relates D to σ.
 FORWARD BIAS

Forward bias (P positive with respect to N) narrows the

depletion region and lowers the barrier to carrier injection NI
(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.
 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 the selves at a lower potential
and are prevented to cross t the N-side. Thus, there is a barrier at
the junction which opposes the movement of the majority charge
carrier's. 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
P-N JUNCTION 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 .
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 P-N
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). s the voltage is increased to 0.7 V number of free
electrons and holes start crossing the large unction. 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.
Bibliography
NCERT Textbook Class 12
NCERT Physics lab manual
www.scribd.com
www.google.com