19EEE131 : BASIC ELECTRICAL

AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

Unit IV: Semiconductor Devices: p-n Junction diode - Basic

operating principle, current-voltage characteristics, rectifier
circuits (half-wave, full-wave, rectifier with filter capacitor), Zener
diode as Voltage Regulator; Metal oxide semiconductor field
effect transistor (MOSFET): Operation of NMOS and PMOS FETs,
MOSFET as an amplifier and switch.
 Conductors , Semiconductors and Insulators

Conductor:
Conductors are the substances that permit easy flow of electric
current through them.
• It permits easy flow of electron from an atom to the other when a
proper electric field is applied to it.
• The conductors have very low electrical resistance
Eg. Copper, Silver, Al,
• Conductors are the materials that exhibit a positive temperature
coefficient of resistance, as resistance increases with the increase
in temperature
Energy level diagram of conductors:

In the case of conductors, the

conduction band is completely filled

Have 1 valence electron

As the two bands i.e., valence band and conduction band are overlapped with
each other. Thus when some certain voltage is applied to such materials, then
electrons easily moves from valence band to conduction band due to the
influence of the electric field.

This movement of charge carriers generates a large electric current

through the device.
Semiconductor:
 Semiconductors are the materials that possess the property of
electrical conductivity less than conductors.
 The charge carriers in case of semiconductors are electrons and
holes.
 When the temperature is absolute zero, then no any movement of
charge carriers takes place in case of semiconductors. In such case,
it behaves as insulators.
Eg. Germanium (Ge) and Silicon (Si)
 Semiconductors possess negative temperature coefficient of
resistance as their resistivity decreases with the increase in
temperature.
 Energy level diagram of semiconductors:

 In semiconductor the conduction

band partially filled.

Have 4 valence electrons

The electrons in the valence band cannot automatically excite in order

to move to the conduction band. But, on applying certain voltage, the
electrons in the valence band gains sufficient energy and jumps to the
conduction band.
Insulator:
 An insulator is a material that has very high electrical resistance &
it does not allow the flow of current. There are no free electrons in
insulators thus they do not conduct electricity.

 Eg. Rubber,Glass, Wood, Air,Mica, Plastic,Paper etc.

 An insulators possess negative temperature coefficient of

resistance as their resistivity decreases with the increase in
temperature.
 Energy level diagram of an insulator:

 In insulators conduction band is

totally vacant.
Have 8 valence electrons

This large band gap does not allow the electrons to jump into the conduction
band. Hence, the current flow is not possible.
The band gap in case of the insulator is larger as compared to both conductors
and insulators.
Insulators, Conductors, Semiconductors
from energy band structures
Parameter Conductor Semiconductor Insulator
Forbidden energy gap Not exist Small (1 eV) Large (>5 eV)
Conductivity High Medium Very Low (Almost
negligible)
Resistivity Low Moderate High
Flow of current Due to movement of Due to movement of Almost negligible but
free electrons. electrons and holes. only due to free
electrons.
Temperature coefficient Positive Negative Negative
of resistance
Charge carriers in Completely filled Partially filled Completely vacant
conduction band
Charge carriers in Almost vacant Partially filled Completely filled
valence band
Example Copper, Aluminium, Silicon, Germanium, Paper, rubber, glass,
graphite etc. arsenic etc. plastic etc.

Applications Conducting wires, Diodes, transistors, Sports equipment,

Transformers, in opto-couplers etc. home appliances etc.
electrical cords etc.
 Semiconductor
• Low resistivity => “conductor”
• High resistivity => “insulator”
• Intermediate resistivity => “semiconductor”
o conductivity lies between that of conductors and insulators.
• Material that can behave as conductors or isolators
depending on the conditions
• Germanium and silicon are the most common semiconductor
materials.
• Group IV in the periodic table, i.e 4 valence electrons which are
“shared” between atoms in their chemical bonding.
 Types of Semiconductors
Semiconductors are mainly classified into two
categories:
1. Intrinsic Semiconductor (pure)
2. Extrinsic Semiconductor (with impurities)
• Intrinsic Semiconductor:
– An intrinsic semiconductor is formed from a highly pure
semiconductor material thus also known as pure semiconductors. These are
basically undoped semiconductors that do not have doped impurity in it.
– Behave as insulators at 0K and as a conductors at higher temperature.
– Most important: Si, Ge (Group IV), 4 valence electrons are “shared” between atoms
in their chemical bonding (covalent).
 The crystalline structure of silicon

The figure above clearly shows that silicon consists of 4 electrons in the valence
shell. Here, 4 covalent bonds are formed between the electrons of the silicon atom.
 Electric conduction:

Due to the movement (current) of both electrons

and holes.
• A hole is created in the valence band when an electron jumps to the conduction
band.
• The free electron from the conduction band can also fall into the valence band,
this is called recombination.
 Extrinsic Semiconductor
• Extrinsic Semiconductors are those that are the result of
adding an impurity to a pure semiconductor. These are
basically termed as an impure form of semiconductors.

• The process by which certain amount of impurity is

provided to a pure semiconductor is known as doping.

• These are highly conductive in nature.

The classification of the extrinsic semiconductor
depends on the type of element doped to the pure
semiconductor:
1. N-type Semiconductors
2. P-type Semiconductors
1.N-type Semiconductors :
The n-type semiconductors are formed by the
addition of group V elements or pentavalent
impurity to a pure semiconductor. These are termed
as donor impurity, as a pentavalent impurity holds
5 electrons in its valence shell.
Eg. Arsenic, Antimony(Sb) or Phosphorus(P)
 The crystalline structure of n-type semiconductor

Phosphorous

A pentavalent impurity is doped to a pure silicon crystal. In this case,

4 electrons of phosphorus are covalently bonded with the adjacent
silicon atom. But, still, a free electron is left in this case.
Thus, the movement of these free electrons generates high
conduction.
n-type extrinsic semiconductor has electrons as the majority charge
carrier.
 2.P-type semiconductor
• The p-type semiconductors are formed by doping group III
elements or trivalent impurity into the pure semiconductor.
• These are also known as an acceptor impurity, as a trivalent
impurity has only 3 electrons in the valence shell.
• Eg. Boron, Gallium, Aluminium etc.
• Group III dopants are the atoms with a hole in their valence shell
(only “missing” one electron).
• In an p-type semiconductor, the majority carrier is the hole, and the
minority carrier is the electron.
 2.P-type semiconductor

Aluminium
3 valence electrons of aluminium atom make covalent bonds with 3 electrons
of silicon. However, in this case, a vacancy of an electron (or a hole) appears.
The movement of this hole is mainly responsible for the conduction in the p-
type semiconductor to take place.
Summary of Charge Carriers
• The dominant charge carriers in a doped semiconductor (e.g.
electrons in n-type material) are called majority charge carriers.
Other type are minority charge carriers
• The overall doped material is electrically neutral
 n-type versus p-type

 In n-type - the electrons are the majority carriers and holes are the
minority carriers.
 In p-type - the holes are called the majority carriers and electrons
are the minority carriers.
 The p-n Junction
• When p-type and n-type materials are joined this
forms a p-n junction
 Unbiased p-n junction:

When the two types of semiconductor materials are joined together, the
electrons from the n-type material diffuse into p-type material and combines
with holes.
This creates a layer of negative ions near the junction in p-type material.
Similarly the holes from the p-type material diffuse into n-type material
resulting in a layer of positive ions in the n-type material.
These two layers of positive and negative ions form the depletion region.

This p-n junction is nothing but a

layer of immobile ions termed as
depletion layer.
• The diffusion of positive
charge in one direction
and negative charge in
the other produces a
charge imbalance
– this results in a potential
barrier across the
junction
 Diode
Definition: An electronic component made of semiconductor material
that allows conduction of current in only one direction is termed as a
Diode.
The p region is called anode and n type region is called cathode

p n

Depletion
region

A diode in its fundamental form is a PN junction device through which

current flows when the proper forward potential is applied.
A barrier potential arises in the depletion region, stopping the electrons
moving from the n region into the p one.
When enough potential is applied to the diode, the electrons will be able
to move from one region to the other (current passes through the diode)
biasing the diode
Forward bias:
If the p-type side is made positive with respect to the n-type side the
height of the barrier is reduced
In the forward biased condition, p side of the device is connected with
the positive terminal of the supply and n side is connected with the
negative battery potential. Thereby causing the junction to be forward
biased.

When forward biasing is applied.

The holes in the p side experience
a repulsive force from the positive
terminal. Similarly, electrons
experience a repulsion from the
negative terminal of the supply
provided.
The barrier potential offered
by silicon is 0.7V and for
germanium is 0.3V.
Reverse bias:
If the p-type side is made negative with respect to the n-type side the height of
the barrier is increased
In the reverse biased condition p side is connected to the negative terminal of
the supply and n side is connected with the positive terminal. Then the device is
said to be reverse biased.

When a reverse potential is applied the holes

from the p side experience attraction from the
negative terminal. And electrons in n side
experiences attraction from the positive
terminal of the supply provided.
Due to this, the majority carriers present in
both the side move in the direction away from
the junction. This broadens the width of the
depletion region and hence the potential
barrier is increased.
This takes the device to a non-conducting
state.
Small current through the device is known as
reverse leakage current.
 PN-Junction Diode Characteristics

Forward Bias --- External battery makes the Anode more positive than the
Cathode --- Current flows in the direction of the arrow in the symbol.
Reverse Bias --- External battery makes the Cathode more positive than the
Anode --- A tiny current flows opposite to the arrow in the symbol.

29
Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics:
 ZENER DIODE
• A Zener diode is a type of diode that permits current to flow in the forward
direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is
larger than the breakdown voltage known as Zener knee voltage or Zener voltage.
 When a diode reaches reverse breakdown, its voltage Cathode (K)
remains almost constant even though the current
changes drastically, and this is key to the Zener diode
operation.
 The zener diodes are fabricated with precise
breakdown voltages by controlling the doping level
during manufacturing. Anode (A)
 Such a diode can be used as a constant-voltage reference
in a circuit.
 Diodes can be operated in the breakdown region by limiting
the current to a value within the capacities of the device.

 Ideally, the reverse breakdown has a constant

breakdown voltage. This makes it useful as a voltage
reference, which is its primary application.
For a real Zener diode, a finite current (called the knee current) is required to get
into the region of voltage regulation
like regular diodes, Zener diodes have a small reverse saturation current in the
reverse bias region and a forward bias threshold voltage of about 0.7V
Zener breakdown voltage typically can range from 1.2 V to 200 V depending on its
application.
 Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator
In a DC circuit, Zener diode can be used
as a voltage regulator or to provide
voltage reference.

Whenever a load is connected in parallel with zener diode, voltage across the load is
same as the zener diode voltage.
Keeping the zener diode in parallel with a variable load resistance RL, ensures a
constant output voltage even though the load current and the supply voltage varies.
Zener Diodes have a sharp reverse breakdown voltage and breakdown voltage will
be constant for a wide rang of currents.
 The reverse bias voltage across the zener diode exceeds the knee voltage, the
voltage across the load will be constant.
 Zener vs. Avalanche Breakdown

• Zener breakdown is a result of the large electric field inside the

depletion region that breaks electrons or holes of their
covalent bonds.
• Avalanche breakdown is a result of electrons or holes colliding
with the fixed ions inside the depletion region.

34
 Zener breakdown Avalanche breakdown
1. Breakdown is due to intense 1. Breakdown is due to the collision
electric field across the junction of accelerated charge carriers with
the adjacent atoms
2. Occurs for zeners with zener
voltage less than 6V 2. Occurs for zeners with zener
voltage more than 6V
3. Negative temperature coefficient 3. Positive temperature coefficient
4. The breakdown voltage
decreases as junction 4. The breakdown voltage increases
temperature increases as junction temperature increases
5. It occurs in diodes that are highly 5. It occurs in diodes that are lightly
doped. doped.
6. The VI characteristics of a Zener 6. The VI characteristic curve of the
breakdown has a sharp curve. avalanche breakdown is not as
sharp as the Zener breakdown.
Basis For Comparison PN Junction Diode Zener Diode

Definition It is a semiconductor diode The diode which allows the

which conducts only in one current to flow in both the
direction, i.e., in forward direction i.e., forward and
direction. reverse, such type of diode is
known as the Zener diode.
Symbol

Reverse Current Effect Damage the junction. Do not damage the junction.
Doping Level Low High
Breakdown Occurs in higher voltage. Occur in lower voltage.
Ohms Law Obey Do not obey.
Applications For rectification Voltage stabilizer, motor
protection and wave shaping.
 Rectifier Circuits

step #1: increase / decrease rms magnitude of

AC wave via power transformer

step #2: converts an ac input to a unipolar output

step #3: convert the pulsating input to a nearly

constant dc output
step #4: employ voltage regulator to eliminate
ripple
step #5: supply dc load
.
 The primary application of diode is the rectifier –
Definition-Electrical device which converts alternating current
(AC) to direct current (DC)

The three basic types of rectifier:

1. The Half Wave Rectifier
2. The Full Wave Rectifier
a) Center Tapper Full wave rectifier
b) Bridge Rectifier
 1. The Half Wave Rectifier
As diodes conduct current in one direction and block in other.
When connected with ac voltage, diode only allows half cycle passing through it and
hence convert ac into dc.
During the positive half cycle of the source, the ideal diode is forward biased and
operates as a closed switch. The source voltage is directly connected across the load
During the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased and acts as an open
switch. The source voltage is disconnected from the load.

As the half of the wave get rectified, the

process called half wave rectification.
 Average load voltage and current

The average load voltage is

The value of the average load current is

where IL is the average current passing through the load resistance.

Peak Inverse Voltage: The maximum amount of reverse bias that a diode will be
exposed to is called the peak inverse voltage or PIV.

For the half wave rectifier, the value of PIV is

 Half-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter
The capacitor is the most basic filter type and is the most commonly used
The operation of this circuit during positive half cycle of the source voltage diode D will
conduct, and the capacitor charges rapidly.
As the input starts to go negative, diode D turns off, and the capacitor will slowly discharge
through the load

The load sees a reasonably constant DC voltage now, with a ripple voltage on top of it.
 2. Full wave Rectifier
The transformer has a centre-tapped secondary winding. The voltage from the
centre tap to either end terminal on this winding is equal to one half of the total
voltage measured end-to-end.

During the positive half-cycle, the upper diode is forward-biased and the lower
diode is reverse-biased.
During the negative half-cycle, the lower diode is forward-biased and the upper
diode is reverse-biased
 Calculating Load Voltage and Currents

Using the ideal diode model, the peak load voltage for the full wave rectifier is Vm.

The full wave rectifier produces twice as many output pulses as the half wave rectifier.

The average load voltage (i.e.DC output voltage) is found as

Peak Inverse Voltage:

When one of the diodes in a full-wave rectifier is reverse biased, the peak voltage across
that diode will be approximately equal to 2Vm.

PIV = 2Vm
 Full-Wave Rectifier with Capacitor filter
The capacitor is the most basic filter type and is the most commonly used
A capacitor is included in the circuit to act as a filter to reduce ripple voltage.

During both the positive and negative half cycles, the diode pair will be in forward biased
condition and the capacitor gets charged as well as the load gets supply. The interval of
the instantaneous voltage at which the stored energy in capacitor is higher than the
instantaneous voltage the capacitor supplies the stored energy in it. The more the energy
storage capacity the lesser the ripple in the output waveform.
 Bridge Rectifier
• The Bridge Full-Wave rectifier uses four diodes connected across the
entire secondary as shown

The Positive Half-cycle

During the positive half cycle of the supply,

diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while
diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the
current flows through the load as shown
 The Negative Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply,

diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but
diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now
reverse biased. The current flowing through the
load is the same direction as before.

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across
the load is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier.
 Bridge Rectifier with Capacitor filter

The voltage obtained across the load resistor of the full-wave bridge rectifier
described above has a large amount of ripple. A capacitor filter may be added to
smoothen the ripple in the output, as shown below.
 MOSFET
• The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor)
transistor is a semiconductor device which is widely used for
switching and amplifying electronic signals in the electronic devices.
• MOSFET is a voltage controlled field effect transistor.
MOSFET

Enhancement type MOSFET Depletion Type MOSFET

N-channel MOSFET P-channel MOSFET N-channel MOSFET P-channel MOSFET

 Enhancement type MOSFET
N-channel MOSFET
The constructional detail of enhancement type MOSFET:
In N-Channel Enhancement MOSFET a lightly doped p-type substrate forms the body of the
device and source and drain regions are heavily doped with n-type impurities.
Here the substrate(body) and source commonly to the ground potential.
Now there is a thin layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) on the top of the substrate. This layer on
the substrate behaves as a dielectric.
There is an aluminium plate fitted on the top of this SiO2 dielectric layer.
The terminals connected to two p-type regions are the source (S) and drain (D) of the device
respectively. The terminal projected from the aluminium plate is gate (G) of the device.
The constructional detail of enhancement type MOSFET
 Working of an Enhancement type MOSFET
This is a type of MOSFET in which no any channel is doped between the source and
drain at the time of construction.
when the gate is made positive with respect to the source. The minority charge carriers
of p-type substrate i.e., electrons get attracted by the positive potential of the gate.
These negative carriers accumulate or gather at the surface of the substrate just below
the gate terminal. Any further increase in the VGS will cause more electrons to deposit
under the gate. These electrons reach channel is formed.

Now, if a voltage is applied between the drain

and source(Vds), the current(Id) flows freely
between the source and drain and the gate
voltage controls the electrons in the channel.
Drain Characteristics :
P-channel MOSFET
 Depletion Type MOSFET
In N-Channel depletion MOSFET a lightly doped p-type substrate forms the body of the device
and source and drain regions are heavily doped with n-type impurities.
 An n-channel is diffused between the source and the drain. Due to this, current flows in
between the source and drain without any gate bias voltage.
This means that the channel conducts even when VGS = 0.
Depletion MOSFET has the ability to work at both positive and negative gate potential.
With a negative gate voltage, the negative charges on the gate repel conduction electrons
from the channel, leaving positive ions in their place. Thereby, the n channel is depleted
of some of its electrons, thus decreasing the channel conductivity.
This increases the channel resistance which resultantly reduces the drain current.

In the case when the gate terminal is made

positive with respect to the substrate, more
number of electrons gets attracted towards the
channel. Thus, causing more current to flow
through the channel.
Drain and Transfers Characteristics of Depletion type N-channel MOSFET
 MOSFET as a Switch
Cut-off Region:
Here the operating conditions of the transistor are zero input gate voltage ( VIN ), zero drain
current ID and output voltage VDS = VDD. Therefore for an enhancement type MOSFET the
conductive channel is closed and the device is switched “OFF”.

Saturation Region:
In the saturation or linear region, the transistor will be biased so that the maximum amount
of gate voltage is applied to the device which results in the channel resistance RDS being as
small as possible with maximum drain current owing through the MOSFET switch. Therefore
for the enhancement type MOSFET the conductive channel is open and the device is switched
“ON”.
 MOSFET as an amplifier
An amplifier is an electronics device which raises the strength of a weak signal.
MOSFET is an excellent choice for small signal linear amplifiers because of its extremely
high input impedance which makes them easy to bias. For linear amplification, it has to
operate in its saturation region.

Common Source D-MOSFET Amplifier:

 Operation:
The input signal (Vin ) is capacitively coupled to the gate terminal .
In the absence of the signal, d.c. value of VGS = 0V .
When signal (Vin) is applied, Vgs swings above and below its zero value , producing a swing in
drain current Id .
A small change in gate voltage produces a large change in drain current. This fact makes
MOSFET capable of raising the strength of a weak signal; thus acting as an amplifier.
During the positive half-cycle of the signal, the positive voltage on the gate increases and
produces the enhancement-mode .This increases the channel conductivity and hence the
drain current .
During the negative half-cycle of the signal, the positive voltage decreases and produces
depletion-mode. This decreases the conductivity and hence the drain current .
The result of above action is that a small change in gate voltage produces a large change in
the drain current.
This large variation in drain current produces a large a.c. output voltage across drain
resistance RD .
In this way, D-MOSFET acts as an amplifier .