Electronic Devices – Part 1

It is the branch of science which deals with the electron flow through a vacuum, gas or semiconductor.

• Devices in which a controlled flow of electrons can be obtained are the basic building
blocks of all the electronic circuits.
• Before the discovery of transistor in 1948, such devices were mostly vacuum tubes
(also called valves) like the vacuum diode which has two electrodes, viz., anode (often
called plate) and cathode; triode which has three electrodes – cathode, plate and grid;
tetrode and pentode (respectively with 4 and 5 electrodes).
• In a vacuum tube, the electrons are supplied by a heated cathode and the controlled
flow of these electrons in vacuum is obtained by varying the voltage between its
different electrodes.
• Vacuum is required in the inter-electrode space; otherwise the moving electrons may
lose their energy on collision with the air molecules in their path.
• In these devices the electrons can flow only from the cathode to the anode (i.e., only in
one direction). Therefore, such devices are generally referred to as valves.

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In 1930s it was realised that some solid state semiconductors and their junctions offer the
possibility of controlling the number and the direction of flow of charge carriers through
them. Simple excitations like light, heat or small applied voltage can change the number of
mobile charges in a semiconductor.
That’s how devices using semiconductors were born and have evolved through the ages.
These devices have ushered in the New Age which is seeing lot of technological revolution
aimed at making life more comfortable.
Example is the evolution of mobile phones from being a basic heavy handset to the
sophisticated slim sleek ones.

IMAGES OF FEW SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

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 Advantages of Semiconductor Devices Over Vacuum Tubes

Vacuum Tubes Semiconductor Devices

Vacuum tube devices are They are small in size,
bulky, consume high power, consume low power, operate
operate generally at high at low voltages
voltages (~100 V)

Have limited life and low Have long life and high
reliability reliability
The mobile electrons were The supply and flow of charge
obtained from a heated carriers in the semiconductor
cathode and they were made devices are within the solid
to flow in an evacuated space itself
or vacuum.

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CONCEPTS OF RESISTIVITY AND CONDUCTIVITY – A Recap

According to Ohm’s Law, potential difference across the ends of a

conductor (V) is directly proportional to the current flowing through it,
provided physicsl conditions like temperature, pressure are maintained a
constant.
V = (R) I
Where ‘R’ is a constant of proportionality called resistance of the
conductor(material). Its S.I unit is ohm (Ω)
But R = ρl/A
Where ‘ρ’ is called the resistivity of a material, ‘l’ its length and ‘A’ its area
of cross section.
‘ρ’ can be defined as numerically equal to the resistance of a conductor
of unit length and unit area of cross section. Its S.I unit is ohm-m (Ωm)
Reciprocal of ‘ρ’ is called conductivity ‘σ’ of a material
i.e σ = 1/ρ
Its S.I unit is Ω-1m-1

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 Classification of Materials
Materials can be classified based on their resistivity and conductivity values as
follows:

(i) Metals: They possess very low resistivity (or high conductivity). They have large
no. of free electrons at room temperature and allow charges (electrons) to flow
through them easily.
ρ ~ 10–2 – 10–8 Ω m ; σ ~ 102 – 108 S m–1
(ii) Insulators: They have high resistivity (or low conductivity). They have very few or
nil free electrons at room temperature and do not allow charges (electrons), if any,
to flow through them easily.
ρ ~ 1011 – 1019 Ω m ; σ ~ 10–11 – 10–19 S m–1
(iii) Semiconductors: They have resistivity or conductivity intermediate to metals
and insulators. They have no free electrons at 0K but have free electrons ( lesser
than that in conductors) at room temperature.
ρ ~ 10–5 – 106 Ω m ; σ ~ 105 – 10–6 S m–1
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 SEMICONDUCTORS

• (i) Elemental semiconductors: Si and Ge

• (ii) Compound semiconductors: Examples are: Inorganic: CdS, GaAs,

CdSe, InP, etc.
• Organic: anthracene, doped pthalocyanines
• Organic polymers: polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.
Most of the currently available semiconductor devices are based on
elemental semiconductors Si or Ge and compound inorganic
semiconductors.
However, after 1990, a few semiconductor devices using organic
semiconductors and semiconducting polymers have been developed
signalling the birth of a futuristic technology of polymer electronics and
molecular-electronics.
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 FORMATION OF ENERGY BANDS
Focus will be on valence electrons only which are in the outermost orbital of an atom.
The electrons of a single, isolated atom occupy atomic orbitals each of which has a
discrete energy level.

SCENE 1: When N identical atoms of an element are at infinite distance from each other, each of
the valence electrons have unique energy level(depending on their orbitals) but it will be found
that on comparison all the valence electrons of all the N atoms have the same values of energies.

SCENE 2: When these N atoms are brought close together, interactions occur among the valence
electrons due to overlapping of the orbitals. So each of their energy levels get modified leading to
the formation of energy bands.
The Pauli exclusion principle dictates that no two electrons can have the same quantum
numbers in a molecule. So if two identical atoms combine to form a diatomic molecule, each
atomic orbital splits into two molecular orbitals of different energy, allowing the electrons in
the former atomic orbitals to occupy the new orbital structure without any having the same
energy.
Since the number of atoms in a macroscopic piece of solid is a very large number (N~10 22) the
number of orbitals is very large and thus they are very closely spaced in energy (of the order of
10−22 eV). The energy of adjacent levels is so close together that they can be considered as a
continuum, an energy band. 7
 ENERGY BAND FORMATION IN Si
Si has an atomic number of 14 and its electronic configuration is
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p2
The 3s2 3p2 form the outer shell as they contribute to the electrical conductivity. So each Si
atom has 4 valence electrons – 2 in 3s and 2 in 3p orbitals.
. When N silicon atoms are considered, there are totally 4N valence electrons – 2N electrons in 3s and 2N in 3p

orbitals with the remaining 4N in 3p being empty.

. For 4N valence electrons, there are totally 8N available states

.
The 8N states form either continuous band or different bands depending on the distance between the
atoms.

FOR CONTINUOUS ENERGY BAND FORMATION

. The N Si atoms are brought close together to form Si crystal.

. The motion of the valence electrons and hence their energies get modified due to interaction of their electric fields .

. Each energy level of the 4N valence electrons splits into two levels – one higher and the other lower
than the corresponding level of an isolated atom.

. Large no. of energy levels are formed that are discrete (carrying unique values) and close to each
other.
THIS SET OF CLOSELY SPACED PERMITTED DISCRETE ENERGY LEVELS IS CALLED ENERGY
BAND 8
When separation between the Si atoms is very large, no interaction happens between the valence
electrons.
As the separation is gradually reduced, interaction between the orbitals occur.
Splitting of the energy levels of the valence electrons occur.
Of the 8N available levels, 4N levels(lower energies) are filled by the valence electrons while the
remaining 4N levels (higher energies) are unfilled.
The lower 4N filled levels forms the energy band called valence band. Highest energy level in the
valence band is Ev.
The higher 4N unfilled levels forms the energy band called conduction band. Lowest energy level in the
conduction band is Ec.
The Ev and Ec levels are separated from each other by an energy gap called Forbidden energy gap (E g).

conduction band
Ec

Eg

Ev
valence band

The energy band which includes the energy levels of the valence electrons is called the valence band.
The energy band above the valence band is called the conduction band. The gap between the top of the
valence band and bottom of the conduction band is called the energy band gap (Energy gap Eg). It may
be large, small, or zero, depending upon the material. 9
CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS ON THE BASIS OF
BAND ENERGY DIAGRAMS

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Metals/Conductors:
• Overlapping of conduction and valence bands occur.
• Eg is approximately zero
• Large no. of free electrons are present in conduction band at room temperature.
• As temperature increases, time interval between successive collisions of free electrons
with positive metal ions decreases. Hence resistivity increases but conductivity
decreases.

Insulators:
• Large energy gap between valence and conduction bands.
• Very few or nil free electrons are present in conduction band at room temperature.
• As temperature increases, very few valence electrons might become free electrons.
Hence resistivity and conductivity might slightly decrease and increase respectively.

Intrinsic Semiconductors (Pure Semiconductors):

• Band energy gap value is more than conductors but lesser than insulators.
• At 0K, no free electrons in C.B and hence behaves as an insulator.
• As temperature increase, more valence electrons acquire sufficient energy to jump
into conduction band. Hence resistivity decreases but conductivity increases.

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CONDUCTION IN INTRINSIC (PURE) SEMICONDUCTORS

Always no. of holes nh = no. of free electrons ne in a pure semiconductor. 12

Hole – Electron
pair generation

Hole – Electron pair

recombination at
site 1 but generation
at site 2

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 POINTS TO NOTE for an INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
• Intrinsic semiconductor implies the whole semiconductor crystal is made up of
only an elemental semiconductor like Si or Ge
• No. of Holes in valence band( nh )= No. of free electrons (ne ) in conduction
band.
• nh = ne = ni where ‘i’ refers to intrinsic charge carriers
• The term intrinsic carrier is used for the charge carriers – both holes and free
electrons present in a pure Ge or Si crystal.
• Both electrons and holes contribute to current in an intrinsic semiconductor.
• Hence total current in a semiconductor is the sum of current due to hole
movement and that due to free electron movement
It = I h + I e

Note: Electron current and hole current are in the same direction in an intrinsic semiconductor.

Major drawback of Intrinsic semiconductors

THE NUMBER OF AVAILABLE CHARGE CARRIERS TO GENERATE APPRECIABLE CURRENT IS VERY LESS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
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IN INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
• When a small amount, say, a few parts per million (ppm), of a suitable
impurity is added to the pure semiconductor, the conductivity of the
semiconductor is increased manifold. Such materials are known as extrinsic
semiconductors or impurity semiconductors.
• The deliberate addition of a desirable impurity is called doping and the
impurity atoms are called dopants. Such a material is also called a doped
semiconductor.
• CONDITIONS FOR CHOOSING DOPANTS:
1(a) The dopant has to be such that it does not distort the original pure
semiconductor lattice.
(b) It occupies only a very few of the original semiconductor atom sites in the
crystal.
2. A necessary condition to attain this is that the sizes of the dopant and the
semiconductor atoms should be nearly the same.
There are two types of dopants used in doping the tetravalent Si or Ge:
(i) Pentavalent (valency 5) like Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb), Phosphorous (P),
etc. (ii) Trivalent (valency 3) like Indium (In), Boron (B), Aluminium (Al), etc.
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 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS

INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC
• The whole crystal is made of either • The crystal contains both Si or Ge and
fully Si or Ge atoms only. dopant atoms of either group 13 or
group 15.
• No. of holes = No. of free electrons • Either no. of holes is more ( P type) or no.
of free electrons is more (N type)
• The number of free electrons (with an
equal number of holes) generated by • The number of electrons or holes made
Si or Ge atoms, increases weakly with available for conduction by dopant
temperature. atoms depends strongly upon the doping
level and temperature.

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