Welcome all the Genius Brains to

the course

Course Code: EAEPC02

Course Title: Electronics Devices & Circuits
Faculty: Dr. Avinash Kumar
Assistant Professor (ECE Department)
Netaji Subhas University of Technology, Delhi
Contact - 9266495339
 About the Course
THEORY ASSESSMENT PRACTICAL ASSESSMENT
MODE CA MS ES CA ES
PERCENTAGE 15 15 40 15 15

Course Outcomes:
1. To understand the junction formation, barrier potential,
drift and diffusion currents in P-N junction diode. To
understand some special purpose diodes.
2. To study the input/output and transfer characteristics of
BJT in CE, CB and CC mode and biasing techniques.
3. BJT as small signal amplifier, different circuit parameters.
4. To study JFET and MOSFET circuits in different operating
modes and CMOS.
5. To get familiarized with Opto-electronics and Power-
electronics devices.
SYLLABUS
SYLLABUS
SYLLABUS
SYLLABUS
 Let Us Start
• Unit-I
• Review of Semiconductor Diodes, Mass Action
Law, Carrier Concentration: - 1 Lecture
• Few questions before we begin:
1. What are different types of semiconductors?
2. How can we regulate the conductivity of
semiconductors?
3. What is doping?
4. How carrier concentration is related with
doping?
 Review of Semiconductor Diodes
• Different types of semiconductors:
(a) Intrinsic (Pure or without Doping) – Like Pure
Si or Ge – The Conductivity depends on
temperature only. Conductivity increases with
increase in temperature. Not of much use
(without doping) for designing semiconductor
devices
(b) Extrinsic (Doped) – Term doped is used (not
mixed) as impurity concentration is very small
(Usually in parts per million) – Conductivity
depends on Doping level
 Review of Semiconductor Diodes
• Difference between Intrinsic and Extrinsic
types of semiconductors:
Intrinsic Semiconductor Extrinsic Semiconductor

Pure Si or Ge Either P type or N type

Both the charge carriers are equal in Both the charge carriers are not equal in
number number
Charge carriers are produced only by the Charge carriers are produced both by
braking of bonds the doping of impurity and braking of
bonds. The charge carriers produced by
the braking of bonds are insignificant in
comparison of charge carriers produced
by the doping of impurity
No concept of Majority and Minority The type of Doping (Trivalent or
charge carriers Pentavalent) decides the majority charge
carriers (Holes or Electrons respectively)
Carrier Concentration in Intrinsic Semiconductors
• As discussed earlier, equal number of charge
carriers are produced by the breaking of covalent
bonds in case of Intrinsic Semiconductors.
• Hence, the charge carriers depends on breaking
of bonds which is directly proportional to the
temperature.
• At a particular temperature if ne is the number of
(or carrier concentration of) free electrons, nh is
the number of (or carrier concentration of) holes;
• Then ne*nh = ni^2 ; where ni is known as intrinsic
concentration
 Mass Action Law
• Mass Action Law: The Mass Action law gives the
relationship between both the types of carrier
concentration (i.e. Holes and free electrons) at a
given temperature for a semiconductor. It is
applicable for both intrinsic as well as extrinsic
semiconductors.
• As per Mass Action Law ne*nh = ni^2 ;
where ne is free electrons concentration
nh is holes concentration and
ni is intrinsic concentration at that temperature for
the particular semiconductor (say “Si”)
• It seems obvious for intrinsic but equally applicable
for extrinsic semiconductors as well.
 Mass Action Law
• Since the majority carrier concentration in an extrinsic
semiconductor depends on Doping level only and the
majority charge carriers produced by the breaking of
covalent bonds are neglected.
• Hence, the majority charge carriers concentration in an
extrinsic semiconductor increases as compared to
intrinsic condition.
• But, we assume that the minority charge carriers
concentration should have been remained same as
intrinsic condition as no minority carriers are produced
by doping.
• However, contrary to our belief the minority charge
carrier concentration decreases as compared to the
intrinsic case as explained by Mass Action Law
 Numerical

• Here notice that the density of Si is in the range of

10^23/cm3. (concept of mole)
• Dopant concentration is of the range of 10^17 i.e. 1 impurity
atom per 10^6 Si atoms.
• Electron concentration increases from 10^10 to 10^17 but
holes concentration reduced from 10^10 (intrinsic condition)
to 10^3
Energy level diagram of isolated
atoms and crystal
Energy band structure of an insulator,
semiconductor and conductor
Conduction, Valence and Fermi Energy
levels, Energy bands and Energy Gap
Fermi-Dirac Function and Fermi energy level
Fermi-Dirac
function
explains that
the “Fermi
Energy level”
is an energy
level at
which the
probability of
finding an
electron is
half (1/2).
Fermi Level in N-type and P-type
• For an intrinsic semiconductor
Fermi- Level lies exactly in the
middle of the Conduction and
Valence energy levels.
• Whereas, for N-type Fermi level
shifts upward as it has majority
of electrons.
• But, for P-type the Fermi level
shifts downward as it has
majority of holes.
 Different Types of Junction
• Graded and Step graded junction – Lecture 2
• The P-N junction has to be fabricated on a
monolithic (single) chip of semiconductor by
doping trivalent (acceptor) and Pentavalent
(donor) impurities to it.
• Since different fabrication techniques are used
for the fabrication of P-N junction diode.
• Based on the fabrication technique different
type of junctions are formed namely “Linearly
graded junction” and “Step graded junction”.
 Linearly graded Junction
• In Linearly graded junction the carrier
concentration varies linearly from P- type to N-
type.
• The linearly graded junction is formed by
grown junction fabrication method.
Linearly graded Junction
• The Linearly
graded junction
is shown in the
figure.
• It is clearly
observed that
the charge
density is
varying linearly
across the
junction.
 Step graded Junction
• In Step graded junction the carrier
concentration varies abruptly from P- type to
N- type like a step function.
• The Step graded junction is formed by “Fused
or Alloy junction” fabrication method.
Step graded Junction
• The Step graded
junction is shown in
the figure.
• It is clearly
observed that the
charge density is
varying abruptly
across the junction.
• Here carrier
concentration is not
same on the 2 sides
Potential and Currents inside Diode

• Calculation of Barrier Potential, Drift

and Diffusion Currents – Lecture 3
 Barrier Potential
• In a P-N junction the majority carriers (electrons) of N- side
tend to diffuse on P-side and recombine with the holes
there. Thus immobile –ve charged ions are formed on the P-
side. Similarly majority carriers (holes) of P-side diffuse to
N-side and create +ve charged immobile ions on the N-side.
• These immobile ions on the two sides of junction result in a
potential difference known as Barrier potential, which
ceases the further diffusion of the majority charge carriers.
Barrier Potential
Barrier Potential illustration
Barrier Potential calculation
Derivation of Barrier Potential
Derivation of Barrier Potential
Numerical
Energy Band Diagram of Forward
and Reverse biased P-N junction
 Drift current in semiconductor

• The drift current flows due to Potential gradient (or applied potential).
• In a semiconductor electrons and holes are drifted in the opposite direction
by the application of a potential difference. However, the motion in the
opposite directions constitute the current in the same direction.
 Diffusion current in semiconductor

• In conductors there is only drift current (due to

application of potential difference) and no diffusion
current.
• Whereas, in semiconductors we have diffusion
current as well along with the drift current. The
minority carriers gets diffused due to concentration
gradient and forms the diffusion current.
Diffusion current in P-N junction
• In a P-N junction the
diffusion current
flows due to diffusion
of majority charge
carriers from high
concentration region
to low concentration
region.
• The diffusion current
is proportional to the
concentration
gradient.
Drift & Diffusion currents in P-N junction
• In a P-N junction total 4 types of
currents exist.
• Drift currents due to holes and
electrons and Diffusion currents due
to holes and electrons. Such that the
total current is always constant.
• At the extreme end on P- side total
current entering is holes drift current.
As we move towards junction the
holes drift current decreases and
electrons diffusion current increases.
• After crossing the junction the
electrons diffusion current gets
converted into electrons drift current
on N- side and the holes drift current
becomes holes diffusion current.
• Such that while coming out of N-side
total current is electrons drift current
Zener Diode: A Special Purpose Diode

• Physical structure and operation of

Zener Diode – Lecture 4
Zener Diode
 Zener Diode

• For safe and reliable operation of zener diode we must

ensure that the current through zener diode is below
the maximum allowable current otherwise it will have
much power dissipation and it will get damaged.
 Junction Breakdown Mechanism

• When junction is lightly doped, avalanche breakdown is

predominant.
• When junction is heavily doped, zener breakdown is
predominant.
 Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator

• In Reverse bias zener diode maintains a constant

voltage across its terminals by adjusting its current.
Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator
Zener Diode Numerical
 Other Special Purpose Diodes

• Schotky Diode, Varactor Diode and

Step Recovery Diode – Lecture 5
Schottky Diode
 Schottky Diode
• A Schottky Diode is a Unipolar device as it has only electrons as
majority carriers on both sides of the junction. Hence, no
depletion layer is formed at the junction. Due to this it has a
lower knee voltage for same forward current and hence less
power requirement.
• Since there is no p-type semiconductor material and therefore no
minority carriers (holes), when reverse biased, the diodes
conduction stops very quickly and changes to blocking current
flow, as for a conventional pn-junction diode. Thus for a Schottky
diode there is a very rapid response to changes (fast switching) in
bias and demonstrating the characteristics of a rectifying diode.
• Schottky diodes are quickly becoming the preferred rectification
device in low voltage, high current applications for use in
renewable energy and solar panel applications.
 Schottky Diode
• Preventing the logic circuits switching transistors from
saturating decreases greatly their propagation delay time
making Schottky TTL circuits ideal for use in flip-flops,
oscillators and memory chips.
• A lower turn-on voltage, faster switching time and reduced
power consumption makes the Schottky diode extremely
useful in many integrated-circuit applications with the 74LSXX
TTL series of logic gates being the most common.
• Schottky diodes have many useful applications from
rectification, signal conditioning and switching, through to TTL
and CMOS logic gates due mainly to their low power and fast
switching speeds. TTL Schottky logic gates are identified by
the letters LS (Low-Power Schottky) appearing somewhere in
their logic gate circuit code, e.g. 74LS00.
 Varactor Diode
• A Varactor Diode (also known as Varicap Diode or
Tuning Diode) is a p-n junction diode with small
doping which acts as a variable capacitor when a
varying reverse bias voltage is applied across it.
• The construction, symbol and characteristics is as
shown
 Varactor Diode construction
• In normal P-N junction both the semiconductor layers are uniformly
doped. But in the case of varactor diodes, the concentration of
impurities near the P-N junction is very less and it gradually
increases as we move towards the layer’s other surface (Linearly
graded junction).
• The p-type and n-type layers of the varactor diode are made up of
silicon (for low frequency applications) or gallium arsenide (for
high-frequency applications) depending on the type of application.
• A Varactor Diode consists of P and N type semiconductor layers
sandwiched together. The n-type layer attached to a mesa (table-
shaped) structure. A gold plated molybdenum stud is connected to
n-type layer via the mesa structure and it acts as cathode terminal.
• The p-type layer is connected to another gold plated molybdenum
stud (which acts as anode) via a gold wire. Except for some portion
of the molybdenum studs, the entire arrangement is enclosed in a
ceramic layer.
 Varactor Diode Operation
• During Reverse bias the Depletion width increases and behaves as
dielectric of capacitor while P and N regions behave like capacitor
plates. This results in Transition Capacitance. As Reverse bias
voltage increases, the depletion width increases and hence the
capacitance decreases.
• The junction capacitance (CJ) for an actual applied reverse bias
voltage (VR) of a varactor diode is given as :
CJ = C0(1 + VR/VB)-n
Where (C0) is the junction capacitance at zero-bias condition, (VB) is
the Knee voltage (i.e. forward bias voltage required to remove
depletion layer). The value of n is 1/3 for diffused or grown junction
(linearly graded) and 1/2 for alloy junction (step graded)
• Usually capacitance is inversely proportional to the width of
depletion region, which in turn is proportional to the square root of
applied voltage.
 Varactor Diode Applications
• It is mainly used to replace variable capacitors (for tuning
purposes) that need to be operated mechanically for changing
the value of capacitance.
• Owing to the special property of varactor diode that its
capacitance can be changed just by changing the voltage across
its terminals, they are mostly used in frequency modulation or
tuning circuits where the value of capacitance determines the
output modulation frequency.
• Some of the other applications include:
• Automatic Frequency Controllers (AFCs)
• Ultra High Frequency Television sets
• High frequency Radios
• Frequency Multipliers
• Band Pass Filters
• Harmonic Generators
Varactor Diode Numerical
 Step Recovery Diode
• The Step recovery diode is also known as charge storage diode or
snap-off diode or step diode.
• Its doping density is extremely small near junction area. Thus, the
density of charge carriers is also low near the junction.
• Due to which charge storage is negligible near the junction, and
this leads to fast switching of the diode from ON to OFF state.
• This results in performing very fast switching action by it.
• The doping density and circuit symbol is as shown in figure
 Step Recovery Diode
• Due to its special doping profile the Step Recovery Diode also
behaves like a voltage-dependent variable capacitor.
• It is also used as a charge controlled switch in various
application due to its fast switching at low frequencies.
• The switching time is very small in step recovery diode i.e. just
a few nanoseconds. This imparts the ability to generate very
sharp pulses which play a significant role in waveshaping
circuits. It is used as a Pulse generator or Parametric amplifier
and also used in microwave circuits.
• Because the step recovery diode has this special impurity
concentration distribution similar to that of a varactor, the
diode can also be considered as a special varactor.
 Working of Step Recovery Diode:
• The Step Recovery Diode behaves as a fast switching diode at
low frequencies. During Positive half cycle, this diode offers
very low impedance (about 1 ohm). But gradually its
impedance starts increasing due to charge storage at the
junction. Now, when it is switched from forward biasing to
reverse biasing it changes state instantly.
• However, At high frequencies the process of switching takes
time. Thus, the forward current continues to flow in the
reverse cycle of input voltage for a short duration. This
happens because the charge carriers are stored near the
junction, although their density is low but still at higher
frequencies they take some time to completely drain off from
the junction. Thus, it is not much suitable for high frequency
applications.
 Advantages & Disadvantages of
Step Recovery Diode
• More Forward Current: It generates forward current
more rapidly than a conventional diode.
• Fast Switching Time: The switching time required is low
which leads to rapid response.
• Sharp Harmonics: It has the ability to generate very
sharp pulses which are significant for the pulse
generator.
• Highly Efficient: These diodes possesses high efficiency.
• Not Suitable at Higher Frequencies: The disadvantage of
the diode is that the switching speed decreases with the
increase in frequency.
Applications of Step recovery diode
The significant applications of step recovery diode are as follows:
• As Multiplier: They can multiply the frequency of signal up to 20
times. The fast switching time of Step recovery diode imparts them
the ability to generate sharp pulses. The charge stored during forward
bias is used to generate harmonics during the reversed bias phase.
• As Harmonic Generators: The ability of step recovery diode to
generate sharp pulses makes it appropriate to use as harmonic
generators for generating different pulses.
• It is used in voltage controlled oscillators.
• It is used in a frequency synthesizer.
• Comb Generator: It is used in comb generator for generating multiple
harmonics of its input signal. The output appears like comb teeth.
• Sampling Phase detector: It is used in sample phase detector for
detecting the phase in a communication system.
• In communication system, the step recovery diode is used in the stage
of modulation of signal.