Semiconductors

Semiconductors
Abhilash Sharma
B.Tech - NIT Calicut
❏ Experience - 7+ years
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Semiconductor Physics
Semiconductor
Semiconductor
Semiconductor
Why do we use Semiconductor ?
● Provides controlled flow of electrons
● Small in size
● Less power consuming
● Low cost
● More efficient than vacuum tube
Energy Bands
Energy Bands
Semiconductor
Eg>3eV Eg<3eV Eg=0

Intrinsic Semiconductor
Charge Carriers
● Holes act as virtual charge

● Mobility of hole is less than electron
● Drift speed of hole is less than electron
Question
The ratio of electron and hole currents in a semiconductor
is 7/4 and the ratio of drift velocities of electrons and holes
is 5/4, then the ratio of concentrations of electrons and
holes will be
(a) 5/7 (b) 7/5 (c) 25/49 (d) 49/25
PYQ
Solution
Extrinsic Semiconductor
● When an impurity is added in pure semiconductor, it is
called extrinsic semiconductor.
● The process of addition of impurities is called ‘Doping’
● Addition of impurity increases the conductivity of the
entire semiconductor.
● There are two types of Doping (N type, P type)
● Doping can be achieved by multiple techniques like
Thermal Diffusion, Ion Implantation, Photolithography
etc
N - Type
● Pentavalent Donor
● Electrons are majority carrier
P - Type
● Trivalent Accepter
● Holes are majority carrier
Effect of Doping on Extrinsic Semiconductor
● Crystal Maintains charge neutrality
● Because of the abundance of majority carriers, the minority

carriers produced thermally have more chance of meeting
majority carriers and thus getting destroyed
● Hence, the dopant, by adding a large number of current

carriers indirectly helps to reduce the intrinsic concentration
of minority carriers
● The semiconductor’s energy band structure is affected by

doping. In the case of extrinsic semiconductors, additional
energy states due to donor impurities (ED ) and acceptor
impurities (EA ) also exist
Energy Bands of Extrinsic Semiconductor
Fermi Energy
● Fermi Energy - It is the maximum kinetic energy an
electron can attain at 0K. Fermi energy is constant for
each solid.
● Fermi Level - It is like centre of mass of conduction

electrons and holes with energy in place of mass.
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]
Mass Action Law
Question
PN Junction
Depletion Region
● No charge carriers are found in depletion
region
● The thickness of depletion region is of the

order of one-tenth of a micrometre
● Electric field directed from positive charge

towards negative charge develops
● Due to this field, an electron on p-side of

the junction moves to n-side and a hole on
n-side of the junction moves to p-side.
● The motion of charge carriers due to the

electric field is called drift.
Barrier Potential
PN Junction
PN Junction
Semiconductor Diode
Semiconductor Diode
Forward Bias
Semiconductor Diode
Forward Bias
● The depletion layer width decreases

and the barrier height is reduced
● The effective barrier height under

forward bias is (V0 – V )
Semiconductor Diode
Forward Current
● Threshold voltage - The voltage beyond

which diode starts conducting.
(It is 0.7 V for Si & 0.2 V for Ge)
● The total diode forward current is sum of

hole diffusion current and conventional
current due to electron diffusion
● The magnitude of this current is usually in

mA
Semiconductor Diode
Reverse Bias
Semiconductor Diode
Reverse Bias
● The barrier height increases and the

depletion region widens
● The effective barrier height under reverse

bias is (V0 + V )
Semiconductor Diode
Reverse Current
● Drift of carriers gives rise to

current. The drift current is of the
order of a few µA.
● This drift current is constant upto

certain voltage and is called
reverse saturation current.
● When V = Vbr, the diode reverse

current increases sharply.
● Once it exceeds the rated value,

the diode gets destroyed due to
overheating
Semiconductor Diode
Dynamic Resistance
Example
Semiconductor Diode
● A diode conducts only in one direction
hence it behaves like a valve.
● Diode starts conducting only when the

forward bias voltage exceeds the
threshold voltage.
PYQ
Half Wave Rectifier
Full Wave Rectifier
Filter
PYQ
Solution
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

Solution
PYQ
Solution
Zener Diode
● Special purpose diode designed to
operate under reverse bias in the
breakdown region.
● Fabricated by heavily doping both p-

, and n- sides of the junction.
● Depletion region formed is very thin

(<1µm) and the electric field of the
junction is extremely high (~5×10^6
V/m)
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

PYQ
Solution
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

Solution
Zener Diode as Voltage Regulator
PYQ
Solution
Optoelectronic Junction Devices
Conglomeration of light & Electronics
1) PhotoDiode
2) LED
3) Solar Cell
1) Photodiode
● Used to detect Optical Signals
● Operated in Reverse Bias
● Incident photon energy must be greater
than Energy Gap(Eg) of the
semiconductor
● e-h pair formation happens near or in the
depletion region
● e drifts to n side and h drifts to p side
● Photocurrent is proportional to incident
light intensity
Photodiode
PYQ
PYQ
2) LED
● Heavily doped pn junction which emits
radiation in forward bias.
● Made of compound semiconductor

materials like gallium arsenide, gallium
phosphide etc.
● The reverse breakdown voltages of LEDs

are very low, typically around 5V.
LED
● e reach p side and h reach n side near the
boundary of depletion region.
● Recombination of e-h pair releases

energy in the form of photos.
● Photons with energy equal to or slightly

less than the band gap are emitted.
● The semiconductor used for fabrication of

visible LEDs must at least have a band
gap of 1.8 eV.
PYQ
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

Solution
3)Solar Cell
● A p-n junction which generates emf when
solar radiation falls on it.
● No external bias is applied and the junction

area is kept much larger for solar radiation.
● p-side becomes positive and n-side

becomes negative giving rise to
photovoltage
● Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5

eV are ideal materials for solar cell
fabrication
Solar Cell
Choosing the right material
● Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5 eV

are ideal materials for solar cell fabrication.
● Solar cells are made with semiconductors like Si

(E g = 1.1 eV), GaAs (Eg = 1.43 eV), CdTe (Eg =
1.45 eV), CuInSe2 (Eg = 1.04 eV), etc
● The important criteria for the selection of a

material for solar cell fabrication are
(i) band gap (~1.0 to 1.8 eV),
(ii) high optical absorption (~104 cm–1),
(iii) electrical conductivity
(iv) availability of the raw material
(v) cost
Solar Cell
Solar Cell
Generation Seperation Collection

Solar Cell
Transistor
● Most revolutionizing invention of 20th century.
● Invented in 1951 by William Schockley.
● A Core i7 processor contains 3 billion transistors.
● Broadly of 3 types BJT, FET & IGBT
● BJT has two subtypes, npn & pnp
● It’s a three terminal device(Emitter, Base &

Collector)
Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)
● The word transistor is a combination of transfer and
resistance.
● Transistor can act as either an insulator or a conductor

by the application of a small signal voltage.
● Two major functionality of transistor is to act as a switch

or amplifier.
NPN transistors are

preferred over PNP due
to higher mobility of
majority charge carriers
● Emitter - Its of moderate size and heavily doped. It
supplies a large number of majority carriers for the
current flow through the transistor.
● Base - It is very thin and lightly doped.
● Collector - It is moderately doped and larger in size. It

collects a major portion of the majority carriers
supplied by the emitter npn
pnp
JEE Main 2022 Syllabus
Common Base Configuration
Common Base Amplification Factor(𝞪)
Transistor Amplifying Action
Common Base VI Characteristic
Common Base VI Characteristic
Common Emitter Configuration
Common Emitter Amplification Factor(𝞫)
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]
Amplification in CE Configuration
PYQ
PYQ
PYQ
Solution
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

Relation Between 𝜶 and 𝞫
PYQ
[JEE Mains 2021]

Transistor as Switch
● In Cutoff Region : Switch OFF
● In Saturation Region : Switch ON
● In Active Region : Amplifier
PYQ
A common emitter amplifier circuit, built using an npn transistor,
is shown in the figure. Its dc current gain is 250, RC = 1 kΩ and
VCC = 10 V. What is the minimum base current for VCE to reach
saturation ?
[JEE Mains 2019]
Solution
PYQ
Solution
Feedback Amplifier & Transistor
Oscillator
Feedback Amplifier & Transistor
Oscillator
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Semiconductors

❏ 700+ selections in JEE

Eg>3eV Eg<3eV Eg=0

● Holes act as virtual charge

● Because of the abundance of majority carriers, the minority

● Hence, the dopant, by adding a large number of current

● The semiconductor’s energy band structure is affected by

● Fermi Level - It is like centre of mass of conduction

● The thickness of depletion region is of the

● Electric field directed from positive charge

● Due to this field, an electron on p-side of

● The motion of charge carriers due to the

● The depletion layer width decreases

● The effective barrier height under

● Threshold voltage - The voltage beyond

● The total diode forward current is sum of

● The magnitude of this current is usually in

● The barrier height increases and the

● The effective barrier height under reverse

● Drift of carriers gives rise to

● This drift current is constant upto

● When V = Vbr, the diode reverse

● Once it exceeds the rated value,

● Diode starts conducting only when the

[JEE Mains 2021]

● Fabricated by heavily doping both p-

● Depletion region formed is very thin

[JEE Mains 2021]

[JEE Mains 2021]

● Made of compound semiconductor

● The reverse breakdown voltages of LEDs

● Recombination of e-h pair releases

● Photons with energy equal to or slightly

● The semiconductor used for fabrication of

[JEE Mains 2021]

● No external bias is applied and the junction

● p-side becomes positive and n-side

● Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5

● Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5 eV

● Solar cells are made with semiconductors like Si

● The important criteria for the selection of a

Generation Seperation Collection

● Invented in 1951 by William Schockley.

● A Core i7 processor contains 3 billion transistors.

● Broadly of 3 types BJT, FET & IGBT

● BJT has two subtypes, npn & pnp

● It’s a three terminal device(Emitter, Base &

● Transistor can act as either an insulator or a conductor

● Two major functionality of transistor is to act as a switch

NPN transistors are

● Base - It is very thin and lightly doped.

● Collector - It is moderately doped and larger in size. It

[JEE Mains 2021]

[JEE Mains 2021]

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