INTRODUCTION TO THE SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE The simplest semiconductor device is the DIODE.

The diode has a variety of applications in electronic and electrical circuits with the most common ones being RECTIFICATION (conversion of AC to DC) and as TUNING ELEMENTS for communications circuitry (radio, TV etc). In this course we deal with the diode as a rectifier and as a voltage regulator. We will need to briefly discuss the inner workings of the diode to better understand its limitations and to help understand the transistor and other semiconductor devices that you deal with later. It is worthwhile however to introduce the device, its schematic symbol and its basic function in circuitry before we look inside.

1N4009

ANODE

CATHODE

ANODE

CATHODE

The schematic symbol is shown with the model number 1N4009 above it. The diode physically resembles a resistor as shown with a stripe at one end indicating the cathode lead. The 1N part of the model number indicates that it is a diode (2N indicates a transistor). The 4009 is simply a catalog number and the diode characteristics can be looked up in a manual or on the internet. Sowhat does it do?

No matter what type of diode, or its application, its basic operation is very simple! If the anode is more positive than the cathode by some small voltage it will conduct and approximate a closed switch. If the voltage is reversed across the diode so the anode is negative with respect to the cathode it acts as an open switch. Silicon diodes for example must have the anode about 0.7V more positive than the cathode to turn on (to conduct ). Thats it, easy isnt it? Needless to say life isnt quite that simple and to see what the limitations are we need to see how the diode is constructed. My computer artwork limitations prevent me drawing pictures of atoms in these notes so you will need to read the section in your textbook which introduces the atomic structure of semiconductor material. I will proceed however to give you a shorter simpler description in the notes. You may recall from first semester (DC Theory) that materials such as copper have atoms with only a single electron in the Valence (outer) orbit. In copper and other conductors these outer (valence) electrons break away from their atoms and become free electrons which drift randomly through the material. If a voltage is applied across the piece of conductor, the free electrons will move toward the positive terminal and out to the voltage source. As each electron leaves the conductor an electron enters the conductor from the negative terminal of the voltage source. In materials in which the valence orbit is filled (8 electrons), the valence electrons cannot break free of the atom so there are no free electrons and the material is an insulator. Semiconductor materials, of which Silicon is the most common, have 4 valence electrons and the valence orbit if filled would have 8 electrons. This means the valence orbit is half filled and the atom is halfway between a conductor and an insulator. It turns out that silicon atoms combine with one another to form a chunk of silicon by coming close together and sharing valence electrons in such a way that each silicon thinks it has a filled valence orbit with 8 electrons (4 of its own plus one from each of the 4 neighbouring atoms. Silicon in its intrinsic form (a fancy term for pure) is an excellent insulator. It turns out that by adding impurity atoms with 5 valence electrons to a block of silicon these impurity atoms will blend into the silicon crystalline structure and share 4 of their 5 valence electrons with neighbouring silicon atoms, and the fifth valence electron which is now surplus will drift off to become a free electron. The process of adding impurity atoms is called DOPING, the more the doping, the better the conduction (the lower the resistance). In fact integrated circuit resistors are made this way. We now have a conductive piece of silicon called N TYPE SILICON or N type semiconductor. The N indicates that the material has free electrons to form current flow. The block of N silicon or semiconductor however is electrically neutral as there is a positive charged proton in the structure for every free electron. By a similar process, impurity atoms with 3 valence electrons can be added to pure (intrinsic) silicon and these will blend into the atomic structure leaving a shortage of one electron which acts like a positive charge. This missing electron in the structure is called, for convenience, a HOLE and is imagined as a positive charge since any passing electron will be attracted to it. We now have a conductive piece of silicon called P TYPE SILICON

(p type semiconductor). It is electrically neutral but has positive holes for conduction instead of negative electrons. Youll be happy to know that there are only two types of semiconductor.P type and N type. (there are many other semiconductor materials however with silicon the most common..but regardless there are only P type and N type). I strongly recommend that you read this over in your textbook as the illustrations in the book may make it all a little clearer. It is not necessary to know the structure of semiconductors to use the devices in circuits but it helps in the understanding of circuits and devices if you have a least a vague idea of the atomic structure.

Let us now represent the two types of semiconductor as follows:

N __________ ________ __ _________

P ++++++++++ ++++++++++ +++++++++

N type semiconductor free electrons

P type semiconductor positive holes

Electrically each piece is neutral with the same total number of positive and negative charges. Each has a resistance that depends on the amount of doping that was done. So why go to all this trouble to make resistors when ordinary carbon resistors are easier to make ? Read on. The diode, previously described is formed, by joining a piece of N type semiconductor to a piece of P type semiconductor. This is called a PN JUNCTION or more commonly a diode. N _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _____ N ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ _

P ++++++ ++++++ ++++++

P +++++ +++++ +++++

FIGURE A

PN JUNCTION

FIGURE B

depletion region

Figure A shows a PN junction just formed, figure B shows the PN junction nanoseconds later. The electrons near the junction in the N material jump into the P region and combine with the holes near the junction. This means that all the free charge carriers immediately around the junction combine and there are no free charge carriers left to carry current across the junction, it becomes effectively an insulator. This region, shown in black around the junction is called the DEPLETION REGION (because the region is depleted, or emptied of free charge carriers). This depletion region forms as soon as the PN junction is formed and is characteristic of all PN junctions however formed. Since the P region has now picked up extra electrons it has a negative charge (or potential) and the N region is missing some electrons so it has a positive potential (or charge). In the case of silicon this DEPLETION POTENTIAL is 0.7V. Other semiconductor materials have different depletion potentials (voltages). This is illustrated as shown: Depletion voltage
0.7V +

P ++++++ ++++++ ++++++

N ______ ______ ______

Depletion region Notice that the negative potential of the P region will prevent any N region electrons from moving across the junction. If a small positive voltage is applied to the P region (and negative to the N region) as it is increased from 0V at some point it will overcome the depletion voltage and in effect cancel it out and electrons will now move freely towards the positive supply and electrons will enter the N region from the negative supply. The PN junction is now acting like a closed switch. There will be a forward voltage drop however across the pn junction (diode) of about 0.7V or so at all times, so it is not a perfect switch. If the applied voltage is reversed, this will add to the depletion voltage and the depletion region gets wider. This is now illustrated using schematic diagrams.

In this circuit the P region or anode, is indicated by the arrow head which in semiconductor symbols, points in the direction of conventional current flow. Current will flow as the anode (P) is more positive than the cathode (N). There will be 0.7V across the diode and of course, 9.3V across the resistor. By Mr Ohms law the circuit current will be: I = 9.3V/1K = 9.3ma It is important to note that some resistance must always be used in series with the diode as its ON resistance is only a few ohms so current limiting resistance is always needed. No current limiting series resistor means SMOKE! In this circuit the diode is reversed so the cathode (N) is positive with respect to the anode (P), the depletion region is wider and the diode does not conduct. It acts like an open switch and there is no current through the Resistor. When a voltage is applied to a PN junction to make it conduct we say it is: FORWARD BIASED When a voltage is applied to prevent the PN junction from conducting it is: REVERSE BIASED

FORWARD BIAS

REVERSE BIAS

At normal room temperatures a few electrons will break away from their atoms due to the thermal energy they pick at a typical 25C room temperature. These electrons in P type semiconductors are referred to as minority charge carriers. In N type material each electron that breaks away due to temperature leaves behind a hole which is a minority carrier in N type material. The number of these minority carriers approximately doubles for every 10 rise in temperature. This means that the current in a semiconductor circuit will increase as temperature rises even if we dont change the applied voltage or any other conditions in the circuit. This is not normally a problem in diode circuits except under

very high current and/or temperature conditions. The problem however is much more severe in transistor circuits as we will see later in the course. In small diodes such as those in your lab kit a leakage current results under reverse bias due to these minority charge carriers, the leakage current at 25C however is only in picoamps and can be ignored. All semiconductor devices have a data sheet showing the various specifications such as maximum current, maximum reverse voltage, maximum forward voltage, leakage current and so on. We will examine one of these later and they are readily available at various sites on the internet and in manuals. One diode characteristic we should discuss now, however, is the diode characteristic curve. This follows on the next page. _

Diode current I max

Typical operating current

Typical Forward Voltage drop 0.7V

Diode volts

This is a typical diode forward biased characteristic curve (within the limitations of Office grahics). It shows that the diode begins to turn on around 0.5V and has a normal mid current range voltage of about 0.7V. If the current exceeds Imax then the diode is toast.

Reverse Diode volts

Reverse Breakdown Voltage PRV

Imax SMOKE

I diode

The second diagram on page 6 shows the diode characteristic for reverse bias. There is no current flow until reverse breakdown occurs typically at a few hundred volts or higher. The diode is destroyed when current exceeds Imax. The breakdown voltage is referred to in data sheets as PRV (peak reverse voltage) or PIV (peak inverse voltage). KEY POINTS: A diode (PN junction) will conduct when the anode (P) is more positive than the cathode (N) { FORWARD BIAS } A diode will not conduct when the anode is the same potential as the cathode, or if the anode is negative with respect to the anode {ZERO OR REVERSE BIAS } The diode will be destroyed if its current exceeds the maximum rated value . This applies to forward bias and reverse breakdown. The forward bias voltage for a silicon diode is typically 0.7V Diode leakage current in reverse bias will increase with rising temperature The diode is non linear (its resistance varies as current increases particularly near the turn on point. Diodes normally use a 1NXXX designation (although there are exceptions)