LESSON 2Understanding

semiconductor diodes.
Semiconductor Materials
Semiconductors are materials which conduct
electricity better than insulator, but no so well as
ordinary conductors.
The following table shows the comparison between
insulator, conductor and semiconductor:
Insulator
Example
material

Glass,
ceramic,
polythene

Charge
carrier
Resistanc
e

No free
electrons
High

Conductivi
ty

Decrease
when the
temperatu
re

Semiconduct
or
Silicon,
germanium,
selenium
Free electrons
and holes
Between
insulator and
conductor
Increase
when the
temperature
increase.
Also increase
when light
shines on it or
with presence
of impurities

Charge carriers in semiconductors

Conducto
r
Copper,
aluminium
,
iron
Free
electrons
Low
Decrease
when the
temperatu
re

In a pure crystal of a semiconductor( intrinsic

semiconductor) such as silicon, each atom of silicon
has four electrons in outermost orbit that are involved
in covalent bonding.
The vibrations of atoms causes some electrons to
break free the bonds.
When an electron is removed from a covalent bond,
it leaves behind a vacancy and is called a hole in
the bonding . Free electrons( negatively charged)
and holes (positively charged) are known as charge
carriers .
Conduction in a semiconductor is by means of a
movement of free electrons and holes in opposite
direction.
Semiconductors cannot conduct electricity as well as
metals because they have smaller numbers of free
electrons and holes. The conductivity of the
semiconductors can be increased by a process is
called doping
Doping of Semiconductors
Doping is a process of adding a small amount of
impurities into the pure crystal of semiconductor
(intrinsic semiconductor).
Atoms of the impurities added should have almost the
same size as the atoms of the intrinsic
semiconductor.

Type of Semiconductors Material

Different kinds of impurities are added produce
different types of semiconductor ; the p-type and the
n-type.

(i)

p-type semiconductor
A n-type semiconductor is produced when
pentavalent atoms are added to intrinsic
semiconductor atoms.
Each pentavalent atom donate a free electron
,because there will be one extra electron.
The electrons are now the majority charge
carriers in the n-type semiconductor since
there are more free electrons than holes.
Examples of pentavalent atoms are
Arsenic,Phosporus and Antimony and called
donor atoms.
Comparison between p-type semiconductor and
n-type semiconductor

A p-type semiconductor is produced when

trivalent atoms are added to intrinsic
semiconductor atoms.
Only fhree of the four bonds formed by the
trivalent atoms are complete. The vacancy is a
hole with positive charge.
The holes are now the majority charge carriers
in the p-type semiconductor since there are
more holes than free electrons.
Examples of trivalent atoms are Indium,Boron
and Gallium and called acceptor atoms.
(ii)

n-type semiconductor

Pure
Semiconduktor

p-type
semiconductor
Silicon,
Germanium

n-type
semiconductor
Silicon,
Germanium

Doping
substance

Indium,Boron,
Gallium

Function of
doping
substance
Valency of
doping
substance
Majority charge
carrier
Minority charge
carrier

Aceptor atom

Phosporus,
Antimony,
Arsenic
Donor atom

Pentavalent

Trivalent

Hole

Electron

Electron

Hole

Semiconductor Diode
A diode is a component (device) that allows electric
current to flow in one direction only.
A diode acts like a one-way valve to electric current.

The structure and the symbol of a semiconductor

diode

material. As a result a depletion layer is a very

narrow region which has lost all its available free
electrons and holes and thus behaves almost like
pure silicon,i.e with high resistivity.
Any further movement of charges across the boundry
in the depletion layer will be repelled by the charges
in the layer.

The layer of the negative charge in the p-type region

will prevent the majority charge carriers from the ntype region(the electrons) from crossing the boundary.
Similarly , the positive charge layer in the n-type
region will prevent the majority charge carriers from
the p-type region(the holes) from crossing the
boundry in the opposite direction. Thus, a potential
difference ,known as the junction voltage.In its normal
state a p-n junction delivers no current since the
charges are in equilibrium.

A semiconductor diode can be made by joining pieces

of n-type and p-type semiconductor.
The semiconductor diode is also called p-n junction
diode.
The following figure shows structure and the symbol
of a semiconductor diode :

How does the p-n junction diode work?

When p-type semiconductor material in contact
with n-type semiconductor material , a layer called the
depletion layer is formed in the middle.
At this junction , electrons from n-type material drifts
across the junction to fill in the holes in p-type.
The holes from p-type material drift in the opposite
direction to unite with free electrons in the n-type

The effect of this junction voltage is to prevent

charge carriers from drifting across the junction.
The junction voltages for germanium and silicon are
approximately 0.1 V and 0.6 V respectively.
In order for electric current to flow through the diode,
the voltage applied across the diode must exceed the
junction voltage.

Graph of current, I against voltage V for p-n jenis

silicon dan germanium diode

When the in forward-biased arrangement, the cell

voltage greater than the junction voltage. The
depletion layer is narrow , and the resistance of diode
decreases. Hence a large current flows through the
diode.

Experiment to show a semiconductor diode flows

current in one direction only.

Figure(a)
Figure(b)

When the in reverse-biased arrangement, the cell

voltage lower than the junction voltage. The depletion
layer is wide , and the resistance of diode increases.
Hence only a very small current (leakage current)
flows through the diode.

The diode is connected to the cell in the forwardbiased arrangement as shown in Figure(a).
The bulb light up.
The experiment is repeated with the reverse-biased
arrangement as shown in Figure (b)
The bulb does not light up.
The experiment shows that a diode allow the current
in one direction only when the diode in the forwardbiased arrangement.

Diode as a Rectifier

Capacitor

A diode can act as a rectifier because it can convert

alternating current(a.c.) into direct current(d.c).
The process of converting a.c. to d.c. is called
rectification.

A capasitor is device which can

(1)
store electric charge
(2)
smooth out waveform in the rectified output
(3)
separate the a.c and d.c (as a filter)
Smoothing output wave by a capacitor
By connecting a capacitor parallel to the resistance ,
the half-wave and the full-wave rectified waveform
could be partially smoothed out.

There are two types of rectification process :

(1)
Half -wave rectification
(2)
Full - wave rectification
Half- wave rectification

For half of the cycle, A is more positive than B ,the

diode conducts.
For the other half cycle, A is more negative than B ,
no current can flow.
Full-wave rectification

For half of the cycle, A is more positive than B ,the

diode conducts and the current flows through the
resistance.
For the other half cycle, A is more negative than B ,
the current flows through the resistance in the same
direction as before.

For half of the cycle, the capacitor is charged up.

Energy is stored in the capacitor.
For the other half cycle, the capacitor releases its
charge (discharges)
So the capacitor can produced a steady output or
output is stablised.