De La Salle University-Dasmarñas

College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology

Semiconductor Physics Laboratory:

Final Project

By

Oesmer, Andrea L.

ECE21

16 December 2019
Part I. How does the N-P junction of a semiconductor control electron flow?

1. Set the “Segments” toggle 1 “One (1)”, drag the P-type doped semiconducting material and set
the voltage to 4 V. What do you observe? At what energy does conduction occur?
o When a voltage of 4V is set to the p-type doped semiconducting material, the movement of the
valence electrons, from the left to the right, in the low section of energy band began. And it was
observed that as the voltage was increased, the movement of the electrons became faster. But
only the valence electrons in the first row were moving which may imply that there is not enough
applied voltage or energy to let the electrons pass the forbidden gap, into the high energy part of
the diagram. In the right side of the simulation with the p-type doped semiconductor and the 4V
voltage battery source, it can be seen that the electrons are moving in a counterclockwise motion.
The electrons are entering and exiting in the positive and negative terminals of the battery,
respectively.

2. Reduce the voltage until it reaches a value -4 V. What changes are observed in the circuit as the
voltage is reduced? What is happening at the conduction band?
o As the voltage was reduced to -4V, it was observed that the movement of the electrons also
slowed down respectively. Then, when the voltage reached a negative value, the direction of the
battery changed, as well as the motion of the electrons in the right-side diagram. The electrons
moved in a clockwise direction. And as the voltage approached -4V, the movement of the
electrons gradually became faster both in the right-side and the energy-band diagrams.

3. Clear the dopant and drag the N-type doped semiconducting material and set the voltage to 4 V.
What do you observe? At what energy does conduction occur?
o When the semiconductor was doped with n-type dopants, electrons were found in the upper high
energy part of the band. When a voltage of 4V was set, the electrons situated at the upper portion
of the energy band, indicated that high energy is present, began to move from left to right. Still,
electrons are moving in a counterclockwise motion. The electrons are entering and exiting in the
positive and negative terminals of the battery, respectively.

4. Reduce the voltage until it reaches a value -4 V. What changes are observed in the circuit as the
voltage is reduced? What is happening at the conduction band?
o Just like in the p-type doped semiconductor, when the voltage was decreased, the movement of
the electrons became slower. And when the voltage reached a negative value, the direction of the
battery and the flow of electrons changed. In the energy band diagram, under a -4V supply, in the
high energy section, the electrons flew from right to left.

5. Set the “Segments” toggle 2 “Two (2)”, drag the P-type doped semiconducting material to the left
segment and set the voltage to 4 V. What do you observe? (Note the battery force and the internal
force direction.)
o When 0V is applied, the left-side diagram indicates that internal force and battery force is equal
to zero. But once the voltage is set to 4V, the internal force in energy band is still 0 but the battery
force is now pointing to the right. And the electrons in the energy band of the p-type
6. Drag the N-type semiconducting material to the right segment. What happens to the circuit, what
happens at the conduction band? (Note the battery force and the internal force direction.)
o When the n-type semiconducting material is dragged towards the right segment, electrons were
added in the p-type segment in the low energy band while holes were present in the high energy
part of the right segment energy band.

7. Change the battery voltage slowly from 4 V to – 4V. What do you observe? (Note the battery
force and the internal force direction.)
o As the voltage was changed from 4V to -4V, the internal force remained the same but the
magnitude of the battery force shortened and when the voltage supply reached a negative value,
the magnitude of the internal force shortened and the battery force changed direction also. The
electrons once situated in the left segment moved to the high energy band part of the right
segment. The internal force became 0 and the battery force now points towards the left and the
high energy electrons in the right side segment moved towards the low energy part of the left side
segment. Decreasing the voltage to -4V increases the speed of the electrons. The positive terminal
of the battery now faces the left and the electrons move in a clockwise direction.

8. Clear the dopants. Drag the N-type doped semiconducting material to the left segment and set the
voltage to 4 V. What do you observe? (Note the battery force and the internal force direction.)
o When the n-typed doped semiconducting material was placed in the left segment, it can be seen
that the left-side segment introduced high energy holes and electrons in the diagram. The internal
force is 0 while the battery force is great in magnitude towards the right.

9. Drag the P-type semiconducting material to the right segment. What happens to the circuit, what
happens at the conduction band? (Note the battery force and the internal force direction.)
o When a p-type material was added to the right terminal, the electrons from the left side terminal
began moving towards the right-side terminal, with the internal force equal to 0 and the battery
force at its maximum magnitude. The right side of the segment electron hole pairs reaches the
boundary of the low energy level conduction band.

10. Change the battery voltage slowly from 4 V to – 4V. What do you observe? (Note the battery
force and the internal force direction.)
o When the voltage is set from 4V to -4V, the magnitude of the battery force decreases, internal
force is still 0 and the electron movement from the left and the right-side band diagram was
slowed down. When voltage is equal to 0, the battery force is equal to 0 and the internal force is
short in magnitude and is pointing to the left. The left segment high energy band diagram also
consists of electrons and holes. When the voltage reaches a negative value towards -4V, the
battery forces increases magnitude towards the left and the internal forces also points to the left.
 Electrons from the left segment high energy band moves towards the right segment low energy
band.

11. Is direction of the electron flow important in the observed behavior? Answer the Scientific
Question.
o Yes. Because the direction of the electron flow can determine whether there is present or
negligible current flow.

“In a forward direction that allows a significant current, both the electrons in the n
side and the holes in the p side flow towards the junction between the n and p sides.
(Note that since electrons are negatively charged, they move in the direction opposite to
the current.) In the vicinity of the junction, the incoming n-side electrons can drop into
the incoming p-side holes. Phrased more formally, the electrons recombine with the
holes. That can readily happen. A forward current flows freely if a suitable forward-
biased voltage is applied.
However, if a reverse-biased voltage is applied, then normally very little current
will flow. For a significant current in the reverse direction, both the electrons in the n side
and the holes in the p side would have to flow away from the junction. So new
conduction electrons and holes would have to be created near the junction to replace
them. But random thermal motion can create only a few. Therefore there is negligible
current.”
Part II. Design your own experiment that will explain the concept of the potential barrier in a pn

junction using the semiconductor simulation.

EXPERIMENT: POTENTIAL BARRIER IN A PN JUNCTION

The built-in potential across a junction, is the barrier that opposes both the flow of holes

and electrons across the junction.

Objective: To explain the concept of the potential barrier in a pn junction using the

semiconductor simulation.

Procedure:

1. Set the “Segments” toggle 2 “Two (2)”, drag the P-type doped semiconducting material to the left

segment and let the voltage stay at 0V. What do you observe? (Note the changes in the electrons

and holes in the energy band diagram)

2. Drag the N-type doped semiconducting material to the right segment with the voltage still at 0V.

What do you observe? (Note the changes in the electrons and holes in the energy band diagram)

3. Gradually increase the voltage up to 4V. What do you observe? What happened to the energy

band diagram of both the left and right segments? ? (Note the changes in the electrons and holes

in the energy band diagram)

4. Change the battery from 4V to -4V. What do you observe? (Note the electrons and holes behavior

in both energy band diagrams)

in both energy band diagrams)

References:

[Link]
[Link]