INDEX

 Certificate
 Acknowledgement
 Introduction
 Properties of P-N junction diode
 Symbol for a Semiconductor Diode
Depletion Layer Formation
Formation in a P-N junction Diode
Forward Biased
Reverse Biased
P-n Junction Diode
Forward Biased P-n Junction Diode
Reversed Biased P-n Junction Diode
Forward Biased Characteristics
Reverse Biased Characteristics
Bibliography
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my deep gratitude

towards my Physics teacher “Preet Tripathy”

and his valuable guidance and nonstop

support in this project. This insightful feedback

and encouragement have been instrumental

in honouring my writing skills. At last but not

the least I would like to thank my parents and

friends for encouragement and support.

 CERTIFICATE
This is to clarify that the content of this project
entitled “A STUDY ON PN JUNCTION AND
DIODES” by Nihar Pradhan (Roll no._______) is
the bonafide work submitted to VEDIC
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL for consideration in
partial fulfilment of the requirements of CBSE for
the award senior school certificate of (2024-25)
Physics.

Signature of Principal Signature of Subject

teacher

Signature of External Examiner

SEMICONDUCTOR
INTRODUCTION:
Conductors are materials that permit electrons to
flow freely from particle to particle. Examples of
conductors include metals, aqueous solutions of
salts (i.e., ionic compounds dissolved in water),
graphite, and the human body.

Insulators are materials that impede the free flow

of electrons from atom to atom and molecule to
molecule. Examples of insulators include plastics,
Styrofoam, paper, rubber, glass and dry air.

Semiconductors are those substances whose

conductivity lies between conductors and
insulators. e.g., Germanium, Silicon, Carbon etc.
 PN JUNCTION
 Also known as a diode.
 One of the basics of semiconductor technology.
 Created by placing n-type and p-type material in
close contact.
 Diffusion – mobile charges (holes) in p-type combine
with mobile charges (electrons) in n-type.
 Region of charges left behind (dopant fixed in crystal
lattice)
 Group III in p-type (one less than Si-negative
charge).
 Group IV in n-type (one more proton than Si-
positive charge).
 Region is totally depleted of mobile charges –
“depletion region”
 Electric field forms due to fixed charges on the
depletion region.
 Depletion region has high resistance due to lack of
mobile charges.
 PROPERTIES OF PN
JUNCTION
 The p- and n- sides of PN Junction before the contact.
 The P-N Junction after contact, in equilibrium and in
open circuit.
 Carrier concentrations along the whole device,
through the p-n junction.
 Net space charge density across the p-n junction.

DEPLETION REGION
In semiconductor physics, the depletion region, also
called depletion layer, depletion zone, junction region,
space charge region or space charge layer, is an
insulating region within a conductive, doped
semiconductor material where the mobile charge
carriers have been diffused away, or have been forced
away by an electric field. The only elements left in the
depletion region are ionized donor or acceptor
impurities.
The depletion region is so named because it is formed
from a conducting region by removal of all free charge
carriers, leaving none to carry a current. Understanding
the depletion region is key to explaining modern
semiconductor electronics: diodes, bipolar junction
transistors, field-effect transistors and variable
capacitance diodes all rely on depletion region.

Formation in a P-N
Junction

A PN junction in forward bias mode, the depletion width

decreases. Both p and n junctions are doped at a
1e/cm3 doping level, leading to built -potential of
~[Link] the different Quasi Fermi levels for
conduction band and valence band in n and p regions
(red curves).A depletion region forms instantaneously
across a p–n junction. It is most easily described when
the junction is in thermal equilibrium or in a steady state:
in both of these cases the properties of the system do
not vary in time; they have been called dynamic
equilibrium. Electrons and holes diffuse into regions with
lower concentrations of electrons and holes, much as
ink diffuses into water until it is uniformly distributed. By
definition, N-type semiconductor has an excess of free
electrons compared to the P-type region, and P-type has
an excess of holes compared to the N-type region.
Therefore, when N-doped and P-doped pieces of
semiconductor are placed together to form a junction,
electrons migrate into the P-side and holes migrate into
the N-side. Departure of an electron from the N-side to
the P-side leaves a positive donor ion behind on the N-
side, and likewise the hole leaves a
negative acceptor ion on the P-side.
Following transfer, the diffused electrons come into
contact with holes on the P-side and are eliminated
by recombination .Likewise for the diffused holes on the
N-side. The net result is the diffused electrons and holes
are gone, leaving behind the charged ions adjacent to
the interface in a region with no mobile carriers (That's
why it is called the depletion region; carriers are being
depleted). The uncompensated ions are positive on the
N side and negative on the P side. This creates
an electric field that provides a force opposing the
continued exchange of charge carriers. When the
electric field is sufficient to arrest further transfer of holes
and electrons, the depletion region has reached its
equilibrium dimensions. Integrating the electric field
across the depletion region determines what is called
the built-in voltage (also called the junction voltage or
barrier voltage or contact potential).
Mathematically speaking, charge transfer in
semiconductor devices is due both to conduction driven
by the electric field (drift) and by diffusion. For a P-type
region, where holes conduct with electrical
conductivity σ and diffuse with diffusion constant D, the
net current density is given by
j= σ E - D ∇qp

with q the elementary charge(1.6×10−19 coulomb)

and p the hole density (number per unit volume).
Conduction forces the holes along the direction of the
electric field. Diffusion moves the carriers in the direction
of decreasing concentration, so for holes a negative
current results for a positive density gradient. (If the
carriers are electrons, we replace the whole density p by
the negative of the electron density n; in some cases,
both electrons and holes must be included.) When the
two current components balance, as in the p–n-junction
depletion region at dynamic equilibrium, the current is
zero due to the Einstein relation, which relates D to σ.
 Forward bias
Forward bias (P positive with respect to N) narrows the
depletion region and lowers the barrier to carrier
injection (shown in the figure to the right). In more detail,
majority carriers get some energy from the bias field,
enabling them to go into the region and neutralize
opposite charges. The more bias the more neutralization
(or screening of ions in the region) occurs. The carriers
can be recombined to the ions but thermal energy
immediately makes recombined carrier transition back
as Fermi energy is in proximity. When bias is strong
enough that the depletion region becomes very thin, the
diffusion component of the current greatly increases and
the drift component decreases. In this case, the net
current is rightward in the figure of the p–n junction. The
carrier density is large (it varies exponentially with the
applied bias voltage), making the junction conductive
and allowing a large forward current. The mathematical
description of the current is provided by the Shockley
diode equation. The low current conducted under
reverse bias and the large current under forward bias is
an example.

Reverse bias
Under reverse bias (P negative with respect to N), the
potential drop (i.e., voltage) across the depletion region
increases. In more detail, majority carriers are pushed
away from the junction, leaving behind more charged
ions. Thus the depletion region is widened and its field
becomes stronger, which increases the drift component
of current and decreases the diffusion component. In
this case, the net current is leftward in the figure of the
p–n junction. The carrier density (mostly, minority
carriers) is small and only a very small reverse
saturation current flows.
 PN Junction diode
If one side of a single crystal of pure semiconductor
(Germanium or Silicon) is doped with acceptor impurity
atoms and the other side is doped with donor impurity
atoms, a PN junction is formed as shown in Fig. P
region has a high concentration of holes and N region
contains a large number of electrons.

As soon as the junction is formed, free electrons and

holes cross through the junction by the process of
diffusion. During this process, the electrons crossing the
junction from N-region into the P region recombine with
holes in the P-region very close to the junction. Similarly
holes crossing the junction from the P-region into the N-
region, recombine with electrons in the N-region very
close to the junction. Thus a region is formed, which
does not have any mobile charges very close to the
junction. This region is called depletion region. In this
region, on the left side of the junction, the acceptor
atoms become negative ions and on the right side of the
junction, the donor atoms become positive ions.
 An electric field is set up, between the donor and
acceptor ions in the depletion region. The potential at
the N-side is higher than the potential at P-side.
Therefore electrons in the N-side are prevented to go to
the lower potential of P-side. Similarly, holes in the P-
side find themselves at a lower potential and are
prevented to cross to the N-side. Thus, there is a barrier
at the junction which opposes the movement of the
majority charge carriers. The difference of potential from
one side of the barrier to the other side is called
potential barrier. The potential barrier is approximately
0.7V for a silicon PN junction and 0.3V for a germanium
PN junction. The distance from one side of the barrier to
the other side is called the width of the barrier, which
depends upon the nature of the material.
 Forward Biased
P-N Junction Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected
to P-side and negative terminal to the N-side, so that the
potential difference acts in opposite direction to the
barrier potential, then the PN junction diode is said to be
forward biased.
When the PN junction is forward biased (Fig), the
applied positive potential repels the holes in the P-
region, and the applied negative potential repels the
electrons in the N-region, so the charges move towards
the junction. If the applied potential difference is more
than the potential barrier, some holes and free electrons
enter the depletion region.

Hence, the potential barrier as well as the width of the

depletion region is reduced. The positive donor ions and
negative acceptor ions within the depletion region regain
electrons and holes respectively. As a result of this, the
depletion region disappears and the potential barrier
also disappears. Hence, under the action of the forward
potential difference, the majority charge carriers flow
across the junction in opposite direction and constitute
current flow in the forward direction.
 Reverse Biased
P-N Junction Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to
the N-side and negative terminal to the P-side, so that
the applied potential difference is in the same direction
as that of barrier potential, the junction is said to be
reverse biased.
When the PN junction is reverse biased (Fig), electrons
in the N region and holes in the P-region are attracted
away from the junction.
Because of this, the number of negative ions in the P-
region and positive ions in the N-region increases.
Hence the depletion region becomes wider and the
potential barrier is increased.

Since the depletion region does not contain majority

charge carriers, it acts like an insulator. Therefore, no
current should flow in the external circuit. But, in
practice, a very small current of the order of few
microamperes flows in the reverse direction. This is due
to the minority carriers flowing in the opposite direction.
This reverse current is small, because the number of
minority carriers in both regions is very small. Since the
major source of minority carriers is, thermally broken
covalent bonds, the reverse current mainly depends on
the junction temperature.

Symbol for a Semiconductor

Diode:
The diode symbol is shown in Fig. The P-type and N-
type regions are referred to as P-end and N-end
respectively. The arrow on the diode points the direction
of conventional current.
 Forward Bias Characteristics
The circuit for the study of forward bias characteristics of
PN junction diode is shown in Fig a. The voltage
between P-end and N-end is increased from zero in
suitable equal steps and the corresponding currents are
noted down. Fig b shows the forward bias characteristic
curve of the diode. Voltage is the independent variable.
Therefore, it is plotted along X-axis. Since, current is the
dependent variable, it is plotted against Y-axis. From the

characteristic curve, the following conclusions can be

made. (i) The forward characteristic is not a straight line.
Hence the ratio V/I is not a constant (i.e) the diode does
not obey Ohm's law. This implies that the semiconductor
diode is a non-linear conductor of electricity. (ii) It can be
seen from the characteristic curve that initially, the
current is very small. This is because, the diode will start
conducting, only when the external voltage overcomes
the barrier potential (0.7V for silicon diode). As the
voltage is increased to 0.7 V, large number of free
electrons and holes start crossing the junction. Above
0.7V, the current increases rapidly. The voltage at which
the current starts to increase rapidly is known as cut-in
voltage or knee voltage of the diode.

Reverse Bias Characteristics

The circuit for the study of reverse bias characteristics
of PN junction diode is shown in Fig a. The voltage is
increased from zero in suitable steps. For each voltage,
the corresponding current readings are noted down. Fig
b shows the reverse bias characteristic curve of the
diode. From the characteristic curve, it can be
concluded that, as voltage is increased from zero,
reverse current (in the order of microamperes) increases
and reaches the maximum value at a small value of the
reverse voltage. When the voltage is further increased,
the current is almost independent of the reverse voltage
upto a certain critical value. This reverse current is
known as the reverse saturation current or leakage
current. This current is due to the minority charge
carriers, which depends on junction temperature.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
NCERT textbook class 12
NCERT physical lab manual
INTERNET
[Link]
[Link]