24.5.2015 г.

Components of Radio
Equipment – Active
Components

Characteristics of semiconductors.
N-type and P-type material. PN-
Junction – Electrical Characteristics
and parameters. Diodes

Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

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Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

Introduction
Active components
• Valves (Vacuum tubes) – old type
• Klystron
• Magnetron

• Semiconductors
• Si (Silicon)
• Ge (Germanium)
• Se (Selenium)

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1. Characteristics of semiconductors
Intrinsic conduction
Holes-generation recombination
N-type material
P-type material

1. Characteristics of semiconductors
All semiconducting materials have exactly four –
valence electrons (every atom has 4 electrons);
After melting and cooling, always two “neighbours”
atoms use two of their electrons “together”.
Therefore the centre atom has eight valence
electrons, i.e. it is “saturated”.

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1. Characteristics of semiconductors
Same picture in two dimensions:

No free electrons (no charge carriers), i.e. this type

of semiconductor has an infinite resistance.

1. Characteristics of semiconductors
Intrinsic conduction
Holes-generation recombination
N-type material
P-type material

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Intrinsic conduction
If this material is heated
the whole structure starts
moving − as hotter as
faster. This will cause
some of the electrons to
loose “contact” to their
related atoms and
therefore they are released
to move through the
material. This is called
Intrinsic conduction.

1. Characteristics of semiconductors
Intrinsic conduction
Holes-generation recombination
N-type material
P-type material

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Hole-Generation Recombination
If there is released an electron anywhere there is
not only created a free negative charge carrier but
at the same time there is left back in the atomic
structure a positive charge − a so called HOLE.
The effect through which the hole and the free
electron are created is called GENERATION.
The hole now again will attract any electron in its
surrounding. Therefore at the same time when
generation takes place another opposite effect
happens too: the return of an electron to a hole,
and this effect is called RECOMBINATION.

1. Characteristics of semiconductors
Intrinsic conduction
Holes-generation recombination
N-type material
P-type material

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N-Type Material
It is now clear that intrinsic conduction is only
possible in certain conditions – high temperature;
How to get semiconductors conducting reasonably
at normal temperatures? Some atoms of another
type should be implanted to the pure semiconductor.
The process to do this under controlled conditions is
called DOPING.

N-Type Material
Doping with atoms with five
valence electrons leaves one
of the five atoms of the foreign
atom (here arsenic) free. As
this electron is not related to
any other part of the structure
it is free to move, and it can
carry now electricity (positive
charges are fixed here within
the atomic structure, and
negative electrons are free to
move.)

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N-Type Material
Doping material here
is Phosphorus.
Result is the same -
positive charges are
fixed here within the
atomic structure, and
negative electrons
are free to move.

P-Type Material
Doping with atoms with three valence
electrons leaves one of the links
between the other atoms and the foreign
atom (here indium) free. As always at
normal temperatures generation takes
place this gap will be filled by such a
generated electron. But this leaves back
a hole which can move now. The next
generated electron in the surrounding
will leave back another hole and on the
other hand fill this hole. In this manner
the hole has been moved.

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P-Type Material

(negative charges are fixed here within the atomic

structure, and positive holes are free to move.)

P-Type Material
Doping material here
is Boron. Result is
the same – negative
charges are fixed
here within the
atomic structure, and
positive holes are
free to move.

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Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

2. PN-Junction
PN-Junction is a junction
between P-type and N-type
semiconductors, typically
fabricated in thin layers;
The positive and the
negative charge carriers
meeting at the border will
cancel each other.

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2. PN-Junction
The cancellation of chargecarries will lead along the
border to a so called Space−charge region. This
space−charges prevent now the free charge carriers
from both sides to cross the border and to go on
cancelling eachother.

2. PN-Junction

As a result there will appear a

voltage across this border
which is depending on the
material used. So the intruding
of the charge carriers from one
side to the other is called
Diffusion and the voltage is
called Diffusion potential or
Threshold voltage
(for Ge = 0.2 V/ for Si = 0.7 V).

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2. PN-Junction
The free chargecarriers around
the border cancelled eachother.
This leaves on the other hand a
zone in which there are no more
free charge carriers, a so called
Depletion zone (Depletion
means to get poor). From the
point of view of conductivity
Depletion means that this zone
has no conductivity and has an
almost infinite resistance.

2. PN-Junction
PN-Junction connected to a voltage:

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2. PN-Junction
Reverse Voltage:
The positive pole will
attract the free electrons
of the N−type side, and
the negative pole will
attract the holes of the
P−type side, and so on
both sides the number of
charge carriers there will
be reduced. Therefore
the resistance of the
junction is increased.

2. PN-Junction
Forward Voltage:
In this case the positive pole to the P−type side, will repel
the free holes of the P−type side in direction of the
border, and the negative pole will repel the electrons of
the P−type side in direction of the border. So the charge
carriers will invade the depletion layer and it will get
conducting. Therefore the resistance of the junction is
tremendously decreased and its depletion layer vanishes.

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2. PN-Junction
So in forward direction there will flow current:

Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

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3. Characteristics of PN-Junction
Ideal Current – Voltage
Relationship:
• On the left side (at reverse
direction) no current at any
voltage, i.e. infinite resistance;
• On the right side (forward voltage)
no voltage necessary for any
current, i.e. no resistance.

3. Characteristics of PN-Junction
Threshold Voltage;
Internal Forward Resistance;
Internal Reverse Resistance;
Reverse Saturation
Current;
Break Through Voltage;

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3. Characteristics of PN-Junction
Current – Voltage relationship
 VV 
I (V ) = I 0  e t − 1
 
 
I 0 − Reverse sat. current,
(typically 1.10-12A)
kT Thermal voltage
Vt =
Q (appr. 26 mV)
k − Boltzmann const.
Q − Elementary charge

3. Characteristics of PN-Junction
Linear approximation of Current – Voltage
Relationship:
• With two lines for forward and reverse biased (directions);
• With only one line for both directions.

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Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

4. Diodes
Diode is an electronic equivalent of a one-way valve. It
allows current to flow in only one direction. There are two
terminals on a diode, which are known as the anode
and cathode. Current is only allowed to flow from anode
to cathode.

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4. Diodes
Current – Voltage relationship
 VV 
I (V ) = I 0  e t − 1
 
 
I 0 − Reverse sat. current,
(typically 1.10-12A)
kT Thermal voltage
Vt =
Q (appr. 26 mV)
k − Boltzmann const.
Q − Elementary charge

4. Diodes
Types of diodes

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4. Diodes - applications
Half Wave Rectifier:

4. Diodes - applications
Peek Detector:

Vout = VC = Vin − 0,7

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4. Diodes - applications
Light Emitted Diode, LED

4. Diodes - applications
Light Emitted Diode, LED
• – circuit for powering:

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4. Diodes - applications
Zenerdiode
• Zener knee voltage:

4. Diodes - applications
Zenerdiode
• Voltage reference:

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Content
Characteristics of Semiconductors
PN – Junction
Characteristics of PN-junction
Diodes. LED. Zenerdiode

Active Radio Equipment Components

Questions?

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Referencies
Vogel E., Radio and Electronics, 1993
Gibilisco St., The Illustrated Dictionary of Electronics, 2001
Hongshen Ma, Fundamentals of Electronic Circuit Design, 2005

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