IOT — Basic Electronics
How current flows
Current is flow of electrons, but current and electron flow in the
opposite direction. Current flows from positive to negative and
electron flows from negative to positive. Current is determined by
the number of electrons passing through a cross-section of a
conductor in one second.
Voltage, Current and Resistance
Voltage, ( V ) is the potential energy of an electrical supply
stored in the form of an electrical charge. Voltage can be
thought of as the force that pushes electrons through a
conductor and the greater the voltage the greater is its ability
to “push” the electrons through a given circuit. As energy has
the ability to do work this potential energy can be described as
the work required in joules to move electrons in the form of an
electrical current around a circuit from one point or node to
another.
Then the difference in voltage between any two points,
connections or junctions (called nodes) in a circuit is known as
the Potential Difference, ( p.d. ) commonly called
the Voltage Drop.
The Potential difference between two points is measured
in Volts with the circuit symbol V, or lowercase “v“,
although Energy, E lowercase “e” is sometimes used to
indicate a generated emf (electromotive force). Then the
greater the voltage, the greater is the pressure (or pushing
force) and the greater is the capacity to do work.
A constant voltage source is called a DC Voltage with a
voltage that varies periodically with time is called an AC
voltage. Voltage is measured in volts, with one volt being
defined as the electrical pressure required to force an electrical
current of one ampere through a resistance of one Ohm.
Voltages are generally expressed in Volts with prefixes used to
denote sub-multiples of the voltage such as microvolts ( μV =
10–6 V ), millivolts ( mV = 10–3 V ) or kilovolts ( kV = 103
V ). Voltage can be either positive or negative.
Batteries or power supplies are mostly used to produce a
steady D.C. (direct current) voltage source such as 5v, 12v, 24v
etc in electronic circuits and systems. While A.C. (alternating
current) voltage sources are available for domestic house and
industrial power and lighting as well as power transmission. The
mains voltage supply in the United Kingdom is currently 230
volts a.c. and 110 volts a.c. in the USA.
General electronic circuits operate on low voltage DC battery
supplies of between 1.5V and 24V dc The circuit symbol for a
constant voltage source usually given as a battery symbol with
a positive, + and negative, — sign indicating the direction of
the polarity. The circuit symbol for an alternating voltage
source is a circle with a sine wave inside.
Voltage Symbols
Voltage Symbols
A simple relationship can be made between a tank of water and
a voltage supply. The higher the water tank above the outlet
the greater the pressure of the water as more energy is
released, the higher the voltage the greater the potential
energy as more electrons are released.
Voltage is always measured as the difference between any two
points in a circuit and the voltage between these two points is
generally referred to as the “Voltage drop“. Note that voltage
can exist across a circuit without current, but current cannot
exist without voltage and as such any voltage source whether
DC or AC likes an open or semi-open circuit condition but hates
any short circuit condition as this can destroy it.
Electrical Current, ( I ) is the movement or flow of electrical
charge and is measured in Amperes, symbol i, for intensity). It
is the continuous and uniform flow (called a drift) of electrons
(the negative particles of an atom) around a circuit that are
being “pushed” by the voltage source. In reality, electrons flow
from the negative (–ve) terminal to the positive (+ve) terminal
of the supply and for ease of circuit understanding conventional
current flow assumes that the current flows from the positive to
the negative terminal.
Generally in circuit diagrams the flow of current through the
circuit usually has an arrow associated with the symbol, I, or
lowercase i to indicate the actual direction of the current flow.
However, this arrow usually indicates the direction of
conventional current flow and not necessarily the direction of
the actual flow.
Conventional Current Flow
Current Flow
Conventionally this is the flow of positive charge around a
circuit, being positive to negative. The diagram at the left
shows the movement of the positive charge (holes) around a
closed circuit flowing from the positive terminal of the battery,
through the circuit and returns to the negative terminal of the
battery. This flow of current from positive to negative is
generally known as conventional current flow.
This was the convention chosen during the discovery of
electricity in which the direction of electric current was thought
to flow in a circuit. To continue with this line of thought, in all
circuit diagrams and schematics, the arrows shown on symbols
for components such as diodes and transistors point in the
direction of conventional current flow.
Then Conventional Current Flow gives the flow of electrical
current from positive to negative and which is the opposite in
direction to the actual flow of electrons.
Resistance
Resistance, ( R ) is the capacity of a material to resist or
prevent the flow of current or, more specifically, the flow of
electric charge within a circuit. The circuit element which does
this perfectly is called the “Resistor”.
Resistance is a circuit element measured in Ohms, Greek
symbol ( Ω, Omega ) with prefixes used to denote Kilo-
ohms ( kΩ = 103Ω ) and Mega-ohms ( MΩ = 106Ω ). Note that
resistance cannot be negative in value only positive.
Resistor Symbols
Resistor Symbols
The amount of resistance a resistor has is determined by the
relationship of the current through it to the voltage across it
which determines whether the circuit element is a “good
conductor” — low resistance, or a “bad conductor” — high
resistance. Low resistance, for example 1Ω or less implies that
the circuit is a good conductor made from materials such as
copper, aluminium or carbon while a high resistance, 1MΩ or
more implies the circuit is a bad conductor made from
insulating materials such as glass, porcelain or plastic.
A “semiconductor” on the other hand such as silicon or
germanium, is a material whose resistance is half way between
that of a good conductor and a good insulator. Hence the name
“semi-conductor”. Semiconductors are used to make Diodes
and Transistors etc.
Resistance can be linear or non-linear in nature, but never
negative. Linear resistance obeys Ohm’s Law as the voltage
across the resistor is linearly proportional to the current through
it. Non-linear resistance, does not obey Ohm’s Law but has a
voltage drop across it that is proportional to some power of the
current.
Resistance is pure and is not affected by frequency with the AC
impedance of a resistance being equal to its DC resistance and
as a result can not be negative. Remember that resistance is
always positive, and never negative.
A resistor is classed as a passive circuit element and as such
cannot deliver power or store energy. Instead resistors
absorbed power that appears as heat and light. Power in a
resistance is always positive regardless of voltage polarity and
current direction.
For very low values of resistance, for example milli-ohms,
( mΩ ) it is sometimes much easier to use the reciprocal of
resistance ( 1/R ) rather than resistance ( R ) itself. The
reciprocal of resistance is called Conductance, symbol ( G )
and represents the ability of a conductor or device to conduct
electricity.
In other words the ease by which current flows. High values of
conductance implies a good conductor such as copper while low
values of conductance implies a bad conductor such as wood.
The standard unit of measurement given for conductance is
the Siemen, symbol (S).
The unit used for conductance is mho (ohm spelt backward),
which is symbolized by an inverted Ohm sign ℧. Power can also
be expressed using conductance as: p = i2/G = v2G.
The relationship between Voltage, ( v ) and Current, ( i ) in a
circuit of constant Resistance, ( R ) would produce a straight
line i-v relationship with slope equal to the value of the
resistance as shown.
Ohm’s Law
Most basic components of electricity are voltage, current, and
resistance. Ohm’s law shows a simple relation between these
three quantities. Ohm’s law states that the current through a
conductor between two points is directly proportional to the
voltage across the two points.
Ohm’s Law Formula
Voltage= Current× Resistance
V= I×R
V= voltage, I= current and R= resistance
The SI unit of resistance is ohms and is denoted by Ω
This law is one of the most basic laws of electricity. It helps to
calculate the power, efficiency, current, voltage, and resistance
of an element of an electrical circuit.
Definition of Semiconductor
The materials that are neither conductor nor insulator with
energy gap of about 1 eV (electron volt) are called
semiconductors.
Most common materials commercially used as semiconductors
are germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) because of their property to
withstand high temperature. That means there will be no
significant change in energy gap with changing temperature.
The relation between energy gap and absolute temperature for
Si and Ge are given as
Where, T = absolute temperature in oK
Assuming room temperature to be 300oK,
At room temperature resistivity of semiconductor is in between
insulators and conductors. Semiconductors show negative
temperature coefficient of resistivity that means its resistance
decreases with increase in temperature.
Both Si and Ge are elements of IV group, i.e. both elements
have four valence electrons. Both form the covalent bond with
the neighboring atom.
At absolute zero temperature both behave like an insulator, i.e.
the valence band is full while conduction band is empty but as
the temperature is raised more and more covalent bonds break
and electrons are set free and jump to the conduction band.
In the above energy band diagrams of a semiconductor. CB is
the conduction band, and VB is the valence band. At 0oK, the
VB is full with all the valence electrons.
Intrinsic Semiconductors
As per theory of semiconductor, semiconductor in its pure
form is called as intrinsic semiconductor. In pure semiconductor
number of electrons (n) is equal to number of holes (p) and thus
conductivity is very low as valence electrons are covalent
bonded. In this case we write n = p = ni, where ni is called the
intrinsic concentration. It can be shown that ni can be written
Where, n0 is a constant, T is the absolute temperature, VG is
the semiconductor band gap voltage, and VT is the thermal
voltage.
The thermal voltage is related to the temperature by VT = kT/q
Where, k is the Boltzmann constant (k = 1.381 × 10 − 23 J/K).
In intrinsic semiconductors conductivity (σ) is determined by
both electrons (σe) and holes (σh) and depends on the carrier
density.
σe = neμe, σh = peμh
Where n, p = numbers of electrons and holes respectively.
μh, μe = mobility of free holes and electrons respectively
N=n=p
e = charge on carrier
Extrinsic Semiconductors
As per theory of semiconductor, impure semiconductors are
called extrinsic semiconductors. Extrinsic semiconductor is
formed by adding a small amount of impurity. Depending on the
type of impurity added we have two types of semiconductors: N-type
and P-type semiconductors. In 100 million parts of semiconductor
one part of impurity is added.
N type Semiconductor
In this type of semiconductor majority carriers are electrons and
minority carriers are holes. N — type semiconductor is formed by
adding pentavalent (five valence electrons) impurity in pure
semiconductor crystal, e.g. P. As, Sb.
Four of the five valence electron of pentavalent impurity forms
covalent bond with Si atom and the remaining electron is free
to move anywhere within the crystal. Pentavalent impurity
donates electron to Si that’s why N-type impurity atoms are
known as donor atoms. This enhances the conductivity of pure
Si. Majority carriers are electrons therefore conductivitry is due
to these electrons only and is given by σ = neμe
P type Semiconductors
In this type of semiconductor majority carriers are holes, and
minority carriers are electrons. The p-type semiconductor is formed
by adding trivalent ( three valence electrons) impurity in a pure
semiconductor crystal, e.g. B, Al Ba.
Three of the four valence electron of tetravalent impurity forms
covalent bonds with Si atoms. The phenomenon creates a
space which we refer to a hole. When the temperature rises an
electron from another covalent bond jumps to fill this space.
Hence, a hole gets created behind. In this way conduction takes
place. P-type impurity accepts electrons and is called acceptor
atom. Majority carriers are holes, and therefore conductivity is
due to these holes only and is given by σ = neμh
Transistor
The transistor is a semiconductor device which transfers a weak
signal from low resistance circuit to high resistance circuit. The
words trans mean transfer
property and istor mean resistance property offered to
the junctions. In other words, it is a switching device which
regulates and amplify the electrical signal likes voltage or
current.
The transistor consists two PN diode connected back to back. It
has three terminals namely emitter, base and collector. The
base is the middle section which is made up of thin layers. The
right part of the diode is called emitter diode and the left part is
called collector-base diode. These names are given as per the
common terminal of the transistor. The emitter based junction
of the transistor is connected to forward biased and the
collector-base junction is connected in reverse bias which offers
a high resistance.
Transistor Symbols
There are two types of transistor, namely NPN transistor and
PNP transistor. The transistor which has two blocks of n-type
semiconductor material and one block of P-type semiconductor
material is known as NPN transistor.
Similarly, if the material has one layer of N-type material and
two layers of P-type material then it is called PNP transistor. The
symbol of NPN and PNP is shown in the figure below.
The arrow in the symbol indicates the direction of flow of
conventional current in the emitter with forward biasing applied
to the emitter-base junction. The only difference between the
NPN and PNP transistor is in the direction of the current.
Photoresistor
A photoresistor (also known as a light-dependent
resistor, LDR, or photo-conductive cell) is a passive
component that decreases resistance with respect to receiving
luminosity (light) on the component’s sensitive surface.
The resistance of a photoresistor decreases with increase in
incident light intensity; in other words, it exhibits
photoconductivity. A photoresistor can be applied in light-
sensitive detector circuits and light-activated and dark-
activated switching circuits acting as a resistance
semiconductor. In the dark, a photoresistor can have a
resistance as high as several megaohms (MΩ), while in the
light, a photoresistor can have a resistance as low as a few
hundred ohms. If incident light on a photoresistor exceeds a
certain frequency, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give
bound electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction
band.
The resulting free electrons (and their hole partners) conduct
electricity, thereby lowering resistance. The resistance range
and sensitivity of a photoresistor can substantially differ among
dissimilar devices. Moreover, unique photoresistors may react
substantially differently to photons within certain wavelength
bands.
A photoelectric device can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. An
intrinsic semiconductor has its own charge carriers and is not
an efficient semiconductor, for example, silicon. In intrinsic
devices, the only available electrons are in the valence band,
and hence the photon must have enough energy to excite the
electron across the entire bandgap. Extrinsic devices have
impurities, also called dopants, added whose ground state
energy is closer to the conduction band; since the electrons do
not have as far to jump, lower energy photons (that is, longer
wavelengths and lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger the
device. If a sample of silicon has some of its atoms replaced by
phosphorus atoms (impurities), there will be extra electrons
available for conduction. This is an example of an extrinsic
semiconductor.
Photodiode
A special type of PN junction device that generates current
when exposed to light is known as Photodiode. It is also known
as photodetector or photosensor. It operates in reverse biased
mode and converts light energy into electrical energy.
The figure below shows the symbolic representation of a
photodiode:
Principle of Photodiode
It works on the principle of Photoelectric effect.
The operating principle of the photodiode is such that when the
junction of this two-terminal semiconductor device is
illuminated then the electric current starts flowing through it.
Only minority current flows through the device when the certain
reverse potential is applied to it.
Construction of Photodiode
The figure below shows the constructional detail of a photodiode:
The PN junction of the device placed inside a glass material.
This is done to order to allow the light energy to pass through it.
As only the junction is exposed to radiation, thus, the other
portion of the glass material is painted black or is metallised.
The overall unit is of very small dimension nearly about 2.5
mm.
It is noteworthy that the current flowing through the device is
in micro-ampere and is measured through an ammeter.
Operational Modes of Photodiode
Photodiode basically operates in two modes:
Photovoltaic mode: It is also known as zero-bias mode
because no external reverse potential is provided to the device.
However, the flow of minority carrier will take place when the
device is exposed to light.
Photoconductive mode: When a certain reverse potential is
applied to the device then it behaves as a photoconductive
device. Here, an increase in depletion width is seen with the
corresponding change in reverse voltage.
Let us now understand the detailed circuit arrangement and working
of the photodiode.
Application of photodiode
The photodiode is used in optical communication system.
The photodiode is used in automotive devices.
The photodiode is used in medical devices.
It is used in solar cell panels.
The Photodiode are used in consumer electronics devices like
smoke detectors, compact disc players, and televisions and
remote controls in VCRs.
It is used for exact measurement of the intensity of light in
science & industry.
It is used in character recognition circuit.
It is used in camera light meters, and street lights.
It is used in demodulation.
The photodiode is used in logic circuit.
It is used in photo detection circuits.
What is Phototransistor?
A Phototransistor is an electronic switching and current
amplification component which relies on exposure to light to
operate. When light falls on the junction, reverse current flows
which are proportional to the luminance. Phototransistors are
used extensively to detect light pulses and convert them into
digital electrical signals. These are operated by light rather than
electric current. Providing a large amount of gain, low cost and
these phototransistors might be used in numerous applications.
It is capable of converting light energy into electric energy.
Phototransistors work in a similar way to photoresistors
commonly known as LDR (light dependent resistor) but are able
to produce both current and voltage while photoresistors are
only capable of producing current due to change in resistance.
Phototransistors are transistors with the base terminal exposed.
Instead of sending current into the base, the photons from
striking light activate the transistor. This is because a
phototransistor is made of a bipolar semiconductor and focuses
the energy that is passed through it.
These are activated by light particles and are used in virtually
all electronic devices that depend on light in some way. All
silicon photosensors (phototransistors) respond to the entire
visible radiation range as well as to infrared. In fact, all diodes,
transistors, Darlington’s, triacs, etc. have the same basic
radiation frequency response.
The structure of the phototransistor is specifically optimized
for photo applications. Compared to a normal transistor, a
phototransistor has a larger base and collector width and is
made using diffusion or ion implantation.
Characteristics :
Low-cost visible and near-IR photodetection.
Available with gains from 100 to over 1500.
Moderately fast response times.
Available in a wide range of packages including epoxy-coated,
transfer-molded and surface mounting technology.
Electrical characteristics were similar to that of signal
transistors.