BASIC ELECTRONICS

Electronics is a branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects
of electrons in materials.

Or

Is a branch of science dealing with the study and development of circuit

involving semi conductors, logic gates and other electrical components like
resistors, capacitors and inductors.

Or

This is the branch of physics which deals with the movement of electricity
in different materials.

Electronic system or circuit is made up various components connected to

each other. They are used to perform a wide variety of tasks. The main uses
of electronic circuit are;

1. Conversion and distribution of data.

2. Controlling and processing of data.

Electronic components can be passive or active:

1. PASSIVE COMPONENTS

Consume but do not produce energy. They do not have the ability to
produce GAIN that is to increase the power or AMPLIFY the signal.
They also do not have directionally, that’s they operate in the same
way regardless of the direction of the current flowing through them
passive components include power sources (battery or generator),
resistor, capacitor and inductors.

2. ACTIVE COMPONENTS

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These are those that have direction and or the capacity to produce gain.
They include semi conductor devices such as diodes, transistors and
integrated circuits.

Additional terms

Voltmeter – is the device that measure potential difference.

Ammeter – is the device which record electric current.

Inductors – These are coils wound out soft iron core used to control
alternating current by self induction.
Also used to minimize effect of excessive alternating current in
the electric circuit. Usually
inductors are made up by a copper wire.

ENERGY BANDS IN SOLIDS

The energy band in soli d is the range of energy possessed by an electron in

solid materials (crystals).

This happens when atoms of element combine to form solid materials, they
arrange themselves in an orderly manner called crystal. Therefore the
energy levels of the electrons of the atoms in a solid are modified and thus
each electron in any orbit of an atom can have a number of discrete but
closed spaced energy level lying within a certain range.

The energy bands formed when the atom combined to form a solid one of
three categories;

1. Valence band
2. Conduction band
3. Forbidden gap

An important parameter in the band theory is the Fermi level, the top of the
available electron energy levels at low temperatures. The position of the
Fermi level with the relation to the conduction band is a crucial factor in
determining electrical properties.

1. VALENCE BAND

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This is the range of energy possessed by valence electron. It has the
electrons of highest energy. The band may be completely or partially filled
with electrons, where the electrons are normally present at the absolute
zero temperature.

2. CONDUCTION BAND

This is the range of energies possessed by conduction free electrons. The

band may be partially or not filled with electrons.

3. FORBIDDEN ENERGY GAP

This is the energy of separation between conduction band and valence

band.

No electrons of solid can stay in this band.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOLIDS WITH ENERGY BANDS

Due to the arrangement of electrons in energy bands leads to the formation

of three types of solids in terms of conductivity which are;

1. Conductors (metal)
2. Semi conductors
3. Non – conductors (or insulators)

1. ENERGY BAND IN CONDUCTORS (METAL)

CONDUCTORS

This is the material which can conduct electricity at any temperature.

Or

Conductors are those substances which easily allow the passage of current
by means of free electrons through them.

 Absence of forbidden gap.

 Valence band and conduction band overlap one another.

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PROPERTIES OF A CONDUCTOR

 Its electricity conductivity decrease with temperature.

 This is due to some electrons loss amount of energy due to collision.

[Link] BAND IN THE NON – CONDUCTOR (INSULATED)

NON – CONDUCTOR

This is the material which cannot conduct electricity at any

temperature.

Or

These are the materials which do not allow the passage of electric current
by means of free electrons through them.

 The energy band in non – conductor arranged as follows.

 The valence band is completely filled with electrons.
 The conduction band is empty.
 The forbidden energy gape is large about 15ev. And therefore valence
electrons from the valence band can never gain enough energy to
overcome the forbidden energy gap.

PROPERTIES OF INSULATOR

1. The forbidden gap is higher which makes a given electrons an

efficient to jump from valence band to conduction band.
2. Presence of higher electrons at in force.
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 3. Cannot conduct electricity.

ENERGY BAND IN SEMICONDUCTOR

SEMICONDUCTOR

This is a material which behaves as an insulator at OK and conductor at

273K.

Or

This is the material which has the properties lies between that of
insulator and [Link] of semiconductors are silicon,
germanium, cadmium sulphide and gallium arsenide.

a) At absolute zero temperature (OK)

A semi conductor acts like a non – conductor. The valence band completely
filled with electrons, and conduction band is completely empty. Forbidden
gap is wide.

b) At room temperature

A semiconductor acts like a conductor:

 The valence band is partially filled.

 Conduction band has few electrons.
 For bidden energy gap is narrow.

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PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTOR

1. Presence of narrow for bidden gap.

2. Its conductivity increases with temperature.
3. Presence of partial electrons in the conduction on band.
4. They have negative temperature coefficient of resistance.

EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE IN SOLIDS

1. EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE IN NON CONDUCTOR

(INSULATED)

The temperature has no effect on the conductivity property of the insulator

since the forbidden energy gap is very large.

2. EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE IN A CONDUCTOR

The conductivity of the conductor decrease as the temperature increases.

Since when the temperature increase, it rises the amplitude of vibration of
atoms and more collision with atoms are made by drifting electrons and
this slow the free electrons and hence conductivity decrease.

3. EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE IN SEMI CONDUCTORS

At absolute zero temperature.

At this temperature the valence band is full filled and there is a large energy
gap between valence and conduction's band. There is no valence electron

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can reach the conduction band to become free electron, thus the material
behaves like an insulator.

Above absolute zero temperature, as the temperature rises some valence

electrons acquire sufficient energy to enter into the conduction band and
this becomes free elections. Thus the conductivity increases as the
temperature increases.

TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTORS
There two types of semiconductors:-

a) Intrinsic semiconductor

These are pure semiconductors which the charge carrier originates inside
the material itself. The conduction of electricity takes place by the
promotion of electrons from the valence to the conduction band energy
bands in intrinsic semiconductor. The conductivity in this semiconductor is
due to increase in temperature and the main charger carrier is electron.

In intrinsic semiconductor, the number of free electrons and the number of

holes are exactly equal.

b) Extrinsic semiconductors (Impure semi conductor)

This is type of a semiconductor which is conduction are introduced and

improved through the doping process. In these types of semiconductor you
can modify conduction level by adding small amount of impurity up to a
million times.

DOPING
Doping is process of adding impurity atoms to intrinsic crystal to produce
an extrinsic semiconductor.
OR

This is the process of adding an impurity is to increase the number of free

electrons or holes in the semiconductor. The purpose of adding impurities
is to increase the number of free electrons or holes in the semiconductor in
order to increase the conductivity of the semiconductor. The impurities are
called dopants.
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MECHANISM OF DOPING SEMICONDUCTORS

Both silicon and germanium are tetravalent atoms, ie they have for valence
electrons (four electrons to the outermost shell of the atom ). If pentavalent
atom (eg. phosphorus) replace a silicon semiconductor, four of the
impurity electron play the same role as the four valence electrons of the
replaced sililcon atom and become part of the valence band. The fifth
valence electron is easily detected from the pentavalent atom by thermal
energy and moves freely in the conduction band. Impurities that denote
electrons to the conduction band are called donor impurities.

Free electron

Free electron
Fig 1.0
Effect of adding a donor impurity to a silcon
semiconductor.

Doping produces two types of semiconductors which are:-

1. n – type semiconductor
2. p – type semiconductor

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 This is the semiconductor which the majority charge carriers are
electrons. (Negativity charges)

The n – type semiconductor obtained by adding the pentavalent

element to the pure semiconductor (Trivalent element) the addition of
pentavalent impurities provides a large number of free electrons in a semi
conductor. The pentavalent impurities are called donors since they
provide free electrons to the semiconductors. Suppose a pentavalent
element e.g. antimony atom is added to a pure germanium trivalent atom s
shown below;

Si – silicon

Sb – Antimony atom

The form valence electrons of Antimony will form bonding with the
germanium valence electrons. The fifth valence electron of antimony is not
involved in bonding, so remain free to move thus the number of electrons
carries increases and hence the conductivity of material increases.

ENERGY BAND OF N – TYPE SEMICONDUCTOR

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The additional of donor impurities to an intrinsic semiconductor, creates
extra energy level called donor energy level just below the bottom of the
conduction band at the forbidden band.

1. P – Type of semiconductor

This is a semiconductor which the majority charge carries are positive

charges holes. The p – type semiconductor obtained by adding trivalent
impurities to the pure semiconductor. The additional of trivalent impurities
provides a large number of holes in the semiconductor.

The trivalent impurities are called an acceptor since it receives the

electron from the semiconductor. Suppose a trivalent element e.g. indium
atom is added to a pure semiconductor of germanium (trivalent) atom as
shown below;

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The three valence electron of germanium form complete bonding in the
indium the fourth bond is complete being short of one electron. This
missing electron is called a hole. Therefore each indium atom added one
hole is created. The number of positive charge carrier’s increases and this
increases the conductivity of the material. The charge carries of current are
positive charge.

ENERGY BAND IN P – TYPE SEMICONDUCTOR

The additional of acceptor impurity to an intrinsic semiconductor creates

extra energy level called acceptor energy level just above the top of the
valence band

COMPARISON BETWEEN EXTRINSIC AND INTRINSIC

SEMICONDUCTOR

INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC
SEMICONDUCTOR SEMICONDUCTOR
It is a pure semiconductor. It is an impure semiconductor.
The number of electricity equals to The number of free electrons not
the number of holes. equal to the number of holes.
The electric conductivity is low. The electric conductivity is high.
The electric conductivity depend on
The electric conductivity depend on
the temperature and amount of
temperature.
doping.
It has no practical use. Used in electronic device.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN N – TYPE AND p – TYPE
SEMICONDUCTOR

N – TYPE P - TYPE
Produced by adding pentavalent Produced by adding trivalent
impurities to a pure semiconductor. impurities to a pure semiconductor.
The number of free electron exceed The number of holes exceeds the
the number of holes. number of free electrons.
The majority charge are negative The number of holes exceed the
charges. number of free electrons.
The donor energy level is just below The acceptor energy level is just
the bottom of the conduction band. above the valence band.

1. JUNCTION DIODE

This is the p – n junction semiconductor material which is connected to

supply voltage.

P–N junction

This is the junction made up by two semiconductor material of n – type and

p – type melted together to form a junction.

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As soon as a p – n junction is formed electrons from n – type materials
diffuse into p – type material and fill some of the holes there At the same
time holes from p – type materials diffuse into n – type materials and are
filled by electrons This diffusion establishes a potential differences across
the junction and within a very short time of the junction being made this
become a large enough to prevent any further movement of charge carriers
this p–d is called barrier or junction barrier.

DEPLETION LAYER

This is the region of the P-N junction at which charges exchange direction
of moment. The potential difference set up at the junction is called
POTENTIAL BARRIE.

BIASING OF A P – N JUNCTION

This is the circuiting process of a semiconductor device such that it can

either highly allow or highly prevent movement of charges through it. Is the
process of applying potential to the pn–junction there are two types basing
which are;

1. Forward biasing

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 2. Reverse biasing

1. FORWARD BIASING

This is the process of connected the positive terminal of the battery to the
p–type end and negative terminal of the battery to the n–type end of the p-
n junction.

FLOW OF CURRENT IN A FORWARD BIASED P-N JUNCTION

Under the influence of forward voltage the free electrons in n–type move
forward the junction and holes in p-type move forward the junction and
due to the large number of concentration of the charge, the free electrons
and holes cross the junction and constitute the current. Thus in n–type
region current is carried by free electrons and in p–type region the current
is carried by holes. Thus the forward biased pn-junction allows the current
to pass through the junction.

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 Forward and Reverse bias

1. REVERSE BIASING

This is the process of connecting the positive terminal of the battery to the
n–type and negative terminal of the battery to the p–type of the p-n
junction.

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FLOW OF CURRENT IN THE REVERSE BIASED P – N
JUNCTION

With reverse bias to the p-n junction, the potential barrier at the junction is
increased and practically no current flow through the circuit by majority
charge carrier. However in practice a very small current flow in the circuit
due to the minority carrier. If the reverse voltage is increased continuously
the ice of minority electrons may become high enough to knockout
electrons from the semiconductor atom.

AI – This stage break down of the junction occurs characterized by a

sudden rise of reverse current and a sudden fall of the resistance of barrier
region. This may destroy the junction permanently.

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  Break down voltage

This is the reverse voltage at which p-n junction break down with
the sudden rise in reverse current.

 Knee voltage

This is the forward biased voltage at which the current through the
junction starts to increase rapidly.

DIODES

A diode is an electrical device allowing current to move through it in one

direction with far-greater ease than in the other. The most common kind of
diode in modern circuit design is the semiconductor diode, although other
diode technologies exist. The diode they work on the p-n junction work.
The n-region is called the cathode and the P-regions is the
anode.

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Note:
(+) Anode and (-) Cathode.
N-Region represent Cathode and P-Region represent Anode.

TYPES OF DIODE
There are different types of diodes used in the electric circuits. The
following are the most common ones:-

1. Semiconductor diode
2. Metal semiconductor diode
3. Zener diode
4. Light emitting diodes
1. Semiconductor diode

One type of diode of diode is p-n junction diode described above. This
is referred to as semiconductor diode . Most semiconductor diode are
made up of silicon or [Link] the figure below shows a
construction of Semiconductor diode.

2. Metal semiconductor diode

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 These types of diodes are formed by the deposition of a metal on the
surface of metal conductor.

Metal

[Link] emitting diode (LED)

A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor diode that emits light

when electrical current is applied in the forward direction of the
diode.

LEDs are made from variety semiconductor materials depending on

the wavelength of the light required. The most used materials for the
visible LEDs are gallium phosphide and gallium arsenic phosphide.
Consider the figure below shows a light emitting diode and its
symbol.

4. Zener diode

Zener diodes are specially manufactured diodes designed to be operated in

the reverse breakdown voltage. Every zener diode is manufactured for a
specific reverse breakdown voltage called the Zener diode. Consider the

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figure below shows a symbol of Zener diode.

NB: Diode is designed to work in mode of forward and reversing biasing

junction.

RECTIFICATION

This is the change of alternating current (alternate current to direct current

the diode used to rectifier of A.C to D.C) to direct current has so many uses
compare with an alternate current but is so expensive to produce a direct
current also to reduce a cost is necessary to produce an alternate current
then rectified to direct current.

The conversion process is done through a p-n junction biased. A junction

diode which is a biased p–n Junction is denoted by a circuit symbol.

The arrow head show the direction of flow of positive charges. It has been
observed that p–n junction conducts current easily when is forward biased
and practically no current flow when it is reversed biased. This outstanding
property of the semiconductor for diode permit to be used as a rectifier i.e.
it changes the alternating current to direct current.
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 1. HALF WAVE RECTIFICATION

In a half wave rectification only one diode is used. The diode conducts
current only during the position half cycles of the input alternate current
supply. During the negative half cycle of alternate current no current is
conducted and hence no voltage appears across load.

Half Wave Rectifier Operation

To understand the operation of a half wave rectifier perfectly, you must

know the theory part really well. If you are new to the concepts of p-n
junction and its characteristics, I recommend you to read the half wave
rectifier theory part first.

The operation of a half wave rectifier is pretty simple. From the theory part,
you should know that a p-n junction diode conducts current only in 1
direction. In other words, a p-n junction diode conducts current only when
it is forward biased. The same principle is made use of in a half wave
rectifier to convert AC to DC.

The input we give here is an alternating current. This input voltage is

stepped down using a transformer. The reduced voltage is fed to the diode
‘D’ and load resistance RL. During the positive half cycles of the input
wave, the diode ‘D’ will be forward biased and during the negative half
cycles of input wave, the diode ‘D’ will be reverse biased.

We take the output across load resistor RL. Since the diode passes current
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only during one half cycle of the input wave, we get an output as shown in
diagram. The output is positive and significant during the positive half
cycles of input wave. At the same time output is zero or insignificant during
negative half cycles of input wave. This is called half wave rectification.
Before used a d-c current produced in half wave circuit must be smoothed.

The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier
produces an output wave every half cycle and that it was not practical to use
this type of circuit to produce a steady DC supply... We can therefore
increase its average DC output level even higher by connecting a suitable
smoothing capacitor across the output of the bridge circuit as shown below.

2. FULL WAVE RECTIFICATION

In full wave rectification current flow through the load in the same
direction for both half cycles of the input alternate current voltage.

The following two circuits are commonly used for full wave
rectification;

 Center – tap full rectification

 Full wave bridge rectification

1. CENTER TAP FULL RECTIFICATION

In this type the two diodes are used and the input is tapped at the center
hence converted from alternate current to direct current form.

In a central tap Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each
half of the cycle. A multiple winding transformer is used whose secondary

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winding is split equally into two halves with a common center tapped
connection, (C). This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn
when its anode terminal is positive with respect to the transformer center
point C producing an output during both half-cycles, twice that for the half
wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a
single load resistance (RL) with each diode taking it in turn to supply
current to the load. When point A of the transformer is positive with
respect to point C, diode D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated
by the arrows.

When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to
point C, diode D2 conducts in the forward direction and the current flowing
through resistor R is in the same direction for both half-cycles. As the
output voltage across the resistor R is the phase sum of the two waveforms
combined, this type of full wave rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-
phase” circuit.

As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being
filled in by the other diode the average DC output voltage across the load
resistor is now double that of the single half-wave rectifier circuit and is
about 0.637Vmax of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.

The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-
wave rectifier provided each half of the transformer windings have the
same rms voltage value. To obtain a different DC voltage output different
transformer ratios can be used. The main disadvantage of this type of full
wave rectifier circuit is that a larger transformer for a given power output is
required with two separate but identical secondary windings making this

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type of full wave rectifying circuit costly compared to the “Full Wave Bridge
Rectifier” circuit equivalent.

2. FULL WAVE – BRIDGE RECTIFICATION

The bridge – circuit produces full wave rectification without the use of
center tapped secondary, it consists four diodes.

The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full
wave rectifier circuit above is that of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier.
This type of single phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying diodes
connected in a closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired
output. The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require
a special center tapped transformer, thereby reducing its size and cost. The
single secondary winding is connected to one side of the diode bridge
network and the load to the other side as shown below.

The Diode Bridge Rectifier

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The four diodes labeled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only
two diodes conducting current during each half cycle. During the positive
half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while diodes
D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as
shown below.

The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in
series, but diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now reversing
biased. The current flowing through the load is the same direction as
before.

The Negative Half-cycle

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage

developed across the load is also unidirectional, the same as for the
previous two diode full-wave rectifier.

TRANSISTOR

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A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic
signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with
at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or
current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current
through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power
can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a
signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more
are found embedded in integrated circuit.

A bipolar junction transistor (BJT or bipolar transistor) is a type of

transistor that relies on the contact of two types of semiconductor for its
operation. BJTs can be used as amplifiers. Switches or in oscillators BJTs
can be found either as individual discrete components, or in large numbers
as parts of integrated circuits.

Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both

electrons and holes. These two kinds of charge carriers are characteristic of
the two kinds of doped semiconductor material; electrons are majority
charge carriers in n-type semiconductors, whereas holes are majority
charge carriers in p-type semiconductors. In contrast, unipolar transistors
such as the field effect transistor have only one kind of charge carrier.

Charge flow in a BJT is due to diffusion of charge carrier across a junction

between two regions of different charge concentrations. The regions of a
BJT are called emitter, collector, and base. A discrete transistor has three
leads for connection to these regions. Typically, emitter is heavily doped
compared to other two layers, whereas majority charge carrier
concentrations in base and collector layers are about the same. By design,
most of the BJT collector current is due to the flow of charges injected from
a high-concentration emitter into the base where there are minority
carriers that diffuse toward the collector, and so BJTs are classified as
minority-carrier devices.

BJTs come in two types, or polarities, known as PNP and NPN based on the
doping types of the three main terminal regions. An NPN transistor
comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin p-doped anode
region, and a PNP transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that
share a thin n-doped cathode region.

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This is the dielectric device by joining either two N–type semiconductor
sand mixed by one p–type OR two p–type send mixed by one N–type
semiconductor. There are two types of transistor which are;

TERMINALS OF A TRANSISTOR

Base (B)- central point of a transistor.

Emitter (E)- line at which the electric signals flows into or out of the
transistor. The line carrying signal in the input circuit.

Collector (C)- line at which the signal is taken from the transistor to the
appliance i.e. the line taking signal from the transistor into

Emitter circuit is always in the forward BIAS mean while the collector
circuit is in the reverse bias.

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