Semiconductor
Semiconductors are materials that have resistivity values in between those of conductors and
insulators, they are neither good conductors nor good insulators.
Examples of Semiconductors:
Silicon
Germanium
Intrinsic semiconductor materials
The naturally occurring semiconductor materials that are used to manufacture electronic devices
are Silicon and Germanium
Extrinsic semiconductor
To produce extrinsic semiconductor material specific amounts of impurity are added to the pure
intrinsic semiconductor. This process is called doping and the impurity atoms are called donor
atoms. There are two types of extrinsic semiconductor which are manufactured, P type
semiconductor and N type semiconductor.
N type semiconductor
The pure silicon is doped with a group 5 element such as phosphorus, antimony or arsenic. These
materials have atoms with five valence electrons (pentavalent atoms). Four of these electrons
will form covalent bonds with neighbouring silicon atoms. As their are only four covalent bonds
binding the donor atom to the neighbouring silicon atoms the fifth electron is not part of a
covalent bond, and is therefore a free electron. Every impurity atom will produce a free electron
in the conduction band. These electrons will drift to produce an electrical current if a voltage is
applied to the material and the N type semiconductor is a much better conductor than the
intrinsic pure silicon material.
P type semiconductor
The pure silicon is doped with a group 3 element such as boron, aluminium or indium. These
materials have atoms with three valence electrons (trivalent atoms). The three electrons will form
covalent bonds with neighbouring silicon atoms. However there are not enough electrons to form
the fourth covalent bond. This leaves a hole in the covalent bond structure and therefore a hole in
the valence band of the energy level diagram. Every impurity atom will produce a hole in the
valence band. These holes will drift to produce an electrical current if a voltage is applied to the
material and the P type semiconductor is a much better conductor than the intrinsic pure silicon
material.
DIODE(PN Junction)
A PN junction is made from a single piece of semiconductor that is made to have two
differing areas. One end is made to be P-type and the other N-type. This means that
both ends of the PN-junction have different properties. One end has an excess of
electrons whilst the other has an excess of holes. Where the two areas meet the
electrons fill the holes and there are no free holes or electrons. This means that there
are no available charge carries in this region. In view of the fact that this area is
depleted of charge carriers it is known as the depletion region.
The semiconductor diode PN junction with no bias applied
The depletion region is very thin - often only few thousandths of a millimetre - but this is
enough to prevent current flowing in the normal way. However it is found that different
effects are noticed dependent upon the way in which the voltage is applied to the
junction.
The semiconductor diode PN junction with forward bias
Current Flow - If the voltage is applied such that the P type area becomes
positive and the N type becomes negative, holes are attracted towards the
negative voltage and are assisted to jump across the depletion layer. Similarly
electrons move towards the positive voltage and jump the depletion layer. Even
though the holes and electrons are moving in opposite directions, they carry
opposite charges and as a result they represent a current flow in the same
direction.
No current flow - If the voltage is applied to the PN junction in the opposite
sense no current flows. The reason for this is that the holes are attracted towards
the negative potential that is applied to the P type region. Similarly the electrons
are attracted towards the positive potential which is applied to the N type region.
In other words the holes and electrons are attracted away from the junction itself
and the depletion region increases in width. Accordingly no current flows across
the PN junction.
The semiconductor diode PN junction with reverse bias
Reference
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campus.com/engineering/electronics/semiconductor_theory/semiconductor_theory.html
http://www.electronics-radio.com/articles/electronic_components/semiconductors/how-a-pn-junction-
diode-works-basics-tutorial.php
