PN Junction Theory
A PN-junction is formed when an N-type material is fused together with a P-type material creating a
semiconductor diode
This tutorial about PN junction theory shows that when silicon is doped with small amounts of
Antimony, an N-type semiconductor material is formed, and when the same silicon material is doped
with small amounts of Boron, a P-type semiconductor material is formed.
This is all well and good, but these newly doped N-type and P-type semiconductor materials do very
little on their own as they are electrically neutral. However, if we join (or fuse) these two
semiconductor materials together they behave in a very different way as they merge together producing
what is generally known as a “PN Junction” allowing us to study the effect of PN junction theory.
When the N-type semiconductor and P-type semiconductor materials are first joined together a very
large density gradient exists between both sides of the PN junction. The result is that some of the free
electrons from the donor impurity atoms begin to migrate across this newly formed junction to fill up
the holes in the P-type material producing negative ions.
However, because the electrons have moved across the PN junction from the N-type silicon to the P-
type silicon, they leave behind positively charged donor ions ( ND ) on the negative side and now the
holes from the acceptor impurity migrate across the junction in the opposite direction into the region
where there are large numbers of free electrons.
As a result, the charge density of the P-type along the junction is filled with negatively charged
acceptor ions ( NA ), and the charge density of the N-type along the junction becomes positive. This
charge transfer of electrons and holes across the PN junction is known as diffusion. The width of these
P and N layers depends on how heavily each side is doped with acceptor density NA, and donor density
ND, respectively.
This process continues back and forth until the number of electrons which have crossed the junction
have a large enough electrical charge to repel or prevent any more charge carriers from crossing over
the junction. Eventually a state of equilibrium (electrically neutral situation) will occur producing a
“potential barrier” zone around the area of the junction as the donor atoms repel the holes and the
acceptor atoms repel the electrons.
Since no free charge carriers can rest in a position where there is a potential barrier, the regions on
either sides of the junction now become completely depleted of any more free carriers in comparison to
the N and P type materials further away from the junction. This area around the PN Junction is now
called the Depletion Layer.
The PN junction
The total charge on each side of a PN Junction must be equal and opposite to maintain a neutral charge
condition around the junction. If the depletion layer region has a distance D, it therefore must therefore
penetrate into the silicon by a distance of Dp for the positive side, and a distance of Dn for the negative
side giving a relationship between the two of: Dp*NA = Dn*ND in order to maintain charge neutrality
also called equilibrium.
Depletion Layer Distance
As the N-type material has lost electrons and the P-type has lost holes, the N-type material has become
positive with respect to the P-type. Then the presence of impurity ions on both sides of the junction
cause an electric field to be established across this region with the N-side at a positive voltage relative
to the P-side. The problem now is that a free charge requires some extra energy to overcome the barrier
that now exists for it to be able to cross the depletion region junction.
This electric field created by the diffusion process has created a “built-in potential difference” across
the junction with an open-circuit (zero bias) potential of:
Where: Eo is the zero bias junction voltage, VT the thermal voltage of 26mV at room temperature, ND
and NA are the impurity concentrations and ni is the intrinsic concentration.
A suitable positive voltage (forward bias) applied between the two ends of the PN junction can supply
the free electrons and holes with the extra energy. The external voltage required to overcome this
potential barrier that now exists is very much dependent upon the type of semiconductor material used
and its actual temperature.
Typically at room temperature the voltage across the depletion layer for silicon is about 0.6 – 0.7 volts
and for germanium is about 0.3 – 0.35 volts. This potential barrier will always exist even if the device
is not connected to any external power source, as seen in diodes.
The significance of this built-in potential across the junction, is that it opposes both the flow of holes
and electrons across the junction and is why it is called the potential barrier. In practice, a PN junction
is formed within a single crystal of material rather than just simply joining or fusing together two
separate pieces.
The result of this process is that the PN junction has rectifying current–voltage (IV or I–V)
characteristics. Electrical contacts are fused onto either side of the semiconductor to enable an
electrical connection to be made to an external circuit. The resulting electronic device that has been
made is commonly called a PN junction Diode or simply Signal Diode.
Then we have seen here in this tutorial about PN junction theory, that PN junctions can be made by
joining or diffusing together differently doped semiconductor materials to produce an electronic device
called a diode which can be used as the basic semiconductor structure of rectifiers, all types of
transistors, LED’s, solar cells, and many more such solid state devices.
