Semiconductor Devices

Introduction to Semiconductor Devices: Semiconductor devices are electronic components

made from semiconductor materials, such as silicon and germanium. These devices play a
crucial role in modern electronics and are used in a wide range of applications, including
computers, smartphones, and communication systems.

Types of Semiconductor Devices:

1. Diodes: Semiconductor diodes are two-terminal devices that allow current to flow in
one direction only. They are fundamental building blocks in electronic circuits and
come in various types, including rectifier diodes, Schottky diodes, and light-emitting
diodes (LEDs).
2. Transistors: Transistors are three-terminal devices that can amplify and switch
electronic signals. They are available in two main types, bipolar junction transistors
(BJTs) and field-effect transistors (FETs).
3. Integrated Circuits (ICs): ICs are complex semiconductor devices that contain
multiple interconnected components, such as transistors, diodes, and resistors, on a
single chip. They have revolutionized electronics by enabling the integration of
numerous functions into compact and efficient packages.

Evolution of Electronics:

Evolution of Electronics-

In this 21st century every day we are dealing with electronic circuits and devices in some
form or the other. For example, electronic gadgets, home appliances, computers, transport
system, cell phones, cameras, and TV etc.

History of electronics:

Before you learn electronics, it is necessary to know about the brief history of electronics.
You will be inspired by the scientists who have discovered and invented different electronic
devices. I will discuss evolution of electronics from vacuum tubes to very large scale
integrated circuits that is VLSI.

Introduction to Electronics:

The word electronics, actually, this originated from the word electron. Electronics is a branch
of science dealing with theory and use of devices in which electrons travel through vacuum
gas or a semiconductor medium. So these are the different mediums in which the electrons
are traveling. The electronics is the field of science which deals with the motion of electrons
under the influence of applied electric or magnetic field. Electronics has evolved around three
components basically:

 Vacuum tubes
 Transistor
 Integrated circuits
Vacuum Tube Era:

Let us see the first era of vacuum tubes, so, here first we will take the diodes. In 1883 Thomas
Alva Edison discovered the electrons can flow from one metal conductor to another through
vacuum. This discovery is of conductors is known as Edison effect. In 1897 John fleming,
he applied this Edison effect in inventing a two-element electron tube called diode.

So this tube is actually the vacuum tube diode. Here you can see, this is the early vacuum
tube or they are also called as the valves. It is made up of glass and inside the glass there is a
vacuum. There are two electrodes in case of diode which is shown in the middle figure. The
vacuum tube is connected with the battery and there will be flow of electric current. In 1906,
Lee deforest he utilized the Edison effect to invent another element that is the triode. It is the
electrode device as shown in the diagram you can see there is an anode and cathode and there
is one more element that is called grid.

So the grid will control the law of electron that is why it is called as the control grid. Le de
Forest he invented this triode in 1906. So this triode was instrumental in amplification and
transmission of electrical energy. So here amplification means it is multiplying the energy in
one form and then the energy is transmitted. But the vacuum tubes they were large in size
bulky and because of the glass they were fragile so and they consume high power.

Transistors Era:

Then came the transistor era in 1948 three scientists John bardy, Walter Brattain and,
William Shockley they developed transistor at the bay level and then they were given Nobel
Prize for their creation in 1956.
These are the three scientists and the transistor which was first developed was shown in the
figure. You can see it in the figure, now transistor again, it is a determinant device base,
emitter, and collector. These are the three terminals of the transistor and this is just a crude
model they have developed and then actually modern transistor is a junction transistor was
developed in a same semiconductor piece. The first transistor was a point contact transistor. I
will suppose you take there are two types of transistors PNP and NPN. So NPN is sandwiched
between two N types of semiconductor if it is in a same semiconductor piece it is called as
the monolith. So the junction transistor developed and two semiconductor materials that is
germanium and silicon they were used to make the transistor and it was very popular and wide
acceptance usage in different electronic circuit’s diode and transistor. Now, they are made
from the semiconductor device and this transistor it become very popular and changed the
whole electronics industry. So this metal transistor replaced the vacuum tubes as a
semiconductor device. Because they are compact compared to the vacuum tubes and light in
weight, low cost and less power consumption, fast and havier longer life if operated within
same operating condition that is why they became very popular and that was a revolutionary
change in the electronics. You might be knowing that radio we was call as transistor at that
time because all the radio receivers they had few transistors that would receive the radio waves.
So earlier we had the AM radio and then now we are having the FM radio.

Integrated circuits:

Then after this transistor was new then in 1958 Jack Kilby he came out with an idea of making
the IC. So integrated circuit here he tried to put several components on a single chip. So he
was the first, proposed this idea of the integrated circuits but then ICs now they are a capable
of a several thousand components on a single chip. So, accordingly they are classified as
small scale integration, medium scale integration, and large scale integration ICs. So here
in the figure is the actual circuit which was developed by Kilby the first integrated circuit
and here you see the silicon wafers which contain number of integrated circuit or chips on a
single wafer. There are a millions of chips on this wafer.
So let us come to the summary of history of electronics it was 1890 Hertz performed
experiment on generation of electromagnetic waves. Then in 1894 Sir. J.C. Bose discovered
the propagation of radio waves electromagnetic waves. These are the waves which are
mediated through the space. Then in 1895 by Lorentz postulated the existence of electrons
and then 1897 J.J Thomson assumption experimentally verified the existence of electrons and
then 1897 Braun invented the first electron tube and then in 1904 came the Fleming’s diode
that is vacuum tube. Then in 1906 De Forest invented the triode again a vacuum but since
the vacuum to wear bulky. They were replaced by the transistor then in 1930 we came up
with the monochrome television and in 1950 the color television came to existence and in
1963 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that was formed and this is the
Institute which is responsible for different standards. How did we have the different standards
for networking even the Wi-Fi connection, 4G, 5G all the standards protocols are defined by
them Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE standard. This is just the summary
of history of electronics.

Evolution of transistors:

Then let us see the evolution of transistors in 1948 Brattain Bardeen invented point contact
transistor. In 1948 Shockley he came up with the junction transistor and then the commercial
production of transistor had started in 1950 as shown some of the ancestors.

This is a power transistor 2N3055 and there are also some other transistors shown in the
diagram which are three terminal devices. The trend further carried forward with the JFETS
and MOSFETs that were developed during 1951 to 1958 by improving the device designing
process and by making more reliable and powerful transistors. In 1958 Kilby (Texas
instrument, USA) gave idea of monolithic circuit (concept of concept of integrating device
and circuit elements onto a single silicon chip). Apart from the transistor other circuit
elements liquid, capacitor resistors, they were integrated on a single silicon chip but that we
call it as the monolithic circuit. Then in 1961 Fairchild and Texas Instruments these are the
two companies which amount with the commercially produced integrated circuits ICs.

Evolution of integrated circuits:

Then let us see the evolution of integrated circuits or ICs. In 1950s single transistor was
incorporated in a single chip then in 1960’s wide scale integration less than hundred
components per chip that was possible we can see here the sixteen transistors were put on a
single chip in the form of this square gate that is the transistor transistor logic gates, AND gate
and NAND gate. All these ICs they are the ideal ICs and they are having around sixteen
transistors in single chip.

Then in 1966 they came with the medium scale integration so the components per chip that
is increased from a 100 to 1000 and then in 1969 they came up with the large scale integration.
So the count increases up to 10,000 components per chip. You can see in the above figure in
1970s he came up with the 8-bit microprocessor chip they have round about 4500 transistors.
Then later on in 1975 they came up with the very large scale integration VLSI, it is greater
than 10,000 components per chip. So in the 1980s he came up with 275000 transistors on a
single chip so it was a 32-bit microprocessor. In 1990s he came up with 3100000 transistors.
So the number of transistors again increased particularly the Pentium chips they were made
up of so many transistor and then in 2000 they came up with by 92000000 the number of
transistors are the density on the integrated circuit doubles every two years so that is called as
the Moore’s law. So every year the density of integrated circuits are in this case the transistor
density it is getting doubled. So if you consider from 1960’s to 2000 forty years every two
years it is getting double that’s why you get a very large number of transistors. Now it’s
possible so now they have gone beyond the VLSI he called it ULSI ultra large scale
integration. So this is still going on and the integration of this will further continue and we
will be getting this way we are now a days we are able to get so we will have to thank the VLSI
technology because of which we are able to get so many functionalities on our mobile phones
because there they are using the VLSI chips and functionalities have integrated on that chip
and it is very now the new chips new tips are manufacture and we are getting the new mobile
Mobile’s every two months.
 PN JUNCTION DIODE

A PN junction diode is also known as a semiconductor diode. It is formed when a P-type and
an N-type semiconductor are joined metallurgically. It allows current flow in one direction
only.Hence, it can act as rectifier to convert ac voltage to dc voltage.

A PN junction diode is schematically represented by the symbol.

Symbolic representation of PN junction diode

 The arrowhead indicates the conventional direction of current flow when the diode is
forward biased.
 The P-side of the diode is positive and is called anode.
 The N-side is the cathode and is the negative terminal when the diode is forward biased.
 The word ‘diode’ stands for two electrodes- anode and cathode.

FORMATION OF POTENTIAL BARRIER IN PN JUNCTION DIODE

Illustration of depletion region in P-N junction diode

A PN junction is formed when P-type and N-type semiconductor are joined metallurgically.The
boundary between P-region and N-region is called PN junction. In P-region, holes are majority
charge carriers and in N-region, electrons are majority charge carriers. This creates
concentration gradient near the junction.

Hence majority charge carriers start crossing the junction andlargecurrent starts flowing.
Because of the concentration difference, holes nearer to the junction begin to diffuse from p-
side to the n-side (see above Fig. a, b). Similarly, the electrons in the n-region are more than
the electrons in the p-region. Due to the concentration gradient,electrons nearer tothe junction
begin to diffuse from n-side to the p-side. Thus,majority carriers start moving into opposite
regions. As electrons and holes are charged particles, their motion produces electron diffusion
current, Jen and hole diffusion current, Jhp respectively.This motion of electrons from N-region
to P-region and motion of holes from P-region move towards N-region produces diffusion
current.

When the hole from P-region enters the N-region, it combines with electron over there and
electron -hole pair disappears, this is called recombination process.Similarly, when electron
from N-region enters the P-region, it is surrounded by large no. of holes, which leads to
recombination process.At the junction the holes and electrons meet each other and undergo
recombination. As a hole recombines with an electron, both the hole and electron disappear.
This leads to the disappearance of mobile charge carriers in the junction region

Further, the holes coming out of P-region leave behind negative acceptor ions and electrons
from N-region leaves behind positive donor ions near to the junction.The double layer of ions
around the junction is known as the space charge region. This narrow space-charge region is
depleted of mobile charges and contains only the immobile uncompensated ions. Therefore,
this region is also called the depletion region,

Depletion region is a narrow region of oppositely charged ions on either side of PN junction
which is depleted of mobile charge carriers(Fig.1).These oppositely charged fixed ions produce
internal electric field E directed from the donor ions on N region towards the acceptor ions on
P region at the junction. This electric field is in a direction that opposes the diffusion of majority
carriers into opposite sides.

The electric field establishes potential difference Vo or an energy hill of height eVo at the
junction, which acts as a barrier for majority charge carriers to cross the junction, hence called
as potential barrier.Thus, the internal electric field acts as a barrier to the flow of majority
charge carriers. The barrier increase still majority carriers cannot diffuse further across the
junction.

Due to application of internal electric field E, minority carriers i.e. electrons drift from P region
to N region and holes drift from N region to P region. An electric current flows across the
junction. This current, which is caused by electric field, is called drift current

At thermal equilibrium the net diffusion current through the junction must be equal and
opposite to the net drift current so that the total current is zero. This condition is called
UNBIASED condition of PN-JUNCTION diode.
UNBIASED PN-JUNCTION

When a PN-junction diode is not connected with any external supply it is called as unbiased.
Once equilibrium is attained no net current will flow through itbecause diffusion current
becomes equal to drift current, hence diode is at equilibrium.The electric field establishes
potential difference Vo at the junction, which act as a barrier for majority charge carriers to
cross the junction.The oppositely charged ions produces electric fieldE at the junction directed
in fig.(a).

BIASING OF PN-JUNCTION DIODE

When dc voltage is applied to the diode it is said to be biased.A PN-junction diode is biased in
two ways:(1) Forward biasing (2) Reverse biasing.

(1)Forward biasing: When positive terminal of battery is connected to the P-region and
negative terminal of source (battery) is connected to the N-region, the diode is said to be
forward biased. If this external applied voltage‘V’ becomes greater than the value of the
potential barrierVo,the potential barrier’s opposition will be overcome.The width of depletion
region reduces.The potential barrier reduces by value (Vo – V) as shown in fig.(b). Vo is
approx. 0.7 volts for silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium.

(2)Reverse biasing: When negative terminal of battery is connected to the P-region and positive
terminal of source (battery) is connected to the N-region, the diode is said to be reverse
biased.The width of depletion region increases. The potential barrier increases to (Vo + V) as
shown in fig.(c). Hence majority charge carriers are unable to cross the junction.The direction
of electric field supports the flow of minority charge carriers across the junction, hence a small
amount of current flows.
V-I CHARACTERSTICS AND WORKING OF PN-JUNCTION DIODE

Fig.shows forward as well as reverse characteristics of PN junction diode.

Forward Bias:

When the junction is forward biased, practically no current flows until the barrier voltage is
overcome.With further increase in voltage, current starts flowing & curve has a linear rise like
an ordinary conductor.The voltage at which current starts flowing through the diode is known
as cut- in voltage.It is the minimum value of voltage required to overcome potential barrier
across the junction.This voltage is 0.3 for Germanium and 0.7 V for silicon.The current in
forward bias mode is large (in mA) due to the movement of majority charge carriers across the
junction.

Reverse Bias:

When a junction is reversed biased, junction resistance increases with the increase in reverse
biased voltage(potential barrier)& very small current flow through it due to minority charge
carriers.As reverse voltage increases, the minority charge carriers acquire sufficient kinetic
energy.These accelerated charge carriers cross the junction and ionize the semiconductor atoms
in the depletion region leading to generation of free electrons and holes.These electrons and
holes in turn get accelerated and cause further ionization of atoms in P and N regions. This
process is called Avalanche breakdown and leads to sharp increase in current at a reverse bias
voltage called breakdown voltage.Thus, breakdown voltage is the applied reverse voltage at
which large current flows through the diode. In reverse bias condition the current through diode
is very small in the range of μA due to movement of minority charge carriers.
ZENER DIODE

Zener diode is a specially designed ordinary P-N junction diode, which is heavily doped to
have a very sharp and almost vertical breakdown.They are exclusively operated under reverse
bias conditions and designed to operate in breakdown region without damage. The device was
named after Clarence Zener, who discovered this electrical property.

The commonly used schematic symbol for Zener diode is shown in Fig

V-I CHARACTERSTICSAND WORKING OF ZENER DIODE

The Forward bias characteristics of Zener diode are same as that of normal PN Junction diode.
When the applied forward bias voltage ‘VF’ is less than the cut in voltage, the current is
negligibly small.WhenVF becomes greater than cut in voltage,current starts increasing rapidly.

In reverse bias mode, current is due to minority charge carriers. Since the P and N-regions are
heavily doped, the depletion layer at the junction will be very narrow.The reverse bias voltage
sets up a strong electric field across the narrow depletion layer.This field is strong enough to
cause rupture of covalent bonds of atoms.Therefore, there is a generation of a large number of
electron-hole pairs, leading to a sharp increase in the reverse current.

When reverse bias is increased, upto a certain voltage called as breakdown voltage voltage is
reached then the diode starts conducting heavily and the reverse current increases sharply. This
voltage is called Zener breakdown voltage(Vz).A Zener diode maintains a constant voltage
across its terminals when the reverse bias exceeds the breakdown voltage.Therefore, it is used
as voltage regulator.

APPLICATIONS OF ZENER DIODE

 Zener diode is used as voltage regulator.

 It is used as a fixed reference voltage in a network for biasing and comparison.
 It is used for calibrating voltmeters.
 It is used for avoiding meter damage by accidental application of excessive voltage.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ZENER BREAKDOWN AND AVALANCHE

BREAKDOWN

Differences between Zener breakdown and avalanche breakdown Table:

Zener breakdown Avalanche breakdown

1.This occurs at junctions which are 1.This occurs at junctions which are
heavily doped with narrow depletion lightly doped with wide depletion layer.
region.
2.This breakdown voltage sets up a very 2.In this case, electric field is not strong
strong electric field across this narrow enough to produce Zener type
layer. breakdown
3.The electric field is very strong to 3.The minority carriers collide with
rupture the covalent bonds thereby semiconductor atoms in the depletion
generating electron hole pairs. So even a region, which breaks the covalent bonds
small increase in reverse voltage is and electron-hole pairs are generated.
capable of producing large number of Newly generated charge carriers are
current carriers. Hence the junction has accelerated by the electric field which
avery low resistance. This leads to results in more collision and generates
Zenerbreakdown avalanche of charge carriers. This leads
to avalanche breakdown.
4.Once Zener breakdown occurs, the 4. Once avalanche breakdown occurs,
junction gets back to its normal position, junction gets destroyed completely and it
after the reverse voltage is removed from cannot regain back its position.
the diode.
5.Zener breakdown occurs when the 5.Avalanche breakdown occurs when the
operating voltage is between 5 to 8 Volts. operating voltage is greater than 8 Volts.
TRANSISTORS

Transistor was invented in 1947 by American Physicists Bardeen, Brattain and Schockley at
Bell Telephone laboratories.A transistor is a semiconductor device that contains three regions
separated by two distinct PN junctions. The two junctions are EB junction and CB
junctions.The central region is called base. The two outer regions are called emitter and
collector.There are two types of charge carriers, electrons and holes hence transistor is called
bipolar transistor.Transistor can be viewed as two PN junction diodes arranged back-to-back
with base being common to both the diodes.As soon as the two junctions are formed, majority
charge carriers diffuse and form two depletion layers. Depletion layer is narrow at EB junction
and wide at CB junction.

There are two types of transistors:

1.NPN transistor--P-type sandwiched between two N-type.

2.PNP transistor--N-type sandwiched between two P-type.

FUNCTIONS OF THREE REGIONS IN TRANSISTOR:

Emitter, Base and Collector are three regions in a transistor.

Emitter:It emits charge carriers.It is heavily doped and has moderate size.It is located at the
one end of transistor.

Base:The base controls the flow of charge carriers from emitter to the collector. Therefore, it
acts as a gate between emitter and collector.It has minimum thickness and is lightly doped.It
makes the central region of a transistor.
Collector:It collects the charge carriers coming from the base.It has largest size with
moderate doping. It is moderately doped. It is at the other end of a transistor.

Biasing of transistor

The Emitter-Base (EB) junction of transistor is always forward biased, and Collector-Base
(CB) junction of transistor is always reverse biased.Therefore, it works in an active mode.
Hence, it transfers current from low resistance region (EB) to high resistance region (CB). It is
seen that almost same current flows through the two junctions.Thus, the device is called as
transistor- the shortened form of transfer resistor.

EXPLAIN WHY:

Base region is lightly doped:

If base region is heavily doped, more holes would be present in the base (for NPN
transistor).The incoming electrons would then undergo more recombination with holes in base.
This would decrease the no. of electrons entering the collector region.Hence the collector
current will decrease and base current will increase.But in transistor circuits, more collector
current and less base current is required.Hence to minimize base current base region is lightly
doped.

Base region is narrow:

The main function of the base is to control the number of charge carriers from emitter to
collector and hence offers easy and quick diffusion of carriers into collector region.If the
width of the base is more, then it would lead to more number of recombination causing an
increase in base current. But in transistor circuits, more collector current and less base current
is required.Hence to offer quick diffusion of charge carriers and to keep base current to a
minimum amount, the base region is made narrow.

Emitter is heavily doped:

The main function of the transistor is to emit charge carriers.In transistor circuit it is required
that a maximum number of majority carriers are injected into the base so that the emitter current
IE will be large. Hence to provide large no. of charge carriers emitter is heavily doped as
compared to base and collector.

Collector region is larger:

The main function of collector is to collect all the charge carriers coming from base. Due to
the movement of minority charge carriers across the reverse biased collector base junction,
large amount of heat is produced as the minority charge carriers acquire large amount of
kinetic energy.Hence to collect all the charge carriers and to dissipate away the heat, the
collector region is made larger.
CIRCUIT CONFIGURATION

COMMON BASE CONFIGURATION:

Fig: Transistor in common base configuration

In this circuit, Base terminal is made common to both input and output circuits.

Fig: Transistor in common emitter configuration

In this circuit, Emitter terminal is made common to both input and output circuits.

Fig: Transistor in common collector configuration

In this circuit, collector terminal is made common to both input and output circuits.
TRANSISTOR ACTION

Fig:Working of Transistor in common base mode

1.Consider an NPN transistor biased by using two batteries VEE & VCC as shown in fig.The
emitter base junction is kept at forward biased by battery VEE & collector biased junction is
kept as reverse biased junction by battery VCC.
2. As emitter base junction is forward biased the electron from emitter (E) moved towards base
(B) & holes from base (B) moves towards emitter (E). Since emitter is highly doped & base is
lightly doped, the emitter current IE is practically due to electron moving from emitter to base.
3. On entering the base region, electrons recombine with small no. of available holes in the
base region, causing base current IB. Since the base region is light doped, the recombination is
very less & hence IB is very less.
4. The electrons experience a very strong electric field due to reversed biased CB junction &get
swept into the collector region. This constitutes collector current IC.Maximum number of
electrons flow from emitter into the collector. This is possible due to light doping & small size
of base region.

5. The total emitter current IE is given by ---------- (1)

APPLICATIONS OF TRANSISTOR
 It is used in switching electronic circuits.
 It is used as an amplifier.
 It is used in integrated circuits.
Application of Transistor as amplifier
Transistor can work in three different regions like active region, cutoff region & saturation
region. They are turned off while working in the cut-off region and turned on while working in
the saturation region. Transistors work as an amplifier when they work in the active region.The
main function of a transistor as an amplifier is to enhance the input signal. The input of the
amplifier is a voltage otherwise current, where the output will be an amplified input signal.
I. Common Emitter transistor amplifier:
A transistor in which the emitter terminal is made common for both the input and the output
circuit connections is known as common emitter configuration. When this configuration is
provided with alternating current (AC) supply and operated in between both positive and the
negative halves of a.c. cycle to generate the specific output signal is known as common
emitter amplifier. In this type of configuration, the input is applied at the base terminal and
the output is to be collected across the collector terminal. Emitter terminal is common in both
the cases of input as well as output as shown in fig
In this circuit, the Emitter Base junction is forward biased using base - emitter battery VEB
and collector -Base junction is reverse biased using collector - emitter battery Vcc. The low
input signal is applied to the emitter-base junction and the amplified output is obtained across
the Rc load connected in the collector circuit. The collector current is controlled by base
current. When input signal is applied to the base, very small change in base current produces
very large changes in collector current. Therefore, the current gain is substantially high.
II. Common base transistor Amplifier:
In common base configuration, emitter is the input terminal, collector is the output terminal
and base terminal is connected as a common terminal for both input and output.

Fig. shows NPN transistor connected in Common Base configuration. The transistor is biased
to operate in the active region. The battery VEE forward biases the EB junction and the battery
VCC reverse biases CB junction. As signal source Vi is connected to input circuit and a load
resistance RL is connected in output circuit. An output voltage Vo is developed across RL.The
input circuit has a low resistance. Hence a small change in the signal voltage will cause a
significant change in the collector current due to transistor action. Thus, a large voltage drop
occurs when collector current flows through load resistor. Hence a weak signal applied in input
circuit gets amplified in the collector circuit. The output voltage is in phase with the input
signal.
a) Current gain (amplification factor): The ratio of the change in the collector current to
the change in the emitter current at constant collector to base voltage (VCB) is called
the current amplification factor α.

The value of the current amplification factor α is always less than 1.The typical
current gain of a common base amplifier is 0.98

b) Voltage Gain (G): It is the ratio of output signal voltage to input signal voltage.
Question Bank
Q1. What is PN junction diode. Explain the characteristics of PN junction diode in
forward and reverse bias mode.
Q2. What do you understand by avalanche breakdown process in reverse bias PN
junction diode?
Q3. Draw circuit symbol of Zener diode.
Q4. What is Zener diode. Explain its VI characteristics in forward and reverse bias.
Q05. State the applications of Zener diode.
Q06. What is Zener breakdown process? Explain.
Q07.How does a transistor work as amplifier in Common base mode?
Q08. Define (1) current gain α (2) current gain β (3) Voltage gain Av.
Q09.Define Voltage gain Av in Common emitter and common base mode of an
amplifier.
Q10. Give the relation between current gain α and β.
Q11. Explain the formation of energy bands in solids on the basis of band theory of
solids.
Q.12 Distinguish between conductors, semiconductors and insulators.
Q.13 Explain in brief the concept of Fermi energy. Derive an expression for Fermi
energy in intrinsic semiconductor.
Q.14 Define Fermi level.
Q.15 Draw energy band diagram for N- type semiconductor at 0 K and T K.
Q.16 Draw energy band diagram for P- type semiconductor at 0 K and T K.
Q.17When donor impurities are added to a semiconductor, the concentration of holes
decreases.
Explain with reasons.
Q.18 Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors with suitable
examples.
Q.19 Explain the detailed mechanism of current conduction in N-type and P-type
semiconductors.
Q.20 Explain the formation of potential barrier across the junction region of
semiconductor diode.
Q.21 Explain the concept of diffusion current and drift current in a P-N junction
diode.
Q.22 Draw the energy band diagram for symmetrically doped P-N junction when it is
(i) Forward biased (ii) Reverse biased.
Q.23 Explain why in a transistor: (i) Base is thin & lightly doped (ii) Collector region
has large area (iii) Emitter is heavily doped.
Q.24 Explain the action NPN and PNP transistor when operated in Common base
mode.
Q.25 Explain the action NPN and PNP transistor when operated in Common emitter
mode.
Q. 26 Explain the input and output characteristics of NPN transistor when operated in
Common base mode.
Q.27 Explain the input and output characteristics of NPN transistor when operated in
Common emitter mode.
Q.28 What is current gain in a transistor? Derive its relation for common base mode
and common emitter mode transistor.
Q.29 What is Zener diode, draw and explain its V-I characteristics.

1Q.Find d.c. current gain for a PNP transistor in a common emitter mode if
collector current is 2mA and base current is 20μA.
2Q. In an NPN transistor in a common base configuration emitter current is
2mA and base current is 20μA.What are the values of collector current and
current gain?

3Q. When a diode is forward biased a current of 50 mA flows through it. When it
is reverse biased the current drops to 20 nA. What is the ratio of forward to
reverse current?

4Q.A transistor is connected in the CE configuration. The collector supplies

voltage of 10V and the voltage drop across 500 ohms is 0.6V. If α = 0.96, find the
(i) Collector-emitter current (ii) emitter current (iii) base current.

5Q. A transistor has current gain factor α = 0.95. the transistor is connected in
common-emitter configuration. Calculate the change in collector current when
the base current is changed by 0.1 mA.