Semiconductor Basics. George Domingo

3.4 The zincblende structure of GaAs is very similar to that of Si, t...Figure 3.5 The unit structure of CdTe shows how the cadmium, valence two, an...Figure 3.6 The silicon atom has four electrons in the outer shell, shells 3s...Figure 3.7 A two‐dimensional representation of the silicon crystal showing h...Figure 3.8 A lonely Sb atom in a sea of Si atoms bonds to the surrounding Si...Figure 3.9 Energy diagram of a semiconductor doped with donor atoms. At abso...Figure 3.10 The boron atom surrounded by a huge number of Si atoms takes the...Figure 3.11 The energy of the boron empty bond is very close to the valence ...Figure 3.12 the resistivity of n‐ and p‐type silicon changes drastically as ...Figure 3.13 Point defects in semiconductors, interstitial atoms or vacancies...Figure 3.14 Line dislocations, adding or losing a plane of atoms, also cause...Figure 3.15 There are many native and doped impurities in Si that have very ...Figure 3.16 The Fermi level in n‐ and p‐type semiconductors at 0 K are in th...Figure 3.17 Intrinsic and doped semiconductors energy bands at 300 K. In the...

      4 Chapter 4Figure 4.1 Hershel’s experiment consisted of placing a thermometer beyond th...Figure 4.2 The entire radiation spectrum goes from gamma to radio waves, and...Figure 4.3 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, who studied electromagnetic waves, was rew...Figure 4.4 The sun's radiation spectrum is strongest in the range of wavelen...Figure 4.5 The earth’s atmosphere is opaque except in the visible range and ...Figure 4.6 Visible and infrared photographs comparing the cold body of a sco...Figure 4.7 On the right the man hides his arm with a plastic bag. The arm is...Figure 4.8 This infrared image of houses shows where heat is lost due to lac...Figure 4.9 The Eagle nebula captured by the Hubble telescope using the visib...Figure 4.10 At very close to absolute zero all the electrons from the donor ...Figure 4.11 A photon with energy greater than 0.054 eV hits the As‐doped sil...Figure 4.12 Cross‐section of an arsenic doped infrared detector showing the ...Figure 4.13 A photograph of the contacts and indium bumps that define and co...Figure 4.14 A completed detector assembly with the detector array on top of ...Figure 4.15 The primary mirror of the Jack Webb telescope consists of very l...Figure 4.16 The reflection and refraction of light as it moves from air to w...Figure 4.17 Light dispersion as it crosses a prism, separating the different...Figure 4.18 Gustav Kirchhoff defined the term “blackbody,” an object which w...Figure 4.19 Max Planck solved the radiation problem by assuming that energie...Figure 4.20 The spectral emittance of a blackbody as a function of wavelengt...

      5 Chapter 5Figure 5.1 If a box full of sand is placed adjacent to an empty one, the san...Figure 5.2 An n‐type semiconductor at room temperature has lots of electrons...Figure 5.3 When there is no separation between the p‐ and n‐type semiconduct...Figure 5.4 A positive potential in the n‐type semiconductor pulls electrons ...Figure 5.5 A positive potential applied to the p‐type semiconductor attracts...Figure 5.6 The characteristic curves of a pn‐junction show current increasin...Figure 5.7 The analogy of the sand boxes with a tilt toward the full box, re...Figure 5.8 The symbol for a diode showing the direction of the current when ...Figure 5.9 Diode characteristics showing the turn‐on voltage, or the knee. N...Figure 5.10 Symbols for Schottky and Zener diodes.Figure 5.11 The water in the small container on the right will boil over int...Figure 5.12 A classical ball will cross the barrier only if its energy is hi...Figure 5.13 In quantum mechanics the probability of finding an electron is e...Figure 5.14 A Zener diode has such a thin transition region (A), that electr...Figure 5.15 The tunnel diode characteristics show a high reverse bias curren...Figure 5.16 The pn‐junction at 0 K has all the levels below the Fermi level ...Figure 5.17 The same pn‐junction as in Figure 5.16 but now at 300 K it has e...Figure 5.18 If the p‐type semiconductor has half the concentration of impuri...Figure 5.19 The vacuum level E_VA is the same for all materials. The Fermi le...Figure 5.20 The Shockey diode under the forward bias condition (D) the barri...

      6 Chapter 6Figure 6.1 A fluidic analogue of an electrical circuit with resistance to th...Figure 6.2 Resistors in series (left) divides the voltage and in parallel (r...Figure 6.3 A flexible membrane stores water. Water flows almost instantaneou...Figure 6.4 When I turn the pump on, there is current through the sand box an...Figure 6.5 A capacitor consists of two parallel plates separated by an insul...Figure 6.6 An inductor stores electric energy in the form of a magnetic fiel...Figure 6.7 When the pump is turned on, the water wheel starts moving, first ...Figure 6.8 The 120 V electrical oscillating voltage, AC, in the USA.Figure 6.9 A transformer consists of two coils sharing the same magnetic cor...Figure 6.10 Using transformers in an electrical distribution system we can e...Figure 6.11 The sinusoidal current through a resistor is in phase with the v...

      7 Chapter 7Figure 7.1 When a photon strikes the transition region of a solar cell the e...Figure 7.2 A rectifier circuit only lets the positive swing of the current p...Figure 7.3 A capacitor in parallel with a resistor stores charges during the...Figure 7.4 A full‐wave rectifier with a smoothing capacitor uses both positi...Figure 7.5 Full‐wave rectification using the middle tap of a transformer.Figure 7.6 A reverse current protection circuit prevents damage to the delic...Figure 7.7 A clamping circuit shifts the sinusoidal wave so that the entire ...Figure 7.8 A voltage clipper prevents the output voltage going over a specif...Figure 7.9 A half‐wave voltage doubler circuit results in an output voltage ...Figure 7.10 A simplified equivalent circuit for a voltage doubler.Figure 7.11 A circuit that makes the output voltage four times as high as th...Figure 7.12 Diodes are used to bypass damaged solar cell panels.Figure 7.13 A voltage clipper using Zener diodes can clip the voltage depend...Figure 7.14 An equivalent diode rectifier circuit when the diode is reversed...

      8 Chapter 8Figure 8.1 A small water flow on the upper pipe controls a much larger flow ...Figure 8.2 The structure of an npn‐transistor consists of a narrow p‐type se...Figure 8.3 When we apply external voltages to an npn‐transistor the internal...Figure 8.4 Some balls fall from a box full of ping‐pong balls (electrons) on...Figure 8.5 The collector current, I_c is proportional to the emitter current,...Figure 8.6 Adding a sinusoidal signal to the base of a transistor properly b...Figure 8.7 Symbols for pnp‐ and npn‐transistors. The arrows show the directi...Figure 8.8 Transistor performance is graphically given by the collector curr...Figure 8.9 The structure of an n‐type JFET consists of one type of semicondu...Figure 8.10 A JFET with a positive voltage at the gates creates two depletio...Figure 8.11 The voltage between the drain and the gate is different to that ...Figure 8.12 The idealized characteristics of a pnp JFET show three distinct ...Figure 8.13 The pinch‐off voltage grows and moves closer to the source as th...Figure 8.14 In a MOSFET one of the two semiconductor gates in a JFET is repl...Figure 8.15 If the gate of a p‐type MOSFET is positive, electrons are attrac...Figure 8.16 A MOSFET showing the region with electrons in the channel under ...Figure 8.17 Idealized source to drain current as a function of the drain vol...Figure 8.18 In a depletion mode MOSFET the channel is made more resistive by...Figure 8.19 The relationships of the variety of transistors discussed in thi...Figure 8.20 The energy bands in an npn‐transistor (left) and what happens to...

      9 Chapter 9Figure 9.1 The emitter feedback bias circuit has the highest stability as th...Figure 9.2 This flow diagram shows how the emitter negative feedback stabili...Figure 9.3 Emitter feedback bias circuit with the resistor values we need to...Figure 9.4 The load line that determines the output voltage–current relation...Figure 9.5 By adding a sinusoidal signal using capacitors we can modulate th...Figure 9.6 From a sinusoidal source point of view the capacitors and the bat...Figure 9.7 The AC equivalent circuit of a transistor consisting of an input ...Figure 9.8 We can superimpose the sinusoidal signals on the transistor chara...Figure 9.9 The fixed bias circuit is simpler than the collector feedback cir...Figure 9.10 The load line on the transistor characteristic curves for a fixe...Figure 9.11 The fixed bias circuit with the resistance values we have calcul...Figure 9.12 The collector feedback bias circuit is a different way of stabil...Figure 9.13 Stabilization diagram of the collector feedback circuit.Figure 9.14 By connecting two transistor circuits with appropriate capacitor...Figure 9.15 By adding a