LARANA COMPANY

PHYSICS
PROJECT
ON
PN JUNCTION

BY
AYUSH PATERIYA
CLASS 12
 INDEX
Certificate
Acknowledgement
Introduction
Properties of P-n Junction Diode
Symbol for a Semiconductor Diode
Depletion Layer Formation
Formation in a P-n Junction Diode
Forward Biased
Reverse Biased
P-n Junction Diode
Forward Biased P-n Junction Diode
Reversed Biased P-n Junction Diode
Forward Biased Characteristics
Reverse Biased Characteristics
Bibliography
 Certificate
This is to certify that student of
Class XII, Takshashila Public
Model High School , has
completed the project titled ‘‘pn
junction’’ during the academic year
2024-2025 towards partial
fulfilment physics practical
examination conducted by CBSE,
and submitted satisfactory report,
as compiled in the following
pages, under my supervision.
 Acknowledgement
I would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my teacher Mr Pawan Tiwari sir
who gave me the golden opportunity to do
this wonderful project on the topic PN
Junction , which also helped me in doing a
lot of Research and I came to know about so
many new things I am really thankful to
them. Secondly I would also like to thank
my parents and friends who helped me a lot
in finalizing this project within the limited
time frame.

(Ayush Pateriya)
 SEMICONDUCTOR
INTRODUCTION :
Conductors are materials that permit
electrons to flowfreely from particle to
particle. Examples of conductorsinclude
metals, aqueous solutions of salts (i.e., ionic
compounds dissolved in water), graphite, and
the human body.
Insulators are materials that impede the free flow
ofelectrons from atom to atom and molecule to
molecule.Examples of insulators include plastics,
Styrofoam, paper,rubber, glass and dry air

Semiconductors are those substances

whose conductivitylies between conductors
and insulators. e.g., Germanium,Silicon,
Carbon etc.
PN JUNCTION
Also known as a diode.

One of the basics of semiconductor technology.

Created by placing n-type and p-type material in

closecontact.

Diffusion – mobile charges (holes) in p-type combine

withmobile charges (electrons) in n-type.

Region of charges left behind (dopant fixed in

crystallattice)
Group III in p-type (one less than Si-negative
charge).
Group IV in n-type (one more proton than Si-
positivecharge).
Region is totally depleted of mobile
charges–“depletionregion”
Electric field forms due to fixed charges on the
depletionregion.
Depletion region has high resistance due to lack
ofmobile charges.
PROPERTIES OF
PN JUNCTION
The p- and n- sides of PN Junction before the
contact.
The P-N Junction after contact, in equilibrium
and in opencircuit.
Carrier concentrations along the whole device,
through thep-n junction.
Net space charge density across the p-n junction.
 DEPLETION
REGION
In semiconductor physics, the depletion
region, alsocalled depletion layer, depletion
zone, junction region, spacecharge region or
space charge layer, is an insulating
regionwithin a conductive, doped
semiconductor material wherethe mobile
charge carriers have been diffused away, or
havebeen forced away by an electric field.
The only elements leftin the depletion region
are ionized donor or acceptor impurities

.The depletion region is so named because it

is formed from aconducting region by
removal of all free charge carriers,leaving
none to carry a current. Understanding the
depletionregion is key to explainingmodern
semiconductor electronics: diodes, bipolar
junctiontransistors, field-effect transistors,
and variable capacitancediodes all rely on
depletion region.
 Formation in a
PN Junction

A PN junction in forward bias mode, the depletion

widthdecreases. Both p and n junctions are doped at a
1e/cm3doping level, leading to built -potential of
~0.59V.Observethedifferent Quasi Fermi levels for
conduction band and valenceband in n and p regions (red
curves).A depletion region formsinstantaneously across a
pn junction. It is most easilydescribed when the junction is
in thermal equilibrium or ina steady state: in both of these
cases the properties of thesystem do not vary in time; they
have been called dynamicequilibrium. Electrons and holes
diffuse into regions withlower concentrations of electrons
and holes, much as inkdiffuses into water until it is uniformly
distributed. Bydefinition, N-type semiconductor has an
excess of freeelectrons compared to the P-type region, and
P-type has anexcess of holes compared to the N-type
region. Therefore,when N-doped and P-doped pieces of
semiconductor areplaced together to form a junction,
electrons migrate into theP-side and holes migrate into the
N-side. Departure of anelectron from the N-side to the P-
side leaves apositive donor ion behind on the N-side, and
likewise thehole leaves a negative acceptorion on the P-side
Following transfer, the diffused electrons come
into contactwith holes on the P-side and are
eliminated by recombination.Likewise for the
diffused holes on the N-side. The net resultis
the diffused electrons and holes are gone,
leaving behindthe charged ions adjacent to the
interface in a region with nomobile carriers
(That's why it is called the depletion
region;carriers are being depleted). The
uncompensated ions arepositive on the N side
and negative on the P side. This createsan
electric field that provides a force opposing the
continuedexchange of charge carriers. When
the electric field issufficient to arrest further
transfer of holes and electrons,the depletion
region has reached its equilibrium
dimensions.Integrating the electric field across
the depletion regiondetermines what is called
the built-in voltage (also called the junction
voltage or barrier voltage or contact potential).

Mathematically speaking, charge transfer in

semiconductordevices is due both to
conduction driven by the electric field(drift)
and by diffusion. For a P-type region, where
holes
 conduct with electrical conductivity σ
and diffuse withdiffusion constant D
, the net current density is given by
j=σ E -D∇qp
with q the elementary charge( 1.6×10−19 coulomb) and
the hole density (number per unit volume).
Conduction forcesthe holes along the direction of the
electric field. Diffusionmoves the carriers in the
direction of decreasingconcentration, so for holes a
negative current results for apositive density gradient.
(If the carriers are electrons, wereplace the whole
density p by the negative of the electron density n
; in some cases, both electrons and holesmust be
included.) When the two current componentsbalance,
as in the pn-junction depletion region at
dynamicequilibrium, the current is zero due to the
Einstein relation,which relates Dto σ .
 Forward bias
Forward bias (P positive with respect to N) narrows
thedepletion region and lowers the barrier to carrier
injection(shown in the figure to the right). In more detail,
majoritycarriers get some energy from the bias field, enabling
themto go into the region and neutralize opposite charges.
Themore bias the more neutralization (or screening of ions in
theregion) occurs. The carriers can be recombined to the
ionsbut thermal energy immediately makes recombined
carriertransition back as Fermi energy is in proximity. When bias
isstrong enough that the depletion region becomes very
thin,the diffusion component of the current greatly increases
andthe drift component decreases. In this case, the net current
isrightward in the figure of the p-n junction. The carrierdensity
is large (it varies exponentially with the applied biasvoltage),
making the junction conductive and allowing a largeforward
current.

The mathematical description of the currentis provided by the

Shockley diode equation. The low currentconducted under
reverse bias and the large current underforward bias is an
example.
 Reverse bias
Under reverse bias (P negative with respect to N),
thepotential drop (i.e.,voltage) across the depletion
regionincreases. In more detail, majority carriers are
pushed awayfrom the junction, leaving behind more
charged ions. Thusthe depletion region is widened
and its field becomesstronger, which increases the
drift component of current and decreases the
diffusion component. In this case, the netcurrent is
leftward in the figure of the p-n junction. Thecarrier
density (mostly, minority carriers) is small and only a
very small reverse saturation current
flows.
 PN Junction
diode
If one side of a single crystal of pure
semiconductor(Germanium or Silicon) is
doped with acceptor impurity atoms and the
other side is doped with donor impurity atoms,
a PN junction is formed as shown in Fig. P
region has a high concentration of holes and N
region contains a large number of electrons.
 As soon as the junction is formed, free electrons and
holes cross through the junction by the process of
diffusion. During this process, the electrons crossing
the junction from N-region into the P region, recombine
with holes in the P-region very close to the junction.
Similarly holes crossing the junction from the P-region
into the N-region, recombine with electrons in the N-
region very close to the junction. Thus a region is
formed, which does not have any mobile charges very
close to the junction. This region is called depletion
region. In this region, on the left side of the junction, the
acceptor atoms become negative ions and on the right
side of the junction, the donor atoms become positive
ions .
An electric field is set up, between the donor and
acceptor ions in the depletion region.

The potential at the N-side is

higher than the potential at P-side. Therefore electrons
in theN-side are prevented to go to the lower potential
of P-side.Similarly, holes in the P-side find themselves
at a lowerpotential and are prevented to cross to the N-
side. Thus,there is a barrier at the junction which
opposes themovement of the majority charge carriers.
The difference ofpotential from one side of the barrier
to the other side iscalled potential barrier. The potential
barrier isapproximately 0.7V for a silicon PN junction
and 0.3V for agermanium PN junction. The distance
from one side of thebarrier to the other side is called
the width of the barrier,which depends upon the nature
of the material.
 Forward Biased
P N Junction
Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to P-
side and negative terminal to the N-side, so that the potential
difference acts in opposite direction to the barrier potential
,then the PN junction diode is said to be forward biased. When
the PN junction is forward biased (Fig), the applied positive
potential repels the holes in the P-region, and the applied
negative potential repels the electrons in the N-region, so the
charges move towards the junction. If the applied potential
difference is more than the potential barrier, some holes and
free electrons enter the depletionregion

Hence, the potential barrier as well as the width of the depletion region are
reduced. The positive donor ions and negative acceptor ions within the depletion
region regain electrons and holes respectively. As a result of this, the depletion
region disappears and the potential barrier also disappears. Hence, under the
action of the forward potential difference, the majority charge carriers flow
across thejunction in opposite direction and constitute current flow inthe forward
direction.
 Reverse Biased
P-N Junction
Diode:
When the positive terminal of the battery is connected to theN-side
and negative terminal to the P-side, so that the applied potential
difference is in the same direction as that of barrier potential, the
junction is said to be reverse biased. When the PN junction is reverse
biased (Fig), electrons in the N region and holes in the P-region are
attracted away from the junction. Because of this, the number of
negative ions in the P-region and positive ions in the N-region
increases. Hence the depletion region becomes wider and the
potential barrier isincreased.

Since the depletion region does not contain majority charge

carriers, it acts like an insulator. Therefore, no current should
flow in the external circuit. But, in practice, a very small
current of the order of few microamperes flows in the
reverse direction. This is due to the minority carriers flowing
in the opposite direction. This reverse current is small
,because the number of minority carriers in both regions is
very small. Since the major source of minority carriers is,
thermally broken covalent bonds, the reverse current mainly
depends on the junction temperature.
 Symbol for a Semiconductor
Diode:
The diode symbol is shown in Fig. The P-
type and N-type regions are referred to
as P-end and N-end respectively. The
arrow on the diode points the direction
of conventional current.
 Forward Bias
Characteristics
The circuit for the study of forward bias characteristics
of PN junction diode is shown in Fig a. The voltage
between P-endand N-end is increased from zero in
suitable equal steps andthe corresponding currents are
noted down. Fig b shows theforward bias characteristic
curve of the diode. Voltage is theindependent variable.
Therefore, it is plotted along X-axis.Since, current is the
dependent variable, it is plotted againstY-axis. From the

characteristic curve, the following conclusions can be made.(i) The

forward characteristic is not a straight line. Hence theratio V/I is not a
constant (i.e) the diode does not obeyOhm's law. This implies that the
semiconductor diode is anon-linear conductor of electricity. (ii) It can
be seen fromthe characteristic curve that initially, the current is
verysmall. This is because , the diode will start conducting, onlywhen
the external voltage overcomes the barrier potential
(0.7V for silicon diode). As the voltage is increased to 0.7 V ,large
number of free electrons and holes start crossing the junction. Above
0.7V, the current increases rapidly. The voltage at which the current
starts to increase rapidly is known as cut-in voltage or knee voltage of
the diode.
 Reverse Bias
Characteristics
The circuit for the study of reverse bias characteristics of PN junction diode is
shown in Fig a. The voltage is increasedfrom zero in suitable steps. For each
voltage, thecorresponding current readings are noted down. Fig b showsthe
reverse bias characteristic curve of the diode. From thecharacteristic curve, it
can be concluded that, as voltage isincreased from zero, reverse current (in the
order ofmicroamperes) increases and reaches the maximum value ata small
value of the reverse voltage. When the voltage isfurther increased, the current
is almost independent of thereverse voltage upto a certain critical value. This
reversecurrent is known as the reverse saturation current or leakagecurrent.
This current is due to the minority charge carriers,which depends on junction
temperature.
THANK
YOU