ELEC4510-fall/2011

Tutorial -7

huangtongde@ust.hk

PN junction and fabrication-I

Grown, alloyed, diffusion, and implantation junction.

Abrupt

Implantation

vs.

Diffusion

Performed at low temperature, thus immunity to impurity

PN junction and fabrication-II

Fabrication of PN junction and Al electrode deposition

Mask used to defined the junction region: SiO2, photoresist

Types of junction
Two proles encountered most often in real devices
Easy to analyze from device physics point of view

Abrupt

Good approximation for shallow,

high concentration junctions (xj <
1m) and epitaxially grown junctions

Graded

Good approximation for

deep junctions (xj > 3 m)

The PN Junction Diode

Quick view of PN junction properties:
Rectify
Increase exponentially at forward bias
Saturate at reverse bias

PN junction-physics process
As conduction electrons and holes diffuse across the junction,
they leave behind ionized dopants. Thus, a region that is
depleted of mobile carriers is formed.

E-field

Efn
Efp

Built-in potential

PN junction-Built-in potential
N-region n N d N c e

qV 1 kT

kT N c
V1
ln
q
Nd

ni
kT N c N a
qV 2 kT
P-region n
Nce
V2
ln
2
Na
q
ni

kT
bi V 2 V 1
q

bi

Nc Na
Nc
ln
ln
2

Nd
ni

kT N d N a
ln
2
q
ni

(Unit: Volts)
Built-in potential

Recall previous tutorial: built-in potential in non-uniformly doped semiconductor

PN junction- Poissons Equation

Gausss Law:

s: permittivity (~12o for Si)

: charge density (C/cm3)

E ( x)

E ( x + Dx)

Dx
x

Poissons equation

PN junction- E-field in depletion

In the depletion region on the N side:

dE qN D

dx si
si
E
(x)

si

x b

In the depletion region on the P side:

qND
a
-b
-qNA

qN D

dE qN A

dx si
si
E

qN A

si

a x

aN A bND

PN junction- depletion width

W x no x po
x po N a x no N d

qNa

si

xno

Know the E, Vbi,

W

Na Nd
2kT
ln
2
2
q
ni

1
1

Na Nd

Try to derive this expression for W

EXAMPLE: A P+N junction has Na=1020 cm-3 and Nd

=1017cm-3. What is a) its built in potential, b)Wdep , c)xN ,
and d) xP ?
Solution:
a)
kT N d N a
1020 1017 cm6
bi
ln
0.026V ln
1V
2
20
6
q

ni

10 cm

1/ 2

b) W 2 sbi 2 12 8.85 10 1
dep
1.6 1019 1017
qN d

14

c) xN Wdep 0.12 m
d) xP xN N d N a 1.2 104 m 1.2 0

0.12 m

PN junction- Minority Carrier

Injection
n( xP ) N c e

( Ec E fn ) / kT

Nce

( Ec E fp ) / kT ( E fn E fp ) / kT

nP 0 e

( E fn E fp ) / kT

nP 0e qV / kT

EEcc

The minority carrier

EEfnfnfn
fp
EEfp

EEv v

densities are raised

by eqV/kT

xx

xN0 x0 P
N

a
qV

kT
n p n( x p ) n p n p e 1

PN junction- Minority Carrier

Injection
The potential barrier to carrier diffusion is decreased by a forward
bias; thus, carriers diffuse across the junction.
The minority-carrier concentrations at the edges of the depletion
region are changed by the factor e qVD / kT
60 mV rule
np(x)

np0

x'
edge of depletion region

Equilbrium concentration
of electrons on the P side:

n p0

ni2

NA

EXAMPLE: Carrier Injection

A PN junction has Na=1019cm-3 and Nd=1016cm-3. The applied
voltage is 0.6 V.
Question: What are the minority carrier concentrations at the
depletion-region edges?
Solution:

n( xP ) nP 0eqV kT 10 e0.6 0.026 1011 cm-3

p( xN ) pN 0eqV kT 104 e0.6 0.026 1014 cm-3

Question: What are the excess minority carrier concentrations?

Solution: n( xP ) n( xP ) nP 0 1011 10 1011 cm-3

p( xN ) p( xN ) pN 0 1014 104 1014 cm-3

PN junction- Minority Carrier Injection

The current flowing across the junction is comprised of
hole diffusion and electron diffusion components:
J J n ( x p ) J p ( x p ) = J n ( xn ) J p ( X n )
Negligible drift current
J p ( x ) qD p

x xn
Lp

dp ( x )
e
= qD pp ( xn )
dx
Lp

= qD p

p ( x)
Lp

x x p

dn( x)
e Ln
J n ( x) qDn
= qDnn( x p )
dx
Ln

= qDn

Dn n p D p pn qVa
Dn

Dp
2
kT

I AJ = qA

e 1 = qAni

L p

n
N a Ln N d L p

n( x)
Ln

qVa

e kT 1

PN junction- Injected minority carrier

distribution
Ideal diode equation:

Questions
As the mid-term approaches, I received lots of
emails asking question in notes and HW
In order to give you more detailed explanation,
please bring your questions and discuss with
me after tutorial