RAJIV GANDHI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ECE

II Year - III Semester

Electronic Devices and Circuits - EC T34

Academic Year: 2016-2017

UNIT-III

SPECIAL SEMICONDUCTOR
DEVICES

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UNIT – III
Special Semiconductor Devices - Construction, principle of operation and characteristics of
Schottky barrier diode, Varactor diode, Tunnel diode, PIN diode, LED, LCD, UJT, SCR, DIAC
and TRIAC. Photoconductivity – photodiode, APD, phototransistor, LDR, optocoupler, solar
cell, LASER diode and MESFET.

Special Semiconductor Devices

 Semiconductor devices are electronic components that exploit the electronic properties
of semiconductor materials, principally silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, as well
as organic semiconductors. Semiconductor devices have replaced thermionic
devices (vacuum tubes) in most applications. They use electronic conduction in the solid
state as opposed to the gaseous state or thermionic emission in a high vacuum.

Schottky barrier Diode

 The Schottky Barrier Diode is used for its low turn-on voltage; fast recover time; and
low junction capacitance in applications from power rectification to RF signal
applications, and logic.

Circuit symbol

 The Schottky circuit symbol used in many circuit schematic diagrams may be that of an
ordinary diode symbol.
 However it is often necessary to use a specific Schottky diode symbol to signify that a
Schottky diode rather than another one must be used because it is essential to the
operation of the circuit.
 Accordingly a specific Schottky diode symbol has been accepted for use. The circuit
symbol is shown below:

Schottky diode symbol

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 It can be seen from the circuit symbol that it is based on the normal diode one, but with
additional elements to the bar across the triangle shape.

Introduction:

 The charge storage problem of P-N junction can be minimize or limited in

schottky diodes.
 The potential barrier is set with a contact between a metal & semiconductor.

 The rectifying action is depends on majority carrier only.

 As the result there are is o excess minority carrier to recombination hence low
level of reverse recovery time.

 These diodes are used as rectifier at a single frequency exceeding 300 MHz to 20
GHz.

Construction:

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 A schottky diode is shown in figure.It is a metal semiconductor junction diode without
depletion layer.

 On one side of junction a metal like gold, silicon, platinum is used and other side N type
doped semiconductor is used.

 For protection purpose metal layer is surrounded by gold or silver layer.

 The metal film forms the positive electrode and semiconductor is the cathode.

Working:

 Operation is due to the fact that the electrons in different material have different potential
energy.

 N type semiconductors have higher potential energy as compare to electrons of metals.

 When these two are brought together in contact, there a flow of electron in both direction
across the metal-semiconductor interface when contact is first made.

 A voltage is applied to the schottky diode such that the metal is positive with respect to
semiconductor.

 The voltage will oppose the built in potential and makes it easier to current flow.

Advantages:

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 Schottky diode turns on and off faster than ordinary P-N junction diode the basic reason
behind this is that schottky diodes are based on majority carrier.

 As there is no minority carrier there is no worry about depletion layer.

 It has much less voltage overshoot.

Applications

 The Schottky barrier diodes are widely used in the electronics industry finding many uses
as diode rectifier. Its unique properties enable it to be used in a number of applications
where other diodes would not be able to provide the same level of performance. In
particular it is used in areas including:

 RF mixer and detector diode: The Schottky diode has come into its own for radio
frequency applications because of its high switching speed and high frequency capability.
In view of this Schottky barrier diodes are used in many high performance diode ring
mixers. In addition to this their low turn on voltage and high frequency capability and
low capacitance make them ideal as RF detectors.
 Power rectifier: Schottky barrier diodes are also used in high power applications, as
rectifiers. Their high current density and low forward voltage drop mean that less power
is wasted than if ordinary PN junction diodes were used. This increase in efficiency
means that less heat has to be dissipated, and smaller heat sinks may be able to be
incorporated in the design.
 Power OR circuits: Schottky diodes can be used in applications where a load is driven
by two separate power supplies. One example may be a mains power supply and a battery
supply. In these instances it is necessary that the power from one supply does not enter
the other. This can be achieved using diodes. However it is important that any voltage
drop across the diodes is minimized to ensure maximum efficiency. As in many other
applications, this diode is ideal for this in view of its low forward voltage drop.

Schottky diodes tend to have a high reverse leakage current. This can lead to problems
with any sensing circuits that may be in use. Leakage paths into high impedance circuits
can give rise to false readings. This must therefore be accommodated in the circuit
design.
 Solar cell applications: Solar cells are typically connected to rechargeable batteries,
often lead acid batteries because power may be required 24 hours a day and the Sun is not
always available. Solar cells do not like the reverse charge applied and therefore a diode
is required in series with the solar cells. Any voltage drop will result in a reduction in
efficiency and therefore a low voltage drop diode is needed. As in other applications, the
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low voltage drop of the Schottky diode is particularly useful, and as a result they are the
favored form of diode in this application.
 Clamp diode - especially with its use in LS TTL: Schottky barrier diodes may also be
used as a clamp diode in a transistor circuit to speed the operation when used as a switch.
They were used in this role in the 74LS (low power Schottky) and 74S (Schottky)
families of logic circuits. In these chips the diodes are inserted between the collector and
base of the driver transistor to act as a clamp. To produce a low or logic "0" output the
transistor is driven hard on, and in this situation the base collector junction in the diode is
forward biased.
 When the Schottky diode is present this takes most of the current and allows the turn off
time of the transistor to be greatly reduced, thereby improving the speed of the circuit.

An NPN transistor with Schottky diode clamp

 In view of its properties, the Schottky diode finds uses in applications right through from
power rectification to uses in clamp diodes in high speed logic devices and then on to
high frequency RF applications as signal rectifiers and in mixers.
 Their properties span many different types of circuit making them almost unique in the
variety of areas and circuits in which they can be used.

Varactor Diode

Figure 1. - Varactor diode.

 The varactor or varicap is a diode that exhibits the characteristics of a variable
capacitor. The depletion region at the pn junction acts as the dielectric and plates of a
common capacitor and is caused to expand and contract by the voltage applied to the
diode.
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 This action increases and decreases the capacitance. The schematic symbol for the
varactor is shown beside. varactors are used in tuning circuits and can be used as high-
frequency amplifiers.

 The size of the depletion region in a varactor diode is directly related to the bias. Forward
biasing makes the region smaller by repelling the current carriers toward the pn junction.
If the applied voltage is large enough (about .7 volt for silicon material), the negative
particles will cross the junction and join with the positive particles, as shown in figure 2.
This forward biasing causes the depletion region to decrease, producing a low resistance
at the pn junction and a large current flow across it. This is the condition for a forward-
biased diode.

 On the other hand, if reverse-bias voltage is applied to the pn junction, the size of its
depletion region increases as the charged particles on both sides move away from the
junction. This condition, shown in figure 3, produces a high resistance between the
terminals and allows little current flow (only in the microampere range). This is the
operating condition for the varactor diode, which is nothing more than a
special pn junction.

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As the figures3 show, the insulation gap formed by reverse biasing of the varactor is
comparable to the layer of dielectric material between the plates of a common capacitor.
Furthermore, the formula used to calculate capacitance can be applied to both the varactor and
the capacitor.


 In this case, the size of the insulation gap of the varactor, or depletion region, is
substituted for the distance between the plates of the capacitor. By varying the reverse-
bias voltage applied to the varactor, the width of the „gap” may be varied.
 An increase in reverse bias increases the width of the gap which reduces the capacitance
(C) of the pn junction. Therefore, the capacitance of the varactor is inversely
proportional to the applied reverse bias.

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Figure 4: Varactor capacitance depending on bias voltage.
 The ratio of varactor capacitance to reverse-bias voltage change may be as high as 10
to 1. Figure 4 shows one example of the voltage-to-capacitance ratio.
 The upper view shows that a reverse bias of 3 volts produces a capacitance of e.g.
20 picofarads in the varactor.
 If the reverse bias is increased to 6 volts, as shown in the bottom view, the depletion
region widens and capacitance drops to e.g. 5 picofarads. Each 1-volt increase in bias
voltage causes a 5-picofaraddecrease in the capacitance of the varactor; the ratio of
change is therefore 5 to 1. Of course any decrease in applied bias voltage would cause a
proportionate increase in capacitance, as the depletion region narrows. Notice that the
value of the capacitance is small in the picofarad range.

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 In general, varactors are used to replace the old style variable capacitor tuning. They are
used in tuning circuits of more sophisticated communication equipment and in other
circuits where variable capacitance is required.
 One advantage of the varactor is that it allows a dc voltage to be used to tune a circuit
for simple remote control or automatic tuning functions. One such application of the
varactor is as a variable tuning capacitor in a receiver or transmitter tank circuit like that
shown in figure 5.

 Figure 5 shows a dc voltage felt at the wiper of potentiometer R which can be adjusted
between +V and -V. The dc voltage, passed through the low resistance of radio
frequency chokes Dr1 and Dr2, acts to reverse bias varactor diode CR. The capacitance
of C2 is in series with C1 and C3.
 Therefore, any variation in the dc voltage at R will vary both the capacitance of C 2 and
the resonant frequency of the tank circuit. The radio-frequency chokes provides high
inductive reactance at the tank frequency to prevent tank loading by R. C1 and C3 acts to
block dc from the tank as well as to fix the tuning range of C2.
Applications
 Used as a tuning device in receivers.
 It is used in High frequency.
 It is used in adjustable band-pass filter
 It is used in FM modulation.
 It is used in automatic frequency control devices.
 It is used in parametric amplifier.

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Tunnel Diodes
 Tunnel diode is a highly doped semiconductor device and is used mainly for low voltage
high frequency switching applications.
 It works on the principle of Tunneling effect. It is also called as Esaki diode named after
Leo Esaki, who in 1973 received the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the electron
tunneling effect used in these diodes.
 When the impurity concentration is of the order of one part to 103 parts then tunnel
diode is formed.
 This diode has negative resistance region.
 Due to which it is used as an oscillator.
 This diode is uses the tunneling phenomenon.

Circuit symbol

 The tunnel diode is a two terminal device with p type semiconductor acting as anode
and n type semiconductor as cathode. The circuit symbol of tunnel diode is shown.

Tunneling
 The process that an electron from n-side of a pn diode directly penetrates through the
junction into the p-side of diode is called tunneling. It is a quantum –mechanical
behaviors.
Operation
 When a tunnel diode is under unbiased condition then there will not transfer of
electrons from n-side to p-side hence the net current will be zero.

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 When the diode is reverse biased under this condition the electrons from n-side are
attracted by the positive plate and hence move away from the junction.
 As a result the energy level in the n-side decreases when compared to the unbiased
state.
 P α exp (-A*Eb *W)
Where P is the probability that the particle crosses the barrier,
Eb is the barrier energy
W is the barrier width.

 Now, there will be some empty state in valence band of p-side quite opposite to the
empty conduction band.
 Hence tunneling takes place from p to n-side.
 As reverse bias is increased this current increase.
Applications
 Tunnel diode is used as Ultra-high speed switch.
 Used in relaxation oscillator.
 Used as an amplifier.
 Used as logic memory storage device.
 Used as microwave oscillator.
Advantages
 High speed operation
 Ease of operation
 Low noise
 Low cost
 Low power
Disadvantages
 It is two terminal device, there is no isolation between the input and output circuit.
 Voltage range over which it can be operated is 1 V or less.

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PIN Diode
 It has highly improved switching time in comparison with a PN diode.
 PIN diodes are used in microwave switches.
 In PIN diode high resistivity intrinsic layer is sandwiched between the P and N
regions. This results in improved switching time.
 Quite often instead of I-region we actually use either a high resistivity P-region is
called π region and the high resistivity N-region is called γ region.
 The I-region has typically resistivity of 10 Ωm.
Applications of PIN Diode
 Used as pulse and phase shifter.
 Used as SPST and MPST switches.
 Used in amplitude modulation.
 Used as photo detectors in fiber optic systems.
 Used as T-R switch.
 Used as attenuator and duplexer.

PIN diode

 A PIN diode is a diode with a wide, undoped intrinsic semiconductor region between
a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductorregion. The p-type and n-type
regions are typically heavily doped because they are used for ohmic contacts.
 The wide intrinsic region is in contrast to an ordinary PN diode. The wide intrinsic region
makes the PIN diode an inferior rectifier (one typical function of a diode), but it makes
the PIN diode suitable for attenuators, fast switches, photodetectors, and high voltage
power electronics applications.
Operation

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 A PIN diode operates under what is known as high-level injection. In other words, the
intrinsic "i" region is flooded with charge carriers from the "p" and "n" regions. Its
function can be likened to filling up a water bucket with a hole on the side. Once the
water reaches the hole's level it will begin to pour out.
 Similarly, the diode will conduct current once the flooded electrons and holes reach an
equilibrium point, where the number of electrons is equal to the number of holes in the
intrinsic region. When the diode is forward biased, the injected carrier concentration is
typically several orders of magnitude higher than the intrinsic level carrier concentration.
 Due to this high level injection, which in turn is due to the depletion, the electric field
extends deeply (almost the entire length) into the region.
 This electric field helps in speeding up of the transport of charge carriers from P to N
region, which results in faster operation of the diode, making it a suitable device for high
frequency operations.

Characteristics

 A PIN diode obeys the standard diode equation for low frequency signals. At higher
frequencies, the diode looks like an almost perfect (very linear, even for large signals)
resistor. There is a lot of stored charge in the intrinsic region. At low frequencies, the
charge can be removed and the diode turns off. At higher frequencies, there is not enough
time to remove the charge, so the diode never turns off. The PIN diode has a poor reverse
recovery time.
 The high-frequency resistance is inversely proportional to the DC bias current through
the diode. A PIN diode, suitably biased, therefore acts as a variable resistor. This high-
frequency resistance may vary over a wide range (from 0.1 ohm to 10 kΩ in some
cases;[1] the useful range is smaller, though).
 The wide intrinsic region also means the diode will have a low capacitance when reverse
biased.
 In a PIN diode, the depletion region exists almost completely within the intrinsic region.
This depletion region is much larger than in a PN diode, and almost constant-size,
independent of the reverse bias applied to the diode. This increases the volume where
electron-hole pairs can be generated by an incident photon. Some photodetector devices,
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such as PIN photodiodes and phototransistors (in which the base-collector junction is a
PIN diode), use a PIN junction in their construction.
 The diode design has some design tradeoffs. Increasing the dimensions of the intrinsic
region (and its stored charge) allows the diode to look like a resistor at lower frequencies.
It adversely affects the time needed to turn off the diode and its shunt capacitance. PIN
diodes will be tailored for a particular use.

PIN diode uses and advantages

 The PIN diode is used in a number of areas as a result of its structure proving some
properties which are of particular use.
 High voltage rectifier: The PIN diode can be used as a high voltage rectifier. The
intrinsic region provides a greater separation between the PN and N regions, allowing
higher reverse voltages to be tolerated.
 RF switch: The PIN diode makes an ideal RF switch. The intrinsic layer between the P
and N regions increases the distance between them. This also decreases the capacitance
between them, thereby increasing he level of isolation when the diode is reverse biased.
 Photo detector: As the conversion of light into current takes place within the depletion
region of a photodiode, increasing the depletion region by adding the intrinsic layer
improves the performance by increasing he volume in which light conversion occurs.
 These are three of the main applications for PIN diodes, although they can also be used in
some other areas as well.
 The PIN diode is an ideal component to provide electronics switching in many areas of
electronics. It is particularly useful for RF design applications and for providing the
switching, or attenuating element in RF switches and RF attenuators. The PIN diode is
able to provide much higher levels of reliability than RF relays that are often the only
other alternative.

LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED)

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 An LED is a semiconductor p-n junction diode which converts electrical energy to light
energy under forward biasing.
 It emits light in both visible and IR region.
 The amount of light output is directly proportional to the forward current.
 LED structure can be divided into two categories.
 Surface - emitting LED
 Edge - emitting LED
 Surface emitting LED‟s emit light perpendicular to the PN junction plane.
 Edge-emitting LED emits light parallel to the PN in the plane.

Principle and Working

 Injection luminescence is the principle used in LED‟s.

 When LED is forward biased, the majority charge carriers moves from p to n and
similarly from n to p region and becomes excess minority carriers.
 These excess minority carriers diffuse through the junction and recombines with the
majority carriers in n and p region respectively to produce light.
 The light thus produced is emitted from the p-n junction of the diode.
Advantages of LED
 They are smaller in size.
 Its cost is very low.
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 It has long life time.
 It operates LED‟s are available in different colours at low cost.
 Even at very low voltage.
 Response time of LED is very fast in the order of 10 9 seconds.
 Its intensity can be controlled easily.
 It can be operated at a wide range of temperature (0-70˚) C.

Applications of LED
 Used for numeric display in pocket calculators.
 Used for applying input power to lasers.
 Used for entering information into optical computer memories
 Used for solid video displays.
 Used in image sensing circuits.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

 Liquid crystal display is not a semiconductor device as LED.
 LCD‟s display the light, it doesn‟t radiate light energy.
 Therefore, LCD‟s require an external (or) internal source of light so that it can either
transmit (or) reflect the incident light.
 LCD is a passive type display device used to display alpha numeric character and is
seven segment display, watches calculators etc., in which the digits are displayed by the
transmission (or) deflection of the incident light, with very low power consumption.
 Molecules in ordinary liquids have random orientation but in a liquid crystal they are
oriented in a definite crystal pattern.
 Types of LCD‟s
 Dynamic Scattering Displays.
 Twisted nematic display (or) Field effect display
Advantages of LCD
 Low power is required
 Good contrast

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 Low cost
Disadvantages of LCD
 Speed of operation is slow
 LCD occupy a large area
 LCD life span is quite small, when used on d.c. Therefore, they are used with a.c.
suppliers.
Applications of LCD
 Used as numerical counters for counting production items.
 Analog quantities can also be displayed as a number on a suitable device. (e.g.) Digital
multimeter.
 Used for solid state video displays.
 Used for image sensing circuits.
 Used for numerical display in pocket calculators.

UJT-Uni Junction Transistors

 Uni Junction Transistors is also known as double-base diode because it is a 2-layered, 3-
terminal solid-state switching device. It has only one junction so it is called as a uni-
junction device. The unique characteristic feature of this device is such that when it is
triggered, the emitter current increases until it is restricted by an emitter power supply.
Owing to its low cost, it can be used in a wide range of applications including oscillators,
pulse generators and trigger circuits, etc. It is a low-power absorbing device and can be
operated under normal conditions.

There are 3 types of uni junction transistors

 Original Uni-junction transistor

 Complimentary Uni-junction transistor
 Programmable Uni-junction transistor (PUT)

 Original Uni-junction transistor or UJT is a simple device in which a bar of N-type

semiconductor material into which P-type material is diffused; somewhere along its
length defining the device parameter as intrinsic standoff. The 2N2646 is the most
commonly used version of UJT. UJTs are very popular in switching circuits and are
never used as amplifiers. As far as Applications of UJT are concerned, they can be used

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as relaxation oscillators, phase controls, timing circuits and trigger devices for SCRs and
triacs.

 Complimentary Uni-junction transistor or CUJT is a bar of P-type semiconductor

material into which N-type material is diffused somewhere along its length defining the
device parameter as intrinsic standoff. The 2N6114 is one version of CUJT.

 Programmable Uni-junction transistor or PUT is a close relative of thyristor; just like

thyristor, it consists of four P-N layers and has anode and cathode placed at first and last
layers. The N-type layer near the anode is known as anode gate. It is inexpensive in
production.

 Uni Junction transistor is a three terminal semiconductor device consisting of only one
PN junction.
 It differs from ordinary PN diode in the sense that it has three terminals namely Emitter,
Base1 and Base 2.
 The behavior of UJT differs from other transistors like BJT and FET in the sense that it
has no ability to amplify.
 However, it has ability to control large ac power with a small signal.
 It also exhibits a negative resistance characteristic which allows it to be used as an
oscillator.

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Applications of UJT
 Non sinusoidal oscillator
 Timing circuits
 Saw tooth generators
 Triggering device for SCR and TRIAC
 Switching circuits
 Voltage regulated supply

SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier)

 SCR consist of four semiconductor layers forming a PNPN structure.
 It has three PN junctions namely J1, J2, J3.
 There are three terminals called anode (A), cathode (K) and the gate (G).
 The anode terminal is taken out from P1 layer, and the gate (G) terminal from the
P2 layer. It conducts the current in forward direction only.

Operation of SCR

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 SCR is forward bias with a small voltage, it is in „OFF‟ and no current flows through the
SCR.
 The applied forward voltage is increased, a certain critical voltage called forward break
over voltage (VBO).It reaches at the junction J2 breakdown. At this case the SCR switched
„ON‟ position.

 If the SCR is reverse bias, the junction J1 and J3 are reverse bias and junction J2 is
forward bias.
 It has found that most of the voltage will drop across junction J1 only.
 When the applied reverse voltage is small, the SCR is OFF, and there is no current flow
through the device.

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SCR characteristics
 It is the relationship between the anode –cathode voltage and anode current at different
gate current.
 Two types of V-I characteristics
 Forward Characteristics
 Reverse Characteristics
Forward Characteristics
 It is the current drawn between anode-cathode voltage (VAK) and anode current (IA) at
different gate current.
 Adjust the gate current to zero value by keeping the switch open.
 Increase the applied voltage across the SCR in small suitable steps at each step.
 Note the anode current & plot the graph.

Reverse Characteristics
 The reverse characteristic is obtained by reversing the connections of the d.c. supplies
VAA and VGG .
 Adjust the gate current to any suitable value.
 Increase the reverse applied voltage in suitable steps.
 Note the anode current for each steps.
 Now we plot a graph with anode current and anode cathode voltage.

Turning ON (Triggering) SCR

The SCR can be turned ON, from OFF position by anyone of the following methods.
 Gate triggering
 Forward break over voltage
 Light triggering
 Rate-effect
Latching

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 Once the SCR is turned ON, it starts to conduct and remains in conduction state even
when the gate signal is removed. This ability of the SCR to remain conducting, even
when the gate signal is removed, is known as latching.

Turning OFF
 One of the following methods is applied to turn OFF the SCR.
 Reversing polarity of anode-to-cathode voltage called as Gate turn OFF switch (GTO).
 The second method is anode current interruption. Changing anode current by means of
momentarily series or parallel switching arrangement.
 Third method is forced commutation. In this, the current through SCR is reduced below
the holding current.

Applications of SCR
 Power control device
 Relay control
 Regulated power supplies
 Static switches
 Motor control
 Battery charges
 Heater controls
 Phase controls
 For speed control of DC shunt motor
Advantages of SCR
 SCR controls large current in the load by means of a small gate current.
 SCR size is very compact.
 Switching speed is high.

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DIAC

 The diac is a bi-directional trigger diode that is designed specifically to trigger a triac or
SCR. Basically, the diac does not conduct (except for a small leakage current) until the
break over voltage is reached.
 At that point, the diac goes into avalanche conduction. At that point, the device also
exhibits a negative resistance characteristic. The voltage drop across the diac snaps back,
typically about 5 volts, creating a break over current sufficient to trigger a triac or SCR.

 Figure 14 shows a typical schematic symbol.

Figure 14: Diac Schematic Symbol and Equivalent Circuit

 The diac remains in an "off" state, conducting only a small leakage current, until the
applied voltage in either direction is high enough to cause its respective reverse-biased
junction to break down.
 When this happens, the device turns on and current suddenly rises to a value that is
essentially limited only by the resistance in series with the device. The diac, therefore,
functions as a bi-directional switch that will turn on whenever its breakdown voltage is
exceeded in either direction.
 The diac is used as a triggering device because the triac is not equally sensitive to gate
currents flowing in opposite directions. The triggering device helps to compensate for the
triacs non-symmetrical, or non-uniform, triggering characteristics.
 The voltage required to turn on the diac is identical in either direction, and the device is
designed to be as insensitive to temperature changes as possible.
 The diac works in conjunction with resistor Rεand capacitor Cεto produce consistently
accurate gate current pulses that are high enough to turn on the triac at the proper time in
either direction.
 These gate current pulses can have durations as short as several microseconds and still
trigger the triac.
 The peak value and duration of the current pulses applied to the gate are determined by
the value of Cε, the resistance of the diac, and the resistance between the triacs gate and
MTεterminals.

TRIAC

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 The silicon controlled rectifier previously described is capable of controlling current that
is flowing in one direction and is, therefore, a unidirectional device.
 In applications where it is necessary to achieve full control of an AC signal, it is often
much easier to use a device known as a bi-directional triode thyristor.
 This device is more commonly referred to as a triac.
 A triac has basically the same switching characteristics as an SCR; however, it exhibits
these same characteristics in both directions. This makes the triac equivalent to two SCRs
in parallel, but connected in opposite directions.
 A triac is a three-terminal device similar in construction and operation to the
SCR. Figure 12 shows the schematic symbol for a triac.

Figure 12: Triac Construction

 Both the SCR and the triac have a gate lead. However, in the triac the lead on the same
side as the gate is "main terminal 1" and the lead opposite the gate is "main terminal 2."
This method of lead labeling is necessary because the triac is essentially two SCRs back-
to-back, with a common gate and common terminals.
 Each terminal is, in effect, the anode of one SCR and the cathode of another and either
terminal can receive an input. In fact, connecting two SCRs, as shown in Figure 13, can
duplicate the function of a triac.
 The result is a three-terminal device identical to the triac. The common anode-cathode
connections form main terminals 1 and 2, and the common gate forms terminal 3. The
gate basically is capable of directly triggering either equivalent SCR into conduction.
Notice that both of the SCR gates are tied together to show the equivalent relationship.

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Figure 13: Triac Equivalent Circuit
 Unlike an SCR, which can control currents flowing in only one direction, the triac can
control currents flowing in either direction. Therefore, the triac is widely used to control
the application of AC power to various types of loads or circuits.
 The conditions required to turn a triac on or off in either direction are similar to the
conditions required to control an SCR. Both devices can be triggered to the "on" state by
a gate current, and they can be turned off by reducing their operating currents below their
respective holding values.
 In the case of an SCR though, current must flow in the forward direction from cathode to
anode. However, the triac is designed to conduct both forward and reverse currents
through its main terminals.

Photoconductivity

 The photoconductive device is based on the decrease in the resistance of certain

semiconductor materials when they are exposed to both infrared and visible radiation.
 The photoconductivity is the result of carrier excitation due to light absorption and the
figure of merit depends on the light absorption efficiency. The increase in conductivity is
due to an increase in the number of mobile charge carriers in the material.

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Sketch of a photoconductive device

THEORY

 Let us consider a photo conducting slab. It is simply a light sensitive semiconductor

material with ohmic contacts on both ends.
 When the material is illuminated with photons of energy E ≥Eg
 Electron hole pairs are generated and the electrical conductivity of the material increases.

Where Eg is the bandgap energy of the semiconductor material given by

hc
Eg 


Where λ is the wavelength of the incident photon.

 Let I0 be the intensity of monochromatic light falling normally onto the slab. Then the
intensity of transmitted light I is given by

I = I0 exp ( -αD).

 Where α is the absorption coefficient of the material and D is the thickness of the slab.
 Let L and B be the length and breadth of the photoconductive slab respectively. Also let
us assume that the slab absorbs the entire light falling on it.

 Now the light energy falls on the sample per sec is given by I0 BL, Where I0 is the light
energy falling per second on unit area of the slab.

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I 0 BL
 Therefore the number of photons falling on the photoconductor per second 
hv
 Let η- be the quantum efficiency of the absorption process. It is nothing but the fraction
of incident energy absorbed.
I BL
 Therefore the number of photons absorbed per second  0
hv
 Now the average generation rate of charge carriers is given by

I 0 BL I 0
rg  rg 
hvBLD hvD

Desired characteristics of photoconductive materials

 High spectral sensitivity in the wavelength region of interest

 Higher quantum efficiency
 Higher photoconductive gain
 Higher speed of response and
 lesser noise

APPLICATIONS OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY DEVICES

 Light meters

 Infrared detectors

 TV cameras

 Voltage regulator

 Relays and

 Detecting ships and air craft‟s.

Photodiode

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Introduction

 A photodiode is a kind of light detector, which involves the conversion of light into
voltage or current, based on the mode of operation of the device.
 It consists of built-in lenses and optical filters, and has small or large surface areas. With
an increase in their surface areas, photodiodes have a slower response time. Conventional
solar cells, used for generating electric solar power, are a typical photodiode with a large
surface area.
 A photodiode is a semi-conductor device, with a p-n junction and an intrinsic layer
between p and n layers. It produces photocurrent by generating electron-hole pairs, due to
the absorption of light in the intrinsic or depletion region. The photocurrent thus
generated is proportional to the absorbed light intensity.

Working Principle of Photodiodes

 When photons of energy greater than 1.1 eV hit the diode, electron-hole pairs are created.
The intensity of photon absorption depends on the energy of photons – the lower the
energy of photons, the deeper the absorption is. This process is known as the inner
photoelectric effect.
 If the absorption occurs in the depletion region of the p-n junction, these hole pairs are
swept from the junction - due to the built-in electric field of the depletion region. As a
result, the holes move toward the anode and the electrons move toward the cathode,
thereby producing photocurrent.
 The sum of photocurrents and dark currents, which flow with or without light, is the total
current passing through the photodiode. The sensitivity of the device can be increased by
minimizing the dark current.

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Modes of Operation

Photodiodes can be operated in different modes, which are as follows:

 Photovoltaic mode – It is also known as zero bias mode, in which a voltage is generated
by the illuminated photodiode. It provides a very small dynamic range and non-linear
dependence of the voltage produced.
 Photoconductive mode - The diode used in this mode is more commonly reverse biased.
The application of reverse voltage increases the width of the depletion layer, which in
turn reduces the response time and capacitance of the junction. This mode is very fast,
and exhibits electronic noise.
 Avalanche diode mode - Avalanche photodiodes are operated in a high reverse bias
condition, which allow multiplication of an avalanche breakdown to each photo-
generated electron-hole pair. This results in internal gain within the photodiode, which
gradually increases the responsivity of the device.

LDR (Light Dependent Resistor)

What is a Light Dependent Resistor or a Photo Resistor?

 A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) or a photo resistor is a device whose resistivity is a

function of the incident electromagnetic radiation. Hence, they are light sensitive devices.
They are also called as photo conductors, photo conductive cells or simply photocells.
 They are made up of semiconductor materials having high resistance. There are many
different symbols used to indicate a LDR, one of the most commonly used symbol is
shown in the figure below. The arrow indicates light falling on it.

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Working Principle of LDR
 A light dependent resistor works on the principle of photo conductivity.
 Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which the materials conductivity (Hence
resistivity) reduces when light is absorbed by the material.

 When light falls i.e. when the photons fall on the device, the electrons in the valence band
of the semiconductor material are excited to the conduction band. These photons in the
incident light should have energy greater than the band gap of the semiconductor material
to make the electrons jump from the valence band to the conduction band.
 Hence when light having enough energy is incident on the device more & more electrons
are excited to the conduction band which results in large number of charge carriers.
 The result of this process is more and more current starts flowing and hence it is said that
the resistance of the device has decreased. This is the most common working principle
of LDR

Characteristics of LDR
 LDR‟s are light dependent devices whose resistance decreases when light falls on them
and increases in the dark. When a light dependent resistor is kept in dark, its resistance
is very high.
 This resistance is called as dark resistance. It can be as high as 1012 Ω. And if the device
is allowed to absorb light its resistance will decrease drastically.
 If a constant voltage is applied to it and intensity of light is increased the current starts
increasing. Figure below shows resistance vs. illumination curve for a particular LDR.

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 Photocells or LDR‟s are non linear devices. There sensitivity varies with the wavelength
of light incident on them. Some photocells might not at all response to a certain range of
wavelengths. Based on the material used different cells have different spectral response
curves.
 When light is incident on a photocell it usually takes about 8 to 12ms for the change in
resistance to take place, while it takes seconds for the resistance to rise back again to its
initial value after removal of light.
 This phenomenon is called as resistance recovery rate. This property is used in audio
compressors. Also, LDR‟s are less sensitive than photo diodes and photo transistor. (A
photo diode and a photocell (LDR) are not the same, a photo-diode is a p-n junction
semiconductor device that converts light to electricity, whereas a photocell is a passive
device, there is no p-n junction in this nor it “converts” light to electricity).
 Types of Light Dependent Resistors:
 Based on the materials used they are classified as:
 Intrinsic photo resistors (Un doped semiconductor): These are pure semiconductor
materials such as silicon or germanium. Electrons get excited from valance band
to conduction band when photons of enough energy falls on it and number charge
carriers increases.
 Extrinsic photo resistors: These are semiconductor materials doped with
impurities which are called as dopants. Theses dopants create new energy bands
above the valence band which are filled with electrons. Hence this reduces the
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band gap and less energy is required in exciting them. Extrinsic photo resistors are
generally used for long wavelengths.

Construction of a Photocell
 The structure of a light dependent resistor consists of a light sensitive material which is
deposited on an insulating substrate such as ceramic.
 The material is deposited in zigzag pattern in order to obtain the desired resistance &
power rating.
 This zigzag area separates the metal deposited areas into two regions. Then the ohmic
contacts are made on the either sides of the area. The resistances of these contacts should
be as less as possible to make sure that the resistance mainly changes due to the effect of
light only.
 Materials normally used are cadmium sulphide, cadmium selenide, indium antimonide
and cadmium sulphonide. The use of lead and cadmium is avoided as they are harmful to
the environment.

Applications of LDR
 LDR‟s have low cost and simple structure.
 They are often used as light sensors.
 They are used when there is a need to detect absences or presences of light like in a
camera light meter.
 Used in street lamps, alarm clock, burglar alarm circuits, light intensity meters, for
counting the packages moving on a conveyor belt, etc.

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Solar cell operating principles

 Solar cell operation is based on the photovoltaic effect: The generation of a voltage
difference at the junction of two different materials in response to visible or other
radiation.

 Absorption of light - Generation of charge carriers

 Separation of charge carriers
 Collection of the carriers at the electrodes

Thermodynamic approach:

Conversion of energy of solar radiation into electrical energy

Two-step process:

 Solar heat → Chemical energy of electron-hole pairs

 Chemical energy → Electrical energy

Solar heat → Chemical energy of electron-hole pairs

 Non-equilibrium carrier concentration

 Quasi-Fermi energies.

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 Solar cell:
• Absorber layer
• Semi-permeable membranes.

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