Hello! Light emitting diodes are an important type of optoelectronic device.

The
efficiency is much higher than traditional incandescent light bulbs. LEDs are
playing the key role in solid state lighting.
It is also widely used in displays indicator bulbs, etc. In this section we will
look into the working mechanism of LEDs. This is the prerequisites for learning
graphene based LEDs.
First we learn about one of the most important concepts in semiconductor device
physics: the p-n junction.
These are two semiconductors made of the same type of material. Of course, they
have a bandgap. In both cases, the valence band is almost full and the conduction
band almost empty. However, they are doped differently.
Therefore the Fermi levels are at different positions. Note that the Fermi level is
within the bandgap.
We have learned that the bandgap is the so-called forbidden gap. So you would think
that there are no allowed states around the Fermi level. However, this is not the
case.
Even within the bandgap, there are a number of impurity and defect states,
depending mainly on the extent of doping. For simplicity these states are not shown
in this schematic illustration.
In a p-type semiconductor, these extra states are mainly close to the top of the
valence band. The Fermi level here is also slightly above the top of the valence
band, which means many of the impurity states are occupied by electrons.
Remember the Fermi level indicate how the electrons occupy the energy states. Where
do the electrons occupying the impurity states come from? From the valence band.
This action will inevitably leave some holes in the valence band and make the
semiconductor conducting.
On the contrary, in an n-type material the impurity states are primarily located at
slightly below the bottom of the conduction band. Since the Fermi level is also
here, it means these states are largely occupied.
Where do the electrons occupying these states come from? From the dopants. For n-
type doping we need to use some impurity atoms that can donate extra electrons.
As these states are very close to the conduction band, they can be easily excited
to the conduction band as long as they get a small amount of energy, for example,
from thermal excitation at room temperature. We know that when the conduction band
is not empty it is conducting.
So far we have explained the concepts of the p- and n-type semiconductor, and the
origin of their electrical conduction due to doping effect. Now what happens if we
make them touch each other? They will form a so called p-n junction.
Obviously, the number of electrons in the n-type semiconductor is larger than the
p-type semiconductor. So the electrons will diffuse from the n-semiconductor to the
p-semiconductor. Similarly, the holes will migrate from the p-material to the n-
material. This motion is called diffusion.
In the n-material, when those electrons migrate away, only positively charged ions
in the crystal are left. These positively charged ions are in the crystal lattice
and can not move. They are called the space charge and they keep charge neutrality
with the electrons originally.
Similarly, in the p-semiconductor there are negative space charges. The space
charges with opposite signs form an electrical field which is called the built-in
potential.
The built-in potential is schematically shown here. It pushes the electrons to the
right side and holes to the left side. This motion is called drift.
In equilibrium, the drift current and the diffusion current exactly cancel out and
there is no net current. We point out that the drift current is caused by the
built-in electric field so it is an electrical effect.
The diffusion current is caused by the gradient in the carrier concentration so it
is a thermal effect. Anyway, eventually the two effects balance out and the Fermi
level equals.
Let us draw an analogy. You probably know about communicating vessels. The water
levels from two sides have to be equal as long as we open the valve here. Very
similarly, when we let two materials touch each other, the Fermi levels of the two
must equal to each other.
Now we see another function of the Fermi level. It can decide the direction of
electron flow. Electrons move from the high Fermi energy side towards the low Fermi
energy side, just like water always finds its own level.
The built-in potential makes the p-n junction very interesting in terms of
electrical properties. The p-n junction shows rectification effect in its current-
voltage properties, namely the I-V properties. Rectification means the current is
large in one voltage direction while it is almost zero in another voltage
direction.
In this typical I-V curve of a p-n diode, the current is very large at positive
voltage while being small at negative bias. To analyse the detailed mechanism we
need to look into semiconductor physics which is out of the scope of this course.
Here I only provide a simplified explanation. This is the energy band diagram at
equilibrium, namely no bias is applied. The Fermi levels are aligned.
At positive bias, the p-side is connected to the positive electrode of the voltage
source and the n-side is connected to the negative electrode. Therefore, the
external electric field we apply is in the opposite direction against the built-in
field.
As a result, the built-in potential is weakened and the barrier is lowered. That
makes it easier for the electrons to travel leftwards and holes travel rightwards.
Therefore we have a large current.
At negative bias, however, the external field switches its direction. Now it will
enhance the built-in potential. In other words, this barrier will be greatly
enlarged.
Remember under reverse bias the current also changes its sign. Therefore we need
the electrons to travel towards the right and holes to the left.
Can we get a high current here as well? It looks like the answer should be yes,
because the enlarged barrier serves as a childrens slide and the electrons can
just slip down.
However we should remember that there are not many electrons in the p-type material
and the number of holes in the n-material is also very small. Therefore, even
though we have a perfect slide, there are very few children playing with it.
As a result we have a small current and the rectification effect is observed. The
p-n junction is one of the most important concepts in semiconductor physics and it
is the basis for many electronic devices.