Basic Electronics

Lecture 01 -

By: Marina Sherbaz

 • Theoretical work
• Practical work

Recommended Text Books:

Electronic devices By Floyd
Teaching plan:

• 03 tests:
• Class exercises
• Short presentations
• Practical exercises:
• Final project
• Final presentation
Introduction to Electronics
 Chapter Outline

• Electronics introduction
• Materials Used in Electronics
• Current in Semiconductors
• N-Type and P-Type Semiconductors
• The PN Junction
 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

• Describe the term electronics

• Discuss insulators, conductors, and
semiconductors and how they differ
• Describe how current is produced in a
semiconductor
• Describe the properties of n-type and
p-type semiconductors
• Describe how a PN junction is formed
 Electronics

The technology concerned with

the design of circuits using
transistors and microchips, and
with the behavior and movement
of electrons in a semiconductor,
conductor, vacuum, or gas.
 Electronics - History

The history of electronics is a story of the twentieth

century and three key components the vacuum tube,
the transistor, and the integrated circuit. In 1883,
Thomas Alva Edison discovered that electrons will
flow from one metal conductor to another through a
vacuum.

The history of electronic engineering is a long one,

“Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary (1972)

defines electronics as "The science and technology of
the conduction of electricity in a vacuum, a gas, or a
semiconductor, and devices based thereon"
 Materials used in electronics

1. Insulators
2. Conductors
3. Semiconductors
 Insulators
• An insulator is a material that does not
conduct electrical current under nor-
mal conditions.
• Valence electrons are tightly bound
to the atom s ; there-fore, there are
very few free electrons in an
insulator.
• Example s of insulator s are rubber,
plastics , glass , mi ca, and quartz.
 Conductors
• A conductor is a material that easily conducts
electrical current. Most metals are good
conductors .
• The best conductors are s ingle-element
materials , such as copper (C u), silver (Ag), gold
(A u), and aluminum (Al)
• Conductors are characterized by atoms with
only one valence electron very loosely
bound to the atom.
• These loosely bound valence electrons become
free electrons .
 Semiconductors
• A semiconductor is a material that is
between conductors and insulators
in its ability to conduct electrical
current.

• Silicon is the most commonly used

semi conductor
 Intrinsic Semiconductors

An intrinsic semiconductor material is

chemically very pure and possesses
poor conductivity.

e.g. Silicon (Si)

 Extrinsic Semiconductor

Where as an extrinsic semiconductor is an

improved intrinsic semiconductor with a
small amount of impurities added by a
process, known as doping, which alters the
electrical properties of the semiconductor
and improves its conductivity. Introducing
impurities into the semiconductor materials
(doping process) can control their
conductivity.
 Band Gap OR Energy Gap

• The difference in energy between the

valence band and the conduction band is
called an energy gap or band gap.
• This is the amount of energy that a
valence electron must have in order to jump
from the valence band to the conduction
band.
• Once in the conduction band, the electron is
free to move through out the material and is
not tied to any given atom.
For insulators , the gap can be crossed only
when breakdown conditions Occur, as when a
very high voltage is applied across the material.

Band Gap
Energy

Conduction band

Band gap

Valence band

0
 In semiconductor the band gap is smaller,
allowing an electron in the valence band to
jump into the conduction band if it ab sorbs a
photon. The band gap depend s on the semi
conductor material.
Energy

Conduction band

Band gap

Valence band

0
In conductors, the conduction band and valence
band overlap, so there is no gap, This means
that electrons in the valence band move freely
into the conduction band, so there are always
electrons available as free electrons.

Energy

Conduction band
Overlap
Valence band

0
 CURRENT IN SEMICONDUCTORS

The electrons of an atom can exist only within

prescribed energy bands. Each shell around the
nucleus corresponds to a certain energy band and is
separated from adjacent shells by band gaps, in
which no electron s can exist.
 Conduction Electrons and Holes
An intrinsic (pure) silicon crystal at room
temperature has sufficient heat (thermal) energy
for some valence electrons to j ump the gap from
the valence band into the conduction band,
becoming free electrons. Free electrons are also
called conduction electrons.

When an electron jumps to the conduction band, a

vacancy is left in the valence band within the
crystal. This vacancy is called a hole .
For every electron raised to the conduction band by
external energy, there is one hole left in the valence
band, creating what is called an electron-hole pair.
Recombination occurs when a conduction-band
electron loses energy and falls back into a hole in
the valence band.
N –TYPE AND P -TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS

Since semiconductors are generally poor

conductors , their conductivity can be drastically
increased by the controlled addition of impurities
to the intrinsic (pure) semi conductive
material. This process , called doping, increases
the number of current carriers (electrons or
holes ). The two categories of impurities are n -
type and p -type
 THE PN JUNCTION

If a piece of intrinsic silicon is

doped so that part is n-type and
the other part is p-type, a PN
junction forms at the boundary
between the two regions and a
diode is created.
 The p region has many holes (majority carriers ) from the Impurity atoms and only
a few thermally generated free electrons (minority carriers). The n region has many
free electrons (majority carriers) from the impurity atoms and only a few thermally
generated hole s (minority carriers)
 Formation of the Depletion Region

When the pn junction is formed, then region loses

free electrons as they diffuse across the junction.
This creates a layer of positive charges (pentavalent ion
s) near the junction.

As the electrons move across the junction, the p

region loses holes as the electrons and holes
combine. This create s a layer of negative charges
(trivalent ions) near the junction.

These two layers of positive and negative charges

form the depletion region
Barrier potential : The amount of energy required to
produce full conduction across the pn junction in forward
bias.
LESSON REVIEW
1. What is the basic difference between conductors
and insulators?
2. How do semiconductors differ from conductors and
insulators?
3. Name three of the best conductive materials.
4. What is the most widely used semi conductive material?
5. What is meant by the term intrinsic?
6. Are free electrons in the valence band or in the
conduction band?
7. Define doping.
8. What is the majority carrier in an n-type
semiconductor?
9. What is the majority carrier in a p-type semiconductor?
10. What is a pn junction?