Solution for Midsem examination, Spring 23-24
1a) Drift current:
(i) It is due to the movement of carriers in response to an implemented electric field.
(ii) Direction of the drift current is always in the direction of the electric field. [0.5x2 ]
Diffusion Current:
(i) The movement of charge carriers from higher concentration to lower concentration
generates diffusion current. This occurs when a semiconductor is doped non-
uniformly then there is a non-uniform distribution of carriers or a concentration
gradient.
(ii) Direction of the diffusion current depends on the slope of the carrier concentration.
b) Si is preferred over Ge due to the following reasons
(i) Silicon is much more abundant than germanium in the earth's crust, which makes it more
economical to use in semiconductor manufacturing.
(ii) Silicon has better thermal conductivity than germanium, which means that it can
handle higher operating temperatures without suffering from thermal damage. [0.5x2]
c) An intrinsic semiconductor at absolute zero, behaves as a perfect insulator. The amount
of energy required to break a covalent bond is 0.72 eV in case of germanium and 1.11 eV in
case of silicon.
As we increase the temperature, electrons from the valence band are able to jump to the
conduction band, creating free movement between the two bands, thus, increasing the
conductivity. The higher the temperature, the higher is the concentration of charge carriers
as more charge carriers are made available.
[0.5x2]
d) Collector is larger than base and emitter because base collector is reverse biased, hence
the current flow here due to the minority carriers and the large power dissipation takes place
by the majority carriers, this power dissipated in the form of heat. So to cool the device
from heat we made the larger area.
[1]
e) V-I Characteristics of Zener diode [1]
2(a) Insulators[1]
The materials which does not allow the flow of electric current through them are called as
insulators. Insulators are also called as poor conductors of electricity.Normally, in insulators
the valence band is fully occupied with electrons due to sharing of outer most orbit electrons
with the neighbouring atoms. Where as conduction band is empty, I.e, no electrons are
present in conduction band.The forbidden gap between the valence band and conduction
band is very large in insulators. The energy gap of insulator is >5 electron volts (eV).The
electrons in valence band cannot move because they are locked up between the atoms. In
order move the valence band electrons in to conduction band large amount of
external energy is applied which is equal to the forbidden gap. But in insulators, this is
practically impossible to move the valence band electrons in to conduction band. Rubber,
wood, diamond, plastic are some examples of insulators. Insulators such as plastics are used
for coating of electrical wires. These insulators prevent the flow of electricity to unwanted
points and protect us from electric shocks.
Conductors[1]
The materials which easily allow the flow of electric current through them are called as
conductors. Metals such as copper,silver, iron, aluminum etc. are good conductors of
electricity. In a conductor, valence band and conduction band overlap each other as shown in
figure. Therefore, there is no forbidden gap in a conductor.A small amount of applied
external energy provides enough energy for the valence band electrons to move in to
conduction band.Therefore, more number of valence band electrons can easily moves in to
the conduction band.When valence band electrons moves to conduction band they becomes
free electrons. The electrons present in the conduction band are not attached to the nucleus of
aatom.In conductors, large number of electrons are present in conduction band at room
temperature, I.e, conduction band is almost full with electrons. Where as valence band is
partially occupied with electrons. The electrons present in the conduction band moves freely
by carrying the electric current from one point to other.
Semiconductors[1]
The material which has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator is
called as semiconductor. Silicon, germanium and graphite are some examples of
semiconductors.In semiconductors, the forbidden gap between valence band and conduction
band is very small. It has a forbidden gap of about 1 electron volt (eV).
b) ni=2.3x1013cm-3
hole concentration p= 5.2x1010cm-3
1.071x1016 cm-3 [2]
Q3a).Zener diode acts as voltage regulator.
[1]
The output voltage vz remains constant,we can vary supply voltage or
load resistance to see how zener diode makes constant output voltage.[2]
Q3 b).
Equivalent circuit of diode is a combination of electric elements which
when connected in a circuit act exactly as does the device when
connected in the same circuit. [.5]
They are
Piecewise linear model circuit [.75]
Simplified model circuit[.75]
Q4.
a) Half wave rectifier operation:
Diagram: [0.5] Waveforms: [0.5]
Description of working mechanism [1 mark]
One diode D is used and diode is ON for +ve half cycle. For –Ve half cycle diode is reverse biased and
hence it is OFF.So for each +ve cycle, current flows through load resistance R . Output voltage is shown
in Fig.
Ripple factor: Ratio between RMS value of ripple component and DC value. For half wave rectifier,
ripple factor=1.21. [0.5]
,
Efficiency : [0.5]
b) Diode current equation :
Where VD is the applied voltage across diode, VT is the thermal voltage (25.9mV at room temperature).
After simplification and taking log both side,
[1 mark]
Putting all the values, VD= 0.87V [1 mark]
5a)IE current is always largest in transistor. IB current is always smallest.
IE & IC are are the two currents which are relatively close in
magnitude.[1+1+1]
b) [1+1]
