ECE 373, Part III

P-N Junction
Russell Ohl (1898-1987)
The inventor of the pn junction
In 1940, he asked Bell Lab chemists to prepare a
very pure Si ingot. The ingot was doped n-type at
one end and p-type at the other end. When the cut
was made across the boundary, Ohl discovered the
first p-n junction device Si photodetector.
Brattain correctly interpreted the effect as related
to the p-n junction

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P-N Junction: Fabrication

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P-N Junction: Fabrication
(a) Planar diffusion process
that forms junction curvature
near the edge of the diffusion
mask, where rj is the radius
of curvature. (b) Cylindrical
and spherical regions formed
by diffusion through a
rectangular mask.

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 P-N Junction: Band diagram
EC EC
EF
EF
EV EV

n-type p-type

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P-N Junction: Band diagram

EC

EC
EF EF
EV

EV p-type

n-type

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 P-N Junction

(a) Uniformly doped p-type and n-type semiconductors before the junction
is formed. (b) The electric field in the depletion region and the energy band
diagram of a p-n junction in thermal equilibrium. 6
P-N Junction: Band diagram

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P-N Junction
(a) Space charge
distribution in the
depletion region at
thermal
equilibrium.
(b) Electric-field
distribution. The
shaded area
corresponds to the
built-in potential.

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P-N Junction
(a) One-sided abrupt junction
(with NA >> ND) in thermal
equilibrium.
(b) Space charge distribution.
(c) Electric-field distribution.
(d) Potential distribution with
distance, where Vbi is the
built-in potential.

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P-N Junction: Carrier
Concentration

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P-N Junction: Built-in Voltage

At T=300K,
Vth=25 meV
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P-N Junction: Depletion Width

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P-N Junction Under Bias

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P-N Junction Under Bias
Schematic representation
of depletion layer width
and energy band
diagrams of a
p-n junction under
various biasing
conditions.
a) Thermal-equilbrium
condition. (b) Forward-
bias condition. (c)
Reverse-bias condition.

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P-N Junction Under Bias
Depletion region,
energy band
diagram and
carrier
distribution.

(a) Forward bias.

(b) Reverse bias.

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