6.

012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-1

Lecture 15 - The pn Junction Diode (I)

I-V Characteristics

April 3, 2003

Contents:

1. pn junction under bias

2. I-V characteristics

Reading assignment:

Howe and Sodini, Ch. 6, 6.1-6.3

Announcements:

Special HSPICE Athena Office Hours: April 3rd, 1-3

PM and 4-5 PM (38-370 Athena Cluster)
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-2

Key questions

Why does the pn junction diode exhibit current rec-

tification?
Why does the junction current in forward bias increase
as exp qV
kT
?
What are the leading dependences of the saturation
current (the factor in front of the exponential)?
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-3

1. PN junction under bias

Focus on intrinsic region:

p type
n type
x

p type

(a)

metal contact
to p side
(Na) p

x=0

(Nd) n
metal contact to
n side
(b)

Upon application of voltage:

electrostatics upset: depletion region widens or shrinks

current flows (with rectifying behavior)
carrier charge storage
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-4

Carrier profiles in thermal equilibrium:

log po, no

Na
Nd
po no

ni2
ni2 Nd
Na

0 x

Jhdiff

Jhdrift

Jediff

Jedrift

Inside SCR in thermal equilibrium: dynamic balance be-

tween drift and diffusion for electrons and holes.

|Jdrif t| = |Jdif f |
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-5

Carrier concentrations in pn junction under bias:

for V > 0, B V |ESCR| |Jdrif t|

log p, n

Na
Nd
po no

p
n

ni2
ni2 Nd
Na

0 x

Jhdiff

Jhdrift
Jh
Jediff
Jedrift
Je

Current balance in SCR broken:

|Jdrif t| < |Jdif f |

Net diffusion current in SCR

minority carrier injection into QNRs
excess minority carrier concentrations in QNRs

Lots of majority carriers in QNRs current can be high.

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-6

for V < 0, B V |ESCR| |Jdrif t|

log p, n

Na
po Nd
no

ni2
ni2 Nd
Na p
n
0 x

Jh Jhdiff

Jhdrift

Jediff
Je
Jedrift

Current balance in SCR broken:

|Jdrif t| > |Jdif f |

Net drift current in SCR

minority carrier extraction from QNRs
deficit of minority carrier concentrations in QNRs

Few minority carriers in QNRs current small.

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-7

What happens if minority carrier concentrations in QNR

change from equilibrium?
Balance between generation and recombination broken

In thermal equilibrium: rate of break up of Si-Si bonds

balanced by rate of formation of bonds
generation
Si-Si bond no + po
recombination

If minority carrier injection:

carrier concentration above equilibrium
recombination prevails

Si-Si bond n+p

recombination

If minority carrier extraction:

carrier concentrations below equilibrium
generation prevails

generation
Si-Si bond n+p
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-8

Where does generation and recombination take place?

In modern devices, recombination mainly takes place at

surfaces:

perfect crystalline periodicity broken at a surface

lots of broken bonds: generation and recombina-
tion centers
modern devices are very small
high area to volume ratio.

High generation and recombination activity at surfaces

carrier concentrations cannot deviate much from equi-
librium values:

n(s) ' no, p(s) ' po

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-9

Complete physical picture for pn diode under bias:

Forward bias: injected minority carriers diffuse through

QNR recombine at semiconductor surface

log p, n

Na
po Nd
no

p
n
ni2
ni2 Nd
Na

0 x

Reverse bias: minority carriers extracted by SCR

generated at surface and diffuse through QNR

log p, n

Na
po Nd
no

ni2
ni2 Nd
Na p
n
0 x
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-10

The current view:

Forward bias:

p n

hole injection
and recombination at surface

electron injection
and recombination at surface

I=In+Ip

Reverse bias:

p n

hole generation at surface

and extraction

electron generation at surface

and extraction

I=In+Ip
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-11

What limits the magnitude of the diode current?

not generation or recombination rate at surfaces

not injection or extraction rates through SCR
diffusion rate through QNRs

p n

hole injection and

recombination at
surface

electron injection
and recombination
at surface

-Wp -xp xn Wn x

Development of analytical current model:

1. Calculate concentration of minority carriers at edges

of SCR, p(xn) and n(xp)
2. calculate minority carrier diffusion current in each
QNR, In and Ip
3. sum electron and hole diffusion currents, I = In + Ip
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-12

2. I-V characteristics

2 Step 1: computation of minority carrier boundary

conditions at edges of SCR

In thermal equilibrium in SCR, |Jdrif t| = |Jdif f |, and

no(x1) q[(x1) (x2)]

= exp
no(x2) kT

and
po(x1) q[(x1) (x2)]
= exp
po(x2) kT

Under bias in SCR, |Jdrif t| =

6 |Jdif f |, but if difference
small with respect to absolute values of current:

n(x1) q[(x1) (x2)]

' exp
n(x2) kT

and
p(x1) q[(x1) (x2)]
' exp
p(x2) kT

This is called quasi-equilibrium.

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-13

p - + n

p-QNR SCR n-QNR

-xp
0
B-V B 0 xn x

At edges of SCR, then:

n(xn) q[(xn) (xp)] q(B V )

' exp = exp
n(xp) kT kT

and
p(xn) q[(xn) (xp)] q(B V )
' exp = exp
p(xp) kT kT

But:

p(xp) ' Na and n(xn) ' Nd

This is the low-level injection approximation [will discuss

in more detail next time].
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-14

Then:

q(V B )
n(xp) ' Nd exp
kT

and

q(V B )
p(xn) ' Na exp
kT

Built-in potential:

kT NdNa
B = ln
q n2i

Plug in above and get:

n2i qV
n(xp) ' exp
Na kT

and

n2i qV
p(xn) ' exp
Nd kT
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-15

Voltage dependence:

Equilibrium (V = 0):
n2i n2i
n(xp) = p(xn) =
Na Nd
Forward (V > 0):
n2i n2i
n(xp)  p(xn) 
Na Nd
Lots of carriers available for injection:
V concentration of injected carriers
forward current can be high.

Reverse (V < 0):

n2i n2i
n(xp)  p(xn) 
Na Nd
Few carriers available for extraction:
reverse current is small.
There is limit to how low minority carrier concentra-
tions drop in reverse bias: zero!
reverse current saturates.

Rectification property of pn diode arises from minority-

carrier boundary conditions at edges of SCR.
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-16

2 Step 2: Diffusion current in QNR:

Diffusion equation (for electrons in p-QNR):

dn
Jn = qDn
dx
Inside p-QNR, electrons diffuse to reach and recombine
at contact Jn constant in p-QNR n(x) linear.
n

n(-xp)

n(x)

ni2
Na

-Wp -xp x
0

Boundary conditions:

n2i n2i qV
n(x = Wp) = no = n(xp) = exp
Na Na kT

Electron profile:

np(xp) np(Wp)
np(x) = np(xp) + (x + xp)
xp + Wp
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-17

np(xp) np(Wp)
np(x) = np(xp) + (x + xp)
xp + Wp

Electron current density:

dn np(xp) np(Wp)
Jn = qDn = qDn
dx Wp xp

n2i qV n2i
Na exp kT Na
= qDn
Wp xp

or

n2i Dn qV
Jn = q (exp 1)
Na Wp xp kT
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-18

Similarly for hole flow in n-QNR:

p
p(xn)

p(x)

ni2
Nd
x
0 xn Wn

Hole current density:

n2i Dp qV
Jp = q (exp 1)
Nd Wn xn kT
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-19

2 Step 3: sum both current components:

1 Dn 1 Dp qV
J = Jn+Jp = qn2i ( + )(exp 1)
Na Wp xp Nd Wn xn kT

Current:

1 Dn 1 Dp qV
I = qAn2i ( + )(exp 1)
Na wp xp Nd wn xn kT

often written as:

qV
I = Io(exp 1)
kT

with

Io saturation current [A]

B.C.s contain both forward and reverse bias

equation valid in forward and reverse bias.

[will discuss this result in detail next time]

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 15-20

Key conclusions

Application of voltage to pn junction results in disrup-

tion of balance between drift and diffusion in SCR:
in forward bias, minority carriers are injected into
quasi-neutral regions
in reverse bias, minority carriers are extracted from
quasi-neutral regions
In forward bias, injected minority carriers recombine
at surface.
In reverse bias, extracted minority carriers are gener-
ated at surface.
Computation of boundary conditions across SCR ex-
ploits quasi-equilibrium: balance between diffusion
and drift in SCR disturbed very little.
Rate limiting step to current flow: diffusion through
quasi-neutral regions.
I-V characteristics of p-n diode:
qV
I = Io(exp 1)
kT