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The p-n Junction 
D1 
 
Head of Experiment: Sergei Popov 
 
 
The following experiment guide is NOT intended to be a step-by-step manual for the 
experiment but rather provides an overall introduction to the experiment and outlines 
the important tasks that need to be performed in order to complete the experiment. 
Additional sources of documentation may need to be researched and consulted 
during the experiment as well as for the completion of the report. This additional 
documentation must be cited in the references of the report. 
  
 
 
 
RISK ASSESSMENT AND STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE 
 
1. PERSON CARRYING OUT ASSESSMENT 
Name Geoff Green Position Chf Lab Tech Date 18/09/08 
2. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY 
D1  Experiments with P-N Diodes 
3. LOCATION 
Campus SK Building Huxley Room 403 
4. HAZARD SUMMARY 
Accessibility X 
 
Mechanical       
Manual 
Handling 
X 
 
Hazardous 
Substances 
X 
Electrical X 
 
Other X 
Lone Working 
Permitted? 
Yes       No   Permit-to-
Work 
Required? 
Yes       No   
5. PROCEDURE PRECAUTIONS 
Use of 240v Mains Powered Equipment 
Isolate Socket using Mains Switch before unplugging 
or plugging in equipment 
Accessibility 
All bags/coats to be kept out of aisles and walkways.      
Use of Liquid Nitrogen & Vacuum Flask 
See attached Scheme of Work 
Use of Hot Plate and Hot Water 
Avoid direct contact; protect hands and feet; avoid 
spills and upsets 
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
6. EMERGENCY ACTIONS 
All present must be aware of the available escape routes and follow instructions in the event of an evacuation 
 
 
 
 LIQUEFIED GAS AND CRYOGENIC SAFETY 
 
The main hazards associated with handling cryogenic liquids are – 
 
(i) Cold burns. Avoid skin contact with liquid or cold metal. Take 
sensible precautions such as wearing gloves and eye protection 
while handling liquids. The skin may be frozen on to coJd surfaces 
and injury is likely when the skin is pulled away.  
 
(ii) Explosion due to overpressure or implosion due to mechanical 
failure or breakage. Glass dewars must be surrounded by plastic 
to guard against flying glass. Any closed system must incorporate  
a pressure relief valve. Blockages can occur in the necks of dewar 
vessels because of ice or air in a helium dewar. If it is suspected 
that a high pressure has developed in a piece of apparatus, great 
care must be taken in venting it as the exhausting gas may still be  
very cold. 
 
(iii) Condensation. Condensed water running down inside cryostats, 
particularly those with glass dewars, can cause the dewar to crack. 
Ensure that you can check that the dewars are dry. 
 
(iv) Structural problems. Spillage of liquid nitrogen may cause 
cracking in plastic insulation and the cooling of structural steel  
may well result in brittle fracture. Pouring liquid nitrogen steadi ly 
over a single point on the lip of a glass dewar can cause the dewar  
to shatter. The dewar should be moved from side-to-side all the 
time the nitrogen is being filled or poured. The evaporation of  
large quantities of liquid nitrogen or liquid helium or the 
sublimation of large quantities of carbon dioxide in confined areas 
may result in displacement of oxygen and the risk of asphyxiation.  
 
(v) Chemical explosions due to presence of oxygen. Oxygen from 
the atmosphere will dissolve in liquid nitrogen up to a 
concentration of 55%. Therefore "old" liquid nitrogen can contain  
hazardous concentrations of oxygen. Liquid nitrogen storage and 
transfer vessels should be loosely stoppered and not left open. 
Never use rotary pumps to reduce pressure over 'old' nitrogen as 
the oxygen dissolved has been known to combine explosively with  
the pump oil. 
 
The handling of liquid helium (projects only) requires special 
techniques and advice should be sought before any experiments 
are attempted. 
 Third Year Laboratory 
Diode Experiments 
Aims 
The aim of this experiment is to study the technologically important p-n junction, to see if the 
theory of the device can be verified in practice, and to learn how the diode’s behaviour makes 
the p-n junction useful in a wide range of device applications. 
The experiment consists of  three parts. In the first part you will study the so-called forward 
bias behaviour at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature of three p-n diodes and 
three light emitting diodes (LEDs) made from different band-gap type semiconductors. The 
aim will be to see which diodes obey the Shockley equation, over what bias ranges and at what 
temperatures. Once you have established the influence of the band-gap energy on the 
forward current of a p-n junction you can then study how the band-gap affects the 
wavelength of the LEDs emission. In the second part you will measure the capacitance of 
two rectifier diodes in reverse bias and, under specific assumptions, measure the "built-in 
potential difference" and doping level. In the third part you will measure the reverse bias 
behaviour of two voltage regulator diodes at room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature 
to determine the mechanism responsible for breakdown in each particular case. 
Theory 
The experiment provides a good opportunity to revise the theory of the p-n junction. The 
textbook "Hook and Hall" has much of the required theory in Chapters 5 and 6. The more 
advanced textbook "Sze" goes into the theory in more detail in a chapter devoted to the p-n 
junction and has a particularly useful summary of the voltage regions in which the Shockley 
equation breaks down in Fig. 21 on page 91. Since there are multiple editions of Sze’s textbook, 
the Fig. 21 is also duplicated in the Appendix A of this script. It should be noted, that here we 
refer to the 2nd edition of Sze’s book published by Wiley. The interactive models can be looked at 
and would allow to improve understanding of the p-n junction operation; please refer to 
http://pveducation.org/pvcdrom/ and https://nanohub.org/tools/pntoy 
Si and Ge are typical semiconductors widely used in electronic devices. Si at room temperature 
typically has approximately one carrier per 1010 atoms which determines high resistivity of the 
material. Such a semiconductor is known as intrinsic. Additional elements, dopants, can be 
introduced to increase conductivity. The doped semiconductor is known as extrinsic. The dopant 
element creates energy level close to the bandgap edge of the intrinsic material. For n-type 
dopants, the energy level is very close to the bottom of the intrinsic conduction band and can be 
typically activated by thermal energy (check the energy needed; can this condition be satisfied at 
liquid nitrogen temperatures?). The same is true for p-type dopants. However, the dopant levels 
are typically not included expressly in the band diagrams and just assumed to be parts of the 
conduction and valence bands.  
Of particular importance is the boundary between the n-type and p-type regions that form a 
p-n junction (check the ways the p-n junction can be fabricated). The rectifying behaviour of 
the p-n junction results from the effect on the electrons energy levels in the junction region as 
shown in Fig. 1 below. There, the energy levels are shown as a function of position alcross 
the junction. The relative positions of the levels on the both sides of the junction are 
determined by the necessity of maintaining a uniform chemical potential ( ). The 
equilibrium is achieved by a low rate transfer of electrons from the n side to the p side, 
whereas recombination results in the region with a very few free carriers at the position of 
the junction known as a depletion layer. Due to the absence of free carriers, unscreened 
positively and negatively charged ions located in n and p regions respectively create an 
internal electric field in the depletion layer (Fig. 1a). This in turn results in lowering the 
electron energy levels on the n side and rising on the p side, as shown in Fig. 1b.  
The energy difference between the two conduction bands or the two valence bands is known 
as a potential difference or potential barrier. It prevents electrons’ flow from the n side to the 
p side and, similarly, holes’ flow from the p side to the n side. An application of the external 
bias across the p-n junction results in the potential difference and electric current through the 
junction. If the positive side of the voltage potential is applied to the p region, the junction is 
said to be forward biased and the potential difference reduces. If the positive side is 
attached to the n region then the junction is reverse biased and the potential difference 
increases (How do the band diagrams look like in both these cases?)        
 
Figure 1. The electric field in the depletion region (a) and the energy band diagram of a p-n 
junction in thermal equilibrium. 
Part 1. 
It is important to revise the physical assumptions made in deriving the Shockley ideal equation 
 
(1) 
Here the reverse-bias saturation current ( ) is given in terms of the diffusion constant ( ) and 
diffusion length ( ) of the minority carrier electrons on the p-side with the doping density 
( ), and the diffusion constant ( ) and diffusion length ( ) of the minority carrier holes on 
the n-side with the doping density ( ) by 
 
(2) 
where  is the junction area normal to the current and  is the intrinsic carrier density. 
(a) (b) 
Equation (2) is derived by considering minority carriers diffusing away from the edges of the 
depletion region. Hence the current which obeys the Shockley equation is often called the 
diffusion current. It is important to be able to show that the temperature and band-gap 
dependence of  can be substituted from p. 141-3, Hook and Hall, so that the saturation current 
becomes 
 
(3) 
where the constant  is only weakly dependent on temperature (in the experiment you can 
assess  this small extra  dependence).  
In practice the  in the Shockley equation can be ignored (check for what voltages and 
explain why). To allow for the fact that diffusion is not always the dominant mechanism the 
equation is often written as 
 
(4) 
where  is the ideality factor which equals if diffusion dominates. As discussed in Hook and 
Hall (p 179) and in more detail in Sze (p 90 - 92), if another mechanism dominates, namely 
generation-recombination of carriers in the depletion region, then . If the forward bias 
current-voltage characteristic follows equation (4) then  and  can be found from the slope 
and intercept respectively of a  versus plot. 
Part 2. 
It is extremely important to know how to apply the Gauss' Law to determine the "built-in" 
potential difference ( ) across the p-n junction in terms of ,  and the depletion region 
widths on the p-side ( ) and n-side ( ) as in Hook and Hall p 172 - 173, giving 
 
(5) 
It is also important to be able to use this result for finding the incremental capacitance ( ) of the 
junction as a function of the applied bias ( )  
 
(6) 
Note that in the "one-sided" case (i.e. one side of the junction is much more heavily doped than 
the other) this simplifies to 
 
(7) 
Hence 
 
(8) 
where  is the doping level on the more lightly doped side. If the p-n junction is abruptly doped, 
with one side more heavily doped than the other, then equation (8) suggests that, if the capacitance 
 is measured as a function of applied bias ,  then the plot of 1/C2 against  should be a straight 
line. The built-in potential difference  (sometimes called the built-in voltage or barrier height - be 
careful of the units) will be given by the  intercept of this plot. The slope gives the doping 
density  on the least doped side: 
 
(9) 
The metal semi-conductor contact or Schottky type junction is also important in semiconductor 
devices. It behaves very much like a one-sided p-n junction because the metal can be thought of as 
a semiconductor with very high impurity doping. It is useful to think about the energy band 
diagram for the metal-semiconductor contact and understand in which cases this junction exhibits 
Ohmic or diode behaviour. The expressions in equations (8) and (9) can be used to determine the 
semiconductor doping and barrier height in the Schottky junction device. Furthermore, the dopant‘s 
concentration as a function of position can be determined from the slope of the plot of  1/C2 versus 
reverse-bias voltage: 
 
(10) 
where  is the depletion-region width that corresponds to the applied reverse bias . 
Sze p. 81 - 82 shows that, if the p-n junction is not abruptly doped but has a linear doping density 
proportional to a constant ,  then the incremental capacitance per unit area is  
 
(11) 
and a plot of ( ) against  is a straight line in this case. Note that Sze also explains a 
correction to these capacitance expressions because the charge distributions are not abrupt at the 
edges of the depletion region (Is this correction important for your results?). 
Part 3. 
There are two main methods by which a diode breaks down in reverse bias. Both can be used to 
construct a voltage limiting device. One is the tunnelling (or Zener) breakdown and the other 
avalanche breakdown. These are explained on p. 181 Hook and Hall or Sze p. 113. The temperature 
dependencies of the breakdown voltages are different which makes it possible to distinguish which 
mechanism dominates. It is important to understand the explanations of  why these temperature 
dependencies differ. 
 The Experiment  
Hints 
 Do not forget to identify the diode devices you use (make notes of the serial/manufacturer 
part number). If available, check the device’s data sheet. The devices are available in the 
workshop area opposite to the entrance to the technicians’ offices.  
 Make sure that you analyse the data while conducting/during the experiment. This is 
particularly important for the Part 1 where the right regime of operation and range of 
voltages should be identified prior to measuring characteristics of various diodes. 
Part. 1 
i) Devise a simple circuit to measure the forward I-V characteristics of the Ge, Si, and GaAs 
diodes at room temperature and at liquid nitrogen temperature (check the exact liquid 
nitrogen temperature value). Since an excessive current can permanently damage low 
power diodes it is important to have a series resistor which should limit the current to no 
more than 300mA. In fact, you will mainly be interested in currents much less than this and 
certainly voltages less than, or of the order of, the band-gap voltage. (check the band-gap in 
eV of the known diodes from Sze). 
 
ii) Determine and  from your plots. Take care to see if there are any devices, bias ranges 
or temperatures over which the behaviour follows n=1 or n=2. If you can find a region 
where n is approximately a unity, within the error, the value of I0  can be found from 
equation (2). 
 
iii) Do your I0 values for the n = 1 regions vary depending on the band-gap and temperature as 
you might expect from equation (3)? Try to be as quantitative as possible in your 
interpretation. 
 
iv) At high forward bias the resistance of the metal contacts with  the semiconductor may 
become important particularly at 77 K. Why are such contact resistances only important at 
high forward bias? Can you think of the way of demonstrating that any change of the  
slope of   versus V plot is due to the series resistance effect rather than the "high 
injection" region as shown in Sze Fig. 21 (Appendix A)? 
 
v) Now choose three LEDs which emit  three different colours. The aim will be to try to work 
out what semiconductor each is made from and approximately what the band gap energy is. 
You can make at least a preliminary first estimate of the band-gap from the 
colour/wavelength of the LED.  
 
vi) Try to make another estimate of the LEDs’ band-gaps by using the electrical 
measurements. Analyse equations (3) and (4) to adapt them for the band gap  
measurements. This shows that there are three main parameters that can vary: the 
electrical current , the applied voltage  and the temperature of the device . To 
simplify the problem, you can fix either the current or voltage. Please, assess the 
suitable temperature range to limit the measurement uncertainties due to the 
temperature variation of the band gap (see Sze for more details). A hot plate can also be 
used for these measurements. Are any of the LEDs likely to be constructed of Si or Ge? 
Is the energy of the photons emitted by the LEDs always equal to the band gap energy? 
How to make light emission a more efficient process?  
 
vii) Note the biases at which the LED starts emitting and qualitatively compare the light 
emission of the LEDs at room temperature and 77K. Can you think of reasons for any 
differences? 
Part 2. 
i) Devise a circuit to measure the capacitance voltage (C-V) characteristics of the silicon 
power rectifier diode and silicon Schottky power rectifier diode provided by using the 
microprocessor controlled commercial LCR bridge. The bridge has a port for applying 
an external bias. Before proceeding with the diodes measurements, check that the 
bridge provides a sensible result for a standard capacitor of the known value. It is 
important to consider the implications of the high diode resistance in reverse bias and the 
frequency the LCR bridge conducts the measurements at. 
 
ii) Use equations  (8) and (11) to establish whether the structure of these power rectifier 
diodes can more closely be approximated by the abrupt or linear graded junction doping 
geometry.  
 
iii) Determine the built-in voltages and doping density in the two cases and compare with 
expectations from Sze, in particular for the barrier height. If one or other of the diodes 
does not follow the abrupt behaviour closely you might wish to try to estimate the doping 
profile with eqn. (10). To estimate the doping density you will need the area  of the 
device. Both diodes have junction area ~ 2 mm2. If you need to know this area more 
accurately you could file down a diode in the workshop and assess the junction area value. 
Part 3 
i) Measure the reverse bias I-V characteristics of the two regulator diodes BZX (2.7 V) 
and BZX (9.1V) at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures with a series resistor which 
limits the current in the reverse direction to less than 20 mA. Plot the I-V characteristics 
and decide on a consistent way to determine the breakdown voltages at the two 
temperatures.  
ii) Calculate the temperature coefficients of the breakdown voltage and check against the 
specifications for these devices in the catalogue. Hence decide on the breakdown 
mechanisms in the two cases. If time permits, you could devise a way to measure the 
breakdown voltage as the diode warms up from liquid nitrogen temperature to room 
temperature. What semiconductor parameter determines the prevailing breakdown 
mechanism? 
 Hints for the Write-up 
As the Laboratory lecture handouts indicate, the report should be between 2,000 and 3,000 
words excluding diagrams, graphs, tables, formulae, bibliography and figures captions. Marks 
will be deducted if the report, including appendices, is outside these limits. 
There is no need to include tables of raw measurements, well presented, clear graphs will 
suffice. While graphs can be shared, each partner must have their own analysis text and their 
own tables summarising results derived from the graphs. 
Do not reproduce parts of this script. Use appropriate references whenever you use 
expressions from known bibliography sources. Though it will be important revision for you 
to work through the derivations described in the "Theory" section, they are all standard and 
do not need to be reproduced. However, you should include any non-standard derivations 
relevant to your analysis, possibly in an appendix. It is also very important that you make clear the 
physical assumptions behind any formula you are using and expressly assess associated error 
values.  
It is important to demonstrate a deep understanding of the devices’ operation in various regimes. 
Therefore, it is advisable to include illustrations like a band diagram of the device, a schematic of 
the connections and to discuss the major physical processes under forward and reverse bias 
conditions. 
A good write-up is one which uses tables and graphs to summarise and analyse the results and 
for which a thought has been given as to what best section headings to use. These will vary 
from experiment to experiment. However, all reports should have "Abstract", "Introduction" 
and "Conclusions" sections. The "Abstract" is a one paragraph section summarising what was 
done in terms of aims and objectives, and it should list the major numerical results with errors.  
The “Introduction” should briefly outline the aims and objectives of the experiment within the 
scope of general physics and also briefly outline the structure of the report. The "Conclusions" 
section is also very important. The answers to key physical questions raised in this script 
probably belong in this section. You should summarise your main numerical results (with 
errors) in the Conclusion and compare with expected values from literature or the 
specifications of the devices. Do not forget to identify the devices you used. 
Bibliography 
"Solid State Physics" J.R. Hook and H.E. Hall, (Wiley, Sec.Ed. 1991).  
"Physics of Semiconductor Devices", S.M. Sze, (Wiley, Sec.Ed. 1981). 
“Principles of Semiconductor Devices”, Bart Van Zeghbroeck (2004). Accessible online via 
http://ece-www.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/contents.htm  
the most relevant Chapters are 4 and 5. 
 
 Appendix A 
 
Figure 21. Current-voltage characteristics of a practical Si diode, where  is the Boltzmann 
constant and  corresponds to  in this laboratory script. (a) Generation-recombination 
current region, (b) Diffusion current region, (c) High-injection region, (d) Series resistance 
effect, (e) Reverse leakage current due to generation-recombination and surface effects [Sze, 
1981].