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A p–n junction diode. The circuit symbol is also shown. A p–n junction is a combination of two types of semiconductor materials, p-type and n-type, in a single crystal. The "n" (negative) side contains freely-moving electrons, while the "p" (positive) side contains freely-moving electron holes.
Holes in a P-side region near to the interface are also gone by a similar reason. As a result, majority charge carriers (free electrons for the N-type semiconductor, and holes for the P-type semiconductor) are depleted in the region around the junction interface, so this region is called the depletion region or depletion zone. Due to the ...
A p–n diode is a type of semiconductor diode based upon the p–n junction. The diode conducts current in only one direction, and it is made by joining a p-type semiconducting layer to an n-type semiconducting layer. Semiconductor diodes have multiple uses including rectification of alternating current to direct current, in the detection of ...
At absolute zero temperature, all of the electrons have energy below the Fermi level; but at non-zero temperatures the energy levels are filled following a Fermi-Dirac distribution. In undoped semiconductors the Fermi level lies in the middle of a forbidden band or band gap between two allowed bands called the valence band and the conduction ...
A Zener diode contains a heavily doped p–n junction allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-type material to the conduction band of the n-type material, such that the reverse voltage is "clamped" to a known value (called the Zener voltage), and avalanche does not occur. Both devices, however, do have a limit to the maximum ...
The rectifying metal–semiconductor junction forms a Schottky barrier, making a device known as a Schottky diode, while the non-rectifying junction is called an ohmic contact. [1] (In contrast, a rectifying semiconductor–semiconductor junction, the most common semiconductor device today, is known as a p–n junction.)
The p–n junction in any direct band gap material emits light when electric current flows through it. This is electroluminescence. Electrons cross from the n-region and recombine with the holes existing in the p-region. Free electrons are in the conduction band of energy levels, while holes are in the valence energy band. Thus the energy level ...
In a p-n junction diode, electrons and holes are the minority charge carriers in the p-region and the n-region, respectively. In an unbiased junction, due to the diffusion of charge carriers, the diffusion current, which flows from the p to n region, is exactly balanced by the equal and opposite drift current. [1]