Learning Outcomes:

● Become aware of the general characteristics of three important semiconductor materials: Si, Ge, GaAs.
● Understand conduction using electron and hole theory.
● Be able to describe the difference between n - and p -type materials.
● Develop a clear understanding of the basic operation and characteristics of a diode in the no-bias, forward-bias, and reverse-bias regions.
● Be able to calculate the dc, ac, and average ac resistance of a diode from the characteristics.
● Understand the impact of an equivalent circuit whether it is ideal or practical.
● Become familiar with the operation and characteristics of a Zener diode and light- emitting diode.

One of the noteworthy things about this field, as in many other areas of technology, is how little the fundamental principles change over time. Systems are incredibly smaller, current speeds of operation are truly remarkable, and new gadgets surface every day, leaving us to wonder where technology is taking us. However, if we take a moment to consider that the majority of all the devices in use were invented decades ago and that design techniques appearing in texts as far back as the 1930s are still in use, we realize that most of what we see is primarily a steady improvement in construction techniques, general characteristics, and application techniques rather than the development of new elements and fundamentally new designs. The result is that most of the devices discussed in this text have been around for some time, and that texts on the subject written a decade ago are still good references with content that has not changed very much. The major changes have been in the understanding of how these devices work and their full range of capabilities, and in improved methods of teaching the fundamentals associated with them. The benefit of all this to the new student of the subject is that the material in this text will, we hope, have reached a level where it is relatively easy to grasp and the information will have application
for years to come. The miniaturization that has occurred in recent years leaves us to wonder about its limits. Complete systems now appear on wafers thousands of times smaller than the single element of earlier networks. The first integrated circuit (IC) was developed by Jack Kilby while working at Texas Instruments in 1958. Today, the Intel ® Core TM i7 Extreme Edition Processor has 731 million transistors in a package that is only slightly larger than a 1.67 sq. inches. In 1965, Dr. Gordon E. Moore presented a paper predicting that the transistor count in a single IC chip would double every two years. Now, more than 45 years, later we find that his prediction is amazingly accurate and expected to continue for the next few decades. We have obviously reached a point where the primary purpose of the container is simply to provide some means for handling the device or system and to provide a mechanism for attachment to the remainder of the network. Further miniaturization appears to be limited by four factors: the quality of the semiconductor material, the network design technique, the limits of the manufacturing and processing equipment, and
the strength of the innovative spirit in the semiconductor industry. The first device to be introduced here is the simplest of all electronic devices, yet has a range of applications that seems endless. We devote two chapters to the device to introduce the materials commonly used in solid-state devices and review some fundamental laws of electric circuits.

Lesson Plan:

Lecture 01: Diode Equivalent Circuits

Lecture 02: Transition and Diffusion Capacitance

Lecture 03: Diode Specification Sheets

Lecture 04: Zener Diodes

Lecture 05: Light-Emitting Diodes

Lecture 06: PROBLEMS