School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering

EE2003
EE2103 Semiconductors Fundamentals
Academic Year 2014-2015
2024-2025

L2103B
L2003B
PN Junction Devices
Semiconductor
ElectronicsCharacterization Lab 1 (S1-B3c-27)
II Lab ( S2-B4a-04 )
Dress Code in the Laboratory
• Work shirt that covers the upper torso and arms.
• Lower body clothing that covers the entire leg.
• Closed-toe shoes that cover the top of the foot.
Please access this link:
https://ntu.sg/eee-EEEStudentCAGuidelines or scan the QR code below to access EEE CA
Guidelines.
The procedure to request for MAKE-UP LAB SESSION is on page 4.

Laboratory Manual
 P-N Junction Devices

1. OBJECTIVES

i. To understand the basic concepts of the p-n junction: I-V (current voltage) characteristics,
diode parameter extraction and temperature dependence.

ii. To study the light emission properties of light emitting diodes (LEDs).

2. THEORY

2.1 I-V characteristics of p-n junctions

A p-n junction is formed in a crystalline semiconductor when part of it is doped p-type and the other
part n-type. It is fundamental to the performance of functions such as rectification, amplification,
switching and other operations in electronic circuits. The I-V characteristic of an ideal p-n junction is
given by:

(
I = I 0 e qV / kT − 1 ) (1)

where I0 is the reverse saturation current, q the electron charge, k the Boltzmann’s constant and T the
absolute temperature [1]. At room temperature (~298K), kT/q = 0.0252 V. In a real diode, a more
accurate expression is:

(
I = I 0 e qV / nkT − 1 ) (2)

where n is called the ideality factor and is a measure of how close to the ideal conditions were under
which the diode was fabricated. The value of n is usually between 1 and 2 depending on the material
and physical structure of the diode.

Under normal forward bias operation, the exponential term dominates and a good approximation for
the current is:

I = I 0 e qV / nkT (3)

In order to determine the ideality factor and the reverse saturation current, we consider,

q
ln I = ln I 0 + V (4)
nkT

Thus if the I-V data is plotted on a semilog graph, a straight line can be obtained and we can then
derive the ideality factor from the slope of the graph together with the reverse saturation current from
its intercept.

In equation (3), the I-V temperature dependence is due to I0 and the temperature term in the
exponent. From semiconductor theory, I0 depends on pn and np, the minority carrier concentrations,
which in turn depend on ni2, the square of the intrinsic carrier concentration. Now

 Eg 
ni = const.  T 3 / 2 exp  −  (5)
 2kT 

Hence,

2
  − Eg 
I 0 = AT 3 exp   (6)
 kT 

where A includes all terms approximately independent of T.

To determine the temperature dependence of the I-V characteristic, we have from equation (3),

nkT  I 
V= ln   (7)
q  I0 

V V nkT 1 dI 0
Then = − (8)
T I =cons tan t T q I 0 dT

From equation (6)

Eg
ln I 0 = ln A + 3 ln T − (9)
kT

E
d
(ln I 0 ) = 1 dI 0 = 3 + g2 (10)
dT I o dT T kT

Substituting (10) into (8), we have

n
(3kT + E g ) − V
V q
=− [V / K ] (11)
T I =cons tan t T

For a wide variety of diodes, it is found that, on the average,

V
I = cons tan t = −2.4mV / K (12)
T

Thus, when biased by a constant current source, an increase in the temperature will cause the
voltage across a p-n diode to decrease at a constant rate with respect to temperature. This effect can
be exploited for temperature measurements, especially in the low-temperature range around 100K.

2.2 Light emitting diodes

Many optoelectronic devices, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser diodes (LDs) and solar cells
are also based on the principle of the p-n junction. LEDs utilize the recombination of minority carriers
injected in a forward biased p-n junction with the majority carriers across the junction to obtain light
emission as shown in Fig. 1 [2]. When an electron in the conduction band undergoes a transition to
the valence band and recombines with a hole, the energy given up by the electron may be released in
the form of a photon – thus light emission may occur. In an LED, such recombinations occur randomly
and the emission is said to be spontaneous. Since photons carry very little momentum, their
generation must involve electrons and holes, which have the same momentum. This implies that light
emission is only possible from direct bandgap semiconductors. Spontaneous emission can occur at a
relatively small forward bias. The emitted photons have random phases and therefore the LED is an
incoherent light source. The light emitted has a narrow band of wavelengths typically 30-50 nm at
room temperature. The spectral position of this band is directly related to the bandgap energy Eg of
the semiconductor.

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 Epoxy lens
n-type
Conduction band
region
electrons LED
chip

holes
h Eg

p-type
Cathode Anode
region
Valence band

Figure 1: Injection of carriers for photon emission Figure 2: Lamp type LED
in an LED

The table below shows some examples of compound semiconductor materials used for LED
fabrication. Compound semiconductors are used because they are direct bandgap semiconductors.

Semiconductor Formula Eg (eV) Wavelength (nm) Colour

Gallium arsenide phosphide GaAsP 2.03 610 orange
Aluminium gallium arsenide AlGaAs 1.91 650 red
Indium gallium arsenide phosphide InGaAsP 2.00 620 orange
2.10 590 yellow
2.24 555 green
Gallium nitride GaN 2.76 450 blue
Gallium arsenide GaAs 1.44 860 infrared
Indium gallium arsenide InGaAs 1.13-0.77 1100-1600 infrared

The brightness achievable in present day visible LEDs has reached a level where they are replacing
incandescent lamps in various applications. Reliability is high – they take about a million hours to
degrade to half power. A lamp-type LED is shown in Fig. 2.

References:

[1] B.G. Streetman, “Solid State Electronic Devices” 5th edition, Prentice Hall, (2000).

[2] P. Bhattacharya, “Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices”, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, (1997)

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3. INSTRUMENTS AND COMPONENTS

Power supply 1 Soldering iron 1

Breadboard 1 Keithley source measure unit (SMU) 1
Digital multimeter (DMM) 2 RS577-780 ultrabright red LED 1
Connecting wires and cables Black box 1
Diode (1N4001 to 1N4004) 2 Luxmeter 1
Resistor (1k Ω) 1 Oriel spectrometer 1

Further explanation on the use of these instruments can be found in appendix 1 on page 7.

4. PROCEDURES

4.1 I-V Characteristic

SMU (V-I mode)

compliance current=0.1 A
c
A
ccc
(RED)

P.S.
v
IN4001
1
(GREEN)

Figure 3: Circuit for I-V measurement

Generate the I-V characteristic of the 1N4001 diode under forward bias by using the circuit shown in
Figure 3. Vary the voltage from 0 to 0.75 V to measure the corresponding current, then plot the I-V
curve.

Plot on a sheet of graph paper the I-V characteristic of this diode with the units of both axes clearly
labeled.

• What is the turn-on voltage and the differential resistance (dV/dI) after turn on for this diode?

4.2 Temperature dependence

Apply heat to the diode for about 30 seconds by using the soldering iron. Vary the voltage and
measure the current again to plot the I-V characteristic on the same graph as above. Note the amount
of voltage shift (in mV) in the characteristic at a constant current.

Provide an explanation for the observed shift in the characteristic. Determine the diode temperature
change (in K) based on the measured decrease in diode terminal voltage at a constant current. An
answer in mV is not acceptable.

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4.3 Ideality factor and reverse saturation current

Use the circuit of Figure 4 to determine the I-V characteristic over 3 decades of current from 0.01mA
to 10 mA. Record the current value using SMU and voltage value using the DMM and plot the I versus
V data on a semilog graph paper.

Explain how you can determine the slope of the In I versus V relationship from the semilog plot. From
this graph, determine the ideality factor n and reverse saturation current I0.

1 k

SMU V
(I-V mode) 1N4001
V
compliance voltage=12 V

Figure 4: Circuit for diode parameter extraction

4.4 Light current characteristic of an LED

Figure 5 shows the experimental setup for the measurement of the light current (L-I) characteristics of
an LED. The source measure unit (SMU) should be set to a constant current source to drive a preset
dc current through the ultra-bright red LED (see appendix 1). The light emitted from the LED is
detected by the luxmeter. The luxmeter reading is proportional to the incident optical power.

• Plot the L-I characteristic curve (I = 0 to 35 mA in step of 5 mA) on a sheet of graph paper
and comment on your results.

• Why is the experiment carried out inside the black box?

• When the LED current is 0 mA, what is the luxmeter reading and why?

LED

SMU
(I-V mode)
compliance Black Box
Luxmeter
voltage=1.95V

Figure 5: Schematic layout for L-I measurements

4.5 Emission spectrum of an LED

A spectrometer is essentially the optical equivalent of an electronic spectrum analyzer. The instrument
uses a reflective grating to disperse the source radiation that is incident on the entrance slit into its
various frequency components. By rotating the grating in the spectrometer using the knob provided,
the intensities of the source at different wavelengths can be recorded at the output slit. For this

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experiment, the entrance slit and exit slit widths are both set to 1 mm. DO NOT ADJUST THE SLIT
WIDTHS. The wavelength of interest lies within the range of 600 nm to 700 nm.

Grating Spectrometer
Entrance slit
width adjust Output signal to
Digital multimeter

SMU
SMU

5 0 0
(I-V mode)
I=30mA
compliance
V=1.95V +7V
DC Supply

LED

Figure 6: Measurement of emission spectrum using a grating spectrometer

Figure 6 shows the schematic diagram of the spectral measurement set-up. A photodetector module
is mounted next to the exit slit of the spectrometer. It should be operated using a voltage of 7 V dc
from a regulated power supply. Check the power supply voltage prior to connection. Ensure that the
photodetector output is switched to LED mode and connect the output port of the photodetector to a
voltmeter. The voltmeter reading is proportional to the intensity of the light incident on the exit slit of
the spectrometer.

i. Plot the emission spectrum of the LED ensuring that your measurements are taken at a
suitable wavelength interval to ensure that the peak and the spectral line width can be
obtained accurately.

ii. The energy band gap (Eg) of a semiconductor can be obtained from Eg = hc/λ where h is
Planck’s constant (h = 6.625 × 10-34 Js), c is the velocity of light and λ is the peak wavelength.
Calculate the band gap energy in eV for the LED emission.

iii. The line width of the radiation of an LED is defined by the full width at half maximum (FWHM)
of its emission spectrum. The FWHM is defined as the total width (in nm) of the spectrum at
50% from the peak of the spectrum. Determine the line width of the LED and comment on this
result.

5. DISCUSSION

1) Why does the turn-on voltage of a p-n junction diode decrease with increase in temperature?
(Hint: A diode turns on when the applied forward bias voltage is large enough to oppose the
built-in voltage.)

2) Why do we use Eq. (4) not Eq. (3) to extract the I0 and n?

3) Explain reason(s) why the gradient of the measured L-I curve in part 4.4 becomes smaller at
the larger current.

4) Why is the light emitted by the LED not of a single wavelength but instead consists of a
narrow range of wavelengths. How would you expect the spectral line width to change if the
temperature is increased? (Hint: Recall what you have learnt about electron (hole) distribution
in the conduction (valence) band in Part One of this course.)

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APPENDIX 1: Equipment for experiment

Equipment Simplified schematic diagram

1. Digital multimeters
Measures dc and ac current, voltage and
resistance. 100 mV
Note that the inputs for voltage and current
measurements are different. Check the front
panel labels.

2. Source measure unit

Operating modes:
- source current (I) measure voltage (V)
- source voltage (V) measure current (I)

Use rotary knob or numeric keys to select current

and press OPERATE to obtain output

3. Regulated power supply

Provides an adjustable constant output voltage.

Ensure that the LED next to CV (constant

voltage) is on.

4. Luxmeter
Measures the incident light intensity in the
photometric unit (lux).

Use the lower (more sensitive) range of lux

measurement for this experiment.

5. Soldering Iron Tip

Use the soldering Iron Tip to heat up the PN

Junction with even temperature.
Down Down

Insert Insert
Move In Move In

1N4001 1N4001

Heat up PN Junction with even

temperature

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Name:___________________ GroupNo:_________ Date:__________

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Name:___________________ GroupNo:_________ Date:__________

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