Chapter Fourteen

SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRONICS:
MATERIALS, DEVICES
AND SIMPLE CIRCUITS
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Devices in which a controlled flow of electrons can be obtained are the
basic building blocks of all the electronic circuits. Before the discovery of
transistor in 1948, such devices were mostly vacuum tubes (also called
valves) like the vacuum diode which has two electrodes, viz., anode (often
called plate) and cathode; triode which has three electrodes – cathode,
plate and grid; tetrode and pentode (respectively with 4 and 5 electrodes).
In a vacuum tube, the electrons are supplied by a heated cathode and
the controlled flow of these electrons in vacuum is obtained by varying
the voltage between its different electrodes. Vacuum is required in the
inter-electrode space; otherwise the moving electrons may lose their
energy on collision with the air molecules in their path. In these devices
the electrons can flow only from the cathode to the anode (i.e., only in one
direction). Therefore, such devices are generally referred to as valves.
These vacuum tube devices are bulky, consume high power, operate
generally at high voltages (~100 V ) and have limited life and low reliability.
The seed of the development of modern solid-state semiconductor
electronics goes back to 1930’s when it was realised that some solid-
state semiconductors and their junctions offer the possibility of controlling
the number and the direction of flow of charge carriers through them.
Simple excitations like light, heat or small applied voltage can change
the number of mobile charges in a semiconductor. Note that the supply
 Physics
and flow of charge carriers in the semiconductor devices are within the
solid itself, while in the earlier vacuum tubes/valves, the mobile electrons
were obtained from a heated cathode and they were made to flow in an
evacuated space or vacuum. No external heating or large evacuated space
is required by the semiconductor devices. They are small in size, consume
low power, operate at low voltages and have long life and high reliability.
Even the Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) used in television and computer
monitors which work on the principle of vacuum tubes are being replaced
by Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors with supporting solid state
electronics. Much before the full implications of the semiconductor devices
was formally understood, a naturally occurring crystal of galena (Lead
sulphide, PbS) with a metal point contact attached to it was used as
detector of radio waves.
In the following sections, we will introduce the basic concepts of
semiconductor physics and discuss some semiconductor devices like
junction diodes (a 2-electrode device) and bipolar junction transistor (a
3-electrode device). A few circuits illustrating their applications will also
be described.

14.2 CLASSIFICATION OF METALS, CONDUCTORS AND

SEMICONDUCTORS
On the basis of conductivity
On the basis of the relative values of electrical conductivity (V ) or resistivity
( U = 1/V ), the solids are broadly classified as:
(i) Metals: They possess very low resistivity (or high conductivity).
U ~ 10–2 – 10–8 : m
V~ 102 – 108 S m–1
(ii) Semiconductors: They have resistivity or conductivity intermediate
to metals and insulators.
U ~ 10–5 – 106 : m
V ~ 105 – 10–6 S m–1
(iii)Insulators: They have high resistivity (or low conductivity).
U ~ 1011 – 1019 : m
V ~ 10–11 – 10–19 S m–1
The values of U and V given above are indicative of magnitude and
could well go outside the ranges as well. Relative values of the resistivity
are not the only criteria for distinguishing metals, insulators and
semiconductors from each other. There are some other differences, which
will become clear as we go along in this chapter.
Our interest in this chapter is in the study of semiconductors which
could be:
(i) Elemental semiconductors: Si and Ge
(ii) Compound semiconductors: Examples are:
x Inorganic: CdS, GaAs, CdSe, InP, etc.
x Organic: anthracene, doped pthalocyanines, etc.
x Organic polymers: polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.
Most of the currently available semiconductor devices are based on
468 elemental semiconductors Si or Ge and compound inorganic
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
semiconductors. However, after 1990, a few semiconductor devices using
organic semiconductors and semiconducting polymers have been
developed signalling the birth of a futuristic technology of polymer-
electronics and molecular-electronics. In this chapter, we will restrict
ourselves to the study of inorganic semiconductors, particularly
elemental semiconductors Si and Ge. The general concepts introduced
here for discussing the elemental semiconductors, by-and-large, apply
to most of the compound semiconductors as well.
On the basis of energy bands
According to the Bohr atomic model, in an isolated atom the energy of
any of its electrons is decided by the orbit in which it revolves. But when
the atoms come together to form a solid they are close to each other. So
the outer orbits of electrons from neighbouring atoms would come very
close or could even overlap. This would make the nature of electron motion
in a solid very different from that in an isolated atom.
Inside the crystal each electron has a unique position and no two
electrons see exactly the same pattern of surrounding charges. Because
of this, each electron will have a different energy level. These different
energy levels with continuous energy variation form what are called
energy bands. The energy band which includes the energy levels of the
valence electrons is called the valence band. The energy band above the
valence band is called the conduction band. With no external energy, all
the valence electrons will reside in the valence band. If the lowest level in
the conduction band happens to be lower than the highest level of the
valence band, the electrons from the valence band can easily move into
the conduction band. Normally the conduction band is empty. But when
it overlaps on the valence band electrons can move freely into it. This is
the case with metallic conductors.
If there is some gap between the conduction band and the valence
band, electrons in the valence band all remain bound and no free electrons
are available in the conduction band. This makes the material an
insulator. But some of the electrons from the valence band may gain
external energy to cross the gap between the conduction band and the
valence band. Then these electrons will move into the conduction band.
At the same time they will create vacant energy levels in the valence band
where other valence electrons can move. Thus the process creates the
possibility of conduction due to electrons in conduction band as well as
due to vacancies in the valence band.
Let us consider what happens in the case of Si or Ge crystal containing
N atoms. For Si, the outermost orbit is the third orbit (n = 3), while for Ge
it is the fourth orbit (n = 4). The number of electrons in the outermost
orbit is 4 (2s and 2p electrons). Hence, the total number of outer electrons
in the crystal is 4N. The maximum possible number of electrons in the
outer orbit is 8 (2s + 6p electrons). So, for the 4N valence electrons there
are 8N available energy states. These 8N discrete energy levels can either
form a continuous band or they may be grouped in different bands
depending upon the distance between the atoms in the crystal (see box
on Band Theory of Solids).
At the distance between the atoms in the crystal lattices of Si and Ge,
the energy band of these 8N states is split apart into two which are
separated by an energy gap Eg (Fig. 14.1). The lower band which is 469
 Physics
completely occupied by the 4N valence electrons at temperature of absolute
zero is the valence band. The other band consisting of 4N energy states,
called the conduction band, is completely empty at absolute zero.

BAND THEORY OF SOLIDS

Consider that the Si or Ge crystal

contains N atoms. Electrons of each
atom will have discrete energies in
different orbits. The electron energy
will be same if all the atoms are
isolated, i.e., separated from each
other by a large distance. However,
in a crystal, the atoms are close to
each other (2 to 3 Å) and therefore
the electrons interact with each
other and also with the
neighbouring atomic cores. The
overlap (or interaction) will be more
felt by the electrons in the
outermost orbit while the inner
orbit or core electron energies may
remain unaffected. Therefore, for understanding electron energies in Si or Ge crystal, we
need to consider the changes in the energies of the electrons in the outermost orbit only.
For Si, the outermost orbit is the third orbit (n = 3), while for Ge it is the fourth orbit
(n = 4). The number of electrons in the outermost orbit is 4 (2s and 2p electrons). Hence,
the total number of outer electrons in the crystal is 4N. The maximum possible number of
outer electrons in the orbit is 8 (2s + 6p electrons). So, out of the 4N electrons, 2N electrons
are in the 2N s-states (orbital quantum number l = 0) and 2N electrons are in the available
6N p-states. Obviously, some p-electron states are empty as shown in the extreme right of
Figure. This is the case of well separated or isolated atoms [region A of Figure].
Suppose these atoms start coming nearer to each other to form a solid. The energies
of these electrons in the outermost orbit may change (both increase and decrease) due to
the interaction between the electrons of different atoms. The 6N states for l = 1, which
originally had identical energies in the isolated atoms, spread out and form an energy
band [region B in Figure]. Similarly, the 2N states for l = 0, having identical energies in
the isolated atoms, split into a second band (carefully see the region B of Figure) separated
from the first one by an energy gap.
At still smaller spacing, however, there comes a region in which the bands merge with
each other. The lowest energy state that is a split from the upper atomic level appears to
drop below the upper state that has come from the lower atomic level. In this region (region
C in Figure), no energy gap exists where the upper and lower energy states get mixed.
Finally, if the distance between the atoms further decreases, the energy bands again
split apart and are separated by an energy gap Eg (region D in Figure). The total number
of available energy states 8N has been re-apportioned between the two bands (4N states
each in the lower and upper energy bands). Here the significant point is that there are
exactly as many states in the lower band (4N ) as there are available valence electrons
from the atoms (4N ).
Therefore, this band ( called the valence band ) is completely filled while the upper
band is completely empty. The upper band is called the conduction band.

470
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
The lowest energy level in the
conduction band is shown as EC and
highest energy level in the valence band
is shown as EV . Above EC and below EV
there are a large number of closely spaced
energy levels, as shown in Fig. 14.1.
The gap between the top of the valence
band and bottom of the conduction band
is called the energy band gap (Energy gap
E g ). It may be large, small, or zero,
depending upon the material. These
different situations, are depicted in Fig.
14.2 and discussed below:
Case I: This refers to a situation, as
shown in Fig. 14.2(a). One can have a
metal either when the conduction band
is partially filled and the balanced band FIGURE 14.1 The energy band positions in a
is partially empty or when the conduction semiconductor at 0 K. The upper band, called the
and valance bands overlap. When there conduction band, consists of infinitely large number
of closely spaced energy states. The lower band,
is overlap electrons from valence band can
called the valence band, consists of closely spaced
easily move into the conduction band.
completely filled energy states.
This situation makes a large number of
electrons available for electrical conduction. When the valence band is
partially empty, electrons from its lower level can move to higher level
making conduction possible. Therefore, the resistance of such materials
is low or the conductivity is high.

FIGURE 14.2 Difference between energy bands of (a) metals,

(b) insulators and (c) semiconductors. 471
 Physics
Case II: In this case, as shown in Fig. 14.2(b), a large band gap Eg exists
(Eg > 3 eV). There are no electrons in the conduction band, and therefore
no electrical conduction is possible. Note that the energy gap is so large
that electrons cannot be excited from the valence band to the conduction
band by thermal excitation. This is the case of insulators.
Case III: This situation is shown in Fig. 14.2(c). Here a finite but small
band gap (Eg < 3 eV) exists. Because of the small band gap, at room
temperature some electrons from valence band can acquire enough
energy to cross the energy gap and enter the conduction band. These
electrons (though small in numbers) can move in the conduction band.
Hence, the resistance of semiconductors is not as high as that of the
insulators.
In this section we have made a broad classification of metals,
conductors and semiconductors. In the section which follows you will
learn the conduction process in semiconductors.

14.3 INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

We shall take the most common case of Ge and Si whose lattice structure
is shown in Fig. 14.3. These structures are called the diamond-like
structures. Each atom is surrounded by four nearest neighbours. We
know that Si and Ge have four valence electrons. In its crystalline
structure, every Si or Ge atom tends to share one of its four valence
electrons with each of its four nearest neighbour atoms, and also to take
share of one electron from each such neighbour. These shared electron
pairs are referred to as forming a covalent bond or simply a valence
bond. The two shared electrons can be assumed to shuttle back-and-
forth between the associated atoms holding them together strongly.
Figure 14.4 schematically shows the 2-dimensional representation of Si
or Ge structure shown in Fig. 14.3 which overemphasises the covalent
bond. It shows an idealised picture in which no bonds are broken (all
bonds are intact). Such a situation arises at low
temperatures. As the temperature increases, more
thermal energy becomes available to these electrons
and some of these electrons may break–away
(becoming free electrons contributing to conduction).
The thermal energy effectively ionises only a few atoms
in the crystalline lattice and creates a vacancy in the
bond as shown in Fig. 14.5(a). The neighbourhood,
from which the free electron (with charge –q ) has come
out leaves a vacancy with an effective charge (+q ). This
vacancy with the effective positive electronic charge is
called a hole. The hole behaves as an apparent free
particle with effective positive charge.
FIGURE 14.3 Three-dimensional dia-
In intrinsic semiconductors, the number of free
mond-like crystal structure for Carbon, electrons, ne is equal to the number of holes, nh. That is
Silicon or Germanium with ne = nh = ni (14.1)
respective lattice spacing a equal where ni is called intrinsic carrier concentration.
to 3.56, 5.43 and 5.66 Å. Semiconductors posses the unique property in
472 which, apart from electrons, the holes also move.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
Suppose there is a hole at site 1 as shown in
Fig. 14.5(a). The movement of holes can be
visualised as shown in Fig. 14.5(b). An electron
from the covalent bond at site 2 may jump to
the vacant site 1 (hole). Thus, after such a jump,
the hole is at site 2 and the site 1 has now an
electron. Therefore, apparently, the hole has
moved from site 1 to site 2. Note that the electron
originally set free [Fig. 14.5(a)] is not involved
in this process of hole motion. The free electron
moves completely independently as conduction
electron and gives rise to an electron current, Ie
under an applied electric field. Remember that
the motion of hole is only a convenient way of FIGURE 14.4 Schematic two-dimensional
describing the actual motion of bound electrons, representation of Si or Ge structure showing
whenever there is an empty bond anywhere in covalent bonds at low temperature
the crystal. Under the action of an electric field, (all bonds intact). +4 symbol
these holes move towards negative potential indicates inner cores of Si or Ge.
giving the hole current, Ih. The total current, I is
thus the sum of the electron current Ie and the
hole current Ih:
I = Ie + Ih (14.2)
It may be noted that apart from the process of generation of conduction
electrons and holes, a simultaneous process of recombination occurs in
which the electrons recombine with the holes. At equilibrium, the rate of
generation is equal to the rate of recombination of charge carriers. The
recombination occurs due to an electron colliding with a hole.

FIGURE 14.5 (a) Schematic model of generation of hole at site 1 and conduction electron
due to thermal energy at moderate temperatures. (b) Simplified representation of
possible thermal motion of a hole. The electron from the lower left hand covalent bond
(site 2) goes to the earlier hole site1, leaving a hole at its site indicating an
apparent movement of the hole from site 1 to site 2. 473
 Physics
An intrinsic semiconductor
will behave like an insulator at
T = 0 K as shown in Fig. 14.6(a).
It is the thermal energy at
higher temperatures (T > 0K),
which excites some electrons
from the valence band to the
conduction band. These
thermally excited electrons at
T > 0 K, partially occupy the
conduction band. Therefore,
the energy-band diagram of an
intrinsic semiconductor will be
FIGURE 14.6 (a) An intrinsic semiconductor at T = 0 K as shown in Fig. 14.6(b). Here,
behaves like insulator. (b) At T > 0 K, four thermally generated some electrons are shown in
electron-hole pairs. The filled circles ( ) represent electrons the conduction band. These
and empty fields ( ) represent holes. have come from the valence
band leaving equal number of
holes there.

Example 14.1 C, Si and Ge have same lattice structure. Why is C

insulator while Si and Ge intrinsic semiconductors?
EXAMPLE 14.1

Solution The 4 bonding electrons of C, Si or Ge lie, respectively, in

the second, third and fourth orbit. Hence, energy required to take
out an electron from these atoms (i.e., ionisation energy Eg ) will be
least for Ge, followed by Si and highest for C. Hence, number of free
electrons for conduction in Ge and Si are significant but negligibly
small for C.

14.4 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

The conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor depends on its
temperature, but at room temperature its conductivity is very low. As
such, no important electronic devices can be developed using these
semiconductors. Hence there is a necessity of improving their
conductivity. This can be done by making use of impurities.
When a small amount, say, a few parts per million (ppm), of a suitable
impurity is added to the pure semiconductor, the conductivity of the
semiconductor is increased manifold. Such materials are known as
extrinsic semiconductors or impurity semiconductors. The deliberate
addition of a desirable impurity is called doping and the impurity atoms
are called dopants. Such a material is also called a doped semiconductor.
The dopant has to be such that it does not distort the original pure
semiconductor lattice. It occupies only a very few of the original
semiconductor atom sites in the crystal. A necessary condition to attain
this is that the sizes of the dopant and the semiconductor atoms should
be nearly the same.
There are two types of dopants used in doping the tetravalent Si
or Ge:
(i) Pentavalent (valency 5); like Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb), Phosphorous
474 (P), etc.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
(ii) Trivalent (valency 3); like Indium (In),
Boron (B), Aluminium (Al), etc.
We shall now discuss how the doping
changes the number of charge carriers (and
hence the conductivity) of semiconductors.
Si or Ge belongs to the fourth group in the
Periodic table and, therefore, we choose the
dopant element from nearby fifth or third
group, expecting and taking care that the
size of the dopant atom is nearly the same as
that of Si or Ge. Interestingly, the pentavalent
and trivalent dopants in Si or Ge give two
entirely different types of semiconductors as
discussed below.
(i) n-type semiconductor
Suppose we dope Si or Ge with a pentavalent
element as shown in Fig. 14.7. When an atom
of +5 valency element occupies the position
of an atom in the crystal lattice of Si, four of
its electrons bond with the four silicon
neighbours while the fifth remains very
weakly bound to its parent atom. This is
because the four electrons participating in
bonding are seen as part of the effective core FIGURE 14.7 (a) Pentavalent donor atom (As, Sb,
of the atom by the fifth electron. As a result P, etc.) doped for tetravalent Si or Ge giving n-
the ionisation energy required to set this type semiconductor, and (b) Commonly used
schematic representation of n-type material
electron free is very small and even at room
which shows only the fixed cores of the
temperature it will be free to move in the substituent donors with one additional effective
lattice of the semiconductor. For example, the positive charge and its associated extra electron.
energy required is ~ 0.01 eV for germanium,
and 0.05 eV for silicon, to separate this
electron from its atom. This is in contrast to the energy required to jump
the forbidden band (about 0.72 eV for germanium and about 1.1 eV for
silicon) at room temperature in the intrinsic semiconductor. Thus, the
pentavalent dopant is donating one extra electron for conduction and
hence is known as donor impurity. The number of electrons made
available for conduction by dopant atoms depends strongly upon the
doping level and is independent of any increase in ambient temperature.
On the other hand, the number of free electrons (with an equal number
of holes) generated by Si atoms, increases weakly with temperature.
In a doped semiconductor the total number of conduction electrons
ne is due to the electrons contributed by donors and those generated
intrinsically, while the total number of holes nh is only due to the holes
from the intrinsic source. But the rate of recombination of holes would
increase due to the increase in the number of electrons. As a result, the
number of holes would get reduced further.
Thus, with proper level of doping the number of conduction electrons
can be made much larger than the number of holes. Hence in an extrinsic 475
 Physics
semiconductor doped with pentavalent impurity, electrons
become the majority carriers and holes the minority carriers.
These semiconductors are, therefore, known as n-type
semiconductors. For n-type semiconductors, we have,
ne >> nh (14.3)
(ii) p-type semiconductor
This is obtained when Si or Ge is doped with a trivalent impurity
like Al, B, In, etc. The dopant has one valence electron less than
Si or Ge and, therefore, this atom can form covalent bonds with
neighbouring three Si atoms but does not have any electron to
offer to the fourth Si atom. So the bond between the fourth
neighbour and the trivalent atom has a vacancy or hole as shown
in Fig. 14.8. Since the neighbouring Si atom in the lattice wants
an electron in place of a hole, an electron in the outer orbit of
an atom in the neighbourhood may jump to fill this vacancy,
leaving a vacancy or hole at its own site. Thus the hole is
available for conduction. Note that the trivalent foreign atom
becomes effectively negatively charged when it shares fourth
electron with neighbouring Si atom. Therefore, the dopant atom
of p-type material can be treated as core of one negative charge
along with its associated hole as shown in Fig. 14.8(b). It is
obvious that one acceptor atom gives one hole. These holes are
in addition to the intrinsically generated holes while the source
of conduction electrons is only intrinsic generation. Thus, for
such a material, the holes are the majority carriers and electrons
FIGURE 14.8 (a) Trivalent are minority carriers. Therefore, extrinsic semiconductors doped
acceptor atom (In, Al, B etc.) with trivalent impurity are called p-type semiconductors. For
doped in tetravalent Si or Ge
p-type semiconductors, the recombination process will reduce
lattice giving p-type semicon-
the number (ni )of intrinsically generated electrons to ne. We
ductor. (b) Commonly used
schematic representation of have, for p-type semiconductors
p-type material which shows n h
>> ne (14.4)
only the fixed core of the Note that the crystal maintains an overall charge neutrality
substituent acceptor with
as the charge of additional charge carriers is just equal and
one effective additional
opposite to that of the ionised cores in the lattice.
negative charge and its
associated hole. In extrinsic semiconductors, because of the abundance of
majority current carriers, the minority carriers produced
thermally have more chance of meeting majority carriers and
thus getting destroyed. Hence, the dopant, by adding a large number of
current carriers of one type, which become the majority carriers, indirectly
helps to reduce the intrinsic concentration of minority carriers.
The semiconductor’s energy band structure is affected by doping. In
the case of extrinsic semiconductors, additional energy states due to donor
impurities (ED ) and acceptor impurities (EA ) also exist. In the energy band
diagram of n-type Si semiconductor, the donor energy level ED is slightly
below the bottom EC of the conduction band and electrons from this level
move into the conduction band with very small supply of energy. At room
temperature, most of the donor atoms get ionised but very few (~10–12)
atoms of Si get ionised. So the conduction band will have most electrons
476 coming from the donor impurities, as shown in Fig. 14.9(a). Similarly,
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
for p-type semiconductor, the acceptor energy level EA is slightly above
the top EV of the valence band as shown in Fig. 14.9(b). With very small
supply of energy an electron from the valence band can jump to the level
EA and ionise the acceptor negatively. (Alternately, we can also say that
with very small supply of energy the hole from level EA sinks down into
the valence band. Electrons rise up and holes fall down when they gain
external energy.) At room temperature, most of the acceptor atoms get
ionised leaving holes in the valence band. Thus at room temperature the
density of holes in the valence band is predominantly due to impurity in
the extrinsic semiconductor. The electron and hole concentration in a
semiconductor in thermal equilibrium is given by
nenh = ni2 (14.5)
Though the above description is grossly approximate and
hypothetical, it helps in understanding the difference between metals,
insulators and semiconductors (extrinsic and intrinsic) in a simple
manner. The difference in the resistivity of C, Si and Ge depends upon
the energy gap between their conduction and valence bands. For C
(diamond), Si and Ge, the energy gaps are 5.4 eV, 1.1 eV and 0.7 eV,
respectively. Sn also is a group IV element but it is a metal because the
energy gap in its case is 0 eV.

FIGURE 14.9 Energy bands of (a) n-type semiconductor at T > 0K, (b) p-type
semiconductor at T > 0K.

Example 14.2 Suppose a pure Si crystal has 5 × 1028 atoms m–3. It is

doped by 1 ppm concentration of pentavalent As. Calculate the
number of electrons and holes. Given that ni =1.5 × 1016 m–3.
Solution Note that thermally generated electrons (ni ~1016 m–3 ) are
negligibly small as compared to those produced by doping.
EXAMPLE 14.2

Therefore, ne | ND.
Since nenh = ni2, The number of holes
nh = (2.25 × 1032 )/(5 ×1022 )
~ 4.5 × 109 m–3
477
 Physics
14.5 p-n JUNCTION
A p-n junction is the basic building block of many semiconductor devices
like diodes, transistor, etc. A clear understanding of the junction behaviour
is important to analyse the working of other semiconductor devices.
We will now try to understand how a junction is formed and how the
junction behaves under the influence of external applied voltage (also
http://www.mtmi.vu.lt/pfk/funkc_dariniai/diod/p n_devices.htm

called bias).

14.5.1 p-n junction formation

Consider a thin p-type silicon (p-Si) semiconductor wafer. By adding
precisely a small quantity of pentavelent impurity, part of the p-Si wafer
Formation and working of p-n junction diode

can be converted into n-Si. There are several processes by which a

semiconductor can be formed. The wafer now contains p-region and
n-region and a metallurgical junction between p-, and n- region.
Two important processes occur during the formation of a p-n junction:
diffusion and drift. We know that in an n-type semiconductor, the
concentration of electrons (number of electrons per unit volume) is more
compared to the concentration of holes. Similarly, in a p-type
semiconductor, the concentration of holes is more than the concentration
of electrons. During the formation of p-n junction, and due to the
concentration gradient across p-, and n- sides, holes diffuse from p-side
to n-side (p o n) and electrons diffuse from n-side to p-side (n o p). This
motion of charge carries gives rise to diffusion current across the junction.
When an electron diffuses from n o p, it leaves behind an ionised
donor on n-side. This ionised donor (positive charge) is immobile as it is
bonded to the surrounding atoms. As the electrons continue to diffuse
from n o p, a layer of positive charge (or positive space-charge region) on
n-side of the junction is developed.
Similarly, when a hole diffuses from p o n due to the concentration
gradient, it leaves behind an ionised acceptor (negative charge) which is
immobile. As the holes continue to diffuse, a layer of negative charge (or
negative space-charge region) on the p-side of the junction is developed.
This space-charge region on either side of the junction together is known
as depletion region as the electrons and holes taking part in the initial
movement across the junction depleted the region of its
free charges (Fig. 14.10). The thickness of depletion region
is of the order of one-tenth of a micrometre. Due to the
positive space-charge region on n-side of the junction and
negative space charge region on p-side of the junction,
an electric field directed from positive charge towards
negative charge develops. Due to this field, an electron on
p-side of the junction moves to n-side and a hole on n-
side of the junction moves to p-side. The motion of charge
FIGURE 14.10 p-n junction carriers due to the electric field is called drift. Thus a
formation process. drift current, which is opposite in direction to the diffusion
478 current (Fig. 14.10) starts.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
Initially, diffusion current is large and drift current is small.
As the diffusion process continues, the space-charge regions
on either side of the junction extend, thus increasing the electric
field strength and hence drift current. This process continues
until the diffusion current equals the drift current. Thus a p-n
junction is formed. In a p-n junction under equilibrium there
is no net current.
The loss of electrons from the n-region and the gain of
electron by the p-region causes a difference of potential across
the junction of the two regions. The polarity of this potential is
such as to oppose further flow of carriers so that a condition of
equilibrium exists. Figure 14.11 shows the p-n junction at
equilibrium and the potential across the junction. The
n-material has lost electrons, and p material has acquired
electrons. The n material is thus positive relative to the p
material. Since this potential tends to prevent the movement of FIGURE 14.11 (a) Diode under
electron from the n region into the p region, it is often called a equilibrium (V = 0), (b) Barrier
barrier potential. potential under no bias.

Example 14.3 Can we take one slab of p-type semiconductor and

EXAMPLE 14.3
physically join it to another n-type semiconductor to get p-n junction?
Solution No! Any slab, howsoever flat, will have roughness much
larger than the inter-atomic crystal spacing (~2 to 3 Å) and hence
continuous contact at the atomic level will not be possible. The junction
will behave as a discontinuity for the flowing charge carriers.

14.6 SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE

A semiconductor diode [Fig. 14.12(a)] is basically a
p-n junction with metallic contacts provided at the
ends for the application of an external voltage. It is a
two terminal device. A p-n junction diode is
symbolically represented as shown in Fig. 14.12(b).
The direction of arrow indicates the conventional
direction of current (when the diode is under forward
bias). The equilibrium barrier potential can be altered
by applying an external voltage V across the diode.
The situation of p-n junction diode under equilibrium FIGURE 14.12 (a) Semiconductor diode,
(without bias) is shown in Fig. 14.11(a) and (b). (b) Symbol for p-n junction diode.

14.6.1 p-n junction diode under forward bias

When an external voltage V is applied across a semiconductor diode such
that p-side is connected to the positive terminal of the battery and n-side
to the negative terminal [Fig. 14.13(a)], it is said to be forward biased.
The applied voltage mostly drops across the depletion region and the
voltage drop across the p-side and n-side of the junction is negligible.
(This is because the resistance of the depletion region – a region where
there are no charges – is very high compared to the resistance of n-side
and p-side.) The direction of the applied voltage (V ) is opposite to the 479
 Physics
FIGURE 14.13 (a) p-n
junction diode under forward
bias, (b) Barrier potential
(1) without battery, (2) Low
battery voltage, and (3) High
voltage battery.
built-in potential V0. As a result, the depletion layer width
decreases and the barrier height is reduced [Fig. 14.13(b)]. The
effective barrier height under forward bias is (V0 – V ).
If the applied voltage is small, the barrier potential will be
reduced only slightly below the equilibrium value, and only a
small number of carriers in the material—those that happen to
be in the uppermost energy levels—will possess enough energy
to cross the junction. So the current will be small. If we increase
the applied voltage significantly, the barrier height will be reduced
and more number of carriers will have the required energy. Thus
the current increases.
Due to the applied voltage, electrons from n-side cross the
depletion region and reach p-side (where they are minority
carries). Similarly, holes from p-side cross the junction and reach
the n-side (where they are minority carries). This process under
forward bias is known as minority carrier injection. At the
junction boundary, on each side, the minority carrier
concentration increases significantly compared to the locations
far from the junction.
Due to this concentration gradient, the injected electrons on
p-side diffuse from the junction edge of p-side to the other end
of p-side. Likewise, the injected holes on n-side diffuse from the
junction edge of n-side to the other end of n-side
(Fig. 14.14). This motion of charged carriers on either side
gives rise to current. The total diode forward current is sum
of hole diffusion current and conventional current due to
electron diffusion. The magnitude of this current is usually
in mA.

14.6.2 p-n junction diode under reverse bias

FIGURE 14.14 Forward bias When an external voltage (V ) is applied across the diode such
minority carrier injection. that n-side is positive and p-side is negative, it is said to be
reverse biased [Fig.14.15(a)]. The applied voltage mostly
drops across the depletion region. The direction of applied voltage is same
as the direction of barrier potential. As a result, the barrier height increases
and the depletion region widens due to the change in the electric field.
The effective barrier height under reverse bias is (V0 + V ), [Fig. 14.15(b)].
This suppresses the flow of electrons from n o p and holes from p o n.
Thus, diffusion current, decreases enormously compared to the diode
under forward bias.
The electric field direction of the junction is such that if electrons on
p-side or holes on n-side in their random motion come close to the
junction, they will be swept to its majority zone. This drift of carriers
gives rise to current. The drift current is of the order of a few PA. This is
quite low because it is due to the motion of carriers from their minority
side to their majority side across the junction. The drift current is also
there under forward bias but it is negligible (PA) when compared with
current due to injected carriers which is usually in mA.
The diode reverse current is not very much dependent on the applied
voltage. Even a small voltage is sufficient to sweep the minority carriers
480 from one side of the junction to the other side of the junction. The current
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
is not limited by the magnitude of the applied voltage but is
limited due to the concentration of the minority carrier on either
side of the junction.
The current under reverse bias is essentially voltage
independent upto a critical reverse bias voltage, known as
breakdown voltage (Vbr ). When V = Vbr, the diode reverse current
increases sharply. Even a slight increase in the bias voltage causes
large change in the current. If the reverse current is not limited by
an external circuit below the rated value (specified by the
manufacturer) the p-n junction will get destroyed. Once it exceeds
the rated value, the diode gets destroyed due to overheating. This
can happen even for the diode under forward bias, if the forward
current exceeds the rated value.
The circuit arrangement for studying the V-I characteristics
of a diode, (i.e., the variation of current as a function of applied
FIGURE 14.15 (a) Diode
voltage) are shown in Fig. 14.16(a) and (b). The battery is connected under reverse bias,
to the diode through a potentiometer (or reheostat) so that the (b) Barrier potential under
applied voltage to the diode can be changed. For different values reverse bias.
of voltages, the value of the current is noted. A graph between V
and I is obtained as in Fig. 14.16(c). Note that in forward bias
measurement, we use a milliammeter since the expected current is large
(as explained in the earlier section) while a micrometer is used in reverse
bias to measure the current. You can see in Fig. 14.16(c) that in forward

FIGURE 14.16 Experimental circuit arrangement for studying V-I characteristics of

a p-n junction diode (a) in forward bias , (b) in reverse bias. (c) Typical V-I
characteristics of a silicon diode.
481
 Physics
bias, the current first increases very slowly, almost negligibly, till the
voltage across the diode crosses a certain value. After the characteristic
voltage, the diode current increases significantly (exponentially), even for
a very small increase in the diode bias voltage. This voltage is called the
threshold voltage or cut-in voltage (~0.2V for germanium diode and
~0.7 V for silicon diode).
For the diode in reverse bias, the current is very small (~PA) and almost
remains constant with change in bias. It is called reverse saturation
current. However, for special cases, at very high reverse bias (break down
voltage), the current suddenly increases. This special action of the diode
is discussed later in Section 14.8. The general purpose diode are not
used beyond the reverse saturation current region.
The above discussion shows that the p-n junction diode primerly
allows the flow of current only in one direction (forward bias). The forward
bias resistance is low as compared to the reverse bias resistance. This
property is used for rectification of ac voltages as discussed in the next
section. For diodes, we define a quantity called dynamic resistance as
the ratio of small change in voltage 'V to a small change in current 'I:
'V
rd (14.6)
'I

Example 14.4 The V-I characteristic of a silicon diode is shown in

the Fig. 14.17. Calculate the resistance of the diode at (a) ID = 15 mA
and (b) VD = –10 V.

FIGURE 14.17

Solution Considering the diode characteristics as a straight line

between I = 10 mA to I = 20 mA passing through the origin, we can
EXAMPLE 14.4

calculate the resistance using Ohm’s law.

(a) From the curve, at I = 20 mA, V = 0.8 V, I = 10 mA, V = 0.7 V
rf b ='V/'I = 0.1V/10 mA = 10 :
(b) From the curve at V = –10 V, I = –1 PA,
Therefore,
rrb = 10 V/1PA= 1.0 × 107 :
482
 Semiconductor Electronics:
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Simple Circuits

14.7 APPLICATION OF JUNCTION DIODE AS A RECTIFIER

From the V-I characteristic of a junction diode we see that it allows current
to pass only when it is forward biased. So if an alternating voltage is
applied across a diode the current flows only in that part of the cycle
when the diode is forward biased. This property
is used to rectify alternating voltages and the
circuit used for this purpose is called a rectifier.
If an alternating voltage is applied across a
diode in series with a load, a pulsating voltage will
appear across the load only during the half cycles
of the ac input during which the diode is forward
biased. Such rectifier circuit, as shown in
Fig. 14.18, is called a half-wave rectifier. The
secondary of a transformer supplies the desired
ac voltage across terminals A and B. When the
voltage at A is positive, the diode is forward biased
and it conducts. When A is negative, the diode is
reverse-biased and it does not conduct. The reverse
saturation current of a diode is negligible and can
be considered equal to zero for practical purposes.
(The reverse breakdown voltage of the diode must
be sufficiently higher than the peak ac voltage at
the secondary of the transformer to protect the
diode from reverse breakdown.)
Therefore, in the positive half-cycle of ac there
is a current through the load resistor RL and we FIGURE 14.18 (a) Half-wave rectifier
circuit, (b) Input ac voltage and output
get an output voltage, as shown in Fig. 14.18(b),
voltage waveforms from the rectifier circuit.
whereas there is no current in the negative half-
cycle. In the next positive half-cycle, again we get
the output voltage. Thus, the output voltage, though still varying, is
restricted to only one direction and is said to be rectified. Since the
rectified output of this circuit is only for half of the input ac wave it is
called as half-wave rectifier.
The circuit using two diodes, shown in Fig. 14.19(a), gives output
rectified voltage corresponding to both the positive as well as negative
half of the ac cycle. Hence, it is known as full-wave rectifier. Here the
p-side of the two diodes are connected to the ends of the secondary of the
transformer. The n-side of the diodes are connected together and the
output is taken between this common point of diodes and the midpoint
of the secondary of the transformer. So for a full-wave rectifier the
secondary of the transformer is provided with a centre tapping and so it
is called centre-tap transformer. As can be seen from Fig.14.19(c) the
voltage rectified by each diode is only half the total secondary voltage.
Each diode rectifies only for half the cycle, but the two do so for alternate
cycles. Thus, the output between their common terminals and the centre-
tap of the transformer becomes a full-wave rectifier output. (Note that
there is another circuit of full wave rectifier which does not need a centre-
tap transformer but needs four diodes.) Suppose the input voltage to A 483
 Physics
with respect to the centre tap at any instant
is positive. It is clear that, at that instant,
voltage at B being out of phase will be
negative as shown in Fig.14.19(b). So, diode
D1 gets forward biased and conducts (while
D2 being reverse biased is not conducting).
Hence, during this positive half cycle we get
an output current (and a output voltage
across the load resistor RL) as shown in
Fig.14.19(c). In the course of the ac cycle
when the voltage at A becomes negative with
respect to centre tap, the voltage at B would
be positive. In this part of the cycle diode
D1 would not conduct but diode D2 would,
giving an output current and output
voltage (across RL ) during the negative half
cycle of the input ac. Thus, we get output
voltage during both the positive as well as
the negative half of the cycle. Obviously,
this is a more efficient circuit for getting
rectified voltage or current than the half-
wave rectifier
The rectified voltage is in the form of
pulses of the shape of half sinusoids.
Though it is unidirectional it does not have
a steady value. To get steady dc output
from the pulsating voltage normally a
capacitor is connected across the output
terminals (parallel to the load RL). One can
also use an inductor in series with RL for
FIGURE 14.19 (a) A Full-wave rectifier the same purpose. Since these additional
circuit; (b) Input wave forms given to the circuits appear to filter out the ac ripple
diode D1 at A and to the diode D2 at B;
and give a pure dc voltage, so they are
(c) Output waveform across the
load RL connected in the full-wave called filters.
rectifier circuit. Now we shall discuss the role of
capacitor in filtering. When the voltage
across the capacitor is rising, it gets
charged. If there is no external load, it remains charged to the peak voltage
of the rectified output. When there is a load, it gets discharged through
the load and the voltage across it begins to fall. In the next half-cycle of
rectified output it again gets charged to the peak value (Fig. 14.20). The
rate of fall of the voltage across the capacitor depends upon the inverse
product of capacitor C and the effective resistance RL used in the circuit
and is called the time constant. To make the time constant large value of
C should be large. So capacitor input filters use large capacitors. The
output voltage obtained by using capacitor input filter is nearer to the
peak voltage of the rectified voltage. This type of filter is most widely
484 used in power supplies.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits

FIGURE 14.20 (a) A full-wave rectifier with capacitor filter, (b) Input and output
voltage of rectifier in (a).

14.8 SPECIAL PURPOSE p-n JUNCTION DIODES

In the section, we shall discuss some devices which are basically junction
diodes but are developed for different applications.

14.8.1 Zener diode

It is a special purpose semiconductor diode, named after its inventor
C. Zener. It is designed to operate under reverse bias in the breakdown
region and used as a voltage regulator. The symbol for Zener diode is
shown in Fig. 14.21(a).
Zener diode is fabricated by heavily doping both p-, and
n- sides of the junction. Due to this, depletion region formed
is very thin (<10–6 m) and the electric field of the junction is
extremely high (~5×106 V/m) even for a small reverse bias
voltage of about 5V. The I-V characteristics of a Zener diode is
shown in Fig. 14.21(b). It is seen that when the applied reverse
bias voltage(V ) reaches the breakdown voltage (Vz ) of the Zener
diode, there is a large change in the current. Note that after
the breakdown voltage Vz, a large change in the current can
be produced by almost insignificant change in the reverse bias
voltage. In other words, Zener voltage remains constant, even
though current through the Zener diode varies over a wide
range. This property of the Zener diode is used for regulating
supply voltages so that they are constant.
Let us understand how reverse current suddenly increases
at the breakdown voltage. We know that reverse current is
due to the flow of electrons (minority carriers) from p on and
holes from n op. As the reverse bias voltage is increased, the
electric field at the junction becomes significant. When the
reverse bias voltage V = Vz, then the electric field strength is
high enough to pull valence electrons from the host atoms on
the p-side which are accelerated to n-side. These electrons
account for high current observed at the breakdown. The
FIGURE 14.21 Zener diode,
emission of electrons from the host atoms due to the high
(a) symbol, (b) I-V
electric field is known as internal field emission or field characteristics.
ionisation. The electric field required for field ionisation is of
the order of 106 V/m. 485
 Physics
Zener diode as a voltage regulator
We know that when the ac input voltage of a rectifier fluctuates, its rectified
output also fluctuates. To get a constant dc voltage from the dc
unregulated output of a rectifier, we use a Zener diode. The circuit diagram
of a voltage regulator using a Zener diode is shown in Fig. 14.22.
The unregulated dc voltage (filtered output of a
rectifier) is connected to the Zener diode through a series
resistance Rs such that the Zener diode is reverse biased.
If the input voltage increases, the current through Rs
and Zener diode also increases. This increases the
voltage drop across Rs without any change in the
voltage across the Zener diode. This is because in the
breakdown region, Zener voltage remains constant even
though the current through the Zener diode changes.
Similarly, if the input voltage decreases, the current
through Rs and Zener diode also decreases. The voltage
drop across Rs decreases without any change in the
FIGURE 14.22 Zener diode as DC voltage across the Zener diode. Thus any increase/
voltage regulator (to be corrected). decrease in the input voltage results in, increase/
decrease of the voltage drop across Rs without any
change in voltage across the Zener diode. Thus the Zener diode acts as a
voltage regulator. We have to select the Zener diode according to the
required output voltage and accordingly the series resistance Rs.

Example 14.5 In a Zener regulated power supply a Zener diode with

VZ = 6.0 V is used for regulation. The load current is to be 4.0 mA and
the unregulated input is 10.0 V. What should be the value of series
resistor RS?
Solution
The value of RS should be such that the current through the Zener
diode is much larger than the load current. This is to have good load
regulation. Choose Zener current as five times the load current, i.e.,
EXAMPLE 14.5

IZ = 20 mA. The total current through RS is, therefore, 24 mA. The

voltage drop across R S is 10.0 – 6.0 = 4.0 V. This gives
RS = 4.0V/(24 × 10–3) A = 167 :. The nearest value of carbon resistor
is 150 :. So, a series resistor of 150 : is appropriate. Note that slight
variation in the value of the resistor does not matter, what is important
is that the current IZ should be sufficiently larger than IL.

14.8.2 Optoelectronic junction devices

We have seen so far, how a semiconductor diode behaves under applied
electrical inputs. In this section, we learn about semiconductor diodes in
which carriers are generated by photons (photo-excitation). All these
devices are called optoelectronic devices. We shall study the functioning
of the following optoelectronic devices:
(i) Photodiodes used for detecting optical signal (photodetectors).
(ii) Light emitting diodes (LED) which convert electrical energy into light.
(iii) Photovoltaic devices which convert optical radiation into electricity
486 (solar cells).
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
(i) Photodiode
A Photodiode is again a special purpose p-n
junction diode fabricated with a transparent
window to allow light to fall on the diode. It is
operated under reverse bias. When the photodiode
is illuminated with light (photons) with energy (hQ)
greater than the energy gap (E g ) of the
semiconductor, then electron-hole pairs are
generated due to the absorption of photons. The
diode is fabricated such that the generation of
e-h pairs takes place in or near the depletion region
of the diode. Due to electric field of the junction,
electrons and holes are separated before they
recombine. The direction of the electric field is such
that electrons reach n-side and holes reach p-side.
Electrons are collected on n-side and holes are
collected on p-side giving rise to an emf. When an
external load is connected, current flows. The
magnitude of the photocurrent depends on the
intensity of incident light (photocurrent is
proportional to incident light intensity).
It is easier to observe the change in the current
with change in the light intensity, if a reverse bias
is applied. Thus photodiode can be used as a
photodetector to detect optical signals. The circuit
diagram used for the measurement of I-V FIGURE 14.23 (a) An illuminated
characteristics of a photodiode is shown in photodiode under reverse bias , (b) I-V
Fig. 14.23(a) and a typical I-V characteristics in characteristics of a photodiode for different
Fig. 14.23(b). illumination intensity I4 > I3 > I2 > I1.

Example 14.6 The current in the forward bias is known to be more

(~mA) than the current in the reverse bias (~PA). What is the reason
then to operate the photodiodes in reverse bias?
Solution Consider the case of an n-type semiconductor. Obviously,
the majority carrier density (n ) is considerably larger than the
minority hole density p (i.e., n >> p). On illumination, let the excess
electrons and holes generated be 'n and 'p, respectively:
EXAMPLE 14.6

nc = n +'n
pc = p +'p
Here nc and p c are the electron and hole concentrations* at any
particular illumination and n and p are carriers concentration when
there is no illumination. Remember 'n = 'p and n >> p. Hence, the

* Note that, to create an e-h pair, we spend some energy (photoexcitation, thermal
excitation, etc.). Therefore when an electron and hole recombine the energy is
released in the form of light (radiative recombination) or heat (non-radiative
recombination). It depends on semiconductor and the method of fabrication of
the p-n junction. For the fabrication of LEDs, semiconductors like GaAs, GaAs-
GaP are used in which radiative recombination dominates. 487
 Physics
fractional change in the majority carriers (i.e., 'n/n ) would be much

EXAMPLE 14.6
less than that in the minority carriers (i.e., 'p/p). In general, we can
state that the fractional change due to the photo-effects on the
minority carrier dominated reverse bias current is more easily
measurable than the fractional change in the forward bias current.
Hence, photodiodes are preferably used in the reverse bias condition
for measuring light intensity.

(ii) Light emitting diode

It is a heavily doped p-n junction which under forward bias emits
spontaneous radiation. The diode is encapsulated with a transparent
cover so that emitted light can come out.
When the diode is forward biased, electrons are sent from n op (where
they are minority carriers) and holes are sent from p on (where they are
minority carriers). At the junction boundary the concentration of minority
carriers increases compared to the equilibrium concentration (i.e., when
there is no bias). Thus at the junction boundary on either side of the
junction, excess minority carriers are there which recombine with majority
carriers near the junction. On recombination, the energy is released in
the form of photons. Photons with energy equal to or slightly less than
the band gap are emitted. When the forward current of the diode is small,
the intensity of light emitted is small. As the forward current increases,
intensity of light increases and reaches a maximum. Further increase in
the forward current results in decrease of light intensity. LEDs are biased
such that the light emitting efficiency is maximum.
The V-I characteristics of a LED is similar to that of a Si junction
diode. But the threshold voltages are much higher and slightly different
for each colour. The reverse breakdown voltages of LEDs are very low,
typically around 5V. So care should be taken that high reverse voltages
do not appear across them.
LEDs that can emit red, yellow, orange, green and blue light are
commercially available. The semiconductor used for fabrication of visible
LEDs must at least have a band gap of 1.8 eV (spectral range of visible
light is from about 0.4 Pm to 0.7 Pm, i.e., from about 3 eV to 1.8 eV). The
compound semiconductor Gallium Arsenide – Phosphide (GaAs1–x Px ) is
used for making LEDs of different colours. GaAs0.6 P0.4 (Eg ~ 1.9 eV) is
used for red LED. GaAs (Eg ~ 1.4 eV) is used for making infrared LED.
These LEDs find extensive use in remote controls, burglar alarm systems,
optical communication, etc. Extensive research is being done for
developing white LEDs which can replace incandescent lamps.
LEDs have the following advantages over conventional incandescent
low power lamps:
(i) Low operational voltage and less power.
(ii) Fast action and no warm-up time required.
(iii) The bandwidth of emitted light is 100 Å to 500 Å or in other words it
is nearly (but not exactly) monochromatic.
(iv) Long life and ruggedness.
488 (v) Fast on-off switching capability.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
(iii) Solar cell
A solar cell is basically a p-n junction which
generates emf when solar radiation falls on the
p-n junction. It works on the same principle
(photovoltaic effect) as the photodiode, except that
no external bias is applied and the junction area
is kept much larger for solar radiation to be
incident because we are interested in more power.
A simple p-n junction solar cell is shown in
Fig. 14.24.
A p-Si wafer of about 300 Pm is taken over
which a thin layer (~0.3 Pm) of n-Si is grown on
one-side by diffusion process. The other side of
p-Si is coated with a metal (back contact). On the
top of n-Si layer, metal finger electrode (or metallic
grid) is deposited. This acts as a front contact. The FIGURE 14.24 (a) Typical p-n junction
metallic grid occupies only a very small fraction solar cell; (b) Cross-sectional view.
of the cell area (<15%) so that light can be incident
on the cell from the top.
The generation of emf by a solar cell, when light falls on, it is due to
the following three basic processes: generation, separation and collection—
(i) generation of e-h pairs due to light (with hQ > Eg )
close to the junction; (ii) separation of electrons and
holes due to electric field of the depletion region.
Electrons are swept to n-side and holes to p-side;
(iii) the electrons reaching the n-side are collected by
the front contact and holes reaching p-side are collected
by the back contact. Thus p-side becomes positive and
n-side becomes negative giving rise to photovoltage.
When an external load is connected as shown in
the Fig. 14.25(a) a photocurrent IL flows through the
load. A typical I-V characteristics of a solar cell is shown
in the Fig. 14.25(b).
Note that the I – V characteristics of solar cell is
drawn in the fourth quadrant of the coordinate axes.
This is because a solar cell does not draw current but
supplies the same to the load.
Semiconductors with band gap close to 1.5 eV are
ideal materials for solar cell fabrication. Solar cells are
made with semiconductors like Si (Eg = 1.1 eV), GaAs
(Eg = 1.43 eV), CdTe (Eg = 1.45 eV), CuInSe2 (Eg = 1.04
eV), etc. The important criteria for the selection of a
material for solar cell fabrication are (i) band gap (~1.0
to 1.8 eV), (ii) high optical absorption (~104 cm–1), (iii)
electrical conductivity, (iv) availability of the raw
material, and (v) cost. Note that sunlight is not always FIGURE 14.25 (a) A typical
required for a solar cell. Any light with photon energies illuminated p-n junction solar cell;
(b) I-V characteristics of a solar cell.
greater than the bandgap will do. Solar cells are used
to power electronic devices in satellites and space
vehicles and also as power supply to some calculators. Production of
low-cost photovoltaic cells for large-scale solar energy is a topic
for research. 489
 Physics
Example 14.7 Why are Si and GaAs are preferred materials for
solar cells?
Solution The solar radiation spectrum received by us is shown in
Fig. 14.26.

FIGURE 14.26

The maxima is near 1.5 eV. For photo-excitation, hQ > Eg. Hence,
semiconductor with band gap ~1.5 eV or lower is likely to give better
solar conversion efficiency. Silicon has Eg ~ 1.1 eV while for GaAs it is
~1.53 eV. In fact, GaAs is better (in spite of its higher band gap) than
Si because of its relatively higher absorption coefficient. If we choose
materials like CdS or CdSe (Eg ~ 2.4 eV), we can use only the high
energy component of the solar energy for photo-conversion and a
significant part of energy will be of no use.
The question arises: why we do not use material like PbS (Eg ~ 0.4 eV)
EXAMPLE 14.7

which satisfy the condition hQ > Eg for Q maxima corresponding to the
solar radiation spectra? If we do so, most of the solar radiation will be
absorbed on the top-layer of solar cell and will not reach in or near
the depletion region. For effective electron-hole separation, due to
the junction field, we want the photo-generation to occur in the
junction region only.

14.9 JUNCTION TRANSISTOR

The credit of inventing the transistor in the year 1947 goes to J. Bardeen
and W.H. Brattain of Bell Telephone Laboratories, U.S.A. That transistor
was a point-contact transistor. The first junction transistor consisting of
two back-to-back p-n junctions was invented by William Schockley
in 1951.
As long as only the junction transistor was known, it was known
simply as transistor. But over the years new types of transistors were
invented and to differentiate it from the new ones it is now called the
490 Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT). Even now, often the word transistor
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
is used to mean BJT when there is no confusion. Since our study is
limited to only BJT, we shall use the word transistor for BJT without
any ambiguity.

14.9.1 Transistor: structure and action

A transistor has three doped regions forming two p-n junctions
between them. Obviously, there are two types of transistors, as shown
in Fig. 14.27.
(i) n-p-n transistor : Here two segments of n-type semiconductor
(emitter and collector) are separated by a segment of p-type
semiconductor (base).
(ii) p-n-p transistor : Here two segments of p-type semiconductor
(termed as emitter and collector) are separated by a segment of
n-type semiconductor (termed as base).
The schematic representations of an n-p-n and a p-n-p
configuration are shown in Fig. 14.27(a). All the three segments of a
transistor have different thickness and their doping levels are also
different. In the schematic symbols used for representing p-n-p and
n-p-n transistors [Fig. 14.27(b)] the arrowhead shows the direction of
conventional current in the transistor. A brief description of the three
segments of a transistor is given below:
x Emitter : This is the segment on one side of the transistor shown in
Fig. 14.27(a). It is of moderate size and heavily doped. It supplies
a large number of majority carriers for the current flow through
the transistor.
x Base: This is the central segment. It is very thin and lightly doped.
x Collector: This segment collects a major portion of the majority
carriers supplied by the emitter. The collector side is moderately
doped and larger in size as compared to the emitter.
We have seen earlier in the case of a p-n junction, that there is a
formation of depletion region acorss the junction. In case of a transistor
depletion regions are formed at the emitter base-junction and the base-
collector junction. For understanding the action of a transistor, we
have to consider the nature of depletion regions formed at these
junctions. The charge carriers move across different regions of the
transistor when proper voltages are applied across its terminals.
The biasing of the transistor is done differently for different uses.
The transistor can be used in two distinct ways. Basically, it was
invented to function as an amplifier, a device which produces a enlarged
copy of a signal. But later its use as a switch acquired equal
importance. We shall study both these functions and the ways the
transistor is biased to achieve these mutually exclusive functions. FIGURE 14.27
First we shall see what gives the transistor its amplifying capabilities. (a) Schematic
The transistor works as an amplifier, with its emitter-base junction representations of a
forward biased and the base-collector junction reverse biased. This n-p-n transistor and
situation is shown in Fig. 14.28, where VCC and VEE are used for creating p-n-p transistor, and
the respective biasing. When the transistor is biased in this way it is (b) Symbols for n-p-n
and p-n-p transistors.
said to be in active state.We represent the voltage between emitter and
base as VEB and that between the collector and the base as VCB. In 491
 Physics
Fig. 14.28, base is a common terminal for the two
power supplies whose other terminals are
connected to emitter and collector, respectively. So
the two power supplies are represented as VEE, and
VCC, respectively. In circuits, where emitter is the
common terminal, the power supply between the
base and the emitter is represented as VBB and that
between collector and emitter as VCC.
Let us see now the paths of current carriers in
the transistor with emitter-base junction forward
biased and base-collector junction reverse biased.
The heavily doped emitter has a high concentration
of majority carriers, which will be holes in a p-n-p
transistor and electrons in an n-p-n transistor.
These majority carriers enter the base region in
large numbers. The base is thin and lightly doped.
So the majority carriers there would be few. In a
p-n-p transistor the majority carriers in the base
are electrons since base is of n-type semiconductor.
The large number of holes entering the base from
the emitter swamps the small number of electrons
there. As the base collector-junction is reverse-
biased, these holes, which appear as minority
carriers at the junction, can easily cross the
junction and enter the collector. The holes in the
base could move either towards the base terminal
to combine with the electrons entering from outside
or cross the junction to enter into the collector and
reach the collector terminal. The base is made thin
so that most of the holes find themselves near
the reverse-biased base-collector junction and so
cross the junction instead of moving to the base
FIGURE 14.28 Bias Voltage applied on: (a) terminal.
p-n-p transistor and (b) n-p-n transistor. It is interesting to note that due to forward
bias a large current enters the emitter -base
junction, but most of it is diverted to adjacent reverse-biased base-collector
junction and the current coming out of the base becomes a very small
fraction of the current that entered the junction. If we represent the hole
current and the electron current crossing the forward biased junction by
Ih and Ie respectively then the total current in a forward biased diode is
the sum Ih + Ie. We see that the emitter current IE = Ih + Ie but the base
current IB << Ih + Ie, because a major part of IE goes to collector instead of
coming out of the base terminal. The base current is thus a small fraction
of the emitter current.
The current entering into the emitter from outside is equal to the
emitter current IE. Similarly the current emerging from the base terminal
is IB and that from collector terminal is IC. It is obvious from the above
description and also from a straight forward application of Kirchhoff’s
law to Fig. 14.28(a) that the emitter current is the sum of collector current
492 and base current:
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
IE = IC + IB (14.7)
We also see that IC | IE.
Our description of the direction of motion of the holes is identical
with the direction of the conventional current. But the direction of motion
of electrons is just opposite to that of the current. Thus in a p-n-p
transistor the current enters from emitter into base whereas in a n-p-n
transistor it enters from the base into the emitter. The arrowhead in the
emitter shows the direction of the conventional current.
The description about the paths followed by the majority and minority
carriers in a n-p-n is exactly the same as that for the p-n-p transistor.
But the current paths are exactly opposite, as shown in Fig. 14.28. In
Fig. 14.28(b) the electrons are the majority carriers supplied by the
n-type emitter region. They cross the thin p-base region and are able to
reach the collector to give the collector current, IC . From the above
description we can conclude that in the active state of the transistor the
emitter-base junction acts as a low resistance while the base collector
acts as a high resistance.

14.9.2 Basic transistor circuit configurations and transistor

characteristics
In a transistor, only three terminals are available, viz., Emitter (E), Base
(B) and Collector (C). Therefore, in a circuit the input/output connections
have to be such that one of these (E, B or C) is common to both the input
and the output. Accordingly, the transistor can be connected in either of
the following three configurations:
Common Emitter (CE), Common Base (CB), Common Collector (CC)
The transistor is most widely used in the CE configuration and we
shall restrict our discussion to only this configuration. Since more
commonly used transistors are n-p-n Si transistors, we shall confine
our discussion to such transistors only. With p-n-p transistors the
polarities of the external power supplies are to be inverted.
Common emitter transistor characteristics
When a transistor is used in CE configuration, the input
is between the base and the emitter and the output is
between the collector and the emitter. The variation of
the base current IB with the base-emitter voltage VBE is
called the input characteristic. Similarly, the variation
of the collector current IC with the collector-emitter
voltage VCE is called the output characteristic. You will
see that the output characteristics are controlled by
the input characteristics. This implies that the collector
current changes with the base current.
The input and the output characteristics of an
n-p-n transistors can be studied by using the circuit FIGURE 14.29 Circuit arrangement
shown in Fig. 14.29. for studying the input and output
characteristics of n-p-n transistor in
To study the input characteristics of the transistor
CE configuration.
in CE configuration, a curve is plotted between the base
current IB against the base-emitter voltage VBE. The 493
 Physics
collector-emitter voltage VCE is kept fixed while
studying the dependence of IB on VBE. We are
interested to obtain the input characteristic
when the transistor is in active state. So the
collector -emitter voltage V CE is kept large
enough to make the base collector junction
reverse biased. Since VCE = VCB + VBE and for Si
transistor VBE is 0.6 to 0.7 V, VCE must be
sufficiently larger than 0.7 V. Since the
transistor is operated as an amplifier over large
range of VCE, the reverse bias across the base-
collector junction is high most of the time.
Therefore, the input characteristics may be
obtained for VCE somewhere in the range of 3 V
to 20 V. Since the increase in VCE appears as
increase in VCB, its effect on IB is negligible. As
a consequence, input characteristics for various
values of VCE will give almost identical curves.
Hence, it is enough to determine only one input
characteristics. The input characteristics of a
transistor is as shown in Fig. 14.30(a).
The output characteristic is obtained by
observing the variation of IC as VCE is varied
keeping IB constant. It is obvious that if VBE is
increased by a small amount, both hole current
from the emitter region and the electron current
from the base region will increase. As a
consequence both I B and I C will increase
FIGURE 14.30 (a) Typical input proportionately. This shows that when I B
characteristics, and (b) Typical output
increases IC also increases. The plot of IC versus
characteristics.
VCE for different fixed values of IB gives one
output characteristic. So there will be different output characteristics
corresponding to different values of IB as shown in Fig. 14.30(b).
The linear segments of both the input and output characteristics can
be used to calculate some important ac parameters of transistors as
shown below.
(i) Input resistance (ri ): This is defined as the ratio of change in base-
emitter voltage ('VBE) to the resulting change in base current ('IB ) at
constant collector-emitter voltage (VCE ). This is dynamic (ac resistance)
and as can be seen from the input characteristic, its value varies with
the operating current in the transistor:

§ 'VBE ·
ri ¨© 'I ¸¹ (14.8)
B V
CE

The value of ri can be anything from a few hundreds to a few thousand

494 ohms.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
(ii) Output resistance (ro): This is defined as the ratio of change in
collector-emitter voltage ('VCE) to the change in collector current ('IC)
at a constant base current IB.
§ 'VCE ·
ro ¨© 'I ¸¹ (14.9)
C IB

The output characteristics show that initially for very small values of
VCE , IC increases almost linearly. This happens because the base-collector
junction is not reverse biased and the transistor is not in active state. In
fact, the transistor is in the saturation state and the current is controlled
by the supply voltage VCC (=VCE) in this part of the characteristic. When
VCE is more than that required to reverse bias the base-collector junction,
IC increases very little with VCE. The reciprocal of the slope of the linear
part of the output characteristic gives the values of ro. The output
resistance of the transistor is mainly controlled by the bias of the base-
collector junction. The high magnitude of the output resistance (of the
order of 100 k:) is due to the reverse-biased state of this diode. This
also explains why the resistance at the initial part of the characteristic,
when the transistor is in saturation state, is very low.
(iii) Current amplification factor (E ): This is defined as the ratio of
the change in collector current to the change in base current at a
constant collector-emitter voltage (VCE) when the transistor is in
active state.
§ 'I C ·
Eac ¨© 'I ¸¹ (14.10)
B VCE

This is also known as small signal current gain and its value is very
large.
If we simply find the ratio of IC and IB we get what is called dc Eof the
transistor. Hence,
IC
Edc (14.11)
IB
Since IC increases with IB almost linearly and IC = 0 when IB = 0, the values
of both Edc and Eac are nearly equal. So, for most calculations Edc can be
used. Both Eac and Edc vary with VCE and IB (or IC) slightly.

Example 14.8 From the output characteristics shown in Fig. 14.30(b),

calculate the values of E ac and E dc of the transistor when VCE is
10 V and IC = 4.0 mA.
Solution
§ 'I C · IC
Eac ¨© 'I ¸¹ , Edc IB
EXAMPLE 14.8

B VCE

For determining Eac and Edc at the stated values of VCE and IC one can
proceed as follows. Consider any two characteristics for two values
of IB which lie above and below the given value of IC . Here IC = 4.0 mA.
(Choose characteristics for IB= 30 and 20 PA.) At VCE = 10 V we read
the two values of IC from the graph. Then 495
 Physics
'IB (30 – 20) PA = 10 PA, 'IC (4.5 – 3.0) mA = 1.5 mA
Therefore, Eac = 1.5 mA/ 10 PA = 150
For determining Edc, either estimate the value of IB corresponding to
IC = 4.0 mA at VCE = 10 V or calculate the two values of Edc for the two
characteristics chosen and find their mean.
EXAMPLE 14.8

Therefore, for IC = 4.5 mA and IB = 30 PA,

Edc = 4.5 mA/ 30 PA = 150
and for IC = 3.0 mA and IB = 20 PA
Edc =3.0 mA / 20 PA = 150
Hence, Edc =(150 + 150) /2 = 150

14.9.3 Transistor as a device

The transistor can be used as a device application depending on the
configuration used (namely CB, CC and CE), the biasing of the E-B and
B-C junction and the operation region namely cutoff, active region and
saturation. As mentioned earlier we have confined only to the CE
configuration and will be concentrating on the biasing and the operation
region to understand the working of a device.
When the transistor is used in the cutoff
or saturation state it acts as a switch. On
the other hand for using the transistor as
an amplifier, it has to operate in the active
region.
(i) Transistor as a switch
We shall try to understand the operation of
the transistor as a switch by analysing the
behaviour of the base-biased transistor in
CE configuration as shown in Fig. 14.31(a).
Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage rule to the
input and output sides of this circuit, we
get
VBB = IBRB + VBE (14.12)
and
VCE = VCC – ICRC. (14.13)
We shall treat VBB as the dc input
voltage Vi and VCE as the dc output voltage
VO. So, we have
Vi = IBRB + VBE and
Vo = VCC – ICRC.
Let us see how V o changes as V i
increases from zero onwards. In the case
of Si transistor, as long as input Vi is less
FIGURE 14.31 (a) Base-biased transistor in CE than 0.6 V, the transistor will be in cut off
configuration, (b) Transfer characteristic. state and current IC will be zero.
Hence Vo = VCC
When Vi becomes greater than 0.6 V the transistor is in active state with
496 some current IC in the output path and the output Vo decrease as the
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
term ICRC increases. With increase of Vi , IC increases almost linearly
and so V o decreases linearly till its value becomes less than
about 1.0 V.
Beyond this, the change becomes non linear and transistor goes into
saturation state. With further increase in Vi the output voltage is found to
decrease further towards zero though it may never become zero. If we plot
the Vo vs Vi curve, [also called the transfer characteristics of the base-biased
transistor (Fig. 14.31(b)], we see that between cut off state and active state
and also between active state and saturation state there are regions of
non-linearity showing that the transition from cutoff state to active state
and from active state to saturation state are not sharply defined.
Let us see now how the transistor is operated as a switch. As long as
Vi is low and unable to forward-bias the transistor, Vo is high (at VCC ). If
Vi is high enough to drive the transistor into saturation, then Vo is low,
very near to zero. When the transistor is not conducting it is said to be
switched off and when it is driven into saturation it is said to be switched
on. This shows that if we define low and high states as below and above
certain voltage levels corresponding to cutoff and saturation of the
transistor, then we can say that a low input switches the transistor off
and a high input switches it on. Alternatively, we can say that a low
input to the transistor gives a high output and a high input gives a low
output. The switching circuits are designed in such a way that the
transistor does not remain in active state.
(ii) Transistor as an amplifier
For using the transistor as an amplifier we will use the active region of
the Vo versus Vi curve. The slope of the linear part of the curve represents
the rate of change of the output with the input. It is negative because the
output is VCC – ICRC and not ICRC. That is why as input voltage of the CE
amplifier increases its output voltage decreases and the output is said to
be out of phase with the input. If we consider 'Vo and'Vi as small
changes in the output and input voltages then 'Vo/'Vi is called the small
signal voltage gain AV of the amplifier.
If the VBB voltage has a fixed value corresponding to the mid point of
the active region, the circuit will behave as a CE amplifier with voltage
gain 'Vo/'Vi . We can express the voltage gain AV in terms of the resistors
in the circuit and the current gain of the transistor as follows.
We have, Vo = VCC – ICRC
Therefore, 'Vo = 0 – RC ' IC
Similarly, from Vi = IBRB + VBE
'Vi = RB'IB + 'VBE
But 'VBE is negligibly small in comparison to 'IBRB in this circuit.
So, the voltage gain of this CE amplifier (Fig. 14.32) is given by
AV = –RC ' IC /RB 'IB
= –Eac(RC /RB ) (14.14)
where Eac is equal to ' IC/'IB from Eq. (14.10). Thus the linear
portion of the active region of the transistor can be exploited for the use
in amplifiers. Transistor as an amplifier (CE configuration) is discussed
in detail in the next section. 497
 Physics
14.9.4 Transistor as an Amplifier (CE-Configuration)
To operate the transistor as an amplifier it is necessary to fix its operating
point somewhere in the middle of its active region. If we fix the value of
VBB corresponding to a point in the middle of the linear part of the transfer
curve then the dc base current IB would be constant and corresponding
collector current IC will also be constant. The dc voltage VCE = VCC - ICRC
would also remain constant. The operating values of VCE and IB determine
the operating point, of the amplifier.
If a small sinusoidal voltage with amplitude vs is superposed on
the dc base bias by connecting the source of that signal in series with the
VBB supply, then the base current will have sinusoidal variations
superimposed on the value of IB. As a consequence the collector current
also will have sinusoidal variations
superimposed on the value of IC, producing
in turn corresponding change in the value
of VO. We can measure the ac variations
across the input and output terminals by
blocking the dc voltages by large capacitors.
In the discription of the amplifier given
above we have not considered any ac signal.
In general, amplifiers are used to amplify
alternating signals. Now let us superimpose
FIGURE 14.32 A simple circuit of a an ac input signal vi (to be amplified) on the
CE-transistor amplifier. bias VBB (dc) as shown in Fig. 14.32. The
output is taken between the collector and
the ground.
The working of an amplifier can be easily understood, if we first
assume that vi = 0. Then applying Kirchhoff’s law to the output loop,
we get
Vcc = VCE + IcRL (14.15)
Likewise, the input loop gives
VBB = VBE + IB RB (14.16)
When vi is not zero, we get
VBE + vi = VBE + IB RB + 'IB (RB + ri )
The change in VBE can be related to the input resistance ri [see
Eq. (14.8)] and the change in IB. Hence
vi = 'IB (RB + ri )
= r 'IB
The change in IB causes a change in Ic. We define a parameter Eac,
which is similar to the Edc defined in Eq. (14.11), as
'I c i c
Eac (14.17)
'I B i b
which is also known as the ac current gain Ai . Usually Eac is close to Edc
in the linear region of the output characteristics.
The change in Ic due to a change in IB causes a change in VCE and the
498 voltage drop across the resistor RL because VCC is fixed.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
These changes can be given by Eq. (14.15) as
'VCC = 'VCE + RL 'IC = 0
or 'VCE = –RL 'IC
The change in VCE is the output voltage v0. From Eq. (14.10), we get
v0 = 'VCE = –Eac RL 'IB
The voltage gain of the amplifier is
v0 'VCE
Av
vi r 'I B

Eac R L
– (14.18)
r
The negative sign represents that output voltage is opposite with phase
with the input voltage.
From the discussion of the transistor characteristics you have seen
that there is a current gain Eac in the CE configuration. Here we have also
seen the voltage gain Av. Therefore the power gain Ap can be expressed
as the product of the current gain and voltage gain. Mathematically
Ap = Eac × Av (14.19)
Since Eac and Av are greater than 1, we get ac power gain. However it
should be realised that transistor is not a power generating device. The
energy for the higher ac power at the output is supplied by the battery.

Example 14.9 In Fig. 14.31(a), the VBB supply can be varied from 0V
to 5.0 V. The Si transistor has Edc = 250 and RB = 100 k:, RC = 1 K:,
VCC = 5.0V. Assume that when the transistor is saturated, VCE = 0V
and VBE = 0.8V. Calculate (a) the minimum base current, for which
the transistor will reach saturation. Hence, (b) determine V1 when
the transistor is ‘switched on’. (c) find the ranges of V1 for which the
transistor is ‘switched off’ and ‘switched on’.
Solution
Given at saturation VCE = 0V, VBE = 0.8V
VCE = VCC – ICRC
IC = VCC/RC = 5.0V/1.0k: = 5.0 mA
Therefore IB = IC/E = 5.0 mA/250 = 20PA
The input voltage at which the transistor will go into saturation is
given by
VIH = VBB = IBRB +VBE
= 20PA × 100 k: + 0.8V = 2.8V
The value of input voltage below which the transistor remains cutoff
is given by
VIL = 0.6V, VIH = 2.8V
EXAMPLE 14.9

Between 0.0V and 0.6V, the transistor will be in the ‘switched off’
state. Between 2.8V and 5.0V, it will be in ‘switched on’ state.
Note that the transistor is in active state when IB varies from 0.0mA
to 20mA. In this range, IC = EIB is valid. In the saturation range,
IC d EIB.
499
 Physics
Example 14.10 For a CE transistor amplifier, the audio signal voltage
across the collector resistance of 2.0 k: is 2.0 V. Suppose the current
amplification factor of the transistor is 100, What should be the value
of RB in series with VBB supply of 2.0 V if the dc base current has to be
10 times the signal current. Also calculate the dc drop across the
collector resistance. (Refer to Fig. 14.33).
Solution The output ac voltage is 2.0 V. So, the ac collector current
EXAMPLE 14.10

iC = 2.0/2000 = 1.0 mA. The signal current through the base is,
therefore given by iB = iC /E = 1.0 mA/100 = 0.010 mA. The dc base
current has to be 10× 0.010 = 0.10 mA.
From Eq.14.16, RB = (VBB - VBE ) /IB. Assuming VBE = 0.6 V,
RB = (2.0 – 0.6 )/0.10 = 14 k:
The dc collector current IC = 100×0.10 = 10 mA.

14.9.5 Feedback amplifier and transistor oscillator

In an amplifier, we have seen that a sinusoidal input is given which appears
as an amplified signal in the output. This means that an external input is
FIGURE 14.33 (a) Principle of a transistor
amplifier with positive feedback working as an
oscillator and (b) Tuned collector oscillator, (c) Rise
and fall (or built up) of current Ic and Ie due to the
inductive coupling.
500
necessary to sustain ac signal in the
output for an amplifier. In an oscillator, we
get ac output without any external input
signal. In other words, the output in an
oscillator is self-sustained. To attain this,
an amplifier is taken. A portion of the
output power is returned back (feedback)
to the input in phase with the starting
power (this process is termed positive
feedback) as shown in Fig. 14.33(a). The
feedback can be achieved by inductive
coupling (through mutual inductance) or
LC or RC networks. Different types of
oscillators essentially use different methods
of coupling the output to the input
(feedback network), apart from the resonant
circuit for obtaining oscillation at a
particular frequency. For understanding
the oscillator action, we consider the circuit
shown in Fig. 14.33(b) in which the
feedback is accomplished by inductive
coupling from one coil winding (T 1) to
another coil winding (T2). Note that the coils
T2 and T1 are wound on the same core and
hence are inductively coupled through their
mutual inductance. As in an amplifier, the
base-emitter junction is forward biased
while the base-collector junction is reverse
biased. Detailed biasing circuits actually
used have been omitted for simplicity.
Let us try to understand how oscillations
are built. Suppose switch S1 is put on to
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
apply proper bias for the first time. Obviously, a surge of collector current
flows in the transistor. This current flows through the coil T2 where
terminals are numbered 3 and 4 [Fig. 14.33(b)]. This current does not
reach full amplitude instantaneously but increases from X to Y, as shown
in Fig. [14.33(c)(i)]. The inductive coupling between coil T2 and coil T1
now causes a current to flow in the emitter circuit (note that this actually
is the ‘feedback’ from input to output). As a result of this positive feedback,
this current (in T1; emitter current) also increases from X´ to Y´ [Fig.
14.33(c)(ii)]. The current in T2 (collector current) connected in the collector
circuit acquires the value Y when the transistor becomes saturated. This
means that maximum collector current is flowing and can increase no
further. Since there is no further change in collector current, the magnetic
field around T2 ceases to grow. As soon as the field becomes static, there
will be no further feedback from T2 to T1. Without continued feedback,
the emitter current begins to fall. Consequently, collector current decreases
from Y towards Z [Fig. 14.33(c)(i)]. However, a decrease of collector current
causes the magnetic field to decay around the coil T2. Thus, T1 is now
seeing a decaying field in T2 (opposite from what it saw when the field was
growing at the initial start operation). This causes a further decrease in
the emitter current till it reaches Zcwhen the transistor is cut-off. This
means that both IE and IC cease to flow. Therefore, the transistor has
reverted back to its original state (when the power was first switched on).
The whole process now repeats itself. That is, the transistor is driven to
saturation, then to cut-off, and then back to saturation. The time for
change from saturation to cut-off and back is determined by the constants
of the tank circuit or tuned circuit (inductance L of coil T2 and C connected
in parallel to it). The resonance frequency (Q ) of this tuned circuit
determines the frequency at which the oscillator will oscillate.
§ 1 ·
Q ¨© ¸ (14.20)
2ʌ LC ¹
In the circuit of Fig. 14.33(b), the tank or tuned circuit is connected
in the collector side. Hence, it is known as tuned collector oscillator. If the
tuned circuit is on the base side, it will be known as tuned base oscillator.
There are many other types of tank circuits (say RC) or feedback circuits
giving different types of oscillators like Colpitt’s oscillator, Hartley
oscillator, RC-oscillator.

14.10 DIGITAL ELECTRONICS AND LOGIC GATES

In electronics circuits like amplifiers, oscillators, introduced to you in
earlier sections, the signal (current or voltage) has been in the form of
continuous, time-varying voltage or current. Such signals are called
continuous or analogue signals. A typical analogue signal is shown in
Figure. 14.34(a). Fig. 14.34(b) shows a pulse waveform in which only
discrete values of voltages are possible. It is convenient to use binary
numbers to represent such signals. A binary number has only two digits
‘0’ (say, 0V) and ‘1’ (say, 5V). In digital electronics we use only these two
levels of voltage as shown in Fig. 14.34(b). Such signals are called Digital
Signals. In digital circuits only two values (represented by 0 or 1) of the
input and output voltage are permissible. 501
 Physics
This section is intended to provide the first step in our understanding
of digital electronics. We shall restrict our study to some basic building
blocks of digital electronics (called Logic Gates) which process the digital
signals in a specific manner. Logic gates are used in calculators, digital
watches, computers, robots, industrial control systems, and in
telecommunications.
A light switch in your house can be used as an example of a digital
circuit. The light is either ON or OFF depending on the switch position.
When the light is ON, the output value is ‘1’. When the light is OFF the
output value is ‘0’. The inputs are the position of the light switch. The
switch is placed either in the ON or OFF position to activate the light.

FIGURE 14.34 (a) Analogue signal, (b) Digital signal.

14.10.1 Logic gates

A gate is a digital circuit that follows curtain logical relationship
between the input and output voltages. Therefore, they are generally
known as logic gates — gates because they control the flow of
Input Output information. The five common logic gates used are NOT, AND, OR,
NAND, NOR. Each logic gate is indicated by a symbol and its function
A Y is defined by a truth table that shows all the possible input logic level
combinations with their respective output logic levels. Truth tables
0 1 help understand the behaviour of logic gates. These logic gates can
be realised using semiconductor devices.
1 0 (i) NOT gate
(b) This is the most basic gate, with one input and one output. It produces
FIGURE 14.35 a ‘1’ output if the input is ‘0’ and vice-versa. That is, it produces an
(a) Logic symbol, inverted version of the input at its output. This is why it is also known
(b) Truth table of as an inverter. The commonly used symbol together with the truth
NOT gate. table for this gate is given in Fig. 14.35.
(ii) OR Gate
An OR gate has two or more inputs with one output. The logic symbol
and truth table are shown in Fig. 14.36. The output Y is 1 when either
input A or input B or both are 1s, that is, if any of the input is high, the
502 output is high.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
Input Output
A B Y
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1

(b)

FIGURE 14.36 (a) Logic symbol (b) Truth table of OR gate.

Apart from carrying out the above mathematical logic operation, this
gate can be used for modifying the pulse waveform as explained in the
following example.

Example 14.11 Justify the output waveform (Y) of the OR gate for
the following inputs A and B given in Fig. 14.37.
Solution Note the following:
x At t < t1; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t1 to t2; A = 1, B = 0; Hence Y = 1
x For t2 to t3; A = 1, B = 1; Hence Y = 1
x For t3 to t4; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 1
x For t4 to t5; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t5 to t6; A = 1, B = 0; Hence Y = 1
x For t > t6; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 1
Therefore the waveform Y will be as shown in the Fig. 14.37. EXAMPLE 14.11

FIGURE 14.37

(iii) AND Gate Input Output

An AND gate has two or more inputs and one output. The output Y of
AND gate is 1 only when input A and input B are both 1. The logic A B Y
symbol and truth table for this gate are given in Fig. 14.38 0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
(b)
FIGURE 14.38 (a) Logic symbol, (b) Truth table of AND gate. 503
 Physics
Example 14.12 Take A and B input waveforms similar to that in
Example 14.11. Sketch the output waveform obtained from AND gate.
Solution
x For t d t1; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t1 to t2; A = 1, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t2 to t3; A = 1, B = 1; Hence Y = 1
x For t3 to t4; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 0
x For t4 to t5; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t5 to t6; A = 1, B = 0; Hence Y = 0
x For t > t6; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 0
Based on the above, the output waveform for AND gate can be drawn
as given below.
EXAMPLE 14.12

FIGURE 14.39

(iv) NAND Gate

This is an AND gate followed by a NOT gate. If inputs A and B are both
‘1’, the output Y is not ‘1’. The gate gets its name from this NOT AND
behaviour. Figure 14.40 shows the symbol and truth table of NAND gate.
NAND gates are also called Universal Gates since by using these
gates you can realise other basic gates like OR, AND and NOT (Exercises
14.16 and 14.17).
Input Output
A B Y
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
(b)

FIGURE 14.40 (a) Logic symbol, (b) Truth table of NAND gate.

Example 14.13 Sketch the output Y from a NAND gate having inputs
A and B given below:
EXAMPLE 14.13

Solution
x For t < t1; A = 1, B = 1; Hence Y = 0
x For t1 to t2; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 1
x For t2 to t3; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 1
x For t3 to t4; A = 1, B = 0; Hence Y = 1
504
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits

x For t4 to t5; A = 1, B = 1; Hence Y = 0

x For t5 to t6; A = 0, B = 0; Hence Y = 1
x For t > t6; A = 0, B = 1; Hence Y = 1

EXAMPLE 14.13
FIGURE 14.41

(v) NOR Gate

It has two or more inputs and one output. A NOT- operation applied
after OR gate gives a NOT-OR gate (or simply NOR gate). Its output Y is
‘1’ only when both inputs A and B are ‘0’, i.e., neither one input nor the
other is ‘1’. The symbol and truth table for NOR gate is given in
Fig. 14.42.
Input Output
A B Y
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
(b)
FIGURE 14.42 (a) Logic symbol, (b) Truth table of NOR gate.
NOR gates are considered as universal gates because you can obtain
all the gates like AND, OR, NOT by using only NOR gates (Exercises 14.18
and 14.19).

14.11 INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

The conventional method of making circuits is to choose components
like diodes, transistor, R, L, C etc., and connect them by soldering wires
in the desired manner. Inspite of the miniaturisation introduced by the
discovery of transistors, such circuits were still bulky. Apart from this,
such circuits were less reliable and less shock proof. The concept of
fabricating an entire circuit (consisting of many passive components like
R and C and active devices like diode and transistor) on a small single
block (or chip) of a semiconductor has revolutionised the electronics
technology. Such a circuit is known as Integrated Circuit (IC). The most
widely used technology is the Monolithic Integrated Circuit. The word 505
 Physics
monolithic is a combination of two greek words, monos
means single and lithos means stone. This, in effect,
means that the entire circuit is formed on a single
silicon crystal (or chip). The chip dimensions are as
small as 1mm × 1mm or it could even be smaller. Figure
14.43 shows a chip in its protective plastic case, partly
removed to reveal the connections coming out from the
‘chip’ to the pins that enable it to make external
connections.
FIGURE 14.43 The casing and
Depending on nature of input signals, IC’s can be
connection of a ‘chip’.
grouped in two categories: (a) linear or analogue IC’s
and (b) digital IC’s. The linear IC’s process analogue
signals which change smoothly and continuously over a range of values
between a maximum and a minimum. The output is more or less directly
proportional to the input, i.e., it varies linearly with the input. One of the
most useful linear IC’s is the operational amplifier.
The digital IC’s process signals that have only two values. They
contain circuits such as logic gates. Depending upon the level of
integration (i.e., the number of circuit components or logic gates), the ICs
are termed as Small Scale Integration, SSI (logic gates < 10); Medium
Scale Integration, MSI (logic gates < 100); Large Scale Integration, LSI
(logic gates < 1000); and Very Large Scale Integration, VLSI (logic gates >
1000). The technology of fabrication is very involved but large scale
industrial production has made them very inexpensive.

FASTER AND SMALLER: THE FUTURE OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

The Integrated Chip (IC) is at the heart of all computer systems. In fact ICs are found in
almost all electrical devices like cars, televisions, CD players, cell phones etc. The
miniaturisation that made the modern personal computer possible could never have
happened without the IC. ICs are electronic devices that contain many transistors, resistors,
capacitors, connecting wires – all in one package. You must have heard of the
microprocessor. The microprocessor is an IC that processes all information in a computer,
like keeping track of what keys are pressed, running programmes, games etc. The IC was
first invented by Jack Kilky at Texas Instruments in 1958 and he was awarded Nobel Prize
for this in 2000. ICs are produced on a piece of semiconductor crystal (or chip) by a process
called photolithography. Thus, the entire Information Technology (IT) industry hinges on
semiconductors. Over the years, the complexity of ICs has increased while the size of its
features continued to shrink. In the past five decades, a dramatic miniaturisation in
computer technology has made modern day computers faster and smaller. In the 1970s,
Gordon Moore, co-founder of INTEL, pointed out that the memory capacity of a chip (IC)
approximately doubled every one and a half years. This is popularly known as Moore’s
law. The number of transistors per chip has risen exponentially and each year computers
are becoming more powerful, yet cheaper than the year before. It is intimated from current
trends that the computers available in 2020 will operate at 40 GHz (40,000 MHz) and
would be much smaller, more efficient and less expensive than present day computers.
The explosive growth in the semiconductor industry and computer technology is best
expressed by a famous quote from Gordon Moore: “If the auto industry advanced as rapidly
as the semiconductor industry, a Rolls Royce would get half a million miles per gallon, and
it would be cheaper to throw it away than to park it”.

506
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits

SUMMARY

1. Semiconductors are the basic materials used in the present solid state
electronic devices like diode, transistor, ICs, etc.
2. Lattice structure and the atomic structure of constituent elements
decide whether a particular material will be insulator, metal or
semiconductor.
3. Metals have low resistivity (10–2 to 10–8 : m), insulators have very high
resistivity (>108 : m–1), while semiconductors have intermediate values
of resistivity.
4. Semiconductors are elemental (Si, Ge) as well as compound (GaAs,
CdS, etc.).
5. Pure semiconductors are called ‘intrinsic semiconductors’. The presence
of charge carriers (electrons and holes) is an ‘intrinsic’ property of the
material and these are obtained as a result of thermal excitation. The
number of electrons (ne ) is equal to the number of holes (nh ) in intrinsic
conductors. Holes are essentially electron vacancies with an effective
positive charge.
6. The number of charge carriers can be changed by ‘doping’ of a suitable
impurity in pure semiconductors. Such semiconductors are known as
extrinsic semiconductors. These are of two types (n-type and p-type).
7. In n-type semiconductors, ne >> nh while in p-type semiconductors nh >> ne.
8. n-type semiconducting Si or Ge is obtained by doping with pentavalent
atoms (donors) like As, Sb, P, etc., while p-type Si or Ge can be obtained
by doping with trivalent atom (acceptors) like B, Al, In etc.
9. nenh = ni2 in all cases. Further, the material possesses an overall charge
neutrality.
10. There are two distinct band of energies (called valence band and
conduction band) in which the electrons in a material lie. Valence
band energies are low as compared to conduction band energies. All
energy levels in the valence band are filled while energy levels in the
conduction band may be fully empty or partially filled. The electrons in
the conduction band are free to move in a solid and are responsible for
the conductivity. The extent of conductivity depends upon the energy
gap (Eg ) between the top of valence band (EV ) and the bottom of the
conduction band EC. The electrons from valence band can be excited by
heat, light or electrical energy to the conduction band and thus, produce
a change in the current flowing in a semiconductor.
11. For insulators Eg > 3 eV, for semiconductors Eg is 0.2 eV to 3 eV, while
for metals Eg | 0.
12. p-n junction is the ‘key’ to all semiconductor devices. When such a
junction is made, a ‘depletion layer’ is formed consisting of immobile
ion-cores devoid of their electrons or holes. This is responsible for a
junction potential barrier.
13. By changing the external applied voltage, junction barriers can be
changed. In forward bias (n-side is connected to negative terminal of the
battery and p-side is connected to the positive), the barrier is decreased
while the barrier increases in reverse bias. Hence, forward bias current
is more (mA) while it is very small (PA) in a p-n junction diode.
14. Diodes can be used for rectifying an ac voltage (restricting the ac voltage
to one direction). With the help of a capacitor or a suitable filter, a dc
voltage can be obtained.
15. There are some special purpose diodes.
507
 Physics
16. Zener diode is one such special purpose diode. In reverse bias, after a
certain voltage, the current suddenly increases (breakdown voltage) in
a Zener diode. This property has been used to obtain voltage regulation.
17. p-n junctions have also been used to obtain many photonic or
optoelectronic devices where one of the participating entity is ‘photon’:
(a) Photodiodes in which photon excitation results in a change of reverse
saturation current which helps us to measure light intensity; (b) Solar
cells which convert photon energy into electricity; (c) Light Emitting
Diode and Diode Laser in which electron excitation by a bias voltage
results in the generation of light.
18. Transistor is an n-p-n or p-n-p junction device. The central block
(thin and lightly doped) is called ‘Base’ while the other electrodes are
‘Emitter’ and ‘Collectors’. The emitter-base junction is forward biased
while collector-base junction is reverse biased.
19. The transistors can be connected in such a manner that either C or E
or B is common to both the input and output. This gives the three
configurations in which a transistor is used: Common Emitter (CE),
Common Collector (CC) and Common Base (CB). The plot between IC
and VCE for fixed IB is called output characteristics while the plot between
IB and VBE with fixed VCE is called input characteristics. The important
transistor parameters for CE-configuration are:
§ 'VBE ·
input resistance, ri ¨© 'I ¸¹
B VCE
§ 'VCE ·
output resistance, ro ¨
© 'I C ¸¹ I
B

§ 'I C ·
current amplification factor, E ¨© 'I ¸¹
B VCE
20. Transistor can be used as an amplifier and oscillator. In fact, an
oscillator can also be considered as a self-sustained amplifier in which
a part of output is fed-back to the input in the same phase (positive
feed back). The voltage gain of a transistor amplifier in common emitter

§ vo · RC
configuration is: Av ¨© v ¸¹ E, where RC and RB are respectively
i RB
the resistances in collector and base sides of the circuit.
21. When the transistor is used in the cutoff or saturation state, it acts as
a switch.
22. There are some special circuits which handle the digital data consisting
of 0 and 1 levels. This forms the subject of Digital Electronics.
23. The important digital circuits performing special logic operations are
called logic gates. These are: OR, AND, NOT, NAND, and NOR gates.
24. In modern day circuit, many logical gates or circuits are integrated in
one single ‘Chip’. These are known as Intgrated circuits (IC).

POINTS TO PONDER
1. The energy bands (EC or EV ) in the semiconductors are space delocalised
which means that these are not located in any specific place inside the
solid. The energies are the overall averages. When you see a picture in
which EC or EV are drawn as straight lines, then they should be
respectively taken simply as the bottom of conduction band energy levels
508 and top of valence band energy levels.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits

2. In elemental semiconductors (Si or Ge), the n-type or p-type

semiconductors are obtained by introducing ‘dopants’ as defects. In
compound semiconductors, the change in relative stoichiometric ratio
can also change the type of semiconductor. For example, in ideal GaAs
the ratio of Ga:As is 1:1 but in Ga-rich or As-rich GaAs it could
respectively be Ga1.1 As0.9 or Ga0.9 As1.1. In general, the presence of
defects control the properties of semiconductors in many ways.
3. In transistors, the base region is both narrow and lightly doped,
otherwise the electrons or holes coming from the input side (say, emitter
in CE-configuration) will not be able to reach the collector.
4. We have described an oscillator as a positive feedback amplifier. For
stable oscillations, the voltage feedback (Vfb) from the output voltage
(Vo) should be such that after amplification (A) it should again become
Vo. If a fraction Ec is feedback, then Vfb = Vo. Ec and after amplification
its value A(vo.Ec) should be equal to Vo. This means that the criteria for
stable oscillations to be sustained is A Ec = 1. This is known as
Barkhausen's Criteria.
5. In an oscillator, the feedback is in the same phase (positive feedback).
If the feedback voltage is in opposite phase (negative feedback), the
gain is less than 1 and it can never work as oscillator. It will be an
amplifier with reduced gain. However, the negative feedback also reduces
noise and distortion in an amplifier which is an advantageous feature.

EXERCISES
14.1 In an n-type silicon, which of the following statement is true:
(a) Electrons are majority carriers and trivalent atoms are the
dopants.
(b) Electrons are minority carriers and pentavalent atoms are the
dopants.
(c) Holes are minority carriers and pentavalent atoms are the
dopants.
(d) Holes are majority carriers and trivalent atoms are the dopants.
14.2 Which of the statements given in Exercise 14.1 is true for p-type
semiconductos.
14.3 Carbon, silicon and germanium have four valence electrons each.
These are characterised by valence and conduction bands separated
by energy band gap respectively equal to (Eg)C, (Eg)Si and (Eg)Ge. Which
of the following statements is true?
(a) (Eg)Si < (Eg)Ge < (Eg)C
(b) (Eg)C < (Eg)Ge > (Eg)Si
(c) (Eg)C > (Eg)Si > (Eg)Ge
(d) (Eg)C = (Eg)Si = (Eg)Ge
14.4 In an unbiased p-n junction, holes diffuse from the p-region to
n-region because
(a) free electrons in the n-region attract them.
(b) they move across the junction by the potential difference.
(c) hole concentration in p-region is more as compared to n-region.
(d) All the above. 509
 Physics
14.5 When a forward bias is applied to a p-n junction, it
(a) raises the potential barrier.
(b) reduces the majority carrier current to zero.
(c) lowers the potential barrier.
(d) None of the above.
14.6 For transistor action, which of the following statements are correct:
(a) Base, emitter and collector regions should have similar size and
doping concentrations.
(b) The base region must be very thin and lightly doped.
(c) The emitter junction is forward biased and collector junction is
reverse biased.
(d) Both the emitter junction as well as the collector junction are
forward biased.
14.7 For a transistor amplifier, the voltage gain
(a) remains constant for all frequencies.
(b) is high at high and low frequencies and constant in the middle
frequency range.
(c) is low at high and low frequencies and constant at mid
frequencies.
(d) None of the above.
14.8 In half-wave rectification, what is the output frequency if the input
frequency is 50 Hz. What is the output frequency of a full-wave rectifier
for the same input frequency.
14.9 For a CE-transistor amplifier, the audio signal voltage across the
collected resistance of 2 k: is 2 V. Suppose the current amplification
factor of the transistor is 100, find the input signal voltage and base
current, if the base resistance is 1 k:.
14.10 Two amplifiers are connected one after the other in series (cascaded).
The first amplifier has a voltage gain of 10 and the second has a
voltage gain of 20. If the input signal is 0.01 volt, calculate the output
ac signal.
14.11 A p-n photodiode is fabricated from a semiconductor with band gap
of 2.8 eV. Can it detect a wavelength of 6000 nm?

ADDITIONAL EXERCISES
14.12 The number of silicon atoms per m3 is 5 u 10 28. This is doped
simultaneously with 5 u 1022 atoms per m3 of Arsenic and 5 u 1020
per m3 atoms of Indium. Calculate the number of electrons and holes.
Given that ni = 1.5 u 1016 m–3. Is the material n-type or p-type?
14.13 In an intrinsic semiconductor the energy gap Eg is 1.2eV. Its hole
mobility is much smaller than electron mobility and independent of
temperature. What is the ratio between conductivity at 600K and
that at 300K? Assume that the temperature dependence of intrinsic
carrier concentration ni is given by
§ Eg ·
ni n 0 exp ¨ –
© 2k B T ¸¹
510 where n0 is a constant.
 Semiconductor Electronics:
Materials, Devices and
Simple Circuits
14.14 In a p-n junction diode, the current I can be expressed as

§ eV ·
I I 0 exp ¨ – 1¸
2
© Bk T ¹
where I0 is called the reverse saturation current, V is the voltage
across the diode and is positive for forward bias and negative for
reverse bias, and I is the current through the diode, k B is the
Boltzmann constant (8.6×10 –5 eV/K) and T is the absolute
temperature. If for a given diode I0 = 5 × 10–12 A and T = 300 K, then
(a) What will be the forward current at a forward voltage of 0.6 V?
(b) What will be the increase in the current if the voltage across the
diode is increased to 0.7 V?
(c) What is the dynamic resistance?
(d) What will be the current if reverse bias voltage changes from 1 V
to 2 V?
14.15 You are given the two circuits as shown in Fig. 14.44. Show that
circuit (a) acts as OR gate while the circuit (b) acts as AND gate.

FIGURE 14.44

14.16 Write the truth table for a NAND gate connected as given in
Fig. 14.45.

FIGURE 14.45

Hence identify the exact logic operation carried out by this circuit.
14.17 You are given two circuits as shown in Fig. 14.46, which consist
of NAND gates. Identify the logic operation carried out by the two
circuits.

FIGURE 14.46

14.18 Write the truth table for circuit given in Fig. 14.47 below consisting
of NOR gates and identify the logic operation (OR, AND, NOT) which
this circuit is performing. 511
 Physics

FIGURE 14.47
(Hint: A = 0, B = 1 then A and B inputs of second NOR gate will be 0
and hence Y=1. Similarly work out the values of Y for other
combinations of A and B. Compare with the truth table of OR, AND,
NOT gates and find the correct one.)
14.19 Write the truth table for the circuits given in Fig. 14.48 consisting of
NOR gates only. Identify the logic operations (OR, AND, NOT) performed
by the two circuits.

FIGURE 14.48

512
Chapter Fifteen

COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS

15.1 INTRODUCTION
Communication is the act of transmission of information. Every living
creature in the world experiences the need to impart or receive information
almost continuously with others in the surrounding world. For
communication to be successful, it is essential that the sender and the
receiver understand a common language. Man has constantly made
endeavors to improve the quality of communication with other human
beings. Languages and methods used in communication have kept
evolving from prehistoric to modern times, to meet the growing demands
in terms of speed and complexity of information. It would be worthwhile
to look at the major milestones in events that promoted developments in
communications, as presented in Table 15.1.
Modern communication has its roots in the 19th and 20th century in
the work of scientists like J.C. Bose, F.B. Morse, G. Marconi and Alexander
Graham Bell. The pace of development seems to have increased
dramatically after the first half of the 20th century. We can hope to see
many more accomplishments in the coming decades. The aim of this
chapter is to introduce the concepts of communication, namely the mode
of communication, the need for modulation, production and deduction
of amplitude modulation.

15.2 ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Communication pervades all stages of life of all living creatures. Irrespective
of its nature, every communication system has three essential elements-
 Physics
TABLE 15.1 SOME MAJOR MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION

Year Event Remarks

Around The reporting of the delivery of It is believed that minister Birbal

1565 A.D. a child by queen using drum
beats from a distant place to
King Akbar.
experimented with the arrangement to
decide the number of drummers posted
between the place where the queen
stayed and the place where the king
stayed.

1835 Invention of telegraph by It resulted in tremendous growth of

Samuel F.B. Morse and Sir messages through post offices and
Charles Wheatstone reduced physical travel of messengers
considerably.

1876 Telephone invented by Perhaps the most widely used means of

Alexander Graham Bell and communication in the history of
Antonio Meucci mankind.

1895 Jagadis Chandra Bose and It meant a giant leap – from an era of
Guglielmo Marconi communication using wires to
demonstrated wireless communicating without using wires.
telegraphy. (wireless)

1936 Television broadcast(John First television broadcast by BBC

Logi Baird)

1955 First radio FAX transmitted The idea of FAX transmission was
across continent.(Alexander patented by Alexander Bain in 1843.
Bain)

1968 ARPANET - the first internet ARPANET was a project undertaken by

came into existence(J.C.R. the U.S. defence department. It allowed
Licklider) file transfer from one computer to
another connected to the network.

1975 Fiber optics developed at Bell Fiber optical systems are superior and
Laboratories more economical compared to
traditional communication systems.

1989-91 Tim Berners-Lee invented the WWW may be regarded as the mammoth
World Wide Web. encyclopedia of knowledge accessible to
everyone round the clock throughout the
year.

514
 Communication System
transmitter, medium/channel and receiver. The block diagram shown in
Fig. 15.1 depicts the general form of a communication system.

FIGURE 15.1 Block diagram of a generalised communication system.

In a communication system, the transmitter is located at one place,

the receiver is located at some other place (far or near) separate from the
transmitter and the channel is the physical medium that connects them.
Depending upon the type of communication system, a channel may be in
the form of wires or cables connecting the transmitter and the receiver or
it may be wireless. The purpose of the transmitter is to convert the message
signal produced by the source of information into a form suitable for
transmission through the channel. If the output of the information source
is a non-electrical signal like a voice signal, a transducer converts it to
electrical form before giving it as an input to the transmitter. When a
transmitted signal propagates along the channel it may get distorted due
to channel imperfection. Moreover, noise adds to the transmitted signal
and the receiver receives a corrupted version of the transmitted signal.
The receiver has the task of operating on the received signal. It reconstructs
a recognisable form of the original message signal for delivering it to the
user of information.
There are two basic modes of communication: point-to-point and
broadcast.
In point-to-point communication mode, communication takes place
over a link between a single transmitter and a receiver. Telephony is an
example of such a mode of communication. In contrast, in the broadcast
mode, there are a large number of receivers corresponding to a single
transmitter. Radio and television are examples of broadcast mode of
communication.

15.3 B ASIC T ERMINOLOGY U SED IN ELECTRONIC

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
By now, we have become familiar with some terms like information source,
transmitter, receiver, channel, noise, etc. It would be easy to understand
the principles underlying any communication, if we get ourselves
acquainted with the following basic terminology. 515
 Physics
Jagadis Chandra Bose
(1858 – 1937) He
developed an apparatus
for generating ultrashort
electro-magnetic waves
and studied their quasi-
optical properties. He
was said to be the first to
employ a semiconductor
JAGADIS CHANDRA BOSE (1858 – 1937)
like galena as a self-
recovering detector of
electromagnetic waves.
Bose published three
papers in the British
magazine, ‘The
Electrician’ of 27 Dec.
1895. His invention was
published in the
‘Proceedings of The Royal
Society’ on 27 April 1899
over two years before
Marconi’s first wireless
communication on 13
December 1901. Bose
also invented highly
sensitive instruments for
the detection of minute
responses by living
organisms to external
stimulii and established
parallelism between
animal and plant
tissues.
* In BCD, a digit is usually represented by four binary (0 or 1) bits. For example
the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 in the decimal system are written as 0000, 0001, 0010,
0011 and 0100. 1000 would represent eight.
** It is a character encoding in terms of numbers based on English alphabet since
516 the computer can only understand numbers.
(i) Transducer: Any device that converts one form of
energy into another can be termed as a transducer.
In electronic communication systems, we usually
come across devices that have either their inputs
or outputs in the electrical form. An electrical
transducer may be defined as a device that converts
some physical variable (pressure, displacement,
force, temperature, etc) into corresponding
variations in the electrical signal at its output.
(ii) Signal: Information converted in electrical form
and suitable for transmission is called a signal.
Signals can be either analog or digital. Analog
signals are continuous variations of voltage or
current. They are essentially single-valued
functions of time. Sine wave is a fundamental
analog signal. All other analog signals can be fully
understood in terms of their sine wave components.
Sound and picture signals in TV are analog in
nature. Digital signals are those which can take
only discrete stepwise values. Binary system that
is extensively used in digital electronics employs
just two levels of a signal. ‘0’ corresponds to a low
level and ‘1’ corresponds to a high level of voltage/
current. There are several coding schemes useful
for digital communication. They employ suitable
combinations of number systems such as the
binary coded decimal (BCD)*. American Standard
Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)** is a
universally popular digital code to represent
numbers, letters and certain characters.
(iii) Noise: Noise refers to the unwanted signals that
tend to disturb the transmission and processing
of message signals in a communication system.
The source generating the noise may be located
inside or outside the system.
(iv) Transmitter: A transmitter processes the incoming
message signal so as to make it suitable for
transmission through a channel and subsequent
reception.
(v) Receiver: A receiver extracts the desired message
signals from the received signals at the channel
output.
(vi) Attenuation: The loss of strength of a signal while
propagating through a medium is known as
attenuation.
 Communication System
(vii) Amplification: It is the process of increasing the amplitude (and
consequently the strength) of a signal using an electronic circuit
called the amplifier (reference Chapter 14). Amplification is
necessary to compensate for the attenuation of the signal in
communication systems. The energy needed for additional signal
strength is obtained from a DC power source. Amplification is
done at a place between the source and the destination wherever
signal strength becomes weaker than the required strength.
(viii) Range: It is the largest distance between a source and a destination
up to which the signal is received with sufficient strength.
(ix) Bandwidth: Bandwidth refers to the frequency range over which
an equipment operates or the portion of the spectrum occupied
by the signal.
(x) Modulation: The original low frequency message/information
signal cannot be transmitted to long distances because of
reasons given in Section 15.7. Therefore, at the transmitter,
information contained in the low frequency message signal is
superimposed on a high frequency wave, which acts as a carrier
of the information. This process is known as modulation. As
will be explained later, there are several types of modulation,
abbreviated as AM, FM and PM.
(xi) Demodulation: The process of retrieval of information from the
carrier wave at the receiver is termed demodulation. This is the
reverse process of modulation.
(xii) Repeater: A repeater is a combination of a receiver and a
transmitter. A repeater, picks up the signal from the transmitter,
amplifies and retransmits it to the receiver sometimes with a
change in carrier frequency. Repeaters are used to extend the
range of a communication system as shown in Fig. 15.2. A
communication satellite is essentially a repeater station in space.

FIGURE 15.2 Use of repeater station to increase the range of communication.

15.4 BANDWIDTH OF SIGNALS

In a communication system, the message signal can be voice, music,
picture or computer data. Each of these signals has different ranges of
frequencies. The type of communication system needed for a given signal
depends on the band of frequencies which is considered essential for the
communication process.
For speech signals, frequency range 300 Hz to 3100 Hz is considered
adequate. Therefore speech signal requires a bandwidth of 2800 Hz (3100 Hz
– 300 Hz) for commercial telephonic communication. To transmit music, 517
 Physics
an approximate bandwidth of 20 kHz is required because of the high
frequencies produced by the musical instruments. The audible range of
frequencies extends from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
Video signals for transmission of pictures require about 4.2 MHz of
bandwidth. A TV signal contains both voice and picture and is usually
allocated 6 MHz of bandwidth for transmission.
In the preceeding paragraph, we have considered only analog signals.
Digital signals are in the form of rectangular waves as shown in Fig. 15.3.
One can show that this rectangular wave can be decomposed into a
superposition of sinusoidal waves of frequencies Q0, 2Q0, 3Q0, 4Q0 ... nQ0
where n is an integer extending to infinity and Q0 = 1/T0. The fundamental
(Q0 ), fundamental (Q0 ) + second harmonic (2Q0 ), and fundamental (Q0 ) +
second harmonic (2Q0 ) +
third harmonic (3Q0 ), are
shown in the same figure to
illustrate this fact. It is clear
that to reproduce the
rectangular wave shape
exactly we need to
superimpose all the
harmonics Q 0 , 2 Q 0 , 3 Q 0 ,
4 Q0..., which implies an
infinite bandwidth.
However, for practical
purposes, the contribution
from higher harmonics can
be neglected, thus limiting
FIGURE 15.3 Approximation of a rectangular wave in terms of a the bandwidth. As a result,
fundamental sine wave and its harmonics. received waves are a
distorted version of the
transmitted one. If the bandwidth is large enough to accommodate a few
harmonics, the information is not lost and the rectangular signal is more
or less recovered. This is so because the higher the harmonic, less is its
contribution to the wave form.

15.5 BANDWIDTH OF TRANSMISSION MEDIUM

Similar to message signals, different types of transmission media offer
different bandwidths. The commonly used transmission media are wire,
free space and fiber optic cable. Coaxial cable is a widely used wire
medium, which offers a bandwidth of approximately 750 MHz. Such cables
are normally operated below 18 GHz. Communication through free space
using radio waves takes place over a very wide range of frequencies: from
a few hundreds of kHz to a few GHz. This range of frequencies is further
subdivided and allocated for various services as indicated in Table 15.2.
Optical communication using fibers is performed in the frequency range
of 1 THz to 1000 THz (microwaves to ultraviolet). An optical fiber can
offer a transmission bandwidth in excess of 100 GHz.
Spectrum allocations are arrived at by an international agreement.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) administers the present
518 system of frequency allocations.
 Communication System

TABLE 15.2 SOME IMPORTANT WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FREQUENCY BANDS

Service Frequency bands Comments

Standard AM broadcast 540-1600 kHz

FM broadcast 88-108 MHz

Television 54-72 MHz VHF (very high frequencies)

76-88 MHz TV
174-216 MHz UHF (ultra high frequencies)
420-890 MHz TV

Cellular Mobile Radio 896-901 MHz Mobile to base station

840-935 MHz Base station to mobile

Satellite Communication 5.925-6.425 GHz Uplink

3.7-4.2 GHz Downlink

15.6 PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

In communication using radio waves, an antenna at the transmitter
radiates the Electromagnetic waves (em waves), which travel through the
space and reach the receiving antenna at the other end. As the em wave
travels away from the transmitter, the strength of the wave keeps on
decreasing. Several factors influence the propagation of em waves and
the path they follow. At this point, it is also important to understand the
composition of the earth’s atmosphere as it plays a vital role in the
propagation of em waves. A brief discussion on some useful layers of the
atmosphere is given in Table 15.3.

15.6.1 Ground wave

To radiate signals with high efficiency, the antennas should have a size
comparable to the wavelength O of the signal (at least ~ O/4). At longer
wavelengths (i.e., at lower frequencies), the antennas have large physical
size and they are located on or very near to the ground. In standard AM
broadcast, ground based vertical towers are generally used as transmitting
antennas. For such antennas, ground has a strong influence on the
propagation of the signal. The mode of propagation is called surface wave
propagation and the wave glides over the surface of the earth. A wave
induces current in the ground over which it passes and it is attenuated
as a result of absorption of energy by the earth. The attenuation of surface
waves increases very rapidly with increase in frequency. The maximum
range of coverage depends on the transmitted power and frequency (less
than a few MHz). 519
 Physics
TABLE 15.3 DIFFERENT LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH THE
PROPAGATING ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES

Name of the Approximate height Exists during Frequencies most

stratum (layer) over earth’s surface affected

Troposphere 10 km Day and VHF (up to several GHz)

night

D (part of P 65-75 km Day only Reflects LF, absorbs MF

A
stratosphere) R and HF to some degree
T
E (part of S 100 km Day only Helps surface waves,
Stratosphere) O reflects HF
F
F1 (Part of I 170-190 km Daytime, Partially absorbs HF
Mesosphere) O merges with waves yet allowing them
N
O F2 at night to reach F2
S
F2 P 300 km at night, Day and Efficiently reflects HF
H
(Thermosphere) E 250-400 km night waves, particularly at
R during daytime night
E

15.6.2 Sky waves

In the frequency range from a few MHz up to 30 to 40 MHz, long distance
communication can be achieved by ionospheric reflection of radio waves
back towards the earth. This mode of propagation is called sky wave
propagation and is used by short wave broadcast services. The ionosphere
is so called because of the presence of a large number of ions or charged
particles. It extends from a height of ~ 65 Km to about 400 Km above the
earth’s surface. Ionisation occurs due to the absorption of the ultraviolet
and other high-energy radiation coming from the sun by air molecules.
The ionosphere is further subdivided into several layers, the details of
which are given in Table 15.3. The degree of ionisation varies with the
height. The density of atmosphere decreases with height. At great heights
the solar radiation is intense but there are few molecules to be ionised.
Close to the earth, even though the molecular concentration is very high,
the radiation intensity is low so that the ionisation is again low. However,
at some intermediate heights, there occurs a peak of ionisation density.
The ionospheric layer acts as a reflector for a certain range of frequencies
(3 to 30 MHz). Electromagnetic waves of frequencies higher than 30 MHz
penetrate the ionosphere and escape. These phenomena are shown in the
Fig. 15.4. The phenomenon of bending of em waves so that they are
diverted towards the earth is similar to total internal reflection in optics*.

520 * Compare this with the phenomenon of mirage.

 Communication System

FIGURE 15.4 Sky wave propagation. The layer nomenclature

is given in Table 15.3.

15.6.3 Space wave

Another mode of radio wave propagation is by space waves. A space
wave travels in a straight line from transmitting antenna to the receiving
antenna. Space waves are used for line-of-sight (LOS) communication as
well as satellite communication. At frequencies above 40 MHz,
communication is essentially limited to line-of-sight paths. At these
frequencies, the antennas are relatively smaller and can be placed at
heights of many wavelengths above the ground. Because of line-of-sight
nature of propagation, direct waves get blocked at some point by the
curvature of the earth as illustrated in Fig. 15.5. If the signal is to be
received beyond the horizon then the receiving antenna must be high
enough to intercept the line-of-sight waves.

FIGURE 15.5 Line of sight communication by space waves.

If the transmitting antenna is at a height hT, then you can show that
the distance to the horizon dT is given as d T 2Rh T , where R is the
radius of the earth (approximately 6400 km). dT is also called the radio
horizon of the transmitting antenna. With reference to Fig. 15.5 the
maximum line-of-sight distance dM between the two antennas having
heights hT and hR above the earth is given by
dM 2Rh T  2Rh R (15.1)
where hR is the height of receiving antenna. 521
 Physics
Television broadcast, microwave links and satellite communication
are some examples of communication systems that use space wave mode
of propagation. Figure 15.6 summarises the various modes of wave
propagation discussed so far.

FIGURE 15.6 Various propagation modes for em waves.

Example 15.1 A transmitting antenna at the top of a tower has a height

32 m and the height of the receiving antenna is 50 m. What is the
maximum distance between them for satisfactory communication in
LOS mode? Given radius of earth 6.4 × 106 m.
Solution
EXAMPLE 15.1

dm 2 u 64 u 105 u 32  2 u 64 u 105 u 50 m

2 3
64 u 10 u 10  8 u 10 u 10 m

144 u 102 u 10 m 45.5 km

15.7 MODULATION AND ITS NECESSITY

As already mentioned, the purpose of a communication system is to
transmit information or message signals. Message signals are also called
baseband signals, which essentially designate the band of frequencies
representing the original signal, as delivered by the source of information.
No signal, in general, is a single frequency sinusoid, but it spreads over a
range of frequencies called the signal bandwidth. Suppose we wish to
transmit an electronic signal in the audio frequency (AF) range (baseband
signal frequency less than 20 kHz) over a long distance directly. Let us
find what factors prevent us from doing so and how we overcome these
522
factors,
 Communication System
15.7.1 Size of the antenna or aerial
For transmitting a signal, we need an antenna or an aerial. This antenna
should have a size comparable to the wavelength of the signal (at least
O/4 in dimension) so that the antenna properly senses the time variation
of the signal. For an electromagnetic wave of frequency 20 kHz, the
wavelength O is 15 km. Obviously, such a long antenna is not possible to
construct and operate. Hence direct transmission of such baseband signals
is not practical. We can obtain transmission with reasonable antenna
lengths if transmission frequency is high (for example, if Q is 1 MHz, then
O is 300 m). Therefore, there is a need of translating the information
contained in our original low frequency baseband signal into high or
radio frequencies before transmission.

15.7.2 Effective power radiated by an antenna

A theoretical study of radiation from a linear antenna (length l ) shows
that the power radiated is proportional to (l/O)2 . This implies that for the
same antenna length, the power radiated increases with decreasing O,
i.e., increasing frequency.Hence, the effective power radiated by a long
wavelength baseband signal would be small. For a good transmission,
we need high powers and hence this also points out to the need of using
high frequency transmission.

15.7.3 Mixing up of signals from different transmitters

Another important argument against transmitting baseband signals
directly is more practical in nature. Suppose many people are talking at
the same time or many transmitters are transmitting baseband information
signals simultaneously. All these signals will get
mixed up and there is no simple way to distinguish
between them. This points out towards a possible
solution by using communication at high
frequencies and allotting a band of frequencies to
each message signal for its transmission.
The above arguments suggest that there is a
need for translating the original low frequency
baseband message or information signal into high
frequency wave before transmission such that the
translated signal continues to possess the
information contained in the original signal. In
doing so, we take the help of a high frequency signal,
known as the carrier wave, and a process known
as modulation which attaches information to it. The
carrier wave may be continuous (sinusoidal) or in
the form of pulses as shown in Fig. 15.7. FIGURE 15.7 (a) Sinusoidal, and
A sinusoidal carrier wave can be represented as (b) pulse shaped signals.
c(t ) = Ac sin (Zct + I) (15.2)
where c(t) is the signal strength (voltage or current), Ac is the amplitude,
Zc ( = 2SQc ) is the angular frequency and I is the initial phase of the carrier
wave. During the process of modulation, any of the three parameters, viz
Ac, Zc and I, of the carrier wave can be controlled by the message or 523
 Physics
information signal. This results in three types of modulation: (i) Amplitude
modulation (AM), (ii) Frequency modulation (FM) and
(iii) Phase modulation (PM), as shown in Fig. 15.8.
http://www.williamson labs.com/480_mod.htm
Modulation and Demodulation

FIGURE 15.8 Modulation of a carrier wave: (a) a sinusoidal carrier wave;

(b) a modulating signal; (c) amplitude modulation; (d) frequency
modulation; and (e) phase modulation.

Similarly, the significant characteristics of a pulse are: pulse amplitude,

pulse duration or pulse Width, and pulse position (denoting the time of
rise or fall of the pulse amplitude) as shown in Fig. 15.7(b). Hence, different
types of pulse modulation are: (a) pulse amplitude modulation (PAM),
(b) pulse duration modulation (PDM) or pulse width modulation (PWM),
and (c) pulse position modulation (PPM). In this chapter, we shall confine
to amplitude modulation on ly.

15.8 AMPLITUDE MODULATION

In amplitude modulation the amplitude of the carrier is varied in
accordance with the information signal. Here we explain amplitude
modulation process using a sinusoidal signal as the modulating signal.
Let c(t) = Ac sin Zct represent carrier wave and m(t) = Am sin Zmt represent
the message or the modulating signal where Zm = 2Sfm is the angular
frequency of the message signal. The modulated signal cm (t ) can be
written as
cm (t) = (Ac + Am sin Zmt) sin Zct
§ A ·
Ac ¨1  m sin Zm t ¸ sin Zc t (15.3)
© Ac ¹
Note that the modulated signal now contains the message signal. This
can also be seen from Fig. 15.8(c). From Eq. (15.3), we can write,
524 cm (t ) Ac sin Zct  P Ac sin Zm t sin Zct (15.4)
 Communication System
Here P= Am/Ac is the modulation index; in practice,P is kept d 1 to avoid
distortion.
Using the trignomatric relation sinA sinB = ½ (cos(A – B) – cos (A + B),
we can write cm (t) of Eq. (15.4) as
P Ac P Ac
cm (t ) Ac sin Z c t  cos(Z c  Zm ) t  cos(Z c  Zm )t (15.5)
2 2
Here Zc –Zm and Zc +Zm are respectively called the lower side and upper
side frequencies. The modulated signal now consists of the carrier wave
of frequency Zc plus two sinusoidal waves each with a frequency slightly
different from, known as side bands. The frequency spectrum of the
amplitude modulated signal is shown in Fig. 15.9.

FIGURE 15.9 A plot of amplitude versus Zfor

an amplitude modulated signal.

As long as the broadcast frequencies (carrier waves) are sufficiently

spaced out so that sidebands do not overlap, different stations can operate
without interfering with each other.

Example 15.2 A message signal of frequency 10 kHz and peak voltage

of 10 volts is used to modulate a carrier of frequency 1 MHz and peak
voltage of 20 volts. Determine (a) modulation index, (b) the side bands
EXAMPLE 15.2

produced.
Solution
(a) Modulation index =10/20 = 0.5
(b) The side bands are at (1000+10 kHz)=1010 kHz and
(1000 –10 kHz) = 990 kHz.

15.9 PRODUCTION OF AMPLITUDE MODULATED WAVE

Amplitude modulation can be produced by a variety of methods. A
conceptually simple method is shown in the block diagram of Fig. 15.10.

FIGURE 15.10 Block diagram of a simple modulator

for obtaining an AM signal.
525
 Physics
Here the modulating signal Am sin Zmt is added to the carrier signal
Ac sin Zct to produce the signal x (t). This signal x (t) = Am sinZmt
+ Ac sinZct is passed through a square law device which is a non-linear
device which produces an output
y (t) = B x (t ) + Cx 2 (t ) (15.6)
where B and C are constants. Thus,
y (t)= BAm sin Zmt + BAc sin Zct
C ª¬ Am2 sin2 Zm t  Ac2 sin2 Zc t  2 Am Ac sin Zm t sin Zc t º¼ (15.7)
= BAm sin Zmt + BAc sin Zct
C Am2 C Am2 C Ac2
  Ac2 – cos 2Zm t – cos 2Z c t
2 2 2
+ CAm Ac cos (Zc – Zm ) t – CAm Ac cos (Zc+ Zm ) t (15.8)
2
where the trigonometric relations sin A = (1 – cos2A)/2 and the relation
for sin A sin B mentioned earlier are used.
In Eq. (15.8), there is a dc term C/2 Am2  Ac2   and sinusoids of
frequencies Zm, 2Zm, Zc, 2Zc, Zc –Zm and Zc +Zm. As shown in Fig. 15.10
this signal is passed through a band pass filter* which rejects dc and the
sinusoids of frequencies Zm , 2Zm and 2 Zc and retains the frequencies Zc,
Zc –Zm and Zc +Zm. The output of the band pass filter therefore is of the
same form as Eq. (15.5) and is therefore an AM wave.
It is to be mentioned that the modulated signal cannot be transmitted
as such. The modulator is to be followed by a power amplifier which
provides the necessary power and then the modulated signal is fed to an
antenna of appropriate size for radiation as shown in Fig. 15.11.

FIGURE 15.11 Block diagram of a transmitter.

15.10 DETECTION OF AMPLITUDE MODULATED WAVE

The transmitted message gets attenuated in propagating through the
channel. The receiving antenna is therefore to be followed by an amplifier
and a detector. In addition, to facilitate further processing, the carrier
frequency is usually changed to a lower frequency by what is called an
intermediate frequency (IF) stage preceding the detection. The detected
signal may not be strong enough to be made use of and hence is required

* A band pass filter rejects low and high frequencies and allows a band of frequencies
526 to pass through.
 Communication System
to be amplified. A block diagram of a typical receiver is shown in
Fig. 15.12

FIGURE 15.12 Block diagram of a receiver.

Detection is the process of recovering the modulating signal from the

modulated carrier wave. We just saw that the modulated carrier wave
contains the frequencies Zc and Zc r Zm. In order to obtain the original
message signal m(t ) of angular frequency Zm , a simple method is shown
in the form of a block diagram in Fig. 15.13.

FIGURE 15.13 Block diagram of a detector for AM signal. The quantity

on y-axis can be current or voltage.

The modulated signal of the form given in (a) of fig. 15.13 is passed
through a rectifier to produce the output shown in (b). This envelope of
signal (b) is the message signal. In order to retrieve m (t ), the signal is
passed through an envelope detector (which may consist of a simple RC
circuit).
In the present chapter we have discussed some basic concepts of
communication and communication systems. We have also discussed
one specific type of analog modulation namely Amplitude Modulation
(AM). Other forms of modulation and digital communication systems play
an important role in modern communication. These and other exciting
developments are taking place everyday.
So far we have restricted our discussion to some basic communication
systems. Before we conclude this chapter, it is worth taking a glance at
some of the communication systems (see the box) that in recent times
have brought major changes in the way we exchange information even in
our day-to-day life: 527
 Physics
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Internet
It is a system with billions of users worldwide. It permits communication and sharing of all
types of information between any two or more computers connected through a large and
complex network. It was started in 1960’s and opened for public use in 1990’s. With the
passage of time it has witnessed tremendous growth and it is still expanding its reach. Its
applications include
(i) E mail – It permits exchange of text/graphic material using email software. We can write a
letter and send it to the recipient through ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) who work like
the dispatching and receiving post offices.
(ii) File transfer – A FTP (File Transfer Programmes) allows transfer of files/software from one
computer to another connected to the Internet.
(iii) World Wide Web (WWW) – Computers that store specific information for sharing with others
provide websites either directly or through web service providers. Government
departments, companies, NGO’s (Non-Government Organisations) and individuals can post
information about their activities for restricted or free use on their websites. This information
becomes accessible to the users. Several search engines like Google, Yahoo! etc. help us in
finding information by listing the related websites. Hypertext is a powerful feature of the
web that automatically links relevant information from one page on the web to another
using HTML (hypertext markup language).
(iv) E-commerce – Use of the Internet to promote business using electronic means such as
using credit cards is called E-commerce. Customers view images and receive all the
information about various products or services of companies through their websites. They
can do on-line shopping from home/office. Goods are dispatched or services are provided
by the company through mail/courier.
(v) Chat – Real time conversation among people with common interests through typed
messages is called chat. Everyone belonging to the chat group gets the message
instantaneously and can respond rapidly.
Facsimile (FAX)
It scans the contents of a document (as an image, not text) to create electronic signals. These
signals are then sent to the destination (another FAX machine) in an orderly manner using
telephone lines. At the destination, the signals are reconverted into a replica of the original
document. Note that FAX provides image of a static document unlike the image provided by
television of objects that might be dynamic.
Mobile telephony
The concept of mobile telephony was developed first in 1970’s and it was fully implemented in
the following decade. The central concept of this system is to divide the service area into a
suitable number of cells centred on an office called MTSO (Mobile Telephone Switching Office).
Each cell contains a low-power transmitter called a base station and caters to a large number
of mobile receivers (popularly called cell phones). Each cell could have a service area of a few
square kilometers or even less depending upon the number of customers. When a mobile
receiver crosses the coverage area of one base station, it is necessary for the mobile user to be
transferred to another base station. This procedure is called handover or handoff. This process
is carried out very rapidly, to the extent that the consumer does not even notice it. Mobile
telephones operate typically in the UHF range of frequencies (about 800-950 MHz).

528
 Communication System

SUMMARY

1. Electronic communication refers to the faithful transfer of information

or message (available in the form of electrical voltage and current)
from one point to another point.
2. Transmitter, transmission channel and receiver are three basic units
of a communication system.
3. Two important forms of communication system are: Analog and Digital.
The information to be transmitted is generally in continuous waveform
for the former while for the latter it has only discrete or quantised
levels.
4. Every message signal occupies a range of frequencies. The bandwidth
of a message signal refers to the band of frequencies, which are necessary
for satisfactory transmission of the information contained in the signal.
Similarly, any practical communication system permits transmission
of a range of frequencies only, which is referred to as the bandwidth of
the system.
5. Low frequencies cannot be transmitted to long distances. Therefore,
they are superimposed on a high frequency carrier signal by a process
known as modulation.
6. In modulation, some characteristic of the carrier signal like amplitude,
frequency or phase varies in accordance with the modulating or message
signal. Correspondingly, they are called Amplitude Modulated (AM),
Frequency Modulated (FM) or Phase Modulated (PM) waves.
7. Pulse modulation could be classified as: Pulse Amplitude Modulation
(PAM), Pulse Duration Modulation (PDM) or Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) and Pulse Position Modulation (PPM).
8. For transmission over long distances, signals are radiated into space
using devices called antennas. The radiated signals propagate as
electromagnetic waves and the mode of propagation is influenced by
the presence of the earth and its atmosphere. Near the surface of the
earth, electromagnetic waves propagate as surface waves. Surface wave
propagation is useful up to a few MHz frequencies.
9. Long distance communication between two points on the earth is
achieved through reflection of electromagnetic waves by ionosphere.
Such waves are called sky waves. Sky wave propagation takes place up
to frequency of about 30 MHz. Above this frequency, electromagnetic
waves essentially propagate as space waves. Space waves are used for
line-of-sight communication and satellite communication.
10. If an antenna radiates electromagnetic waves from a height hT, then
the range dT is given by 2Rh T where R is the radius of the earth.

11. Amplitude modulated signal contains frequencies (Z c Z m ), Zc and

(Z c  Zm ).
12. Amplitude modulated waves can be produced by application of the
message signal and the carrier wave to a non-linear device, followed by
a band pass filter.
13. AM detection, which is the process of recovering the modulating signal
from an AM waveform, is carried out using a rectifier and an envelope
detector.

529
 Physics

POINTS TO PONDER

1. In the process of transmission of message/ information signal, noise gets

added to the signal anywhere between the information source and the
receiving end. Can you think of some sources of noise?
2. In the process of modulation, new frequencies called sidebands are generated
on either side (higher and lower than the carrier frequency) of the carrier by
an amount equal to the highest modulating frequency. Is it possible to
retrieve the message by transmitting (a) only the side bands, (b) only one
side band?
3. In amplitude modulation, modulation index P d 1 is used. What will happen
if P ! 1?

EXERCISES

15.1 Which of the following frequencies will be suitable for beyond-the-

horizon communication using sky waves?
(a) 10 kHz
(b) 10 MHz
(c) 1 GHz
(d) 1000 GHz
15.2 Frequencies in the UHF range normally propagate by means of:
(a) Ground waves.
(b) Sky waves.
(c) Surface waves.
(d) Space waves.
15.3 Digital signals
(i) do not provide a continuous set of values,
(ii) represent values as discrete steps,
(iii) can utilize binary system, and
(iv) can utilize decimal as well as binary systems.
Which of the above statements are true?
(a) (i) and (ii) only
(b) (ii) and (iii) only
(c) (i), (ii) and (iii) but not (iv)
(d) All of (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv).
15.4 Is it necessary for a transmitting antenna to be at the same height
as that of the receiving antenna for line-of-sight communication? A
TV transmitting antenna is 81m tall. How much service area can it
cover if the receiving antenna is at the ground level?
15.5 A carrier wave of peak voltage 12V is used to transmit a message
signal. What should be the peak voltage of the modulating signal in
order to have a modulation index of 75%?
530 15.6 A modulating signal is a square wave, as shown in Fig. 15.14.
 Communication System

FIGURE 15.14

The carrier wave is given by c (t ) 2 sin(8St ) volts.

(i) Sketch the amplitude modulated waveform
(ii) What is the modulation index?
15.7 For an amplitude modulated wave, the maximum amplitude is found
to be 10V while the minimum amplitude is found to be 2V. Determine
the modulation index, P.
What would be the value of P if the minimum amplitude is zero volt?
15.8 Due to economic reasons, only the upper sideband of an AM wave is
transmitted, but at the receiving station, there is a facility for
generating the carrier. Show that if a device is available which can
multiply two signals, then it is possible to recover the modulating
signal at the receiver station.

531
 Physics

INDEX

Absorption spectra 421 Bandwidth of transmission medium 518

AC current 233 Bar magnet 174
AC Generator 224 as solenoid 176
AC voltage 233 Barrier potential 479
applied to a capacitor 241 Base 491
applied to a resistor 234 Becquerel 448
applied to an inductor 237 Beta decay 450
applied to a series LCR circuit 244 Binding energy per nucleon 444
Accelerators in India 142 Biot-Savart law 143
Accommodation of eye 336 Bohr magneton 163
Activity of radioactive substances 447 Bohr radius 425
Additivity of charges 8 Bohr’s model of atom 422
Alpha decay 449 Bohr’s postulates 424
Alpha particle scattering 415 Brewster’s angle 380
Ammeter 165 Brewster’s law 381
Ampere 155 C A. Volta 53
Amperes circuital law 147 Capacitance 73
Amplification 517 Capacitive reactance 241
Amplitude modulation 524 Capacitive circuit 252
Analog signal 502 Capacitor
AND gate 503 parallel plate 74
Andre, Ampere 148 in parallel 79
Angle in series 78
of deviation 330 Cartesian sign convention 311
of incidence 355 Cassegrain telescope 342
of reflection 355 Cells 110
of refraction 355 in parallel 114
Angular magnification 341 in series 113
Apparent depth 318 Chain reaction 452
Area element vector 26 Channel 515
Astigmatism 337 Charging by induction 6
Atomic Charles August de Coulomb 11
mass unit 439 Chromatic aberration 333
number 440 Ciliary muscles 337
spectra 420 Coercivity 195
Attenuation 516 Coherent source 360
Aurora Boriolis 139 Collector 491
Band gap 470 Colour code of resistors 103
Bandwidth of signal 517 Combination of lenses 328
 Index
Combination of resistors Eddy currents 218
series 107 Einstein’s photoelectric equation 394
parallel 108 Electric
Composition of nucleus 438 charge 1
Concave mirror 312 current 93
Conduction band 469 dipole 27
Conductivity 97, 468 displacement 77
Conductors 5 field 18
Conservation of charge 8 field, physical significance 20
Conservative force 51 field due to a system of charges 19
Continuous charge distribution 32 field lines 23
Control rods 454 flux 25
Convex mirror 312 susceptibility 72
Coulomb 11 Electrical energy 105
Coulomb’s law 10 Electromagnetic
Critical angle 320 waves, sources 274
Curie temperature 194 waves, nature 275
Curie 448 damping 218
Current 94 spectrum 280
amplification factor 495 Electron emission 387
density 97 Electrostatic
loop as a magnetic dipole 160 analog 180
sensitivity of galvanometer 165 potential 53
Cut-off voltage/Stopping potential 391 shielding 69
Cyclotron 140 Electrostatics 1
frequency 141 of conductors 67
Davisson & Germer Experiment 403
Electromotive force (emf ) 110
de Broglie
Emission spectra 421
relation 398
Emitter 491
wavelength 398
Energy
explanation 430
bands 469
Decay constant 446
generation in stars 455
Detection of amplitude modulated wave 526
levels 427
Diamagnetism 192
stored in a capacitor 80
Dielectrics 71
Equipotential surfaces 60
Dielectric
Excited state 427
constant 76
Experiments of Faraday & Henry 205
strength 74
Diffraction 367 Extrinsic semiconductor 474
single slit 368 Eye 336
Digital Farad 75
electronics 501 Faraday’s law of Induction 207
signal 502 Fast breeder reactor 453
Dioptre 328 Ferromagnetism 193
Dipole Field
moment 28 due to infinite plane sheet 38
moment vector 28 due to uniformly charged thin spherical
in uniform electric field 31 shell 39
physical significance 29 Field emission 388
Dispersion by a prism 332 Flemings left hand rule
Displacement current 270 Flux leakage 261
Doppler effect 358 Focal length 311
Drift velocity 98 Force between two parallel currents 154
Earth’s magnetism 185 Forward bias 479
Earthing 6 Franck-Hertz experiment 428

555
 Physics
Fringe width 364 Lateral shift 317
Full-wave rectifier 483 Law
G.S. Ohm 96 of radioactive decay 447
Gamma of reflection 357
rays 283 of refraction 356
decay 451 LC oscillations 255
Gauss’s law 33 Least distance of distinct vision 336
its applications 37 Lenz’s law 210
in magnetism 181 Lens maker’s formula 326
Gaussian surface 35 Light emitting diode 488
Geographic meridian 186 Limitations of Ohm’s law 101
Gold leaf electroscope 4 Linear
Ground charge density 32
state 427 magnification/Magnifying power 339
wave 519 Logic gates 502
H.A. Lorentz 134 Lorentz force 134
Half life 448 Magnetic
Half-wave rectifier 483 declination 186
Hallwachs’ and Lenard’s observations 388 dipole 177
Henry 220 dipole moment of a revolving electron 162
Hertz Experiment 274 field 132
Holes 472 field lines 175
Horizontal component of earth’s field on the axis of a circular current loop 145
magnetic field 187 flux 182, 206
Huygen’s Principle 353 force on a current carrying conductor 135
Hypermetropia 337 force 133
Impact parameter 418 hysteresis 195
Impedence diagram 246 inclination 187
Inductance 219 intensity 190
mutual 220 meridian 186
self 222 moment of a current loop 158
Induction 6 moment 178
of charge 6 permeability 190
Inductive potential energy 178
circuit 252 susceptibility 190
reactance 238 torque 178
Input resistance of a transistor 494 Magnetisation 189
Insulators 5 Majority carriers 476
Integrated circuits (IC) 505 Mass
Interference defect 443
constructive 361 number 440
destructive 361 energy relation 442
fringes 363 Maxwell’s equations 273
Internal resistance 110 Mean life 448
Intrinsic semiconductor 472 Meter bridge 120
Ionisation energy 427 Michael Faraday 208
Iris 337 Microscope 339
Isobars 441 compound 340
Isotones 441 Microwaves 281
Isotopes 439 Minority carriers 476
J.C. Maxwell 270 Mirage 321
Junction transistor 490 Mirror equation 314
K.F. Gauss 182 Mobility 100
Kirchhoff’s rules 115 Moderator 454

556
 Index
Modulation 517, 522 Polarisation 71, 376
index 525 by reflection 380
Motion in a magnetic field 137 by scattering 379
Motional emf 212 Polarity of charge 2
Moving coil galvanometer 163 Polaroid 378
Multiplication factor (fission) 454 Potential 53
Myopia 336 due to an electric dipole 55
NAND gate 504 due to a point charge 54
Near point 336 due to a system of charges 57
Neutrons 440 energy difference 53
Noise 516 energy for a system of charges 61
Non-polar molecules 72 energy of a dipole 66
NOR gate 505 energy of a single charge 64
North pole 174 energy of a system of two charges 65
NOT gate 502 energy 52
n-p-n transistor 491 Potentiometer 122
n-type semi conductor 475 Power (electrical) 106
Nuclear factor 252
binding energy 442 in ac circuit 252
density 442 of lens 327
energy 451 Pressurised heavy water reactors 453
Primary coil
fission 452
Principal focus 311
force 445
Principle of superposition 15
fusion 455
Principle quantum number 425
holocaust 457
Prism formula 331
reactor 452
Production of amplitude modulated wave 525
size 441
Properties of electric charge 8
winter 457
p-type semi conductor 476
Numerical aperture 375
Q factor/quality factor 250
Ohm 95
Quanta of energy 393
Ohm’s law 95 Quantisation of charge 8
Optical fibers 322 Radio waves 281
OR gate 502 Radioactivity 446
Orbital magnetic moment 163 Rainbow 333
Output resistance of a transistor 495 Ray optics, validity of 375
Paramagnetism 192 Rayleigh scattering 335
Permanent magnets 195 Rectifier 483
Permeability of free space 143 Red shift 358
Permittivity Reflection of light 310
of free space 11, 76 Refraction 318
of medium 76 of a plane wave 355
Phasors 237 Refractive index 317, 356
diagram 237 Relation between field and potential 61
Photodiode 487 Relaxation time 98
Photoelectric effect 388 Rententivity 195
Photocell 399 Repeater 517
Photoelectric emission 388 Resistance 95
Photoelectrons 389 Resistivity 96, 468
Photon 395 of some materials 102
Pith ball 2 Resolving power 373
Plane polarised wave 377 of eye 374
p-n Junction 478 Resonance 248
p-n-p transistor 491 Sharpness 249
Point charge 10 Resonant frequency 248
Polar molecules 72 Reverse bias 480

557
 Physics
Right hand rule 149 Tokamak 153
Root mean square (rms) or effective Toroid 152
current 235 Torque
voltage 235 on a current loop 157
Roget’s spiral 156 on a dipole 31
Rutherford’s model of atom 415 Total internal reflection 319
Saturation current 390 Transducer 516
Scattering of light 335 Transformer 259
Secondary wavelet 354 Step-down 261
Semiconductors 469 Step-up 261
diode 479 Transistor
elemental 468 as a switch 496
compound 468 as an amplifier 497
Shunt resistance 164 oscillator 500
Signal 516 common emitter configuration 493
Sky wave 520 Truth table 502
Snell’s law 317, 356 Uncertainty Principle 400
Solar cell 489 Unpolarised wave 377
Solenoid 151 Ultraviolet rays 282
South pole 174 Valence band 469
Space wave 521 Van de Graaff Generator 83
Spectral series 421 Velocity selector 140
Brackett 422 Visible rays 282
Fund 422 Voltage Regulator 486
Lyman 422 Voltage sensitivity of a galvanometer 165
Paschen 422 Voltmeter 165
Spectrum of light 332 Volume charge density 32
Spherical mirror 310, 311 Wattless current 252
Spin magnetic moment 163 Wavefront 353
Surface charge density 32 plane 354
Telescope 341 spherical 354
Temperature dependence of Wheatstone bridge 118
resistivity 103 Work function 394
Tesla 135 X rays 283
Thermionic emission 388 Young’s experiment 362
Thermonuclear fusion 456 Zener
Thin lens formula 326 diode 485
Threshold frequency 392 breakdown 485

558
Physics

ANSWERS

CHAPTER 9

9.1 v = –54 cm. The image is real, inverted and magnified. The size of the
image is 5.0 cm. As u o f, v of; for u < f, image is virtual.
9.2 v = 6.7 cm. Magnification = 5/9, i.e., the size of the image is 2.5 cm. As
u of; v of (but never beyond) while m o0.
9.3 1.33; 1.7 cm
9.4 nga = 1.51; n wa = 1.32; ngw = 1.144; which gives sin r = 0.6181 i.e.,
r ~ 38º.
9.5 r = 0.8 × tan ic and sin i c 1/1.33 # 0.75 , where r is the radius (in m)
of the largest circle from which light comes out and ic is the critical
angle for water-air interface, Area = 2.6 m2
9.6 n # 1.53 and Dm for prism in water # 10º
9.7 R = 22 cm
9.8 Here the object is virtual and the image is real. u = +12 cm (object on
right; virtual)
(a) f = +20 cm. Image is real and at 7.5 cm from the lens on its right
side.
(b) f = –16 cm. Image is real and at 48 cm from the lens on its right
side.
9.9 v = 8.4 cm, image is erect and virtual. It is diminished to a size
1.8 cm. As u of, v o f (but never beyond f while m o 0).
Note that when the object is placed at the focus of the concave lens
(21 cm), the image is located at 10.5 cm (not at infinity as one might
wrongly think).
9.10 A diverging lens of focal length 60 cm
9.11 (a) ve = –25 cm and fe = 6.25 cm give ue = –5 cm; vO = (15 – 5) cm =
10 cm,
fO = u O = – 2.5 cm; Magnifying power = 20
(b) u O = – 2.59 cm.
Magnifying power = 13.5.
9.12 Angular magnification of the eye-piece for image at 25 cm
25 25
cm 2.27cm ; v = 7.2 cm
 1 11; | u e |
2.5 11 O

Separation = 9.47 cm; Magnifying power = 88

 Answers
9.13 24; 150 cm
9.14 (a) Angular magnification = 1500
(b) Diameter of the image = 13.7 cm.
9.15 Apply mirror equation and the condition:
(a) f < 0 (concave mirror); u < 0 (object on left)
(b) f > 0; u < 0
(c) f > 0 (convex mirror) and u < 0
(d) f < 0 (concave mirror); f < u < 0
to deduce the desired result.
9.16 The pin appears raised by 5.0 cm. It can be seen with an explicit ray
diagram that the answer is independent of the location of the slab
(for small angles of incidence).
9.17 (a) sin icc = 1.44/1.68 which gives icc = 59°. Total internal reflection
takes place when i  ! 59q or when r < r max = 31° Now,
(sin i /sin r ) 1.68 , which gives i ~ 60°. Thus , all
max max max
incident rays of angles in the range 0 < i < 60° will suffer total
internal reflections in the pipe. (If the length of the pipe is
finite, which it is in practice, there will be a lower limit on i
determined by the ratio of the diameter to the length of the
pipe.)
(b) If there is no outer coating, i cc = sin–1(1/1.68) = 36.5° Now,
i = 90° will have r = 36.5° and i c = 53.5° which is greater than
icc. Thus, all incident rays (in the range 53.5° < i < 90°) will
suffer total internal reflections.
9.18 (a) Rays converging to a point ‘behind’ a plane or convex mirror are
reflected to a point in front of the mirror on a screen. In other
words, a plane or convex mirror can produce a real image if the
object is virtual. Convince yourself by drawing an appropriate
ray diagram.
(b) When the reflected or refracted rays are divergentthe image is
virtual. The divergent rays can be converged on to a screen by
means of an appropriate converging lens. The convex lens of the
eye does just that. The virtual image here serves as an object for
the lens to produce a real image Note the screen here is not
located at the position of the virtual image. There is no
contradiction.
(c) Taller
(d) The apparent depth for oblique viewing decreases from its value
for near-normal viewing. Convince yourself of this fact by drawing
ray diagrams for different positions of the observer.
(e) Refractive index of a diamond is about 2.42, much larger than
that of ordinary glass (about 1.5). The critical angle of diamond
is about 24° much less than that of glass A skilled diamond-
cutter exploits the larger range of angles of incidence (in the
diamond), 24° to 90°, to ensure that light entering the diamond
is totally reflected from many faces before getting out–thus
producing a sparkling effect.
9.19 For fixed distance s between object and screen the lens equation
does not give a real solution for u or v if f is greater than s/4.
Therefore, fmax = 0.75 m.
535
9.20 21.4 cm
 Physics
9.21 (a) (i) Let a parallel beam be the incident from the left on the convex
lens first.
f1 = 30 cm and u1= – f ,give v1 = + 30 cm. This image becomes
a virtual object for the second lens.
f 2 = –20 cm, u 2 = + (30 – 8) cm = + 22 cm which gives,
v2 = – 220 cm. The parallel incident beam appears to diverge
from a point 216 cm from the centre of the two-lens system
(ii) Let the parallel beam be incident from the left on the concave
lens first: f1 = – 20 cm, u1 = – f, give v1 = – 20 cm. This image
becomes a real object for the second lens: f2 = + 30 cmu2 =
– (20 + 8) cm = – 28 cm which gives, v2 = – 420 cm. The parallel
incident beam appears to diverge from a point 416 cm on the
left of the centre of the two-lens system.
Clearly, the answer depends on which side of the lens system
the parallel beam is incident. Further we do not have a simple lens
equation true for all u (and v) in terms of a definite constant of the
system (the constant being determined by f1 and f2, and the separation
between the lenses). The notion of effective focal length, therefore,
does not seem to be meaningful for this system.
(b) u1 = – 40 cm, f1 = 30 cm, gives v1= 120 cm.
Magnitude of magnification due to the first (convex) lens is 3.
u 2 = + (120 – 8) cm = +112 cm (object virtual);
112 u 20
f2 = – 20 cm which gives v 2  cm
92
Magnitude of magnification due to the second (concave)
lens = 20/92.
Net magnitude of magnification = 0.652
Size of the image = 0.98 cm
9.22 If the refracted ray in the prism is incident on the second face at the
critical angle ic, the angle of refraction r at the first face is (60°–ic).
Now, ic = sin–1 (1/1.524) ~ 41°
Therefore, r = 19°
sin i = 0.4962; i ~ 30°
9. 23 Two identical prisms made of the same glass placed with their
bases on opposite sides (of the incident white light) and faces
touching (or parallel) will neither deviate nor disperse, but will mearly
produce a parallel displacement of the beam.
(a) To deviate without dispersion, choose, say, the first prism
to be of crown glass, and take for the second prism a flint
glass prism of suitably chosen refracting angle (smaller than
that of crown glass prism because the flint glass prism
disperses more) so that dispersion due to the first is nullified
by the second.
(b) To disperse without deviation, increase the angle of flint
glass prism (i.e., try flint glass prisms of greater and greater
angle) so that deviations due to the two prisms are equal
and opposite. (The flint glass prism angle will still be smaller
than that of crown glass because flint glass has higher
refractive index than that of crown glass). Because of the
adjustments involved for so many colours, these are not
536 meant to be precise arrangements for the purpose required.
 Answers
9.24 To see objects at infinity the eye uses its least converging power
= (40+20) dioptres = 60 dioptres. This gives a rough idea of the distance
between the retina and cornea-eye lens: (5/3) cm. To focus an object
at the near point (u = –25 cm)on the retina (v = 5/3 cm), the focal
length should be
1
ª 1 3º 25
«¬ 25  5 »¼ 16
cm

corresponding to a converging power of 64 dioptresThe power of the

eye lens then is (64 – 40) dioptres = 24 dioptres. The range of
accommodation of the eye-lens is roughly 20 to 24 dioptres.
9.25 No, a person may have normal ability of accommodation of the eye-
lens and yet may be myopic or hypermetropic. Myopia arises when
the eye-ball from front to back gets too elongated; hypermetropia
arises when it gets too shortened. In practice, in addition, the eye
lens may also lose some of its ability of accommodation When the
eyeball has the normal length but the eye lens loses partially its
ability of accommodation (as happens with increasing age for any
normal eye), the ‘defect’ is called presbyopia and is corrected in the
same manner as hypermetropia.
9.26 The far point of the person is 100 cmwhile his near point may have
been normal (about 25 cm). Objects at infinity produce virtual image
at 100 cm (using spectacles). To view closer objects i.e.those which
are (or whose images using the spectacles are) between 100 cm and
25 cm, the person uses the ability of accommodation of his eye-lens.
This ability usually gets partially lost in old age (presbyopia). The
near point of the person recedes to 50 cm. To view objects at 25 cm
clearly, the person needs converging lens of power + 2 dioptres.
9.27 The defect (called astigmatism) arises because the curvature of the
cornea plus eye-lens refracting system is not the same in different
planes. [The eye-lens is usually spherical i.e. has the same
curvature on different planes but the cornea is not spherical in
case of an astigmatic eye.]In the present casethe curvature in the
vertical plane is enough, so sharp images of vertical lines can be
formed on the retina. But the curvature is insufficient in the
horizontal plane, so horizontal lines appear blurred. The defect can
be corrected by using a cylindrical lens with its axis along the vertical.
Clearly parallel rays in the vertical plane will suffer no extra
refraction, but those in the horizontal plane can get the required
extra convergence due to refraction by the curved surface of the
cylindrical lens if the curvature of the cylindrical surface is chosen
appropriately.
1
9.28 (a) Closest distance = 4 cm | 4.2 cm
6
Farthest distance = 5 cm
(b) Maximum angular magnification = [25/(25/6)] = 6 Minimum
angular magnification = (25/5) = 5
1 1 1
9.29 (a) 
v 9 10
i.e., v = – 90 cm,
Magnitude of magnification = 90/9 = 10. 537
 Physics
Each square in the virtual image has an area 10 × 10 × 1 mm2
= 100 mm2 = 1 cm2
(b) Magnifying power = 25/9 = 2.8
(c) No, magnification of an image by a lens and angular magnification
(or magnifying power) of an optical instrument are two separate
things. The latter is the ratio of the angular size of the object
(which is equal to the angular size of the image even if the image
is magnified) to the angular size of the object if placed at the near
point (25 cm). Thus, magnification magnitude is |(v/u )| and
magnifying power is (25/ |u|). Only when the image is located at
the near point |v| = 25 cm, are the two quantities equal.
9.30 (a) Maximum magnifying power is obtained when the image is at
the near point (25 cm)
u = – 7.14 cm.
(b) Magnitude of magnification = (25/ |u|) = 3.5.
(c) Magnifying power = 3.5
Yes, the magnifying power (when the image is produced at 25 cm)
is equal to the magnitude of magnification.
9.31 Magnification = (6.25 / 1) = 2.5
v = +2.5u
1 1 1
 
2.5u u 10
i.e.,u = – 6 cm
|v| = 15 cm
The virtual image is closer than the normal near point (25 cm) and
cannot be seen by the eye distinctly.
9.32 (a) Even though the absolute image size is bigger than the object
sizethe angular size of the image is equal to the angular size of
the object. The magnifier helps in the following way: without it
object would be placed no closer than 25 cm; with it the object
can be placed much closer. The closer object has larger angular
size than the same object at 25 cm. It is in this sense that angular
magnification is achieved.
(b) Yes, it decreases a little because the angle subtended at the eye
is then slightly less than the angle subtended at the lens. The
effect is negligible if the image is at a very large distance away.
[Note: When the eye is separated from the lens the angles
subtended at the eye by the first object and its image are not
equal.]
(c) First, grinding lens of very small focal length is not easy. More
important, if you decrease focal length, aberrations ( both spherical
and chromatic ) become more pronounced. So, in practice, you
cannot get a magnifying power of more than 3 or so with a simple
convex lens. However, using an aberration corrected lens system,
one can increase this limit by a factor of 10 or so.
(d) Angular magnification of eye-piece is [( 25/fe ) + 1] ( fe in cm) which
increases if fe is smaller. Further, magnification of the objective
vO 1
is given by
538 |u O | (|u O |/ f O )  1
 Answers
which is large when |u O | is slightly greater than fO. The micro-
scope is used for viewing very close object. So |u O | is small, and
so is fO.
(e) The image of the objective in the eye-piece is known as ‘eye-ring’.
All the rays from the object refracted by objective go through the
eye-ring. Therefore, it is an ideal position for our eyes for viewing.
If we place our eyes too close to the eye-piecewe shall not collect
much of the light and also reduce our field of view. If we position
our eyes on the eye-ring and the area of the pupil of our eye is
greater or equal to the area of the eye-ring, our eyes will collect
all the light refracted by the objective. The precise location of
the eye-ring naturally depends on the separation between the
objective and the eye-piece. When you view through a microscope
by placing your eyes on one end,the ideal distance between the
eyes and eye-piece is usually built-in the design of the
instrument.
9.33 Assume microscope in normal use i.e., image at 25 cm Angular
magnification of the eye-piece
25
= 1 6
5
Magnification of the objective
30
= 5
6
1 1 1

5u O u O 1.25

which gives uO= –1.5 cm; v0= 7.5 cm |u e| (25/6) cm = 4.17 cm. The
separation between the objective and the eye-piece should be (7.5 +
4.17) cm = 11.67 cm. Further the object should be placed 1.5 cm from
the objective to obtain the desired magnification.
9.34 (a) m = ( fO/fe ) = 28

ªfO fO º
(b) m = «¬1  25 »¼ = 33.6
fe
9.35 (a) fO + fe = 145 cm
(b) Angle subtended by the tower = (100/3000) = (1/30) rad
Angle subtended by the image produced by the objective
h h
=
fO 140
Equating the two, h = 4.7 cm.
(c) Magnification (magnitude) of the eye-piece = 6. Height of the
final image (magnitude) = 28 cm.
9.36 The image formed by the larger (concave) mirror acts as virtual object
for the smaller (convex) mirror. Parallel rays coming from the object
at infinity will focus at a distance of 110 mm from the larger mirror.
The distance of virtual object for the smaller mirror = (110 – 20) =
90 mm. The focal length of smaller mirror is 70 mm. Using the mirror
formula, image is formed at 315 mm from the smaller mirror. 539
 Physics
9.37 The reflected rays get deflected by twice the angle of rotation of the
mirror. Therefore, d/1.5 = tan 7°. Hence d = 18.4 cm.
9.38 n = 1.33

CHAPTER 10
10.1 (a) Reflected light: (wavelength, frequency, speed same as incident
light)
O = 589 nm, Q = 5.09 u 1014 Hz, c = 3.00 u 108 m s–1
(b) Refracted light: (frequency same as the incident frequency)
Q= 5.09u 1014Hz
v = (c/n) = 2.26 × 108 m s–1, O= (v/Q  = 444 nm
10.2 (a) Spherical
(b) Plane
(c) Plane (a small area on the surface of a large sphere is nearly
planar).
10.3 (a) 2.0 × 108 m s–1
(b) No. The refractive index, and hence the speed of light in a
medium, depends on wavelength. [When no particular
wavelength or colour of light is specified, we may take the given
refractive index to refer to yellow colour.] Now we know violet
colour deviates more than red in a glass prism, i.e. nv > nr.
Therefore, the violet component of white light travels slower than
the red component.

–2 –3
1.2 u10 u 0.28 u10
10.4 O m = 600 nm
4 u1.4

10.5 K/4
10.6 (a) 1.17 mm (b) 1.56 mm
10.7 0.15°
10.8 tan–1(1.5) ~ 56.3o
10.9 5000 Å, 6 × 1014 Hz; 45°
10.10 40 m
v
10.11 Use the formula Oc – O = O
c
c 3 u 108 u 15
i.e., v = ( O'  O = = 6.86 × 105 m s–1
O 6563

10.12 In corpuscular (particle) picture of refraction, particles of light

incident from a rarer to a denser medium experience a force of
attraction normal to the surface. This results in an increase in the
normal component of the velocity but the component along the surface
is unchanged. This means
v sin i
c sin i = v sin r or n . Since n > 1, v > c.
540 c sin r
 Answers
The prediction is opposite to the experimental results (v < c ). The
wave picture of light is consistent with the experiment.
10.13 With the point object at the centre, draw a circle touching the mirror.
This is a plane section of the spherical wavefront from the object
that has just reached the mirror. Next draw the locations of this
same wavefront after a time t in the presence of the mirror, and in
the absence of the mirror. You will get two arcs symmetrically located
on either side of the mirror. Using simple geometry, the centre of the
reflected wavefront (the image of the object) is seen to be at the same
distance from the mirror as the object.
10.14 (a) The speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant independent
of all the factors listed and anything else. In particular, note the
surprising fact that it is independent of the relative motion
between the source and the observer. This fact is a basic axiom
of Einstein’s special theory of relativity.
(b) Dependence of the speed of light in a medium:
(i) does not depend on the nature of the source (wave speed is
determined by the properties of the medium of propagation.
This is also true for other waves, e.g., sound waves, water
waves, etc.).
(ii) independent of the direction of propagation for isotropic
media.
(iii) independent of the motion of the source relative to the
medium but depends on the motion of the observer relative
to the medium.
(iv) depends on wavelength.
(v) independent of intensity. [For high intensity beams,
however, the situation is more complicated and need not
concern us here.]
10.15 Sound waves require a medium for propagation. Thus even though
the situations (i) and (ii) may correspond to the same relative motion
(between the source and the observer), they are not identical
physically since the motion of the observer relative to the medium
is different in the two situations. Therefore, we cannot expect
Doppler formulas for sound to be identical for (i) and (ii). For light
waves in vacuum, there is clearly nothing to distinguish between
(i) and (ii). Here only the relative motion between the source and the
observer counts and the relativistic Doppler formula is the same for
(i) and (ii). For light propagation in a medium, once again like for
sound waves, the two situations are not identical and we should
expect the Doppler formulas for this case to be different for the two
situations (i) and (ii).
10.16 3.4 × 10 – 4 m.
10.17 (a) The size reduces by half according to the relation: size ~ O/d.
Intensity increases four fold.
(b) The intensity of interference fringes in a double-slit arrangement
is modulated by the diffraction pattern of each slit.
(c) Waves diffracted from the edge of the circular obstacle interfere
constructively at the centre of the shadow producing a bright
spot.
(d) For diffraction or bending of waves by obstacles/apertures by a
large angle, the size of the latter should be comparable to
wavelength. If the size of the obstacle/aperture is much too large
541
compared to wavelength, diffraction is by a small angle. Here
 Physics
the size is of the order of a few metres. The wavelength of light is
about 5 × 10–7 m, while sound waves of, say, 1 kHz frequency
have wavelength of about 0.3 m. Thus, sound waves can bend
around the partition while light waves cannot.
(e) Justification based on what is explained in (d). Typical sizes of
apertures involved in ordinary optical instruments are much
larger than the wavelength of light.
10.18 12.5 cm.
10.19 0.2 nm.
10.20 (a) Interference of the direct signal received by the antenna with
the (weak) signal reflected by the passing aircraft.
(b) Superposition principle follows from the linear character of the
(differential) equation governing wave motion. If y 1 and y 2 are
solutions of the wave equation, so is any linear combination of
y1 and y2. When the amplitudes are large (e.g., high intensity laser
beams) and non-linear effects are important, the situation is far
more complicated and need not concern us here.
10.21 Divide the single slit into n smaller slits of width a c = a/n. The angle
T = n O/a = O/a c Each of the smaller slits sends zero intensity in the
direction T. The combination gives zero intensity as well.

CHAPTER 11
11.1 (a) 7.24 × 1018 Hz (b) 0.041 nm
11.2 (a) 0.34 eV = 0.54 × 10–19J (b) 0.34 V (c) 344 km/s
11.3 1.5 eV = 2.4 × 10–19 J
11.4 (a) 3.14 × 10–19J, 1.05 × 10–27 kg m/s (b) 3 × 1016 photons/s
(c) 0.63 m/s
11.5 4 × 1021 photons/m2 s
11.6 6.59 × 10–34 J s
11.7 (a) 3.38 × 10–19 J = 2.11 eV (b) 3.0 × 1020 photons/s
11.8 2.0 V
11.9 No, because Q Qo
11.10 4.73 × 1014 Hz
11.11 2.16 eV = 3.46 × 10–19J
11.12 (a) 4.04 × 10–24 kg m s–1 (b) 0.164 nm
–24 –1
11.13 (a) 5.92 × 10 kg m s (b) 6.50 × 106 m s–1 (c) 0.112 nm
–25 –28
11.14 (a) 6.95 × 10 J = 4.34 PeV (b) 3.78 × 10 J = 0.236 neV
11.15 (a) 1.7 × 10–35 m (b) 1.1 × 10–32 m (c) 3.0 × 10–23 m
11.16 (a) 6.63 × 10–25 kg m/s (for both) (b) 1.24 keV (c) 1.51 eV
–21 –2
11.17 (a) 6.686 × 10 J = 4.174 × 10 eV (b) 0.145 nm
11.18 O h/p = h/(hQ/c) = c/Q
11.19 0.028 nm
11.20 (a) Use eV = (m v 2/2) i.e., v = [(2eV/m)]1/2 ; v = 1.33 × 107 m s–1.
(b) If we use the same formula with V = 107 V, we get v = 1.88 ×
109 m s–1. This is clearly wrong, since nothing can move with a
speed greater than the speed of light (c = 3 × 108 m s–1). Actually,
542 the above formula for kinetic energy (m v 2/2) is valid only when
 Answers
(v/c) << 1. At very high speeds when (v/c ) is comparable to
(though always less than) 1, we come to the relativistic domain
where the following formulae are valid:
Relativistic momentum p = m v
Total energy E = m c 2
Kinetic energy K = m c 2 – m 0 c 2,
1/ 2
§ v2 ·
where the relativistic mass m is given by m m 0 ¨1  2 ¸
© c ¹
m0 is called the rest mass of the particle. These relations also
imply:
E = (p 2c 2 + m 02 c4)1/2
Note that in the relativisitc domain when v/c is comparable to 1, K
or energy t m 0c 2 (rest mass energy). The rest mass energy of electron
is about 0.51 MeV. Thus a kinetic energy of 10 MeV, being much
greater than electron’s rest mass energy, implies relativistic domain.
Using relativistic formulas, v (for 10 MeV kinetic energy) = 0.999 c.
11.21 (a) 22.7 cm
(b) No. As explained above, a 20 MeV electron moves at relativistic
speed. Consequently, the non-relativistic formula R = (m 0v/e B )
is not valid. The relativistic formula is

R p / eB mv / eB or 
R = m 0v / eB 1 – v 2 / c 2 
11.22 We have e V = (m v 2 /2) and R = (m v/e B) which gives (e/m) =
(2V/R 2 B 2 ); using the given data (e/m) = 1.73 × 1011 C kg –1.
11.23 (a) 27.6 keV (b) of the order of 30 kV
11.24 Use O= (hc/E) with E = 5.1 × 1.602 × 10–10J to get O= 2.43 × 10–16 m .
11.25 (a) For O= 500 m, E = (h c/ O) = 3.98 × 10–28J. Number of photons
emitted per second
= 104J s–1/3.98 × 10–28J a 3 × 1031 s–1
We see that the energy of a radiophoton is exceedingly small,
and the number of photons emitted per second in a radio beam
is enormously large. There is, therefore, negligible error involved
in ignoring the existence of a minimum quantum of energy
(photon) and treating the total energy of a radio wave as
continuous.
(b) For Q= 6 × 1014 Hz, E a 4 × 10–19J. Photon flux corresponding to
minimum intensity
= 10–10 W m–2/4×10–19J = 2.5 × 108 m–2 s–1
Number of photons entering the pupil per second = 2.5 × 108 ×
0.4 × 10–4 s–1 = 104 s–1. Though this number is not as large as in
(a) above, it is large enough for us never to ‘sense’ or ‘count’
individual photons by our eye.
I0
11.26 I0 = h Q – e V0 = 6.7 × 10–19 J = 4.2 eV; Q0 = = 1.0 × 1015 Hz; O= 6328Å
h
corresponds to Q = 4.7 × 1014 Hz < Q0. The photo-cell will not respond
howsoever high be the intensity of laser light.
11.27 Use e V0 = h Q – I0 for both sources. From the data on the first source,
I0 = 1.40 eV. Use this value to obtain for the second source V0 = 1.50 V. 543
 Physics
11.28 Obtain V0 versus Q plot. The slope of the plot is (h/e) and its intercept
on the Q-axis is Q0. The first four points lie nearly on a straight line
which intercepts the Q-axis at Q0 = 5.0 × 1014 Hz (threshold frequency).
The fifth point corresponds to Q < Q 0; there is no photoelectric
emission and therefore no stopping voltage is required to stop the
current. Slope of the plot is found to be 4.15 × 10–15 V s. Using e = 1.6 ×
10–19 C, h = 6.64 × 10–34 J s (standard value h = 6.626 × 10–34 J s), I0 =
h Q0 = 2.11 V.
11.29 It is found that the given incident frequency Q is greater than Q0
(Na), and Q0 (K); but less than Q0 (Mo), and Q0 (Ni). Therefore, Mo and
Ni will not give photoelectric emission. If the laser is brought closer,
intensity of radiation increases, but this does not affect the result
regarding Mo and Ni. However, photoelectric current from Na and K
will increase in proportion to intensity.
11.30 Assume one conduction electron per atom. Effective atomic area
~10–20 m2
Number of electrons in 5 layers

5 u 2 u104 m2
= = 1017
1020 m2
Incident power
= 10–5 W m–2 × 2 × 10–4 m2 = 2 × 10–9 W
In the wave picture, incident power is uniformly absorbed by all the
electrons continuously. Consequently, energy absorbed per second
per electron
= 2 × 10–9/1017 = 2 × 10–26 W
Time required for photoelectric emission
= 2 × 1.6 × 10–19J/2 × 10–26 W = 1.6 × 107 s
which is about 0.5 year.
Implication: Experimentally, photoelectric emission is observed nearly
instantaneously (a10 –9 s): Thus, the wave picture is in gross
disagreement with experiment. In the photon-picture, energy of the
radiation is not continuously shared by all the electrons in the top
layers. Rather, energy comes in discontinuous ‘quanta’. and
absorption of energy does not take place gradually. A photon is either
not absorbed, or absorbed by an electron nearly instantly.
11.31 For O= 1 Å, electron’s energy = 150 eV; photon’s energy = 12.4 keV.
Thus, for the same wavelength, a photon has much greater energy
than an electron.

h h
11.32 (a) O Thus, for same K, O  decreases with m as
p 2 mK
(1/ m ). Now (mn/me) = 1838.6; therefore for the same energy,


(150 eV) as in Ex. 11.31, wavelength of neutron =  1838.6  ×
10 –10 m = 2.33×10–12 m. The interatomic spacing is about a
hundred times greater. A neutron beam of 150 eV energy is
therefore not suitable for diffraction experiments.

(b) O= 1.45 × 10–10 m [Use O= (h / 3 m k T ) ] which is comparable

544 to interatomic spacing in a crystal.
 Answers
Clearly, from (a) and (b) above, thermal neutrons are a suitable
probe for diffraction experiments; so a high energy neutron beam
should be first thermalised before using it for diffraction.
11.33 O= 5.5 × 10–12 m
O( yellow light) = 5.9 × 10–7m
Resolving Power (RP) is inversely proportional to wavelength. Thus,
RP of an electron microscope is about 105 times that of an optical
microscope. In practice, differences in other (geometrical) factors
can change this comparison somewhat.

h 6.63 u 10 –34 Js
11.34 p = = 6.63 × 10–19 kg m s–1
O 10 –15 m
Use the relativistic formula for energy:
E 2 = c 2p 2 + m 02 c 4 = 9 × (6.63)2 × 10–22 + (0.511 × 1.6)2 × 10–26
a9 × (6.63)2 × 10–22,
the second term (rest mass energy) being negligible.
Therefore, E = 1.989 × 10–10 J = 1.24 BeV. Thus, electron energies
from the accelerator must have been of the order of a few BeV.

h 4 u10 3
11.35 Use O ; m = kg
6 u1023
He

3m k T
This gives O= 0.73 × 10–10 m. Mean separation
r = (V/N)1/3 = (kT/p)1/3
For T = 300 K, p = 1.01 × 105 Pa, r = 3.4 × 10–9 m. We find r >> O.
11.36 Using the same formula as in Exercise 11.35, O= 6.2 × 10–9 m which
is much greater than the given inter-electron separation.
11.37 (a) Quarks are thought to be confined within a proton or neutron
by forces which grow stronger if one tries to pull them apart. It,
therefore, seems that though fractional charges may exist in
nature, observable charges are still integral multiples of e.
(b) Both the basic relations e V = (1/2 ) m v 2 or e E = m a and
e B v =m v 2/r, for electric and magnetic fields, respectively, show
that the dynamics of electrons is determined not by e, and m
separately but by the combination e/m .
(c) At low pressures, ions have a chance to reach their respective
electrodes and constitute a current. At ordinary pressures, ions
have no chance to do so because of collisions with gas molecules
and recombination.
(d) Work function merely indicates the minimum energy required
for the electron in the highest level of the conduction band to
get out of the metal. Not all electrons in the metal belong to this
level. They occupy a continuous band of levels. Consequently,
for the same incident radiation, electrons knocked off from
different levels come out with different energies.
(e) The absolute value of energy E (but not momentum p) of any
particle is arbitrary to within an additive constant. Hence, while
O is physically significant, absolute value of Q of a matter wave of
an electron has no direct physical meaning. The phase speed QO
is likewise not physically significant. The group speed given by

dQ dE d § p2 · p
d (1/ O ) dp
= ¨ ¸
dp © 2m ¹ m
is physically meaningful. 545
 Physics
CHAPTER 12
12.1 (a) No different from
(b) Thomson’s model; Rutherford’s model
(c) Rutherford’s model
(d) Thomson’s model; Rutherford’s model
(e) Both the models
12.2 The nucleus of a hydrogen atom is a proton. The mass of it is
1.67 × 10 –27 kg, whereas the mass of an incident D-particle is
6.64 × 10–27 kg. Because the scattering particle is more massive than
the target nuclei (proton), the D-particle won’t bounce back in even
in a head-on collision. It is similar to a football colliding with a tenis
ball at rest. Thus, there would be no large-angle scattering.
12.3 820 nm.
12.4 5.6 u 1014 Hz
12.5 13.6 eV; –27.2 eV
12.6 9.7 × 10 – 8 m; 3.1 × 1015 Hz.
12.7 (a) 2.18 × 106 m/s; 1.09 × 106 m/s; 7.27 × 105 m/s
(b) 1.52 × 10–16 s; 1.22 × 10–15 s; 4.11 × 10–15 s.
12.8 2.12u10–10 m; 4.77 u 10–10 m
12.9 Lyman series: 103 nm and 122 nm; Balmer series: 656 nm.
12.10 2.6 × 1074
12.11 (a) About the same.
(b) Much less.
(c) It suggests that the scattering is predominantly due to a single
collision, because the chance of a single collision increases
linearly with the number of target atoms, and hence linearly
with thickness.
(d) In Thomson’s model, a single collision causes very little
deflection. The observed average scattering angle can be
explained only by considering multiple scattering. So it is wrong
to ignore multiple scattering in Thomson’s model. In
Rutherford’s model, most of the scattering comes through a
single collision and multiple scattering effects can be ignored
as a first approximation.
12.12 The first orbit Bohr’s model has a radius a 0 given by

4 S H 0 (h / 2S)2
a0 = . If we consider the atom bound by the gravitational
m ee 2
force (Gmpme/r 2 ), we should replace (e2/4 SH0) by Gm pm e. That is, the

(h / 2S)2
radius of the first Bohr orbit is given by a 0G # 1.2 u 1029 m.
Gm pm e2
This is much greater than the estimated size of the whole universe!

me 4 ª 1 1º me 4 (2n  1)
12.13 Q 3 2 3 « 2
 2»
(4S) H 0 (h / 2S) ¬ (n  1) n ¼ (4S)3 H 02 (h / 2S)3 n 2 (n  1)2

me 4
546 For large n, Q #
32 S3 H 02 (h / 2S)3 n 3
 Answers

n (h / 2S)
Orbital frequency Qc = (v/2 Sr ). In Bohr model v = , and
mr

4 S H 0 (h / 2S)2 2 n (h / 2S) me 4
r n . This gives Qc = 32 S H (h / 2S)3 n 3
3 2
me 2
2 S mr 2 0

which is same as Q for large n.

§ e2 ·
12.14 (a) The quantity ¨ 2 ¸ has the dimensions of length. Its value
© 4 S H 0mc ¹
–15
is 2.82 u10 m – much smaller than the typical atomic size.

4SH 0 (h / 2S)2
(b) The quantity has the dimensions of length. Its
me 2
value is 0.53 u 10–10 m – of the order of atomic sizes.(Note that
the dimensional arguments cannot, of course, tell us that we
should use 4S and h/2S in place of h to arrive at the right size.)

mv 2 Ze 2
12.15 In Bohr’s model, mvr = nh and
r 4 S H 0r 2
which give

1 Ze 2 4 S H 0 =2 2
T= mv 2 ;r = n
2 8 S H 0r Ze 2 m
These relations have nothing to do with the choice of the zero of
potential energy. Now, choosing the zero of potential energy at infinity
we have V = – (Z e2/4 S H 0 r) which gives V = –2T and E = T + V = – T
(a) The quoted value of E = – 3.4 eV is based on the customary
choice of zero of potential energy at infinity. Using E = – T, the
kinetic energy of the electron in this state is + 3.4 eV.
(b) Using V = – 2T, potential energy of the electron is = – 6.8 eV
(c) If the zero of potential energy is chosen differently, kinetic energy
does not change. Its value is + 3.4 eV independent of the choice
of the zero of potential energy. The potential energy, and the
total energy of the state, however, would alter if a different zero
of the potential energy is chosen.
12.16 Angular momenta associated with planetary motion are
incomparably large relative to h. For example, angular momentum
of the earth in its orbital motion is of the order of 1070h. In terms of
the Bohr’s quantisation postulate, this corresponds to a very large
value of n (of the order of 1070). For such large values of n, the
differences in the successive energies and angular momenta of the
quantised levels of the Bohr model are so small compared to the
energies and angular momenta respectively for the levels that one
can, for all practical purposes, consider the levels continuous.
12.17 All that is needed is to replace m e by mP in the formulas of the Bohr
model. We note that keeping other factors fixed, r v (1/m) and E v m.
Therefore,
13
re m e 0.53 u10
rm = 2.56 × 10–13 m
mm 207

Ee m m
E P= – (13.6 × 207) eV # – 2.8 keV 547
me
 Physics
CHAPTER 13
13.1 (a) 6.941 u (b) 19.9%, 80.1%
13.2 20.18 u
13.3 104.7 MeV
13.4 8.79 MeV, 7.84 MeV
13.5 1.584 × 1025 MeV or 2.535×1012J
226 222
13.6 i) 88 Ra o 86 Rn + 24 He ii) 242
94 Pu o 238 4
92 U + 2 He

32 32
iii) 15 P o 16 S + e– + Q iv) 210
83 B o 210 –
84 Po + e +Q

11
v) 6 C o 115 B + e+ +Q vi) 97
43 Tc o 97 +
42 Mo + e +Q

120
vii) 54 Xe + e+ o 120
53 I + Q

13.7 (a) 5 T years (b) 6.65 T years

13.8 4224 years
13.9 7.126 ×10– 6 g
13.10 7.877 ×1010 Bq or 2.13 Ci
13.11 1.23
13.12 (a) Q = 4.93 MeV, ED = 4.85 MeV (b) Q = 6.41 MeV, ED = 6.29 MeV
11
13.13 6 C o 11 +
6 B + e +Q
+Q

Q ªm N
¬  11
6 
C – mN  11
6 
B – m e º¼ c 2 ,

where the masses used are those of nuclei and not of atoms. If we
use atomic masses, we have to add 6me in case of 11C and 5me in
case of 11B. Hence

Q ªm
¬  11
6 C –m  11
6 
B – 2m e º¼ c 2 (Note me has been doubled)

Using given masses, Q = 0.961 MeV.

Q = Ed+ Ee+ EQ
The daughter nucleus is too heavy compared to e+ and Q, so it carries
negligible energy (Ed |0). If the kinetic energy (EQ) carried by the
neutrino is minimum (i.e., zero), the positron carries maximum
energy, and this is practically all energy Q; hence maximum Ee |Q).

13.14 23
10
23
Ne o 11 Na + e – +Q  Q ; Q = ª¬m N 10 Ne – m N 11 Na – m e º¼ c , where the
23 23 2
   
masses used are masses of nuclei and not of atoms as in Exercise

13.13. Using atomic masses Q ªm 10

¬
23 23
Ne – m 11 Na º¼ c 2 . Note me has    
been cancelled. Using given masses, Q = 4.37 MeV. As in Exercise 13.13,
maximum kinetic energy of the electron (max Ee ) = Q = 4.37 MeV.
13.15 (i) Q = – 4.03 MeV; endothermic
(ii) Q = 4.62 MeV; exothermic
13.16 Q = m  56
26 Fe – 2m   28
13 
Al = 26.90 MeV; not possible.
26
13.17 4.536 × 10 MeV

6 u 1023 u 200 u 1.6 u 10 13

548 13.18 Energy generated per gram of 235
92 U = J g 1
235
 Answers
235
The amount of 92 U consumed in 5y with 80% on-time

5 u 0.8 u 3.154 u 1016 u 235

= g = 1544 kg
1.2 u 1.6 u 1013
235
The initial amount of 92 U = 3088 kg.
4
13.19 About 4.9 × 10 y
13.20 360 KeV
13.22 Consider the competing processes:
A
Z X o ZA –1 Y + e+  Qe  Q1 (positron capture)

e–  A
Z X o ZA –1 Y  Qe  Q2 (electron capture)

Q1 ªm N
¬  A
Z 
X – mN  A
Z –1 
Y – m e º¼ c 2

ªm N
¬  A
Z 
X – Z me – m  A
Z –1 
Y –  Z – 1 m e – m e º¼ c 2

ªm
¬  A
Z X –m  A
Z –1 
Y – 2m e º¼ c 2

Q2  
ªm N ZA X  m e – m N ZA –1 Y º c 2
¬ ¼ 
ªm ZA X – m ZA –1 Y º c 2
¬ ¼     
This means Q1 > 0 implies Q2 > 0 but Q2 > 0 does not necessarily
mean Q1 > 0. Hence the result.
25 26
13.23 12 Mg : 9.3%, 12 Mg :11.7%
A
13.24 Neutron separation energy Sn of a nucleus Z X is
A 1 A 2
Sn ¬ªm N ( Z X)  m n  m N ( Z X)¼º c
41
From given data , Sn ( 20 Ca) 8.36MeV, Sn ( 27
13 Al) 13.06MeV

13.25 209 d
14
13.26 For 6 C emission

Q [m N ( 223 209 14
88 Ra)  m N ( 82 Pb)  m N ( 6 C)]c
2

[m ( 223 209 14
88 Ra)  m ( 82 Pb)  m ( 6 C)]c
2
= 31.85 MeV
4
For 2 He emission, Q [m ( 223 219 4
88 Ra)  m ( 86 Rn)  m ( 2 He)]c
2
= 5.98MeV
13.27 Q [m ( 238 140 99
92 U)  m n  m ( 58 Ce)  m ( 44 Ru)]c
2
= 231.1 MeV

13.28 (a) Q [m ( 21 H)  m ( 31 H)  m ( 42 He)  m n ]c 2 17.59 MeV

(b) K.E. required to overcome Coulomb repulsion = 480.0 keV
480.0 KeV = 7.68×10–14 J = 3kT

7.68 u 10 –14
?T (as k 1.381 u 10 –23 J K –1 )
3 u 1.381 u 10 –23
= 1.85 ×109 K (required temperature)

13.29 K max E1–  0.284 MeV, K max E2–   0.960 MeV

Q  J 1  2.627 u 1020 Hz , Q  J 2  0.995 u 1020 Hz , Q  J 3  1.632 u 1020 Hz 549
 Physics
13.30 (a) Note that in the interior of Sun, four 11 H nuclei combine to form
one 42 He nucleus releasing about 26 MeV of energy per event.
Energy released in fusion of 1kg of hydrogen = 39 ×1026 MeV
235
(b) Energy released in fission of 1kg of 92 U = 5.1×1026 MeV
The energy released in fusion of 1 kg of hydrogen is about 8
times that of the energy released in the fusion of 1 kg of uranium.
13.31 3.076 × 104 kg

CHAPTER 14
14.1 (c)
14.2 (d)
14.3 (c)
14.4 (c)
14.5 (c)
14.6 (b), (c)
14.7 (c)
14.8 50 Hz for half-wave, 100 Hz for full-wave
14.9 vi = 0.01 V ; IB= 10 PA
14.10 2V
14.11 No (hQhas to be greater than Eg ).
14.12 ne | 4.95 u 1022; nh = 4.75 u 109 ; n-type since ne >> nh
For charge neutrality ND – NA = ne – nh ; ne.nh = n i2

1ª
N D  N A   N D  N A   4n i º»
2 2
Solving these equations, ne =
2 ¬« ¼
14.13 About 1 × 105
14.14 (a) 0.0629 A, (b) 2.97 A, (c) 0.336 :
(d) For both the voltages, the current I will be almost equal to I0,
showing almost infinite dynamic resistance in the reverse
bias.
14.16 NOT ; A Y
0 1
1 0
14.17 (a) AND (b) OR
14.18 OR gate
14.19 (a) NOT, (b) AND

CHAPTER 15
15.1 (b) 10 kHz cannot be radiated (antenna size), 1 GHz and 1000 GHz
will penetrate.
15.2 (d) Consult Table 15.2
15.3 (c) Decimal system implies continuous set of values
550
 Answers

22
15.4 No. Service area will be A = S d T2 = u 162 u 6.4 u 106 = 3258 km2.
7

Am
15.5 P 0.75
Ac

Am 0.75 u 12 9 V.
15.6 (a)

(b) P= 0.5

15.7 Since the AM wave is given by (Ac + Am sinZm t) cos Zct, the
maximum amplitude is M1 = Ac + Am while the minimum amplitude
is M2 = Ac – Am. Hence the modulation index is
Am M1 – M 2 8 2
m
Ac M1  M 2 12 3.
With M2 = 0, clearly, m =1, irrespective of M1.

15.8 Let, for simplicity, the received signal be

A1 cos (Zc + Zm ) t
The carrier Ac cos Zct is available at the receiving station. By
multiplying the two signals, we get
A1Ac cos (Zc + Za ) t cos Zct
A1 Ac
= ªcos  2Z c  Zm  t  cos Zm t º¼
2 ¬
If this signal is passed through a low-pass filter, we can record
A1 Ac
the modulating signal cos Zm t .
2

551
 Physics

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A 1
THE GREEK ALPHABET

APPENDIX A 2
COMMON SI PREFIXES AND SYMBOLS FOR MULTIPLES AND SUB-MULTIPLES
 Appendices
APPENDIX A 3
SOME IMPORTANT CONSTANTS

OTHER USEFUL CONSTANTS

533
 Physics

BIBLIOGRAPHY

TEXTBOOKS

For additional reading on the topics covered in this book, you may like to consult one or more of the following
books. Some of these books however are more advanced and contain many more topics than this book.

1 Ordinary Level Physics, A.F. Abbott, Arnold-Heinemann (1984).

2 Advanced Level Physics, M. Nelkon and P. Parker, 6th Edition, Arnold-Heinemann (1987).
3 Advanced Physics, Tom Duncan, John Murray (2000).
4 Fundamentals of Physics, David Halliday, Robert Resnick and Jearl Walker, 7th Edition
John Wily (2004).
5 University Physics (Sears and Zemansky’s), H.D. Young and R A. Freedman, 11th Edition,
Addison—Wesley (2004).
6 Problems in Elementary Physics, B. Bukhovtsa, V. Krivchenkov, G. Myakishev and
V. Shalnov, MIR Publishers, (1971).
7 Lectures on Physics (3 volumes), R.P. Feynman, Addision – Wesley (1965).
8 Berkeley Physics Course (5 volumes) McGraw Hill (1965).
a. Vol. 1 – Mechanics: (Kittel, Knight and Ruderman)
b. Vol. 2 – Electricity and Magnetism (E.M. Purcell)
c. Vol. 3 – Waves and Oscillations (Frank S. Crawford)
d. Vol. 4 – Quantum Physics (Wichmann)
e. Vol. 5 – Statistical Physics (F. Reif )
9 Fundamental University Physics, M. Alonso and E. J. Finn, Addison – Wesley (1967).
10 College Physics, R.L. Weber, K.V. Manning, M.W. White and G.A. Weygand, Tata McGraw
Hill (1977).
11 Physics: Foundations and Frontiers, G. Gamow and J.M. Cleveland, Tata McGraw Hill
(1978).
12 Physics for the Inquiring Mind, E.M. Rogers, Princeton University Press (1960).
13 PSSC Physics Course, DC Heath and Co. (1965) Indian Edition, NCERT (1967).
14 Physics Advanced Level, Jim Breithampt, Stanley Thornes Publishers (2000).
15 Physics, Patrick Fullick, Heinemann (2000).
16 Conceptual Physics, Paul G. Hewitt, Addision—Wesley (1998).
17 College Physics, Raymond A. Serway and Jerry S. Faughn, Harcourt Brace and Co. (1999).
18 University Physics, Harris Benson, John Wiley (1996).
19 University Physics, William P. Crummet and Arthur B. Western, Wm.C. Brown (1994).
20 General Physics, Morton M. Sternheim and Joseph W. Kane, John Wiley (1988).
21 Physics, Hans C. Ohanian, W.W. Norton (1989).