Semiconductor Devices

Bohr atom, valence electrons, and covalent bonding in silicon and germanium.

Doping silicon with group III or group V atoms to create p-type and n-type carriers, and the mass-action law that links them.

Diffusion, recombination, and the built-in potential that turns p-type and n-type silicon in contact into a one-way valve for current.

I–V characteristic, ideal and piecewise models, the Shockley equation, and rectifier circuits.

Zener, LED, Schottky, photodiode, and varactor — operation, regulator design, and characteristic curves.

NPN and PNP construction, the three operating regions (cutoff / active / saturation), and the BJT-as-a-switch.

Q-point selection, the load line, fixed vs voltage-divider vs emitter bias, and stability against β and temperature.

N-channel construction, pinch-off voltage, the transfer characteristic, output curves, and transconductance.

Enhancement and depletion modes, NMOS / PMOS, threshold voltage, saturation and triode regions, and basic switching.