Question

How does an increase in doping concentration affect the width of depletion layer of a p-n junction diode?

Answer 1

A diode is a semiconductor device that functions as a current one-way switch. It permits current to flow freely in one direction while drastically restricting current flow in the other. A diode is a two-terminal electrical component with low resistance in one direction and high resistance in the other.

Complete answer:
The depletion region, also known as the depletion layer, depletion zone, junction area, space charge area, or space charge layer in semiconductor physics, is an insulating area inside a conductive, doped semiconductor material where mobile charge carriers have been dispersed or pushed away by an electric field. Ionized donor or acceptor impurities are the only elements left in the depletion area. Due to the depletion of carriers in this region, this region of uncovered positive and negative ions is known as the depletion layer.

The depletion region is named after the elimination of all free charge carriers from a conducting zone, leaving none to carry a current. Understanding the depletion region is crucial for understanding current semiconductor electronics: depletion region phenomena are used in diodes, bipolar junction transistors, field-effect transistors, and variable capacitance diodes.

If we increase doping, the number of majority charge carriers (holes on the p-side and electrons on the n-side) will also grow. This would result in an increase in the breadth of the depletion layer, which is dependent on charge carriers.Doping enhances the depletion layer because a larger diffusion current leads to more ions on each side of the depletion layer.

Note: A diode is a two-terminal electrical component with low resistance in one direction and high resistance in the other. Doping is the purposeful introduction of impurities into an inherent semiconductor for the goal of altering its electrical, optical, and structural characteristics in semiconductor manufacturing.