What is Built-in potential?

Built-in potential in the explanations

• The junction capacitance therefore falls as 1/√V, and plotting 1/C² against V gives a straight line whose slope yields the doping N of the lightly doped side and whose intercept yields the built-in potential—the basis of C-V profiling.

  How does the depletion width of a one-sided abrupt junction…

• In thermal equilibrium the Fermi levels of joined materials line up, which gives rise to the built-in potential of a pn junction and the flat-band voltage of a MOS structure.

  What does the Fermi level mean?

• In a depletion region, however, these fixed charges are what create the electric field and built-in potential.

  What are the majority carriers in a p-type semiconductor?

Questions that mention Built-in potential (7)

1. How does the depletion width of a one-sided abrupt junction depend on the reverse bias voltage V (when V is much larger than the built-in potential)?
2. What does the Fermi level mean?
3. What are the majority carriers in a p-type semiconductor?
4. How is voltage applied to forward-bias a PN junction diode?
5. What happens to the width of the depletion layer when the reverse bias applied to a PN junction is increased?
6. How does the built-in (diffusion) potential of a PN junction relate to the doping on each side?
7. When a reverse bias is applied to an abrupt PN junction, where is the electric field strongest?

Related terms

Junction capacitance (depletion capacitance) Fermi level Flat-band voltage Forward bias Depletion layer Numerical aperture (NA) Avalanche breakdown Conductivity modulation Diffusion capacitance Ideality factor