Acknowledgement

Electronics
Electronics is the science of how to control electric energy, energy in which the
electrons have a fundamental role. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that
involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and
integrated circuits, and associated passive electrical components and
interconnection technologies. Commonly, electronic devices contain circuitry
consisting primarily or exclusively of active semiconductors supplemented with
passive elements; such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit.
The nonlinear behavior of active components and their ability to control electron
flows makes amplification of weak signals possible, and electronics is widely used
in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing. The ability
of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information processing
possible. Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics
packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure
complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed components into a regular
working system.
Electronics is distinct from electrical and electro-mechanical science and
technology, which deal with the generation, distribution, switching, storage, and
conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms using wires,
motors, generators, batteries, switches, relays, transformers, resistors, and other
passive components. Until 1950 this field was called "radio technology" because
its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers,
and vacuum tubes.
Today, most electronic devices use semiconductor components to perform electron
control. The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a
branch of solid-state physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic
circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering. This
article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.

Branches of
Electronics
Electronics has branches as follows:

Digital electronics:-

Digital electronics or digital (electronic) circuits are electronics that handle digital
signals - discrete bands of analog levels - rather than by continuous ranges (as used
in analogue electronics). All levels within a band of values represent the same
numeric value. Because of this discretization, relatively small changes to the
analog signal levels due to manufacturing tolerance, signal attenuation or parasitic
noise do not leave the discrete envelope, and as a result are ignored by signal state
sensing circuitry. In most cases, the number of these states is two, and they are
represented by two voltage bands: one near a reference value (typically termed as
"ground" or zero volts), and the other a value near the supply voltage. These
correspond to the "false" ("0") and "true" ("1") values of the Boolean domain
respectively, named after its inventor, George Boole, yielding binary code. Digital
electronic circuits are usually made from large assemblies of logic gates, simple
electronic representations of Boolean logic functions.
Analogue electronics:Analogue electronics are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in
contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two levels. The term
"analogue" describes the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage
or current that represents the signal.
An analogue signal uses some attribute of the medium to convey the signal's
information. For example, an aneroid barometer uses the angular position of a
needle as the signal to convey the information of changes in atmospheric
pressure. Electrical signals may represent information by changing their voltage,
current, frequency, or total charge. Information is converted from some other
physical form (such as sound, light, temperature, pressure, position) to an electrical
signal by a transducer which converts one type of energy into another.

 Microelectronics:Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests,

microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or micro-fabrication) of
very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means
micro-metre-scale or smaller. These devices are typically made from
semiconductor materials. Many components of normal electronic design are
available in a microelectronic equivalent. These include transistors, capacitors,
inductors, resistors, diodes and (naturally) insulators and conductors can all be
found in microelectronic devices.
Fuzzy electronics
Fuzzy electronics is an electronic technology that uses fuzzy logic, instead of the
two-state Boolean logic more commonly used in digital electronics. Fuzzy
electronics is fuzzy logic implemented on dedicated hardware. This is to be
compared with fuzzy logic implemented in software running on a conventional
processor. Fuzzy electronics has a wide range of applications, including control
systems and artificial intelligence.
Integrated circuit electronics:An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a
chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small plate ("chip") of
semiconductor material, normally silicon. This can be made much smaller than a
discrete circuit made from independent electronic components. ICs can be made
very compact, having up to several billion transistors and other electronic
components in an area the size of a fingernail.
ICs have two main advantages over discrete circuits: cost and performance. Cost is
low because the compactness of the chips.

 Circuit electronics:The process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from complex electronic
systems all the way down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit.
In integrated circuit design automation, the term "circuit design" often refers to the
step of the design cycle which outputs the schematics of the integrated circuit.
Typically this is the step between logic design and physical design. Formal circuit
design usually involves the following stages:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.

Writing the requirement specification after liaising with the customer.

Writing a technical proposal to meet the requirements of the customer
specification.
Synthesizing on paper a schematic circuit diagram, an abstract electrical or
electronic circuit that will meet the specifications.
Calculating the component values to meet the operating specifications under
specified conditions.
Performing simulations to verify the correctness of the design.
Building a breadboard or other prototype version of the design and testing
against specification.
Making any alterations to the circuit to achieve compliance.

Optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that source,
detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context,
light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as gamma rays, X-rays,
ultraviolet and infrared, in addition to visible light. Optoelectronic devices are
electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical transducers, or instruments that use

such devices in their operation. Electro-optics is often erroneously used as a

synonym, but is a wider branch of physics that concerns all interactions between
light and electric fields, whether or not they form part of an electronic device.
Optoelectronics is based on the quantum mechanical effects of light on electronic
materials, especially semiconductors, sometimes in the presence of electric fields.

Light Dependent Resistor (LDR)

What is a Light Dependent Resistor or a Photo Resistor?
A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) or a Photo Resistor is a device
whose resistivity is a function of the incident electromagnetic radiation.
Hence, they are light sensitive devices.
They are also called as photo conductors, photo conductive cells or
simply photocells. They are made up of semiconductor materials having
high resistance. There are many different symbols used to indicate a
LDR, one of the most commonly used symbol is shown in the figure
below. The arrow indicates light falling on it.

Working Principle of LDR

A light dependent resistor works on the principle of photo
conductivity. Photo conductivity is an optical phenomenon in which the
materials conductivity (Hence resistivity) reduces when light is absorbed
by the material. When light falls i.e. when the photons fall on the device,
the electrons in the valence band of the semiconductor material are
excited to the conduction band. These photons in the incident light

should have energy greater than the band gap of the semiconductor
material to make the electrons jump from the valence band to the
conduction band. Hence when light having enough energy is incident on
the device more & more electrons are excited to the conduction band
which results in large number of charge carriers. The result of this
process is more and more current starts flowing and hence it is said that
the resistance of the device has decreased. This is the most common
working principle of LDR.
Characteristics of LDR
LDRs are light dependent devices whose resistance decreases when
light falls on them and increases in the dark. When a light dependent
resistor is kept in dark, its resistance is very high. This resistance is
called as dark resistor. It can be as high as 1012 . And if the device is
allowed to absorb light its resistance will decrease drastically. If a
constant voltage is applied to it and intensity of light is increased the
current starts increasing. Figure below shows resistance vs illumination
curve for a particular LDR. Photocells or LDRs are non-linear devices.
There sensitivity varies with the wavelength of light incident on them.
Some photocells might not at all response to a certain range of
wavelengths. Based on the material used different cells have different
spectral response curves.

When light is incident on a photocell it usually takes about 8 to 12ms for

the change in resistance to take place, while it takes seconds for the
resistance to rise back again to its initial value after removal of light.
This phenomenon is called as resistance recovery rate. This property is
used in audio compressors. Also, LDRs are less sensitive than photo
diodes and photo transistor. (A photodiode and a photocell (LDR) are
not the same, a photo-diode is a p-n junction semiconductor device that
converts light to electricity, whereas a photocell is a passive device,
there is no p-n junction in this nor it converts light to electricity).
Types of Light Dependent Resistors:
Based on the materials used they are classified as:
i) Intrinsic photo resistors (Un-doped semiconductor): These are pure
semiconductor materials such as silicon or germanium. Electrons get
excited from valance band to conduction band when photons of enough
energy falls on it and number charge carriers increases.

ii) Extrinsic photo-resistors: These are semiconductor materials doped

with impurities which are called as dopants. Theses dopants create new
energy bands above the valence band which are filled with electrons.
Hence this reduces the band gap and less energy is required in exciting
them. Extrinsic photo resistors are generally used for long wavelengths.

Construction of a Photodiode
The structure of a light dependent resistor consists of a light sensitive
material which is deposited on an insulating substrate such as ceramic.
The material is deposited in zigzag pattern in order to obtain the desired
resistance & power rating. This zigzag area separates the metal
deposited areas into two regions. Then the ohmic contacts are made on
the either sides of the area. The resistances of these contacts should be as
less as possible to make sure that the resistance mainly changes due to
the effect of light only. Materials normally used are cadmium sulphide,
cadmium selenide, indium antimonide and cadmium sulphonide. The use
of lead and cadmium is avoided as they are harmful to the environment.

Applications of LDR
LDRs have low cost and simple structure. They are often used as light
sensors. They are used when there is a need to detect absences or
presences of light like in a camera light meter. Used in street lamps,
alarm clock, burglar alarm circuits, light intensity meters, for counting
the packages moving on a conveyor belt, etc.

Experimental
Study
Aim:To determine the relationship between resistance Of a photodiode and
Intensity and Frequency of Light (or) radiation incident on the LDR.

Apparatus Required:-

Source of DC Voltage (Battery)

Voltmeter (Multimeter)
Ammeter
Variable Resistor (Rheostat)
LDR (Light Dependent Resistor)
Connecting wires
Lead wire for soldering
Key
Bulb
AC source for Bulb

Formula:Ohms Law: - The Potential Difference V between the terminals or ends of a

conductor is directly proportional and thus varies linearly with the Current I
flowing through the conductor.
Mathematically, the law can be expressed as:V = RI
Where R is the resistance if the conductor
I is the current flowing through the conductor
V is the Potential Difference across the terminals of the conductor

Circuit diagram:-

Procedure
Step 1:- Forming the given circuit.
From the Positive terminal of the battery , connect to the positive terminal of
the ammeter .

 Connect the negative terminal of the ammeter to the LDR . Now connect the
other terminal of the LDR to the positive terminal of the rheostat.
Connect the rheostat to the Battery ( source of DC)
Step 2:- After the circuit has been made , Connect the bulb to an AC
source( preferably using an extension box).
Step 3:- Switch on the circuit. The experiment has to be done in a dark room. Now
switch of the bulb and keep it with maximum closeness to the LDR. Now note the
reading of the voltmeter and ammeter and record them in the Observation Table.
Step 4:- Now move the bulb slowly away and switch on the circuit again. Measure
the distance. Note down the ammeter and voltmeter readings. Do the same for
different distances and take 4 values.
Step5. Do all the steps again using a different colored light in order to change the
frequency of the radiation or light source used.
Note down the readings in the observation table.
Observations

Result
The Resistance of the LDR decreases when the Intensity of the light or radiation
incident on the LDR increases and vice versa. Thus , the intensity of incident
radiation varies inversely with the resistance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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