1.

Course Code: EC 203

2. Course Name : Solid State Devices
3. Semester: S3
4. Module: 1
5. Syllabus: KTU
6. Name of Faculty: Santumon S D
7. Dept: ECE
8. File Type: PDF

Course objectives:

To provide an insight into the basic semiconductor concepts

To provide a sound understanding of current semiconductor devices and technology to
appreciate its applications to electronics circuits and systems
Text Books:
1. Ben G. Streetman and Sanjay Kumar Banerjee, Solid State Electronic Devices,
Pearson, 6/e, 2010.
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2. Tyagi M.S., Introduction to Semiconductor Materials and Devices, Wiley India, 5/e,
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2008 .............................................
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References:
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1. .............................................
Sze S.M., Physics of Semiconductor Devices, John Wiley, 3/e, 2005.
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2. Neamen, Semiconductor Physics and Devices, McGraw Hill, 4/e, 2012.
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3. Pierret, Semiconductor Devices Fundamentals, Pearson, 2006.
4. Rita John, Solid State Devices, McGrawHill,2014.
Bhattacharya .Sharma, Solid State Electronic Devices, Oxford University Press, 2012

Syllabus Module 1
Elemental and compound semiconductor materials, Energy bands in solids, Metals, semi
conductors, insulators intrinsic and extrinsic semiconductors, Energy momentum relation for
electrons in solids, effective mass.
Fermi Dirac distribution, density of states. Electron and hole concentrations equilibrium.
Temperature dependence of carrier concentration, space charge neutrality,
Carrier transport in semiconductors drift, conductivity and mobility, variation of mobility
with temperature and doping, High Field Effects, invariance of Fermi level at equilibrium,
Hall Effect.

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 NOTES
Significance of Semiconductors
Computers, palm pilots, laptops, Silicon (Si) MOSFETs, ICs, CMOS, anything
intelligent
Cell phones, pagers Si ICs, GaAs FETs, BJTs
CD players AlGaAs and InGaP laser diodes, Si photodiodes
TV remotes, mobile terminals Light emitting diodes
Satellite dishes InGaAs MMICs
Fiber networks InGaAsP laser diodes, pin photodiodes
Traffic signals, car GaN LEDs (green, blue)

Electrical Conductivity:

Electrical Conductivity is a function of a materials ability to carry an electrical current. The

electrical
resistance (R)...............................................
to the flow of electricity in a length (L) of material divided by the cross-sectional
area (A). ..............................................
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1
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*
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R A
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See Figure 2 for comparisons of conductivities in materials. Conductivity is temperature

dependent. As the temperature increases, the conductivity of a metal decreases. In contrast, the
conductivity of pure semiconductors and insulators increases as the temperature increases.
Controlling and changing the conductivity of materials is one of the challenges facing electronic
material scientists.

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Figure 1: Electrical conductivities of some common materials.

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When an electric field is applied, electrons may flow through a material if
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there are empty states in the outer (valence) shells of the atoms that make up the material. An
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electron will not easily transfer between atoms if there is not a vacant state of similar energy in
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the receiving atom for it to occupy. We model the empty and filled states (electron energy
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levels) using quantum theory. A single atom has electrons localized about itself. An atomic
orbital of one atom may overlap with an atomic orbital of another atom forming two molecular
orbitals. One, called the bonding molecular orbital, is of low energy and the other with higher
energy is called the anti-bonding molecular orbital. As more and more atoms assemble to form a
solid, the number of bonding and anti-bonding orbitals of about the same energy increases, and
they begin to take on the characteristics of an energy band. (See Figure 3). The energy
differences between orbitals within a band is slight. Electrons can move freely among these
orbitals within an energy band as long as the orbitals are not completely occupied. The highest
occupied energy band is called the valence band. But, there is a region that separates the
valence band from the conduction band where there are no orbitals. Electrons are not allowed
to have these energies. In insulators, this energy gap is relatively large and in semiconductors,
the energy gap is intermediate.

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 Metals Semiconductors

E Insulators

Figure 2: The energy bands of metals, semiconductors and insulators. For the insulators
and semiconductors, the lower band is called the valence band and the higher band is called the
conduction band. The lower energy band in metals is partially filled with electrons.
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Atoms that form metallic conductors have many partially and fully
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unoccupied levels with similar energies: a large number of mobile charge carriers are able to
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move across the material when an electrical potential (voltage) is applied. In a semiconductor or
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an insulator, the valence band is completely filled with electrons in bonding states so that
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conduction cannot occur. There are no vacant levels of similar energy on neighboring atoms. At
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absolute zero, its anti-bonding states (the conduction band) are completely empty. There are no
electrons there to conduct electricity. This is why insulators cannot conduct. In the case of
semiconductors, as temperature increases, electrons in the valence band acquire sufficient energy
to be promoted across the energy gap into the conduction band. When this occurs, these
promoted electrons can move and conduct electricity. The smaller the band gap, the easier it is
for electrons to move to the conduction band.

An Analogy:

An analogy to explain this conduction process might help. Imagine a

superhighway in Los Angeles with four local traffic lanes and four express lanes going north (the
direction opposite the electric field). Now imagine that construction has stopped traffic in all the

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express lanes (valence band). Meanwhile the local traffic lanes (the conduction band) are totally
empty because everyone decided to take the express lanes to go faster. No one can move on the
express lanes, and there are no cars on the local lanes so no one gets anywhere. Suddenly, the
LA Raiders football team (heat energy) gets out of another bus stuck in the traffic and decides to
lift cars over the barrier (the energy gap) into the local lanes. The higher the barrier is, the
slower the team will lift cars over the barrier, and the fewer cars get to move. Every time a car is
lifted over the barrier, it gets to move so "current flow" begins. Every time a car is removed
from the express lane, other cars can move into the hole it leaves, so some current also gets
carried there (in the valence band). Notice that the car in the local lanes moves in the opposite
direction from the hole left behind! Unfortunately, the cars in the local lanes get off at exits from
time to time and more cars come into the express lanes to fill the holes so only a limited amount
of current can flow.

This analogy works well to explain conduction in pure (intrinsic)

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semiconductors in which the charge carriers come from the chemical bonds in the substance
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itself. Heat energy in a semiconductor increases the number of electrons promoted into the
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otherwise empty conduction band; the vacancies (or holes) created in this process allow mobility
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of electrons in.............................................
the valence band through the material. At high temperatures these
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semiconductors are relatively good conductors because there are a larger number of electrons in
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the conduction band and holes in the valence band available for electron movement. But at low
temperatures, intrinsic semiconductors are insulators since the number of electrons and holes is
diminished. At absolute zero, an intrinsic semiconductor would have no electrons in the
conduction band. However, the most important semiconductors are of the extrinsic type, where
some impurity (another element) has been intentionally added in the solid to increase the
conductivity. The properties of an extrinsic semiconductor are governed by the presence of these
impurities.

Doping:
Doping can produce two types of semiconductors depending upon the element added. If the
element used for doping has at least one more valence electron than the host semiconductor, then
an n-type (negative type) semiconductor is created. For example, if arsenic is added to a silicon
crystal, the arsenic has one more valence electron (5) than silicon (4). That extra electron is

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available to carry a current. So an As atom in Si is like a car that decides to get onto the local
lanes of the LA freeway since the express lanes are clogged. With silicon or other Group IV
semiconductors, any member of Group V (nitrogen is not used) could form an n-type
semiconductor. If the semiconductor is doped with an element having at least one less electron
than the host material, then a p-type (positive type) semiconductor is formed. As an example, if
silicon is doped with aluminum (three valence electrons), a hole will be formed in the valence
band. Again any member of Group III could dope a host semiconductor from Group IV and
show the same effect. The solid would have a "positive" hole in its electronic structure that
would move in the opposite direction of the electron flow . Thus a p-type semiconductor would
be formed. This would be as if the football team picked up a car and placed it on the median
between the express lanes and the local lanes. Doping cannot be done to the point where it
disturbs the crystalline structure of the host semiconductor. Doping is done in the range of parts
per million concentrations, but may be up to a few parts per thousand. A semiconductor doped to
several parts ...............................................
per thousand level has a conductivity close to that of a poor metal. Thought
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question about Figure 4: Why are the levels of the n-type and p-type dopants slightly different
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from the levels..............................................
in the intrinsic semiconductor?
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conduction band conduction band

E valence band valence band

n-type semiconductor p-type semiconductor

Figure 3: A p-type and n-type semiconductor. The fifth valence electron of the n-type dopant
can easily jump to the conduction band and carry current. In the p-type
semiconductor, electrons are easily promoted to the vacant level in the dopant. This
creates a hole in the valence band which can carry current by traveling in the
opposite direction of electron flow.

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Hole Concept:
A couple of additional analogies might help to explain the hole concept. For the first
one, you will need six chairs and five students. Line up the six chairs and have the five students sit in a
row leaving the chair on the right vacant. Assume that the outside current terminals are positive to the
right and negative to the left. As the flow of excited electrons moves through the crystal toward the
positive terminal, so electrons from a bonded site move toward the positive terminal into an adjacent hole
causing the hole to migrate toward the negative terminal. Have the students (electrons) move one chair
toward the right; notice that the empty chair (positive hole) has moved, effectively to the left.

The second demonstration requires a glass test tube filled with glycerin and stoppered. Be sure to leave
an air bubble inside the stoppered tube. The glycerin represents the electrons and the air bubble
represents the positive holes. As the tube is inverted and the electrons move in their direction (down - due
to gravity in this case but due to the positive terminal in an electronic scenario), the air bubble moves in
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the opposite direction ( up - due to density differences in this case but due to attraction toward the
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negative terminal in the electrical case.) After these two demonstrations, it should be clear that the
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semiconductor holes and electrons move in opposite directions.
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-
direction fluid/
of electrons
bubble flow

direction air bubble/

of holes
fluid flow
+

Figure 4: Diagram of a bubble (hole) traveling upward in an inverted test tube of glycerin.

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Fermi-Dirac distribution and the Fermi-level
Density of states tells us how many states exist at a given energy E. The Fermi
function f(E) specifies how many of the existing states at the energy E will be filled with
electrons. The function f(E) specifies, under equilibrium conditions, the probability that an
available state at an energy E will be occupied by an electron. It is a probability distribution
function.

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EF = Fermi energy or Fermi level
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k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38 1023 J/K = 8.6 105 eV/K
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T .....................................................
= absolute temperature in K

Fermi-Dirac distribution: Consider T 0 K

1
For E > EF : f ( E EF ) 0
1 exp ()
For E < EF : 1
f ( E EF ) 1
1 exp ()

Temperature dependence of Fermi-Dirac distribution

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Density of States
In solid-state and condensed matter physics, the density of states (DOS) of a
system describes the number of states per interval of energy at each energy level that are
available to be occupied. Unlike isolated systems, like atoms or molecules in gas phase,
the density distributions are not discrete like a spectral density but continuous. A high DOS
at a specific energy level means that there are many states available for occupation. A DOS
of zero means that no states can be occupied at that energy level. In general a DOS is an
average over the space and time domains occupied by the system. Local variations, most
often due to distortions of the original system, are often called local density of
states (LDOS). If the DOS of an undisturbed system is zero, the LDOS can locally be non-
zero due to the presence of a local potential.

Drift Current Density

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Mobility

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Conductivity

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In the mid-temperature range, or extrinsic range, the electron concentration remains

essentially constant. The mobility is a function of temperature so the conductivity varies with
temperature in this range.
At higher temperatures, the intrinsic carrier concentration increases and begins to dominate
the electron concentration as well as the conductivity.
In the lower temperature range, freeze-out begins to occur; the electron concentration and
conductivity decrease with decreasing temperature.

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Carrier Diffusion
Diffusion is the process whereby particles flow from a region of high
concentration toward a region of low concentration. If the particles were electrically charged,
the net flow of charge would result in a diffusion current.

Diffusion Current Density

If the distance l shown in Figure 5.10 is less than the mean-free path of an
electron, that is, the average distance an electron travels between collisions (l < vth Tcn),
electrons moving to the right at x = -l and electrons moving to the left at x = l will cross the
x = 0.

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Hall Effect

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The Hall effect is the production of a voltage difference (the Hall voltage) across
an electrical conductor, transverse to an electric current in the conductor and a magnetic
field perpendicular to the current. It was discovered by Edwin Hall in 1879. The Hall
coefficient is defined as the ratio of the induced electric field to the product of the current
density and the applied magnetic field. It is a characteristic of the material from which the
conductor is made, since its value depends on the type, number, and properties of
the charge carriers that constitute the current.

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It can determine the carrier type (electron vs. hole) & the carrier density n for a
semiconductor.
Place the semiconductor into external B field, push current along one axis, & measure
the induced Hall voltage VH along the perpendicular axis.

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