Electrical Sciences

EEE F111

Dr. A. Amalin Prince

BITS - Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Lecture – 17,18
Basics of Semiconductors: Intrinsic and doped semiconductors, PN junction

EEE F111 2
Part 1. Semiconductors and Physical
operation of diodes
Linear and Nonlinear Devices

So far, almost all the devices we have learnt are linear

Many signal-processing functions, however, are
implemented by nonlinear devices

Linear amplifier Nonlinear amplifier

Diode and its physical structure

The diode is the simplest and most fundamental

nonlinear circuit element

The most important region is the boundary between
n-type and p-type semiconductor, which is called pn
junction

pn junction
Symbol and characteristic for the ideal
Symbol and characteristic for the ideal diode
diode
i

Anode Cathode
i ---Reverse bias--- ---Forward bias---

+ v -
0 v
(a) diode circuit symbol (b) i–v characteristic

i i
+ v - + v -
v < 0 ⇒ i=0 i > 0 ⇒ v =0

(c) equivalent circuit (d) equivalent circuit

in the reverse direction in the forward direction
How does it happen?

To answer the question, we need to know:

 Material, structure and the related features (crystal
and semiconductor in particular)
 New particles to carry charge in addition to electrons
 New mechanism(s) of conduction in addition to what
we have known
 Techniques to manufacture the devices (not included
in this course)
Basic semiconductor concepts

Intrinsic Semiconductor

Doped Semiconductor

Carriers

Diffusion, Drift
Elements and material

Periodic table
Mobility and Conductivity

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Intrinsic semiconductor

 Pure semiconductor
 At 0 K, all bonds are intact and no free electrons
are available for current conduction

Ec

Eg = Ec - Ev @ T = 0( K )
Ev
The energy bands and the states of electrons
in Si/Ge at T= 0 K
Thermal ionization

At room temperature, some of the covalent

bonds are broken by thermal ionization

 Each broken bond gives rise to a

free electron and a hole, both of
which become available for
current conduction
 Thermal ionization
Carriers

Free electron ---produced by thermal ionization. It can

move freely in the lattice structure so as to form
current

Hole---empty position in broken covalent bond. It can
also “move” freely to form current
Carriers

The free electron is a negative charge and the hole is

a positive charge

Both of them can move in the crystal structure, so as
to form electric current.
Recombination & thermal equilibrium

Recombination
 A free electron may fill into a hole, resulting in the
disappearance of a pair of carriers ( a free electron and a
hole).

Thermal equilibrium
 At a steady temperature, the recombination rate is equal to
the ionization rate ⇒ thermal equilibrium
 The concentration of the carriers at thermal equilibrium
does not change and can be calculated.
Carrier concentration

Carrier concentration in thermal equilibrium

n = p = ni
where
3 − EG kT (k: Boltzmann constant)
ni = BT e
2

At room temperature (T=300K) for Si,

−3
ni ≅ 1.5 ×10 m 16

n is electron concentration
p is hole concentration
ni intrinsic carrier concentration
Important notes

n i strongly depends on temperature. The high the

temperature is, the dramatically great the carrier
concentration is

At room temperature only one of every billion atoms
is ionized

Silicon’s conductivity is between that of conductors
and insulators. Actually the characteristic of intrinsic
silicon approaches to insulators
Doped semiconductor

Conductivity of the semiconductor can be significantly

changed by doping.

There are two types of doped semiconductors: n type and
p type.

They are used to form pn junction.
Doped semiconductor——n type

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

Free E
Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

P Donor
Si Si Si +
Si Si Si Si

bound charge
Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si
n type semiconductor

Donor--- pentavalent impurity provides free electrons

(usually entirely ionized at room temperature)

Positive bound charge---impurity atom donating electron
gives rise to positive bound charge

Majority carriers---free electrons (mostly generated by
ionized donor and a very tiny portion by thermal
ionization) .

Minority carriers---holes (only generated by thermal
ionization) .
Carrier concentration for n type

Thermal equilibrium equation

nn0 ⋅ p n0 = ni
2

Electric neutral equation

nn 0 = pn 0 + N D

where ND is the donor concentration

Carrier concentration for n type

In a n type Si, the following relationships hold (at

room temperature):

nn 0 > > ni > > p n 0

nn 0 + p n 0 > > ni

and

nn0 ≈ ND

 pn0 ≈ ni / ND
2
Doped semiconductor——p type

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

Al Hole Acceptor
Si Si Si -
Si Si Si Si

bound charge
Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si Si Si
p type semiconductor

Acceptor--- trivalent impurity provides holes (usually entirely ionized)

Negative bound charge --- impurity atom accepting hole give rise to
negative bound charge

Majority carriers---holes (mostly generated by ionized acceptor and
a tiny small portion by thermal ionization)

Minority carriers--- free electrons (only generated by thermal
ionization.)
Carrier concentration for p type

Thermal equilibrium equation

p p 0 ⋅ n p 0 = ni 2

Electric neutral equation

p p0 = np0 + N A
where NA is the acceptor concentration
Carrier concentration for p type

In a p type Si, the following relationships hold (at

room temperature):
p p 0 >> ni >> np 0
p p 0 + np 0 >> ni

and

 p p 0 ≅ N A

np 0 ≅ ni / N A
2
Conclusion on the doped semiconductor

Majority carrier is only determined by the impurity. It is

independent of temperature.

Minority carrier is strongly affected by temperature.

If the temperature is high enough, the characteristic of
doped semiconductor will decline to that of intrinsic
semiconductor
Doping compensation

 On p type semiconductor (substrate), n type

semiconductor can be formed by injecting
donors with N D >> N A into the specific area.
 or reversely.
ND+ NA+

NA ND
Doping compensation

 The boundary between n and p type

semiconductor is the pn junction.
 This is the basic step for VLSI fabrication
technology.
The impurities

Doping should not change the lattice structure!

Hence neighbor elements are usually used as
dopants.
Carriers movement

There are two mechanisms for holes and free electrons

to move in the silicon crystal.

Drift
 The carrier motion is generated by the electrical field across a
piece of silicon. This motion will produce drift current.

Diffusion
 The carrier motion is generated by the different concentration
of carrier in a piece of silicon. The diffused motion of carriers
from higher concentration to lower one will give rise to
diffusion current
Drift and drift current

Drift
 Drift velocities
where µ p , µ n are the
 v drift = µ p E constants called mobility of

 v drift = − µ n E holes and electrons, respectively

 Drift current densities

J n − drift = ( − qn ) ⋅ ( − µ n E ) = qn µ n E
J p − drift = qp ⋅ µ p E
Drift and drift current

Total drift current density

J drift = q（nµn＋pµ p ) E

Resistivity

ρ = 1 q (nµ ＋ pµ )
n p
Resistivity for intrinsic semiconductor

Resistivity for intrinsic semiconductor

ρ = 1 q ( n µ + p µ ) = 1 qn ( µ + µ )
n p i n p

* Resistivity is inversely proportional to the carrier concentration

of intrinsic semiconductor

Temperature coefficient (TC) for resistivity of intrinsic
semiconductor is negative due to positive TC of ni
Resistivities for doped semiconductor

Resistivities for doped semiconductor

1
 qND µn For n type
ρ = q(nµ + pµ ) ≅ 
1
n p
 1 qN µ For p type
 A p

* Resistivities are inversely proportional to the concentration of doped

impurities.

Temperature coefficient for resistivity of doped
semiconductor is positive due to negative TC of mobility
Diffusion and diffusion current

diffusion

A bar of intrinsic silicon (a) in which the hole concentration profile

shown in (b) has been created along the x-axis by some unspecified
mechanism.
Diffusion and diffusion current

dp ( x )
J p = − qD p ⋅
dx
dn ( x )
J n = qD n ⋅
dx
where D p , D n are the diffusion constants or diffusivities
for hole and electron, respectively
 The diffusion current density is proportional to the slope
of the the concentration curve, or the concentration
gradient.
Einstein relationship

Einstein relationship exists between the carrier diffusivity

and mobility:
Dn Dp kT
= = VT =
µn µ p q

where VT is thermal voltage, At room temperature，

VT ≃ 2 5 m v
Total Current

Potential gradient (drift current)

Concentration gradient (diffusion current)

dp ( x)
J p = qp µ p E − qD p
dx
dn( x)
J n = qnµ n E + qDn
dx

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pn Junction

The pn junction under open-circuit condition

I-V characteristic of pn junction
 Terminal characteristic of junction diode.
 Physical operation of diode.

Junction capacitance
pn Junction

Usually the pn junction is asymmetric, p+n or pn+

The superscript “+” denotes the region of more
heavily doped in comparison with the other region
The carriers movement in a pn junction

 Recall of semiconductor characteristics:

p-type: majority carriers (holes)+ very few amount of minority
carriers (free electrons) + negative bound charges

n-type: majority carriers (free electrons)+ very few amount of
minority carriers (holes) + positive bound charges
 Carriee movement in pn junction
pn Junction under open-circuit condition

(a) the pn junction without

applied voltage (open-
circuited terminals)

(b) the potential distribution

along an axis perpendicular to
the junction.
Procedure of forming pn junction

The procedure of forming pn: the dynamic equilibrium of drift and

diffusion movements for carriers in the silicon:

Diffusion

Space charge

Drift

Equilibrium
Procedure of forming pn junction

Diffusion
 Both the majority carriers diffuse across the boundary
between p-type and n-type semiconductor.
 The direction of diffusion current is from p side to n side.
Procedure of forming pn junction

Space charge region

 Recombining of electrons and holes results in the
disappearance of carriers (depletion)
 Bound charges are no longer neutralized by majority carriers
and are then uncovered.
 There is a region close to the junction where majority carriers
on both side are depleted and there are uncovered bound
charges of different polarity
 This region is called carrier-depletion region or space charge
region. It acts as a barrier preventing the majority carriers from
further diffusion
Procedure of forming pn junction

Drift
 Electric field is established across the space charge
region.
 Direction of electronic field is from n side to p side.
 It helps minority carriers drift through the junction.
The direction of drift current is from n side to p side.
Procedure of forming pn junction

Equilibrium
 Two opposite currents across the junction is equal in
magnitude.
 No net current flows across the pn junction.
 Equilibrium condition is maintained by the barrier
voltage.
Junction built-in voltage

The junction built-in voltage

N AND
Vo = VT ln 2
ni
 It depends on doping concentration and temperature
 Its TC is negative.
I-V Characteristics

The diode i–v relationship with some scales expanded

and others compressed in order to reveal details
Terminal characteristic of junction diodes

The Forward-Bias Region, determined by v>o

The Reverse-Bias Region, determined by − VZK < v < 0

The Breakdown Region, determined by v < −VZK
The pn junction under forward-bias

The pn junction
excited by a constant-
current source
supplying a current I in
the forward direction.

The depletion layer
narrows and the barrier
voltage decreases by V
volts, which appears as
an external voltage in
the forward direction.
Carrier distribution under forward-bias

• Minority-carrier distribution in a forward-

biased pn junction.
• It is assumed that the p region is more
heavily doped than the n region; NA >>ND.
I-V characteristic equation

v
η VT
i = I s (e − 1)

Nonlinear (exponential relationship)

Is (saturation current) strongly depends on temperature

η=1 or 2, in general η =1
Turn-on voltage

A conduction diode has approximately a constant voltage

drop across it. It’s called turn-on voltage.

V D ( on ) = 0 . 7V For silicon

V D ( on ) = 0 . 25 V For germanium

Diodes with different current rating will exhibit the turn-on

voltage at different currents.
The pn junction under reverse-bias

The pn junction excited by a

constant-current source I in the
reverse direction.

To avoid breakdown, I is kept
smaller than IS.

Note that the depletion layer
widens and the barrier voltage
increases by VR volts, which
appears between the terminals
as a reverse voltage.
Carrier distribution under reverse-bias

UR

p-type n-type
area area

pp0 nn0

np0 pn0 x
I-V characteristic equation

i = I s Independent of voltage

where Is is the saturation current. It is proportional to ni2, which

is a strong function of temperature.
The pn junction in the breakdown region

The pn junction excited by a reverse-current source I, where I > IS

•The junction breaks down, and a voltage VZ , with the

polarity indicated, develops across the junction.
Breakdown mechanisms

Zener effect
 Occurs in heavily doping semiconductor
 Breakdown voltage is less than 5v.
 Carriers generated by electric field---field
ionization.
 TC is negative.

Avalanche effect
 Occurs in slightly doping semiconductor
 Breakdown voltage is more than 7v.
 Carriers generated by collision.
 TC is positive.
Breakdown mechanisms

Remember:
pn junction breakdown is not a destructive process,
provided that the maximum specified power dissipation is
not exceeded.
Zener Diode

Circuit symbol

The diode i–v characteristic

with the breakdown region
shown in some detail.
Summary

Si and Ge are IV elements with tetrahedron atomic

structure

They can be used to manufacture various devices

Si is dominant because
 better thermal stability due to large bandgap
 abundant (27 % in the Earth) and cheap
EEE F111 64