Lecture Notes-2
Lecture Notes-2
Lecture-2:
Masud H. Chowdhury
Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
IC building blocks & Materials
• Devices: Transistors and diodes
– Semiconductor: Silicon & Germanium
• Interconnect: The wires linking transistors together
– Metal: Copper & Aluminum
• Contact: A contact forms interconnection between metal and active or
polysilicon
– There are various contacts in integrated circuit, such as, gate, drain,
source, body contacts.
– Metal: Tungsten
– Poly-crystalline Silicon
• Via: Vias connect metal interconnect lines of different layers.
– Metal: Copper, Aluminum
• Insulation layers:
– Insulator: SiO2
Si Si Si
Si Si Si
free electron
nucleus hole
Charge of Free Electron and Hole: An electron has a negative charge –q.
Since a hole is created due to absence of an electron, it is considered as a
charge carrier carrying a positive charge +q that allows it to participate in the
current conduction process.
Current Conduction in Silicon/Semiconductor:
– The ability of a material to conduct electricity depends upon the number
of available charge carriers
– In metal conductors, there is only one type of charge carrier – negative
free electrons. The electric current is due to the flow of free electrons
– In semiconductors, such as silicon, there are two types of charge carriers –
electron and hole. The electric current is due to the flow of both electrons
and holes.
ECE467 Masud Chowdhury @ UIC 5
Semiconductor Classification
Intrinsic Semiconductor:
– Silicon in its pure form is called intrinsic semiconductor
– Very poor conductivity
– Conductivity can not be controlled
Extrinsic or Doped Semiconductor:
– Some amounts of impurity atoms are purposely added to increase either
the number of free electrons or holes to enhance current carrying
capability of semiconductor.
– This type of semiconductor with impurity atoms in it is called extrinsic or
doped semiconductor
– Depending on the doping profile extrinsic semiconductor can be divided
into two classes
• N –type Semiconductor: Excess free electrons are available due to
doping with donor atoms.. Normally dopants that have five electrons
in their valance band can provide additional free electrons to
semiconductor.
• P –type Semiconductor: Excess holes are available due to doping with
acceptor atom. Dopants that have three electrons in their valance band
can create additional holes in the semiconductor
ECE467 Masud Chowdhury @ UIC 6
Some Definitions
Intrinsic carrier density (ni): The number of free charge carriers (electrons/holes)
available for current conduction per cubic centimeter of pure semiconductor
Mass-action Law: The relation between the densities of the two types of carriers at
equilibrium is called mass-action law
np = ni2
– This law governs the relative numbers of electrons and holes if no currents are
flowing.
– This is valid for any semiconductor in thermal equilibrium, which is
equivalent to having zero current flow.
ECE467 Masud Chowdhury @ UIC 7
Some Definitions
Doping: The Process of mixing impurity atoms in pure semiconductor to increase
either types of carrier is called doping
Dopant: The impurity atoms mixed with pure silicon are called dopants. Depending
on the type of carrier a dopant can contribute, it can fall in to either of two groups
– Donor atoms - Acceptor atoms
Donor atoms: Number of free electrons is increased by adding donor atoms such as,
arsenic (As) or phosphorus (P), that have five electrons in their valance band
– Four electrons from each dopant atom form four covalent bonds with four
valance-band electrons of a silicon atom. The fifth electron of dopant atom
becomes free inside the semiconductor crystal
– The resulting sample is called n-type semiconductor, having more free
electrons than available hole.
Donor density: Each donor atom donates one free electron. The number of donors
added to one cubic centimeter is called donor density, and given by Nd, with a
typical range of 1016 to 1019 cm-3.
– Typically donor density (Nd) is much higher than intrinsic carrier density ni
– Therefore, electron density in an n-type sample can be given by:
nn = ni + Nd ≅ Nd cm-3
ni2
– Hole density in an n-type sample: nn.pn = Nd.pn = ni2 >> p n = cm − 3
Nd
Mobility: This is the parameter that indicates “how mobile” a particle is. Its unit
is cm2/V-sec. Small value of μ indicates that it is difficult to move, while large
value of μ indicates relatively easier motion
E
The electric field is given by: E = V I
t
d
The electric field is directed from the positive to the negative voltage + V -
V
Current is given by: I = this is called Ohm’s law
R
Current I is the amount of positive charge crossing the surface in one second.
I I
+ V - - V+
Forward bias: diode conducts current Reverse bias: diode is non-conducting
ECE467 Masud Chowdhury @ UIC 15
Voltage-current relation of PN junction
Diode Current: Diode current is exponentially dependent on applied bias voltage
Ideal diode equation: The behavior of the diode at both forward and reverse
biased conditions can be described by ideal diode equation:
ID (mA) I D = I S (eV D / φT − 1)
φT: thermal voltage = 26 mV at 300 K
IS: Saturation current of diode, it is a function of
0.5 1.0
- the area of diode
VD (v) - doping levels
- the widths of the neutral regions
Typical values of IS for silicon diode is in the range 10-17 A/μm2
Diode Model:
ID = IS(eV D/φT – 1)
+
VD