Covalent Bonds

• Mutual sharing of valence electrons produces covalent bond.

Shared valence
electrons

Single Silicon
atom

Bonding Diagram
Covalent Bonds

Covalent bond in a Silicon Crystal

Conduction in Semiconductors
• Conduction of electrons and holes:

Also called
Conduction
electron

Intrinsic (pure) Silicon crystal at room temperature.

Conduction in Semiconductors
Recombination occurs when
an electron in conduction
band loses energy and falls
back into a hole in the valence
band.
Conduction in Semiconductors
Conduction in Semiconductors
• Hole current: The
movement of
valence electron
into a nearby hole
with little change in
its energy level is
called the hole
current.
• Effectively the hole
has moved from
one place to
another in the
crystal structure.
Conduction in Semiconductors
• Bandgap Energy:
• Electrons of an atom present in
prescribed energy band.
• Each shell of an atom corresponds to a
certain energy band and is separated
from adjacent shells by energy gaps, in
which no electron can exist.
• Figure shows energy band diagram for
unexcited atom in a pure silicon crystal.
• This condition occurs at a temperature
of absolute 0 Kelvin
Bandgap Energy
• We must now answer two important questions.
• First, does any thermal energy create free electrons (and holes) in
silicon?
• No, in fact, a minimum energy is required to dislodge an electron
from a covalent bond. Called the “bandgap energy” and denoted by
Eg ,minimum is a fundamental property of the material.
• For Silicon Eg = 1.12 eV.
• The unit eV (electron volt) represents the energy necessary to move
one electron across a potential difference of 1 V.
• Note that 1 eV= 1.6 ×10 -19 J.
Bandgap Energy
• The second question relates to the conductivity of the material and
is as follows.
• How many free electrons are created at a given temperature?
• It is observed that the number of electrons depends on both Eg and
T.
• A greater Eg translates fewer electrons, but a higher T yields more
electrons.
Bandgap Energy
• The density or concentration of electrons i.e. the number of
electrons per unit volume ni for silicon is

Where k = 1.38 × 10−23 J/K is called the Boltzman constant.

• Material having a larger Eg exhibits a smaller ni.
3Τ
• Also as T 0, so do 𝑇 2 and exp (-Eg/2kT), thereby bringing ni
toward zero.
Bandgap Energy
• The exponential dependence of ni upon Eg reveals the effect of the
bandgap energy on the conductivity of the material.

• Insulators display a high Eg: for example Eg = 2.5 eV for diamond.

• Conductors on the other hand, have a small bandgap.

• Finally semiconductors exhibit a moderate Eg, typically ranging from

1 eV to 1.5 eV
Example 1
Q. Determine the density of electrons in Silicon at T = 300 K (room
temperature) and T = 600 K.

Since for each free electron a hole is left behind, the density of holes
is also given by above two equations.
Bandgap Energy
• The ni values obtained in the above example may appear quite high,
but, noting that silicon has 5 × 1022 atoms/cm3, we recognize that
only one in 5 × 1012 atoms benefit from a free electron at room
temperature.

• In other words, silicon still seems a very poor conductor.

• But, do not despair! We next introduce a means of making silicon

more useful.
Modification of Carrier Densities
• Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors: The “pure” type of silicon
studied thus far is an example of “intrinsic semiconductors,”
suffering from a very high resistance (limited number of free
electrons).
• Fortunately, it is possible to modify the resistivity of silicon by
replacing some of the atoms in the crystal with atoms of another
material.
• In an intrinsic semiconductor, the electron density, n(= ni), is equal
to the hole density, p. Thus,
𝑛𝑝 = 𝑛𝑖2
 Modification of Carrier Densities
N-Type Semiconductor:
Doping: Controlled addition of impurities to intrinsic semiconductor
to increase the number of current carriers.
• Pentavalent impurity atom = donor atom
• Majority charge carriers = electrons
• Minority charge carriers = holes in N-type
material
Modification of Carrier Densities
N-Type Semiconductor:
Thus, for N ‘dopant’ atoms uniformly introduced in each cubic
centimeter of a silicon crystal, then the density of free electrons rises
by the same amount.
• As remarked earlier, the electron and hole densities in an intrinsic
semiconductor are equal.
• But, how about these densities in a doped material? It can be proved
that even in this case,
2
𝑛𝑝 = 𝑛𝑖
where n and p respectively denote the electron and hole densities in
the extrinsic semiconductor.
ni = densities in the intrinsic semiconductor.
Modification of Carrier Densities
N-Type Semiconductor:
• The above result seems quite strange. How can np remain constant
while we add more donor atoms and increase n?

𝑛𝑝 = 𝑛𝑖2

• Equation reveals that p must fall below its intrinsic level as more n-
type dopants are added to the crystal.
• This occurs because many of the new electrons donated by the
dopant “recombine” with the holes that were created in the
intrinsic material.
Example 2
Q. A piece of crystalline silicon is doped uniformly with phosphorus
atoms. The doping density is 1016 atoms/cm3. Determine the electron
and hole densities in this material at the room temperature.
Solution:
The addition of 1016 P atoms introduces the same number of free
electrons per cubic centimeter.
Since this electron density exceeds that calculated in Example 1 by six
orders of magnitude, we can assume

From example 1:-

Modification of Carrier Densities
N-Type Semiconductor:
• Note that the hole density has dropped below the intrinsic level by
six orders of magnitude.
• Thus, if a voltage is applied across this piece of silicon, the resulting
current predominantly consists of electrons.

• This example justifies the reason for calling electrons the “majority
carriers” and holes the “minority carriers” in an n-type
semiconductor.
 Modification of Carrier Densities
P-type Semiconductor:
To increase the number of holes in intrinsic silicon, trivalent impurity
atoms are added.
• Trivalent impurity atom = acceptor atom
• Majority charge carriers = holes
• Holes = positive charge or absence of
electrons
• Minority charge carriers = electrons in P-type
material.
• Few free electrons are created when electron
pair are thermally generated.
• N boron atoms contribute N boron holes to
the conduction of current in silicon.
Modification of Carrier Densities
• Let us formulate our results thus far.
• If an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with a density of ND (>> ni)
donor atoms per cubic centimeter, then the mobile charge densities
are given by
Modification of Carrier Densities
• Similarly, for a density of NA (>> ni) acceptor atoms per cubic
centimeter:

• Since typical doping densities fall in the range of 1015 to 1018

atoms /cm3, the above expressions are quite accurate.
Summary of Charge Carriers in Silicon
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• Having studied charge carriers and the concept of doping, we are
ready to examine the movement of charge in semiconductors, i.e.,
the mechanisms leading to the flow of current.
• We know that a material can conduct current in response to a
potential difference and hence an electric field.
• The field accelerates the charge carriers in the material, forcing
some to flow from one end to the other.
• Movement of charge carriers due to an
electric field is called “drift.”
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• The charge carriers are accelerated by the field and accidentally
collide with the atoms in the crystal, eventually reaching the other
end and flowing into the battery.
• The acceleration due to the field and the collision with the crystal
counteract, leading to a constant velocity for the carriers.
• We expect the velocity, 𝑣, to be proportional to the electric field
strength, E:
𝜇 = mobility expressed in cm2 /( V.s)

and hence
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• Since electrons move in a direction opposite to the electric field, we must
express the velocity vector as

𝜇n = mobility of electrons = 1350 cm2 / (V.s)

• For holes, on the other hand

𝜇p = mobility of holes = 480 cm2 / (V.s)

Example 3
Q. A uniform piece of n-type of silicon that is 1 𝜇m long senses a
voltage of 1 V. Determine the velocity of the electrons.
Solution:
Since the material is uniform,
we have E = V/L, where L is the length.
Thus, E = 10,000 V/cm and
hence 𝑣 = 𝜇nE = 1.35 × 107 cm/s.
In other words, electrons take (1 𝜇m) = (1.35 × 107 cm/s) = 7.4 ps to
cross the 1- 𝜇m length.
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• Now suppose a voltage V1 is applied across a uniform
semiconductor bar having a free electron density of n (Fig. below).
• Assuming the electrons move with a velocity of 𝑣 m/s, considering
a cross section of the bar at x = x1 and taking two “snapshots” at t =
t1 and t = t1 +1 second, we note that the total charge in 𝑣 meters
passes the cross section in 1 second.
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• In other words, the current is equal to the total charge enclosed in 𝑣
meters of the bar’s length. Since the bar has a width of W, we have:
:- Negative sign is for the electron charge.

where 𝑣 . 𝑊. ℎ = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 and 𝑛. 𝑞 = 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑠

:-𝑊. ℎ is the cross section area of the bar.

where Jn denotes the “current density,” i.e., the

current passing through a unit cross section area, and
is expressed in A/cm2.
Transport of Carriers
Drift:
• Hence “The current is equal to the charge velocity times the charge
density,” with the understanding that “current” in fact refers to
current density, and negative or positive signs are taken into account
properly.
• In the presence of both electrons and holes, Eq. (above) is modified
to:

• This equation gives the drift current density in response to an electric

field 𝐸 in a semiconductor having uniform electron and hole
densities.
Example 4
Q. In an experiment, it is desired to obtain equal electron and hole
drift currents. How should the carrier densities be chosen?
Solution:
• Since p and n are of the same order as ni, equal electron and hole
drift currents can occur for only a very lightly doped material.
• This confirms our earlier notion of majority carriers in
semiconductors having typical doping levels of 1015-1018
atoms/cm3.
Transport of Carriers
Velocity Saturation:
• We have thus far assumed that the mobility of carriers in
semiconductors is independent of the electric field and the velocity
rises linearly with 𝐸 according to 𝑣 = 𝜇𝐸.

• In reality, if the electric field approaches sufficiently high levels, 𝑣 no

longer follows 𝐸 linearly.

• This is because the carriers collide with the lattice so frequently and
the time between the collisions is so short that they cannot
accelerate much.
Transport of Carriers
Velocity Saturation:
• As a result, 𝑣 varies “sublinearly” at high electric fields, eventually
reaching a saturated level, 𝑣𝑠𝑎𝑡 (Fig.). Called “velocity saturation,”
this effect manifests itself in some modern transistors, limiting the
performance of circuits.
In order to represent velocity
saturation, we must modify 𝑣 = 𝜇𝐸
accordingly.
A simple approach is to view the
slope, 𝜇 , as a field-dependent
parameter.
Transport of Carriers
Velocity Saturation:
• The expression for 𝜇 must therefore gradually fall toward zero as 𝐸 rises, but
approach a constant value for small 𝐸; i.e.,
where 𝜇 o is the “low-field”
mobility and b a proportionality
factor.

• We may consider 𝜇 as the “effective” mobility at an electric field 𝐸. Thus

Transport of Carriers
Velocity Saturation:

In other words
Example 5
Q. A uniform piece of semiconductor 0.2 𝜇m long sustains a voltage
of 1 V. If the low-field mobility is equal to 1350 cm2/(V.s) and the
saturation velocity of the carriers 107 cm/s, determine the effective
mobility. Also, calculate the maximum allowable voltage such that
the effective mobility is only 10% lower than 𝜇o .
Solution:
• If the mobility must remain within 10% of its low-field value, then
• A device of length 0.2 𝜇m experiences such a field if it sustains a
voltage of (823 V/cm) × (0.2 × 10-4 cm) = 16.5 mV.

• This example suggests that modern (submicron) devices incur

substantial velocity saturation because they operate with voltages
much greater than 16.5 mV.