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What is a Semiconductor?
MD A semiconductor is « material, whose conductivity properties lie between the conductor and insulator.
> Semiconductor Examples are: Silicon, Germanium, Gallium Arsenide ete.
Semiconductor
eed Intrinsic
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mp "hn" stands for negative (free electrons)
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What is a Semiconductor?
= Asemiconductor material is defined
by its ability to conduct electricity
and its conductivity properties lie
between conductor and insulator.
= Under specific conditions,
Semiconductors have the ability to
act either as a
= Moreover, semiconductors(after
creating a PN junction) can also
control the direction of the flow of
electrical charges, which is not the
case with conductors(as they allow
current to flow in both directions).
= Examples of Semiconductor
materials are Silicon, Germanium,
Gallium Arsenide etc., where Silicon
is the most commonly used.
= Gallium arsenide stands as the
second-best semiconductor material
and is used in solar cells, laser
diodes, microwave frequencyExamples of semiconductors
MD Some examples of semiconductors are micro-contreller, memory,
diserate transistors and diodes, aceslerometers.
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What are semiconductors
used for?
Semiconductors have brought a
revolution in the field of electronics.
Semiconductors are used for designing
electronic components:
= The most commonly used
semiconductor component is the
Diode., which allows the flow of
current in one direction only and thus
acts as a one-way electronic valve.
= After the diode, transistor was
invented, which is used for fast
switching or current amplification.
= The invention of diode & transistor
opened the door to nanotechnology
and new integrated chips were
designed i.e. microcontrollers,
ULN2003, CD4050 etc.
= All these integrated chips have
semiconductor components
embedded in them.
i}Types of Semiconductors
Engineers have divided Semiconductors
into two main types, named:
1. Intrinsic Semiconductors.
2. Extrinsic Semiconductors.Intrinsic Semiconductors
» Semiconductors in their pure form are
called Intrinsic Semiconductors and
are barely useful as they are neither
good conductors nor good
insulators.
» Inthe pure forum, the valence shell(of
semiconductor material) carries an
equal number of holes &
electrons(silicon has 4 valence
electrons).Extrinsic Semiconductors
Impurities(i.e. Boron, Arsenic,
Antimony etc.) are added to the pure
Semiconductors by a method called
Doping, which increases the
conductive behavior of
semiconductors and such doped
semiconductors are known as
Extrinsic Semiconductors. (We will
discuss doping shortly)Depending on the doping material used,
extrinsic semiconductors are further
divided into two types, named:
« N-Type semiconductors.
« P-Type semiconductors.N-Type Semiconductors
= When a pentavalent(having 5 valence
electrons) material is used as a
doping agent, four of its electrons in
the valence shell create covalent
bonds with the neighboring Si atoms,
while the 5th electron(of pentavalent
element) becomes a free electron.
Such extrinsic semiconductors are
called N-Type Semiconductors.
= In N-Type Semiconductors, the
majority charge carriers are
electrons(negatively charged).
= Pentavalent Elements normally used
in the doping process are Antimony,
Arsenic, Phosphorous etc.
» Asa semiconductor is accepting a
free elector so itis termed as
Acceptor, while the pentavalent
element is termed as Donor as it's
donating its electron.P-Type Semiconductors
= When a semiconductor material is
doped with a Trivalent(having 3
valence electrons) material, three
valence electrons(of trivalent
element) creates covalent bonds with
the Si atoms nearby but it couldn't
provide the 4th electron and thus
creates a hole(positively charged),
which is actually a vacancy & waits
for an electron to join. Such doped
semiconductors are called P-Type
Semiconductors.
In P-Type Semiconductors, the
majority charge carriers are
holes(positively charged).
Examples of Trivalent Elements used
in the doping process are Boron,
Gallium, Aluminium, Indium etc.
The trivalent element is
here, while the semiconductor isP-Type Semiconductors
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The trivalent element is Acceptor here, while the semiconductor is Donor.PN Junction in Semiconductors
SD 4 special barrir is created at the boundary of P & N type regions, which stops the flow of
‘charge carriers and Is called PN Junction.
a) This PN Junction formulated the basis of first semiconductor component called Diode
Depletion region
N-Type P-Type
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°Semiconductor Materials
{S> There are numerous Semiconductor materials available, a few of them are as follows:
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Hitt
et1. Consumer
Goods(Electronics)
* We cant think of a world without
Electronic devices(i.e. mobile phones,
laptops, microwaves, refrigerators
etc.).
« All these appliances are using
semiconductor components(i.e.
diode, transistor, MOSFET, integrated
chip etc.) in their electronic control
units.2. Embedded Systems
« Microcontrollers/Microprocessors
have revolutionized the world and are
considered as the base of Embedded
Systems.
« These embedded controllers have
nano transistors(semiconductor
component) embedded in them,
acting as smart switches.
* So, semiconductors play an
important role in embedded systems
as well.3. Thermal Conductivity
= As few semiconductors have high
thermal conductivity and are thus
used as a cooling agent in
thermoelectric applications.4. Light Emitting Diode
= Instead of heat, few semiconductors
also produce light and are thus used
in LEDs, OLEDs etc.
« These semiconductors are normally
available in liquid or amorphous form
and are used as a thin coated film.Which devices are
made with
semiconductors?
Semiconductors are useful for making
extremely small electronics device with
which evolution of modern electronics
possible. With the semiconductors two
terminals, three terminals and four
terminal devices are made.
Two terminal devices
Diode - which is made up by two
semiconductors. It made with a p-n
junction. The diode only passes
current through it when it is in
forwarding bias. Diodes are used
rectifier circuits which converts A.C
to D.C.
Gunn diode
IMPATT diode
Laser diode
nN
Zener diodeThree-terminal devices are
Bipolar transistor - Transistor is
three terminal device. Base,
collector, and emitter. Transistors
are used in switching applications
and as an amplifier.
Field-effect transistor
Darlington transistor
IGBT
Unijunction transistor
Silicon-controlled rectifierFour-terminal devices are
e Photocoupler (Optocoupler)
e Hall effect sensor (magnetic field
sensor)Semiconductor
Examples in Daily Life
Gallium arsenide, germanium, and
silicon are some of the
most commonly used
semiconductors. Silicon is used in
electronic circuit fabrication
and Gallium arsenide stands as the second-best
semiconductor material and is used in solar cells,
laser diodes, microwave frequency integrated circuits
etc,Semiconductor Manufacturing
Process
1. Design / Mask Creation: During this phase,
the function of the semiconductor / IC is
defined, the electric circuit is designed, and
a mask for IC manufacturing is created
based on the design.
2. Patterning: This procedure is used for the
formation of a circuit pattern during
various front-end processes.
3. Wafer Fabrication: During this phase, an IC
is created on a silicon substrate (wafer).
4. Device Formation / Device Insulation Layer
Formation: A device insulation layer (field
oxide-film) is formed for electrical isolation
of the devices.
5. Device Formation / Transistor Formation:
Transistors are formed in the active
regions to control the flow of electrons.
6. Metallization: Devices, such as transistors,
are interconnected to form an electronic
circuit.
7. Assembly and Testing: During this phase,
the IC chips created during the wafer
fabrication phase are encapsulated into
packages, and thoroughly inspected before
becoming completed products.How Semiconductor Works
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Pole Lg ol)All semiconductor materials like silicon,
germanium, gallium arsenide, and silicon
carbide have a unique property — All of them
have 4 electrons in their outermost orbit. All the
4 electrons form perfect covalent bonds with
four other atoms creating a lattice to form
crystals. These crystals may look like a
diamond (if the semiconductor material used is
carbon) or it may look like a silver metallic
substance (if the semiconductor material used
is silicon).
Most semiconductors are made by using silicon
since it is abundantly available on earth and is
easy to work with. When an “impure”
substance, such as boron or gallium is
introduced in small quantity, it causes the
silicon crystal to become unstable. This
instability allows free movement of electrons.
Free movement of electrons causes an
imbalance of electrons. This imbalance of
electrons can generate a charge which can be
either a positive charge (if there are lesser
electrons) or a negative charge (if there are
more electrons).PHT #41 @D
Advantages semiconductor
devices:
Semiconductor devices have no
filaments hence there is no power
needed to heat them to cause the
emission of the electrons.
«As we know the semiconductor
device does not produce any
humming noise.
Semiconductor devices have
shockproof.
The semiconductor device is cheaper
as compared to vacuum tubes.
The semiconductor device has an
almost unlimited life.
The semiconductor device has a
small size, so the circuits involving
devices are very compact.
No heating is required so
semiconductor devices are set into
operation as soon as the circuit is
switched on.
Semiconductor devices occupy less
space on any type of printed circuit
board.
As we know that when no vacuum
has to be created in semiconductor
devices they have no vacuum
deterioration trouble.
Semiconductor devices require low
voltage operation as compared to the
vacuum tubes.Disadvantages of semiconductor
devices:
e The noise level is too much higher in
semiconductor devices as compared
to the vacuum tubes.
e In when we have to use the ordinary
semiconductor devices cannot handle
as more power as ordinary vacuum
tubes can do.
e In the high-frequency range, they have
poor performance.