AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Engineering
Introduction to Physical Electronics
PHM123
Spring 2024

Problem Set 2: Carrier Transport Phenomena

Put (T) on the true statement or (F) on the false statement. You should provide the
correct statement for the false one.
1. Drift velocity is the average velocity of charged particles in the presence of an electric field.
2. At very high electric fields, the electron drift velocity saturates with increasing field intensity.
3. The electron mobility in a semiconductor material increases with increasing doping
concentration.
4. The mobility of electrons in a semiconductor is inversely proportional to the square root of the
effective mass of the electron.
5. The conductivity of intrinsic semiconductors increases with increasing temperature.
6. The diffusion coefficient and mobility of electrons in a semiconductor can have totally
independent values.
7. The room temperature resistivity of an n-type silicon with 1016 Phosphorus atoms/cm3 is
8.4  cm.

Choose the best correct answer. Show your working of numerical problems
1. The average velocity of carriers in a semiconductor with no external excitation sources…
(a) equals zero (b) depends on the temperature
(c) depends on the dimensions (d) depends on the doping

2. The mobility of carriers in an extrinsic semiconductor …….

(a) depends on sample dimensions (b) depends only on the temperature
(c) depends only on the doping (d) depends on the temperature and doping
3. At room temperature and low applied electric, the drift velocity of carriers in an extrinsic
semiconductor is …………. the thermal velocity.
(a) smaller than (b) higher than (c) equal to (d) not related to

4. In general, the mobility at room temperature of electrons in intrinsic semiconductors is ……. that
of metals.
(a) smaller than (b) higher than (c) equal to (d) negligible to

5. If an intrinsic semiconductor is heated, the mobility of carriers ……...

(a) increases (b) decreases (c) is maintained constant (d) becomes zero

6. The conductivity of a semiconductor …………………….

(a) depends only on the carrier concentration
(b) depends only on the temperature
(c) depends only on the doping
(d) depends on the temperature, doping, and carrier concentration

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7. Increasing the cross-sectional area of a semiconductor, the drift current density……
(a) increases (b) decreases (c) is maintained constant (d) becomes zero

8. The height from the bottom edge of the conduction band indicates the …................. of carriers.
(a) kinetic energy (b) potential energy (c) total energy (d) mobility

9. The rise of the bottom edge of the conduction band in the +ve x direction indicates the presence
of an external electric field which is …..................
(a) in the +ve x direction (b) in the -ve x direction
(c) zero (d) normal to the x direction

10. If the concentration of electrons increases in the +ve x direction, they will ........
(a) diffuse in the +ve x direction (b) diffuse in the -ve x direction
(c) not diffuse (d) diffuse normal to the x-direction

11. The increase of the concentration of electrons in the +ve x direction leads to a diffusion current
which is …….........
(a) in the +ve x direction (b) in the -ve x direction
(c) zero (d) normal to the x direction

12. The increase of the concentration of holes in the +ve x direction leads to a diffusion current which
is …….........
(a) in the +ve x direction (b) in the -ve x direction
(c) zero (d) normal to the x direction

13. Two semiconductors A and B have identical dimensions and effective masses but different mean
free times �����
𝑡𝑟𝐴 and �����
𝑡𝑟𝐵 where �����
𝑡𝑟𝐴 < �����
𝑡𝑟𝐵. By applying the same field on the two semiconductors,
(a) μA > μB (b) JA > JB (c) IA > IB (d) JA < JB (e) JA = JB

14. Which of the following sketches best describes the DN versus ND dependence of electrons in
silicon at room temperature?

Problems
1. If an average hole drift velocity of 103 cm/s results in a uniform doped semiconductor bar of 1 cm
long when we applied a 2V across it, estimate the hole mobility inside the bar.
2. A (non-compensated) p-type silicon sample is maintained at room temperature. When an electric
field with a strength of 1000 V/cm is applied to the sample, the hole drift velocity is 3.5×105
cm/sec. (a) What is the mean free path of a hole in this sample? (b) Estimate the electron and hole
concentrations in this sample.
3. Two GaAs wafers, one n-type and one p-type, are uniformly doped such that ND (wafer 1) = NA
(wafer 2) >> ni. Which wafer will exhibit the larger resistivity? Explain.

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4. The resistivity of pure Ge at a particular temperature is 0.52  m. If it is doped with 1020
atoms/m3 of a trivalent impurity estimate the new value of resistivity. The hole and electron
mobilities may be taken constant as 0.2 and 0.4 m2/V.s respectively.
5. A specimen of an extrinsic p-type Si material has the following dimensions: length 5mm, width
2 mm and thickness 1.0 mm. Calculate the impurity concentration of the specimen if the electrical
resistance is 100. The electron and hole mobility may be taken as 0.12 and 0.025 m2/V.s
respectively, and the intrinsic carrier density 2.5x1016 m-3. Determine the ratio of conductivities
due to electrons and holes.
6. An electric field has a non-zero value at a plane x1 (perpendicular to the x-axis) inside a silicon
crystal. At x1, the electron density is 106 cm-3 and the electron density is nonuniform in a direction
perpendicular to the plane. It is observed that no electron current flows across the plane.
(a) Explain why no current is flowing. (b) If the electric field is -103 Vcm-1 (i.e. 103 Vcm-1 in the
negative x-direction), what is the electron gradient perpendicular to the plane?