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Exercise 3

This document contains 4 exercises about junctions in semiconductors. Exercise 1 asks about properties of a p+n diode including diffusion potential, depletion width, capacitance and current. Exercise 2 asks about doping and depletion of a germanium gamma ray detector. Exercise 3 asks about Fermi energies and built-in voltage of a silicon pn junction. Exercise 4 asks about band diagrams, doping concentrations and diffusion current direction.

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Erna Maffo
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142 views2 pages

Exercise 3

This document contains 4 exercises about junctions in semiconductors. Exercise 1 asks about properties of a p+n diode including diffusion potential, depletion width, capacitance and current. Exercise 2 asks about doping and depletion of a germanium gamma ray detector. Exercise 3 asks about Fermi energies and built-in voltage of a silicon pn junction. Exercise 4 asks about band diagrams, doping concentrations and diffusion current direction.

Uploaded by

Erna Maffo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Junctions

Questions
Exercise 1
On an n-type Si wafer with phosphor 1015 cm−3 one creates a p+ layer by
doping with boron 1018 cm−3 . In addition, the substrate has deep levels
with: Nt = 1012 cm−3 , Et ≈ Ei , c = Svth = 5 × 10−8 cm3 /s (equal value for
electrons and holes). (ni (300K) = 1.45×1010 cm−3 , ε0 = 8.854×10−14 F/cm,
ε = 11.9ε0 , µp = 450cm2 /Vs)
Determine the following properties of the p+ n diode (at 300K):
1. The diffusion potential Vb .

2. For a reverse bias of 2 volt: the depletion width W , the capacity per
cm2 , the reverse bias current (include generation in the depletion area).

3. The breakdown voltage (for avalanche breakdown, Em,Si = 3×105 V/cm).

Exercise 2
High-purity germanium is used to fabricate gamma-ray detectors. Assume
a planar detector made from a 2 cm thick p-Ge crystal, with a thin n+ layer
on top. The detector is thus an n+ p diode, with the depletion area as active
area. (ε = 16ε0 , ni (300K) = 2.4 × 1013 cm−3 )

1. Which doping of the crystal (density NA ) is maximally allowed if one


demands that the detector is completely depleted for a reverse bias of
2kV?

2. Show that the detector needs to be cooled to satisfy this demand. (In
practice, the detector is attached to a liquid nitrogen cryostat.)

Exercise 3
A silicon pn junction is doped with 1017 cm−3 donors on the n-side and
1017 cm−3 acceptors on the p-side. (take Eg , Nc and Nv from the table of
physical constants)

1
2

1. Calculate the Fermi energies on the two sides at 300 K. Set the zero
of energy to be at the top of the valence band.

2. Calculate the built-in voltage for this diode. If you did not find the
Fermi energies in part (1), use EF n = 1 eV and EF p = 0.1 eV.

3. Draw the electric field as a function of position indicating the direction


the field is pointing.

Exercise 4
Consider a silicon pn junction.

1. Draw the band diagram indicating the valence band, the conduction
band, the Fermi energy, and the built-in potential, Vb assuming that
no voltage is applied across the junction. Indicate on this diagram
approximately where the depletion region would be.

2. The doping is ND = 3 × 1016 cm−3 and NA = 3 × 1016 cm−3 . At 300 K,


what is the concentration of holes on the p-side and the concentration
of holes (minority carriers) on the n-side? For silicon, ni = 1.5 ×
1010 cm−3 .

3. Explain what the diffusion current is and which way it is flowing for
forward bias and reverse bias.

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