LESSON 10 –

SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSCIS
Chifundo Polska Mlangeni
[email protected]
Outline
• Atomic Structure
• Covalent Bonds
• N-type Semiconductors
• P-type Semiconductors
• P-N Junction
• Types of semi-conductor diodes

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Atomic Structure

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3
 Atomic Structure
• An atom is composed of:
I. nucleus which contains protons and neutrons
II. orbital Electrons
• The electrons are negatively charged, protons positively
charged, and neutrons have no charge
• Electrons in the outermost shell are called valence electrons
• The number of valence electrons determine the chemical
activity of the material.
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Atomic Structure
• Silicon and germanium - most commonly used semi-
conductor materials.
• They are tetravalent atoms.

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 Covalent Bond
• When atoms come into close proximity with each other, the
valence electrons interact to form a crystal.
• The valence electrons are shared between atoms leading to
the formation of covalent bonds
• Most semiconductor materials have a tetrahedral
configuration in which each atom has four nearest
neighbours

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 Tetravalent
atoms with
covalent
bonds

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 Tetrahedral configuration

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ELECTRON– HOLE CREATION
• When a negatively charged electron breaks its covalent bond
and moves away from its original position, a positively
charged empty state (hole) is created at that position.
• An increase in temperature causes more covalent bonds to
be broken, hence more free electrons and holes.
• The concentration of electrons and holes directly influence
the magnitude of the current.

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ENERGYBANDS

• 𝐸𝑐means minimum
conduction band
• 𝐸𝑔means band gap energy
• 𝐸vmeans maximum
valence band energy

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ENERGYBANDS

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 ENERGYBANDS
• At T = 0K, all the valence electrons occupy the valence band.
• When the temperature increases, the valence electrons gain
sufficient thermal energy to break the covalent bond and
move away from their original position.

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ENERGYBANDS
• The minimum energy that the valence electron must gain in
order to break the covalent bond is called Bandgap Energy(𝐸𝑔)
• The electrons that have gained this minimum energy move
into the conduction band and are said to be free electrons.
• The net flow of these electrons generate a current.
• Materials that have large band gap energies, in the range of
>5 eV, are insulators.

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INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
• This is a single crystal semi-conductor material with no other
types of atoms within the crystal.
• Examples include pure silicon, pure germanium etc.
• At absolute temperature intrinsic semiconductors behave as
perfect insulators.
• The density of electrons and holes are equal, since the
thermally generated holes and electrons are the only source
of such particles.

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Intrinsic Carrier Concentration (ni)
• Concentration of holes and electrons

−𝐸
3
𝑛𝑖 = ൗ
𝑔

𝐵𝑇
➢ B = the coefficient related to a specific semi-conductor material
➢ 𝑬 𝒈 = the Band gap energy
➢ T = the temperature in kelvins
➢ K = the Boltzmann's constant (86× 10 −6 ev/k)
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Doping
• Adding impurity atoms to an intrinsic crystal to alter its
electrical conductivity
• The resulting semiconductor is called an extrinsic
semiconductor
• An extrinsic semiconductor has its conductivity improved
because the impurity supplies extra charge carriers.

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N-type semiconductor
• Doped with impurities containing five valence electrons
• E.g phosphorus, antimony or arsenic.
• Number of electrons exceed number of holes
• The atom( impurity) used to dope n-type semiconductor is
known as the donor atom

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P-type semiconductor
• Doped with impurities containing 3 valence electrons.
• E.g boron, indium, aluminium or gallium
• Number of holes exceed number of electrons
• The atom( impurity) used to dope the p-type semiconductor
is known as the acceptor atom.

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Relationship between holes and electrons

𝑛𝑜𝑝𝑜=(𝑛𝑖)2
where:
•𝒏 = thermal equilibrium concentration of free
𝟎
electrons
•𝒑 𝒐 = thermal equilibrium concentration of holes

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Relationship between holes and electrons

• If the donor concentration ≫ the intrinsic concentration

• 𝑛0 ≅ 𝑁 𝑑
• where 𝑁 𝑑 = concentration of donor atoms
•𝑛 𝑖 2
𝑝𝑜
=

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Relationship between holes and electrons

• If the acceptor concentration ≫ the intrinsic concentration

𝑝0 ≈ 𝑁 𝑎

2
𝑛 𝑖
0 =
𝑁
𝑎

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Majority and Minority Carriers
• In an intrinsic semiconductor, the number of holes and
electrons will be equal.
• In an n-type material, the number of holes is less than the
number of free electrons,
▪ Therefore the electron is called the majority carrier and
the hole the minority carrier.
• In a p-type material, the number of free electrons is less
than the number of holes,
▪ So the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the
minority carrier.
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Majority and Minority Carriers

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P-N Junction
• It is formed when a p-material is brought together with an n-
material,
• There will be diffusion of holes from the p-region into the n-
region, and diffusion of electrons from the n-region into the
p-region.
• The flow of holes from the p-region uncovers the negatively
charged acceptor ions.

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 P-N Junction
• As soon as a junction is produced, free electrons near it in the
n-type material are attracted across into the p-type material
where they fill holes.
• As a result the n-type becomes positively charged and the p-
type negatively charged.
• The same happens to holes in the p-type material.
• The movement of electrons and holes leads to recombination
across the junction.

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P-N Junction
• This results into the formation of a depletion region or space
charge region( a region that is void of carriers)
• The flow of electrons from the n-region uncovers positively
charged donor ions.
• At the depletion region, an electric field oriented in the
direction from the positive Charge to the negative charge is
set up due to charge separation.

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P-N Junction

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P-N Junction
• Due to the electric field in the depletion region, there is a potential
difference which is called the built-in potential difference or built-in
voltage and is given by:
𝐾 𝑇
𝑉 = ln(
𝑁𝑎𝑁𝑑 (𝑛𝑖)2
) 𝑁 𝑎
(𝑛𝑖)
2

• K is the Boltzmann's constant • 𝑁𝑎 is the acceptor concentration

• T is the absolute Temperature • 𝑁 𝑑 is the donor concentration
• E is the Electronic charge • 𝑉 𝑇 is the thermal Voltage

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Reverse Biasing

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Reverse Biasing
• When the polarity of the applied voltage is as shown, the
holes are attracted towards the negative terminal and the
free electrons towards the positive terminal.
• This widens the depletion layer, in which there are no holes
or free electrons.
• This widening of the depletion region will establish a great
barrier for the majority carriers to overcome, effectively
reducing the majority carrier flow to zero.
• Consequently, the junction behaves as an insulator

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Reverse Biasing
• The number of minority carriers, however, that find
themselves entering the depletion region will not change,
resulting in minority-carrier flow of the same magnitude as
with unbiased p-n junction.
• The current that exists under reverse-bias conditions is called
the reverse saturation current and is represented by 𝑰 𝒔 .

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 • Increasing the biasing voltage increases the width of the depletion
region
• Because of the additional charges, (positive &negative) induced in the
region, capacitance is associated with the PN junction
• This is called junction capacitance

• This Capacitance will affect the switching properties of the junction

Forward Biasing

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Forward Biasing
• The application of a forward-bias potential VD will
“pressure” electrons in the n-type material and holes in the
p-type material to recombine with the ions near the
boundary and reduce the width of the depletion region
• The current in the diode is therefore due to hole flow in the
p-region, electron flow in the n-region and a combination of
the two in the vicinity of the junction.

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Diode Types
• 1. Zener diodes
• 2. Solar Cell
• 3. Photo diode
• 4. Schottky diode
• 5.Tunnel Diode
• 6. PN Junction Diode
 ZENER DIODE
• These are diodes that are operated in breakdown region by limiting
the current to value within the capabilities of the device
• Zener diodes are used as a constant- voltage reference in a circuit
• The diode consists of a special , heavily doped p-n junction that are
designed to conduct in the reverse direction when a certain specified
voltage is reached
Operation of zener diode
• When zener diode is in reverse biased a small amount of electric
current flows throughout the diode.
• When the voltage applied to the diode is increasing (negatively), the
current flowing does not increase a lot .
• Once the applied voltage reaches a voltage value called zener voltage
(Vz), the voltage does not increase a lot so it can be considered
constant .
 SOLAR CELL
• A solar cell is a diode with reverse-bias current source provided by charges.
• This is a p-n junction device that coverts light energy to electrical energy that
will be used to power machines through the photovoltaic effect.
• The photovoltaic effect is the process where voltage or current is generated
from photovoltaic cells, therefore solar cells do not need voltage directly
applied to it.
• It is a photoelectric cell (its current and or voltage vary depending on exposure
to light) Made up of a reverse biased p-n junction
• Solar cells are usually made of silicon or gallium arsenide semiconductors
• The solar cell is connected directly to a load that it is supposed to power
• Has a space charge region made up of an array of cells that will absorb the light
energy into the cell
• It also has an antireflection layer, 3 conversion layers; top junction layer,
absorption layer and back junction layer and 2 electrical contact layers.
• It must be placed under a light source
One cell takes in a little
amount of light.

Cells are put into

arrays and modules to
increase the amount
of light being
absorbed
Operation
• Light will hit the space charge region and the anti reflection coating will
allow a large amount of light to be taken in.
• The photons carry their thermal energy down the cell to the electrons.
• Due to thermal energy the electrons will experience a force that will
allow them to jump out of their shell, holes and free electrons are
created.
• Electricity will be generated when the free electrons will go through
the junction and escape out into the wire. The electricity will power the
connected load.
SCHOTTKY DIODE
• DEFINITION: Schottky diodes are high current diodes that are used
primarily in high frequency and fast switching applications.
• It is also called a hot electron diode or Schottky Barrier diode.

FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2
 COMPOSITION

• Features a junction consisting of a metal and a semiconductor.

• The metals used may be aluminum, gold, tungsten, molybdenum,
platinum and more.
• The semiconductor used is a moderately doped n-type semiconductor.
• The width of the barrier depends on the type metal used.

FIGURE 3
OPERATION

• As a Schottky diode is composed of a metal-

semiconductor junction, the metal component has
electrons in the conduction band and the semiconductor
is a lightly doped n-type so it uses majority carriers.
• It uses majority charge carriers only and so, it is called a
unipolar device in contrast with general pn-junction
diodes which are bipolar devices.
OPERATION

FIGURE 3
• In unbiased state:
• The free electrons in the n-type semiconductor will move from the
semiconductor to the metal across the junction to produce an
equilibrium state.
• The atoms in the semiconductor lose an electron and become
positive ions while the atoms in the metal receive an extra
electron.
 OPERATION
• In forward bias state:
• Forward bias state means the positive battery terminal is connected to the
metal and the negative terminal is connected to the n-type semiconductor.
• The higher energy electrons in the n-region are injected into the metal
region where they give up their excess energy very rapidly and in this way
current is allowed to flow through the diode.
• In reverse bias state:
• Reverse bias state means the positive battery terminal is connected to the n-
type semiconductor and the negative terminal is connected to the metal.
• The diode conduction stops very quickly and changes to blocking current
flow, as for a conventional pn-junction, but this change happens faster due to
the absence of minority carriers(holes).
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE
• LED are semiconductor49devices that converts electrical energy
into light energy.
• They give off light known as electro-luminance when connected
to electrical energy source and only in forward bias.
• Symbol for LED

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OPERATION
50

Saturday, September 2, 2023

 Operation explanation
• A L.E.D is a p-n junction with a heavily doped n-type semiconductor(n ) and
a and alightly doped p-type.51The device works only if it is forward biased.
• When p- side of the junction is connected to the positive terminal of a
battery and the n side to the negative terminal, the barrier height gets
reduced and the carriers diffuse to the other side of the junction.
• As the p- side is lightly doped, much fewer number of holes cross over to
the n-side than the number of electrons which diffuse to the p-side.
• Recombination takes place in the depletion region (also called the active
layer ) and photons (light) are emitted.
• The emission takes place in random direction. If the width of the p-side is
made much thinner than the width of the n-side, the emitted light can
escape from the device without getting reabsorbed by the material.
• The color of light, depends on the band gap energy of the materials forming
the p-n junction. Saturday, September 2, 2023
PHOTODIODE
• It is a p-n junction semiconductor device which converts an
optical signal into an electrical signal.
•

What is a photodiode
• The symbol above is used for a photo diode.
• The diode is first connected in reverse bias. This creates a depletion
region.
• When light strikes the depletion region it energises the electrons.
• The electrons move from the valence band to the conduction band.
• This creates an electron-hole pair.
• The electrons are attracted to the positive part of the
depletion region and repelled by the negative part.
• The holes are repelled by the positive part of the depletion
region and attracted to the negative part.
• The net effect is a flow of a current.
 Uses

• 1. Counting items on a conveyor belt.

⚫ Light source and photo diode are placed on opposite sides of
the conveyor belt.
⚫Photodiode is connected to a counter(computer).
⚫Blockage of light due to passing of item is detected by
photodiode.
⚫Count is increased by 1.
• 2. Compact disk players.
⚫Light from a laser beam in shone upon the shiny side of the CD.
⚫The light reflect accordingly as it lands on pits or lands
(representing binary 0 and 1).
⚫A photodiode converts the reflected light to an electric signal
to be further processed.
• 3. Smoke detectors.
⚫light is aimed into a sensing chamber at an angle away from
the photodiode.
⚫Smoke enters the chamber, reflecting light onto the
photodiode hence triggering the alarm.
• 4. Automatic lights switching.
⚫During the day, high intensity light is detected by the
photodiode causing an electronic switching system to turn
lights off.
⚫At night the signal is abscent causing the electronic system to
switch on the lights.
TUNNEL DIODES

• Has a 10mm wide, heavily doped P-N junction. Conducts

current in both forward and reverse direction.
• manufactured using Germanium, but sometimes made with
Silicon or Gallium Arsenide instead.
• Electrons on the N-side of the band gap are sort of aligned
with Holes on P-side.
 Forward Bias Operation
• As voltage increases, electrons tunnel
through a very small junction barrier
to fill electron states on the N-side
that align with holes on the P-side.
• As more voltage comes in, these two
states misalign and current decreases
causing negative differential
resistance.
• After a fixed transition point is
reached, diode operates as normal
with electrons moving through the P-
N junction by conduction instead of
tunneling through the P-N barrier.
Reverse Bias Operation

• Referred to as Backward Diodes in this state.

• Filled Hole states on the P-side of the P-N junction become more
misaligned with empty Electron states on the N-side as voltage
increases.
• Electrons will now tunnel through a very small P-N junction barrier
but in the opposite direction.
Uses

• As a very high-speed switch.

• As local oscillators inside UHF television tuners.
• For low noise application in microwave amplifiers.
• Inside FM receivers.
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