Non-Equilibrium Excess Carriers in Semiconductor

Non-equilibrium Excess Carriers in
Semiconductor
Non-equilibrium condition is a process that exists a voltage or a current in a
semiconductor device.
Excess electrons and excess holes do not move independently of each other. We
applied a voltage or a current to this excess carrier to make it non-equilibrium
condition. Thus, excess carrier not but move together and they diffuse, drift, and
recombine with the same effective diffusion coefficient, drift mobility, and lifetime.
Again this phenomenon is called ambipolar transport.
Generation and recombination one of the major parts of non-equilibrium condition.
When electron and hole are created then the recombination process are started
and whereby electron and hole are annihilated. In thermal equilibrium, the
concentrations of electrons and holes are independent of time. Therefore, the
generation and recombination rates are equal. In non-equilibrium process, as high
energy photons are incident, an electron-hole pair is generated. So these
additional electrons and holes created are called excess electrons and excess
holes. A steady‐state generation of excess electrons and holes will not cause a
continual buildup of the carrier concentrations.
The hole and electron concentrations are functions of both the thermal equilibrium
and the excess values. The thermal‐ equilibrium concentrations, n0 and p0, are
not functions of time. For the special case of a homogeneous semiconductor, n0
and p0 are also independent of the space coordinates.
From ambipolar transport equation, If is important to note that for an extrinsic p-
type semiconductor under low injection, the ambipolar diffusion coefficient and the
ambipolar mobility coefficient reduce to the minority-currier electron parameter
value which are constants. The ambipolar transport equation reduces to a linear
differential equation with constant coefficients.
The Haynes-Shockley experiment was one of the first experiments to actually
measure excess-carrier behavior. The three basic processes of drift, diffusion, and
recombination are all observed in this single experiment. The determination of
mobility is straightforward and can yield accurate values. The determination of the
diffusion coefficient and lifetime is more complicated and may lead to some
inaccuracies.
If excess carriers are created in a semiconductor, we are no longer in thermal
equilibrium and the Fermi energy is strictly no longer defined. However, we may
define a quasi-Fermi level for electrons and a quasi-Fermi level for holes that apply
for nonequilibrium. The total electron concentration and the total hole concentration
are functions of the quasi-Fermi levels. The quasi‐Fermi energy level for the
minority carrier holes is significantly different from the Fermi level.
The Shockley-Read-Hall theory of recombination assumes that an allowed energy
state, also called a trap, within the forbidden bandgap may act as a recombination
center, capturing both electrons and holes with almost equal probability. Assume
that the trap is an acceptor‐type trap; that is, it is negatively charged when it
contains an electron and is neutral when it does not contain an electron.
The effect of a semiconductor surface influences the behavior of excess electrons
and holes. The recombination rates at the surface and in the bulk material must be
equal. The excess carrier concentration is smaller at the surface than in the bulk.
The surface recombination velocity is exist.
The pn Junction
It is important to realize that the entire semiconductor is a single-crystal material in
which one region is doped with acceptor impurity atoms to form the p region and
the adjacent region is doped with donor atoms to form the n region. The interface
separating the n and p regions is referred to as the metallurgical junction. Initially,
at the metallurgical junction, there is a very large density gradient in both the
electron and hole concentrations.
In zero applied bias, the step junction in thermal equilibrium and there are no
external current and voltage exist.
If we assume that no voltage is applied across the pn junction, then the junction is
in thermal equilibrium then the Fermi energy level is constant. In space charge
region, electrons in the conduction band of the n region see a potential barrier in
trying to move into the conduction band of the p region. This potential barrier is
referred to as the built-in potential barrier.
By the separation of positive and negative space charge densities an electric field
is created in the depletion region. For the uniformly doped pn junction, the E-field
is a linear function of distance through the junction, and the maximum (magnitude)
electric field occurs at the metallurgical junction. An electric field exists in the
depletion region even when no voltage is applied between the p and n regions.
Again electron potential energy also varies as a quadratic function of distance
through the space charge region.
The space charge region extends into the p and n regions from the metallurgical
junction, there is a distance created called the space charge width. The peak
electric field in the space charge region of a pn junction is quite large. However,
that there is no mobile charge in this region; hence there will be no drift current.
We may also note that the width of each space charge region is a reciprocal
function of the doping concentration. The depletion region will extend further into
the lower-doped region.
When a positive voltage is applied to the n region with respect to the p region, then
the total potential barrier has increased. So, this criteria indicate the reverse bias
condition. For this applied voltage, the space charge region and magnitude of
applied electric field both are increase.
As the reverse bias voltage changes, the amount of charge in the depletion region
changes. This change in charge with voltage defines the junction capacitance. The
junction capacitance is also referred the depletion layer capacitance.
The linearly graded junction represents a nonuniformly doped pn junction.
Specific doping profiles can be used to obtain specific capacitance characteristics.
A hyperabrupt junction is one in which the doping decreases away from the
metallurgical junction. This type of junction is advantageous in varactor diodes that
are used in resonant circuits.

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