Unit 2-1111
Unit 2-1111
Unit 2-1111
semiconductors
durjoy roy
contents
1 Introduction 2
1.0.1 Effective Mass and Statistical Considerations . . . . . . 2
1.0.2 Field Current and Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.0.3 Lattice Scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.0.4 Ionized impurity scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1 Types of crystalline solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Types of Semiconductors 7
2.1 Intrinsic Semiconductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Extrinsic Semiconductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 p-type and n-type semiconductors . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1
1. introduction
4 Carrier Transport 16
4.1 Diffusion and Drift Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1 introduction
Lecture 1 (2 hours)
30th September 2024 In the previous unit, we have discussed about the movement of electrons in
periodic crystal lattice, and acquired the idea of band gap, or energy gap. We
will recap some concepts that will be required in this unit.
Another difference is that inside the crystal, a moving electron will not
travel far before colliding with a host atom or impurity. These collisions
randomize the electron’s motion; therefore, it is useful to use an average
time, the relaxation time τ, which is based on the random thermal motion
of the electrons. In fact, the scattering processes of the electron bouncing
around causes it to lose energy, which is given off as heat. With the addition
of an applied electric field, we also have a mean free path length λ, or a net
displacement on average for a given electron.
This means free charge carriers have a drift velocity, an average speed at
which they travel through the material. The average drift velocity for a single
electron is the same as the average of all drift velocities of all the electrons,
2
Figure 1: These pictures represent the drift of an electron as a result of thermal
motion. In figure (a) where there is no electric field, the electron jumps around
but ends up covering no net distance; in figure (b) where an electric field is
present, the electron drifts opposite the direction of the field and has a net
displacement (and therefore a drift velocity).
1 1 qτ
vd = aτ = E (1)
2 2 m∗c
Jn = nqvd (2)
1 qτ
Jn = nq E (3)
2 m∗
3
1. introduction
νd qτ
µn = = ∗ (4)
E m
Jn = nqµn E (5)
From these equations we can then obtain the conductivity of the material
in terms of the mobility as:
Jn = σE (6)
σ = nqµn (7)
The same conditions hold for hole mobility and conductivity, and therefore
the total conductivity, which is directly inversely related to the resistivity (the
material’s resistance to being conductive, so to speak), is given below:
1 J
σ= = qµe n + qµh p (8)
ρ E
4
1.0.3 Lattice Scattering
Lattice scattering is the scattering of ions by interaction with atoms in a lattice.
This effect can be qualitatively understood as phonons colliding with charge
carriers.
5
1. introduction
A crystal with impurities is less regular than a pure crystal, and a reduction
in electron mean free paths occurs. Impure crystals have lower conductivity
than pure crystals with less temperature sensitivity in that lattice.
1. Insulator: An insulator is type of material that does not allow the elec-
tric current to pass through it, due to its high electrical resistance. In
the insulators, the energy gap between valance and conduction bands
is very large (about 15 eV). Therefore, a very high electric field is re-
quired to push the valance electrons to the conduction band. Due to this,
there are no free electrons in the conduction band. For this reason, the
electrical conductivity of insulators is very low and may considered nil
under ordinary conditions. At room temperature, the valance electrons
of the insulator do not have enough energy to cross over to the forbidden
energy gap. But, if the temperature is raised, some of the electrons may
acquire enough energy to cross over to the forbidden energy gap. Hence,
the resistance of the insulator decreases with the rise in temperature.
Therefore, the insulators have negative temperature co-efficient of re-
sistance. Due to high electrical resistance, the insulators are used for
protection against electric shocks.
6
to the conduction band and the conductivity increases. This shows that
electrical conductivity of semiconductor increases with the rise in tem-
perature. Hence, a semiconductor has negative temperature coefficient
of resistance. The conductivity of semiconductors can also be increased
by adding some impurity in the pure semiconductor material, called
doping. The semiconductors are commonly used in manufacturing of
solid state electronic devices.
2 types of semiconductors
Figure 3: A Silicon wafer, ready for fabrication of devices. The flat cut is to
show their crystallographic orientation.
7
2. types of semiconductors
Semiconductors are one of the three classes of electrical materials and are the
foundation of every solid-state electronic device which is in use today. Intrin-
sic semiconductors, also known as pure or undoped semiconductors, describe
perfect semiconductor crystals which are free from defects and impurities of
other elements. Intrinsic semiconductors which are intentionally doped with
other elements are referred to as Extrinsic Semiconductors. Intrinsic proper-
ties are found in all semiconductor materials, even those doped with other
elements, with the doping elements introducing other desired properties.
8
2.2 . extrinsic semiconductors
carrier mobilities (how freely a charge carrier can move), and even the Fermi
levels. The mobilities are based off of two different temperature dependent
scattering effects, called lattice scattering and ionized impurity scattering.
Lattice scattering, dominant at higher temperatures, is based on the thermal
vibrations of the semiconductor atoms which act as obstacles to mobile charge
carriers. Ionized impurity scattering, dominant at lower temperatures, de-
pends on the number of dopant ions, which all behave as scattering centers,
and their ability to negate charge carriers from being moving to different
energy levels because of the electrostatic attraction between ion and carrier
known as Coulomb’s Law, described as
qQ
F= (9)
4πϵ0⃗r2
where q and Q are the charges (opposite charges) on the charge carrier
and dopant ion, ϵ0 is the permittivity of free space, ⃗r is the distance between
ion and carrier, and F is the electrostatic attractive force that each of them
experience.
np = n2i (10)
The presence of the dotted line in this schematic does not mean that
there now exist allowed energy states within the band gap. The dotted line
represents the existence of additional electrons which may be easily excited
into the conduction band. Semiconductors that have been doped in this way
will have a surplus of electrons, and are called n-type semiconductors. In
such semiconductors, electrons are the majority carriers.
9
2. types of semiconductors
(a) A Silicon atom is replaced by a Boron (b) A Silicon atom is replaced by a Phos-
atom. The absense of electron creates free phorus atom. The extra electron creates
carrier in the p-type semiconductor. free carrier in the n-type semiconductor.
(a) Band diagram of an n-type semicon- (b) Band diagram of an p-type semicon-
ductor. The dashed line is the Fermi Level, ductor. The dashed line is the Fermi Level,
and is called here donor level. and is called here acceptor level.
for some of the atoms in silicon, there will be a deficit in the number of valence
electrons in the material. (See Fig. (4a)) This introduces electron-accepting
levels just above the top of the valence band, and causes more holes to be
introduced into the valence band. Hence, the majority charge carriers are
positive holes in this case. Semiconductors doped in this way are termed
p-type semiconductors.
10
3 carrier generation and recombination
1
f (E) = (11)
1+ e(E−EF )/kT
where:
• E is the energy of the state,
11
3. carrier generation and recombination
The density of states (DOS) quantifies the number of available energy states
per unit volume and energy interval in a semiconductor. For a parabolic band,
the density of states is proportional to the square root of energy:
√
DOS(E) ∝ E (12)
ni = pi (15)
p
ni = NC NV e−Eg /2kT (16)
n ≈ ND (17)
12
3.4 . temperature effects on carrier concentration
p ≈ NA (18)
Let’s discuss the intrinsic case first (undoped semiconductor). In the in-
trinsic case, the number of bound electrons is much greater than the number
of free electrons, therefore the generation of charge carriers is independent
of the number of electron-hole pairs that have already been formed. As soon
as generation occurs though, recombination comes into play and depends on
the concentration of charge carriers in the material. In fact, according to the
Law of Mass Action, recombination is directly proportional to the number of
charge carriers. This gives
R = rpn (21)
13
3. carrier generation and recombination
Where R is the recombination rate per unit volume per unit time and r is the
recombination probability.
Now, in thermal equilibrium the generation rate G is equal to the recom-
bination rate R, and therefore because of the conditions outlined in Intrinsic
Carrier Concentration, we have
G = R = rnp (22)
np = n2i (23)
G
= n2i (24)
r
where ni is the intrinsic carrier concentration. This means that the intrinsic
carrier density in a material is determined by the ratio of the generation
rate and recombination probability. Therefore the only variable dependence
here is on G, which in turn depends on the temperature. It turns out this
important relationship holds not only for intrinsic materials, but also for
doped semiconductors.
Doping shifts the Fermi level towards the corresponding band edge. In
n-type doping, the Fermi level moves closer to the conduction band, while
in p-type doping, it moves closer to the valence band. Heavily doped semi-
conductors have higher conductivity compared to lightly doped or intrinsic
semiconductors.
14
3.6 . applications and real-world examples
+
ND ≈ ND ≈ n (N − Type) (25)
+
NA ≈ NA ≈ p (P − Type) (26)
Ni2
p≈ << n (N − Type) (27)
ND
Ni2
n≈ << p (P − Type) (28)
NA
These relations just mean that in an doped semiconductor, we have that
the concentration of minority carriers is much smaller than the concentration
of majority carriers.
• Solar cells: convert light into electrical energy using p-n junctions.
• LEDs: emit light when forward biased, using minority carrier injection.
15
5. the p-n junction
4 carrier transport
The transport of carriers, both majority and minority, are governed by certain
rules. Transport of carriers causes current, and we have two types of it, namely,
diffusion, and drift currents.
5 the p - n junction
16
would occur. Assuming the crystal is not at absolute zero temperature, the
thermal energy within the system would lead some of the free electrons in
the N-type material to move into the surplus holes present in the adjacent
P-type material. This would result in the formation of a region that lacks
any charge carriers. It’s important to note that electrons are the predominant
charge carriers in N-type material, while holes are the predominant charge
carriers in P-type material. In essence, the region where the N and P materials
meet becomes depleted of available electrons and holes, and is commonly
referred to as a ”depletion region.” This concept is illustrated in Fig. (7a),
where the excess electrons in the N-type material are represented by minus
signs, and the excess holes in the P-type material are represented by plus
signs. At the junction, the free electrons combine with the holes, and when an
electron recombines, it leaves a positive ion in the N-type material (depicted
as a circled plus sign) and generates a negative ion in the P-type material
(depicted as a circled minus sign).
Now, we have established a zone devoid of charge carriers, and this will
impact the ability to initiate a current flow through the device. Essentially,
we have introduced a barrier in the form of an energy elevation that must be
surmounted.
17
5. the p-n junction
To grasp the concept of this energy barrier, let’s recall that in the previous
chapter, we learned that doping an intrinsic crystal results in a shift of the
Fermi level. In N-type material, the Fermi level shifts upward, closer to the
conduction band, whereas in P-type material, it shifts downward, approaching
the valence band. When two dissimilar regions meet, as is the case here, the
energy bands adjust so that the Fermi levels align. This alignment effectively
causes the energy bands of the P-type material to rise relative to those of the
N-type material. The junction between the two regions appears as an elevated
region, and this corresponds to the previously mentioned depletion region.
This situation is depicted graphically in Fig. (7b). You can compare this energy
diagram to the energy diagrams for N-type and P-type materials presented in
the preceding chapter. By simply aligning the Fermi levels, it becomes evident
how we arrive at this new energy diagram.
5.1 Forward-Bias
In Fig. (9), the dashed line illustrates the path of electron flow, which is
opposite to the direction of conventional flow. Initially, electrons move from
the negative terminal of the battery towards the N material. In the N material,
electrons, which are the majority carriers, can move through it with ease.
When they enter the depletion region, if the applied potential is sufficiently
high, these electrons can diffuse into the P material, where numerous lower-
energy holes are present. Subsequently, the electrons can travel through to
the positive terminal of the source, thus completing the circuit. A resistor is
added to limit the maximum current flow.
The key to this process is ensuring that the applied potential is substantial
enough to overcome the influence of the depletion region. This implies that
18
5.2 . reverse-bias
Another way to conceptualize this is that the addition of the voltage source
effectively ”flattens” the inherent energy barrier of the junction. Once the
applied forward-bias voltage equals or exceeds this barrier, current can flow
freely.
5.2 Reverse-Bias
If the polarity of the voltage source is reversed in Fig. (9), it significantly
alters the behavior of the PN junction. In this scenario, the electrons in the
N material are attracted towards the positive terminal of the source, while
the holes in the P material are pulled towards the negative terminal. This
creates a brief, small current flow. This process widens the depletion region,
and once it matches the supplied potential, the current flow comes to a halt.
Essentially, it’s like enlarging the energy barrier. Increasing the source voltage
only exacerbates the situation, causing the depletion region to expand to
accommodate the change. Ideally, with a reverse-bias voltage applied, the PN
junction behaves as if it were an open circuit.
where,
19
5. the p-n junction
q
At 300 kelvin, the value of k T is approximately 38.6. Consequently, for
B
even very small forward (positive) voltages, the “-1” term can be ignored. Also,
I S is not a constant. It increases with temperature, approximately doubling
for each 10◦ C rise in T.
Plotting the Shockley equation with typical values for a silicon device
results in the curve depicted in Fig. (10. This graph illustrates the junction
current in relation to the forward (positive) voltage applied to the device. It’s
important to note that this curve serves as a representative example. While
all silicon diodes exhibit a similar overall shape, the exact current value for
a specific voltage will vary based on the device’s design. At voltages below
approximately 0.5 volts, the current is virtually negligible. However, beyond
this threshold, the current experiences a rapid increase, almost reaching a
vertical slope at around 0.7 volts. If the graph were recreated at a higher
temperature, it would shift the curve to the left, resulting in higher current
levels for a given voltage.
20
5.4 . the bands at operation
overall shape to what was seen in Fig. (10). Here, VF represents the forward
”knee” voltage, which is approximately 0.7 volts for silicon. I R stands for the
reverse saturation current, ideally close to zero but with a very small real-
world current flow. VR signifies the reverse breakdown voltage, and it’s worth
noting that the current experiences a rapid increase once this reverse voltage
is reached.
Figure 11: Simplified forward and reverse I-V curve for diode.
21
5. the p-n junction
(a) Band diagram for an n-type semi- (b) Band diagram for an p-type semi-
conductor. conductor.
There are a couple of things wrong with Figure (13). First of all, one of the
rules regarding the Fermi level is that when you have a system at equilibrium
(that is, when it is at rest, and is not being influenced by external forces such
as thermal gradients, electrical potentials etc.), the Fermi level must be the
same everywhere. Secondly, we have a big bunch of holes on the right and a
big bunch of electrons on the left, and so we would expect, that in the absence
of some force to keep them this way, they will start to spread out until their
distribution is more or less equal everywhere. Finally, we remember that a hole
is just an absence of an electron, and since an electron in the conduction band
can lower the system energy by falling down into one of the empty hole states,
it seems likely that this will happen. This process is called recombination.
The place where this is most likely to occur, of course, would be right at the
22
5.4 . the bands at operation
Now is might seem that this recombination effect might just go on and on,
until there are no carriers left in the sample. This is not the case, however. In
order to see what brings everything to a halt, we need yet another diagram.
Figure (15) is more physical than what we have been looking at so far. It is a
picture of the actual p-n junction, showing both the holes and the electrons.
We also need to put in the donors and acceptors, however, if we want to see
what goes on. The fixed (meaning they can’t move around) charges of the
donors and acceptors are represented by simple ”+” and ”-” signs. They are
arranged in a nice lattice-like arrangement to remind us that they are stuck
to the crystal lattice. (In reality however, even though they are stuck in the
crystal lattice, there are so few of them compared to the silicon atoms that their
distribution would be quite random.) For the mobile holes and electrons, we
will stay with the little circles with charge signs in them. These are randomly
distributed, to remind us that they are free to move about the crystal.
We will now have to allow some of the holes and electrons (again near the
junction) to recombine. Remember, when an electron and a hole recombine,
they both are annihilated and disappear. Note that this process conserves
23
5. the p-n junction
charge and (if we could calculate it) momentum as well. There is obviously
some energy lost, but this will simply show up as vibrations, or heat, within
the crystal lattice — or, in the case of an LED, as light emitted from the
device. See, already we know enough about semiconductors to understand
(somewhat) how an actual device works. Light coming from an LED is simply
the energy which is released when an electron and hole recombine. We will
take a look at this in more detail later. Let’s allow some recombination to
occur, as shown in Figure (16).
Figure 17: The p-n junction with the resultant built-in electric field.
What effect will this field have on our device? It will have the tendency to
push the holes back into the p-region and the electrons into the n-region. This
is just what we need to counteract the recombination which has been going
24
5.4 . the bands at operation
Now try to think through what effect this field could have on our energy
band diagram. The band diagram is for electrons, so if an electron moves from
the right hand side of the device (the n-region) towards the left hand side (the
p-region), it will have to move through an electric field which is opposing
its motion. This means it has do some work, or in other words, the potential
energy for the electron must go up. We can show this on the band diagram by
simply shifting the bands on the left hand side upward, to indicate that there
is a shift in potential energy as electrons move from right to left across the
junction.
The shift of the bands, which is just the difference between the location of
the Fermi level in the n-region and the Fermi level in the p-region, is called
the built-in potential, VBI . This built-in potential keeps the majority of holes in
the p-region, and the electrons in the n-region. It provides a potential barrier,
which prevents current flow across the junction. (On the band diagram we
have to multiply the built-in potential VBI by the charge of an electron, q, so
that we can represent the shift in energy in terms of electron volts, the unit of
potential energy used in band diagrams.)
How big is Vbi ? This is not too hard to figure out. Let’s look at Figure (18)
a little more carefully. Remember, we know that since n = Nd in the n-region
and n = Na in the p-region, we can relate the distance of the Fermi level from
Ec and Ef by
!
Nc
Ec − Ef = kT ln (30)
Nd
and
!
Nv
Ef − Ev = kT ln (31)
Na
25
5. the p-n junction
where Nd and Na are the doping densities in the n and p regions, respec-
tively. Remember that kT = 1/40 eV = 0.025 eV, Eg = 1.1 eV, and both Nc and
Nv are approximately 1019 .
1038
!
qVBI = 1.1 eV − 0.025 eV · ln (32)
Nd Na
Here the q in front of the VBI and the e in eV are both the charge of 1
electron, and they cancel out, making
1038
!!
VBI = 1.1 − 0.025 ln volts (33)
Nd Na
Assuming the dimension of Nc and Nd in the order of 1015 , one can easily
find the dimention of the Built in Potential.
Now let’s take a look at what happens when we apply an external voltage to
this junction. First we need some conventions. We make connections to the
device using contacts, which we show as cross-hatched blocks. These contacts
allow the free passage of current into and out of the device. Current usually
flows through wires in the form of electrons, so it is easy to imagine electrons
flowing into or out of the n-region. In the p-region, when electrons flow out
of the device into the wire, holes will flow into the p-region (so as to maintain
continuity of current through the contact.) When electrons flow into the p-
region, they will recombine with holes, and so we have the net effect of holes
flowing out of the p-region.
With the convention that a positive applied voltage means that the termi-
nal connected to the p-region is positive with respect to the terminal connected
to the n-region. This is easy to remember: ”p is positive, n is negative”. Let us
try to figure out what will happen when we apply a positive applied voltage
Va . If Va is positive, then that means that the potential energy for electrons
on the p-side must be lower than it was under the equilibrium condition. We
reflect this on the band diagram by lowering the bands on the p-side from
26
5.5 . biased p-n junction
As we can see from Figure (20), when the p-region is lowered a couple of
things happen. First of all, the Fermi level (the dotted line) is no longer a flat
line, but rather it bends upward in going from the p-region to the n-region.
The amount it bends (and hence the amount of shift of the bands) is just
given by qVa , where the energy scale we are using for the band diagram is in
electron-volts which, as we said before, is a common measure of potential
energy when we are talking about electronic materials. The other thing we can
notice is that the electrons on the n-side and the holes on the p-side now ”see”
a lower potential energy barrier than they saw when no voltage was applied.
In fact, it looks as if a lot of electrons now have sufficient energy such that they
could move across from the n-region and flow into the p-region. Likewise, we
would expect to see holes moving across from the p-region into the n-region.
This flow of carriers across the junction will result in a current flow across
the junction. In order to see how this current will behave with applied volt-
age, we have to use a result from statistical thermodynamics concerning the
distribution of electrons in the conduction band, and holes in the valence
27
5. the p-n junction
band. We know that the electrons tend to fill in the lowest states first, with
fewer and fewer of them as we go up in energy. For most situations, a very
good description of just how the electrons are distributed in energy is given
by a simple exponential decay. (This comes about from a statistical analysis
In particle physics, a of electrons, which belong to a class of particles called Fermions. Fermions
fermion is a subatomic
particle that has a half-odd-
have the properties that they are: (a) indistinguishable from one another; (b)
integer spin and follows the obey the Pauli Exclusion Principle, which says that two Fermions can not
Pauli exclusion principle
and Fermi–Dirac statistics.
occupy the same exact state (energy and spin); and (c) remain at some fixed
Some examples of fermions total number N.)
include: protons, neutrons,
electrons, neutrinos, quarks,
tritium, helium-3, and If n(E) tells us how many electrons there are with an energy greater than
uranium-233. Fermions are some value Ec , then n(E) is given simply as:
one of two types of particles
that make up matter, the
E−Ec
other being bosons. The
term ”fermion” comes from n(E) = Nd e− kT (34)
Enrico Fermi and was first
used in 1947.
The expression in the denominator is just Boltzmann’s constant times
the temperature in Kelvins. The value of Boltzmann’s constant is given by
1.380649 × 10−23 J · K−1 , or 8.617333262 × 10−5 eV · K−1 .
At room temperature, i.e., at 300 K, kT has a value of about:
1
8.617333262 × 10−5 eV · K−1 × 300 K ≈ eV or 25 meV.
40
This number is sometimes called the thermal voltage, VT , but it’s okay to
think of it as a constant that comes from the thermodynamics of the prob-
1
lem. Because kT ≈ 40 eV, you will sometimes see Equation (34) and similar
equations written as:
This can look a little strange if you forget where the 40 came from, and
just see it sitting there.
If the energy E is Ec , the energy level of the conduction band, then n(Ec ) =
Nd , the density of electrons in the n-type material. As E increases above Ec ,
the density of electrons falls off exponentially, as depicted schematically in
Figure (21).
28
5.5 . biased p-n junction
qVbi
I f ∝ Nd e − kT (36)
The principle of detailed balance says that at zero bias, If = −Ir , and so
qVbi
Ir ∝ − Nd e− kT (37)
qVbi
Ir = − If α − Nd e− kT (38)
Now, what happens when we apply the bias? For the electrons over on the
n-side, the barrier has been reduced from a height of qVbi to q (Vbi − Va ) and
hence the forward current will be significantly increased.
qVbi
I f ∝ Nd e − kT (39)
The reverse current, however, will remain just the same as it was before.
29
5. the p-n junction
qVbi
where we have factored out the Nd e− kT term out of both expressions. We
are not prepared, with what we know at this point, to get the other terms in
the proportionality that are involved here. Also, the astute reader will note
that we have not said anything about the holes, but it should be obvious that
they will also contribute to the current, and the arguments we have made for
electrons will hold for the holes just as well.
We can take the effect of the holes, and the other unknowns about the
proportionality, and bind them all into one constant called Isat so that we
write:
qV
a
I = Isat e kT − 1 (41)
30
5.7 . zener diodes
free electrons that can perpetuate this process. This results in a rapid and
substantial increase in current.
Conversely, the Zener effect comes into play when the electric field created
by the space charge region attains a level of intensity that can forcefully extract
covalently-bonded electrons from their bonds. This also leads to the creation
of new electron-hole pairs, which are swiftly separated by the potent electric
field. When the electric field becomes powerful enough to simultaneously
separate numerous electrons and holes, it triggers a significant upsurge in
current.
Zener diodes find practical applications in the field of electronics due to
their ability to handle substantial current flows, enabling them to dissipate
substantial power (P=IV). Additionally, they serve a crucial role in voltage
regulation, a function where they maintain a constant output voltage even
when the input voltage varies. A basic voltage regulator can be created by
incorporating a Zener diode in series with a resistor.
31