Micro and Nanoelectronics

ELL732
Lecture 4

Dhiman Mallick
Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi

1
Semester I – 2024- 2025
Motivation

❖ The electronic structure of atoms.

❖ The interaction of atoms and electrons with excitation, such as the absorption and emission of
light.

❖ Electron energies in an atom - the influence of the lattice on electrons participating in current
flow through a solid.

❖ The interaction of light with electrons - the conductivity of a semiconductor with optical
excitation, properties of light- sensitive devices, and lasers.
Photoelectric Effect
Radiation from a heated sample, known as blackbody radiation, is emitted in discrete units of energy
called quanta; the energy units were described by hν, where ν is the frequency of the radiation, and h is
a quantity now called Planck’s constant (h = 6.63 × 10-34 J.s).

Photoelectric Effect
The quantized units of light energy can be
considered as localized packets of energy,
called photons. Work Function
Uncertainty Principle
❖ It is impossible to describe with absolute precision events involving individual particles on the atomic
scale.

❖ Average values (expectation values) of position, momentum, and energy of a particle such as an
electron are important.

❖ Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle:

In any measurement of the position and momentum of a particle, the uncertainties in the two measured
quantities will be related by

Similarly, the uncertainties in an energy measurement will be related to the uncertainty in the time at
which the measurement was made by

h = Planck’s constant h = (6.63 × 10-34 J.s); ħ=h/2π

Probability Density Function
❖ Definition: Probability of finding a particle within a certain volume.

❖ Given a probability density function P(x) for a one-dimensional problem, the probability of finding the
particle in a range from x to x + dx is P(x)dx.

❖ Since the particle will be somewhere, this definition implies that

P(x) is normalized (i.e.,
the integral equals unity)

❖ To find the average value of a function of x, we need only multiply the value of that function in each
increment dx by the probability of finding the particle in that dx and sum over all x.

❖ The average value of f(x) is

❖ If the probability density function is not normalized,

Basic Postulates of Quantum Mechanics
Schrödinger wave equation
❖ The classical equation for the energy of a particle can be written:

❖ In quantum mechanics we use the operator form for these variables (postulate 2); the operators
are allowed to operate on the wavefunction Ψ.

❖ For a one-dimensional problem:

which is the Schrödinger wave equation.

❖ In three dimensions the equation is,

❖ The wavefunction Ψ in above equations includes both space and time dependencies.
Schrödinger wave equation

❖ Using separation of variables, Let Ψ(x, t) be represented by the product ψ(x)φ(t).

❖ Now the variables can be separated to obtain the time-dependent equation in one dimension,

❖ and the time-independent equation,

❖ Such equation, where an operator operating on a function equals a constant times the function, is
known as an eigenvalue equation.
Particle in a box problem

The energy of the particle is quantized. That is,

the energy of the particle can only have
particular discrete values.
Particle in a box problem

(a) four lowest discrete energy levels, (b) corresponding wave functions, and
(c) corresponding probability functions.
Quantum Mechanical Tunneling
Quantum Mechanical Tunneling

❖ The quantum mechanical tunneling of an electron through a barrier of finite height and thickness.

❖ If the barrier is not infinite, the boundary conditions do not force ψ to zero at the barrier.

❖ Rather, ψ and its slope dψ>dx are continuous at each boundary of the barrier (postulate 1).

❖ Thus, we must have a nonzero value within the barrier and also on the other side.

❖ Since ψ has a value to the right of the barrier, ψ*ψ exists there also, implying that there is some
probability of finding the particle beyond the barrier.

❖ The particle does not go over the barrier; its total energy is assumed to be less than the barrier height
V0.

❖ The mechanism by which the particle “penetrates” the barrier is called tunneling.
Hydrogen Atom Problem
Consider now the one-electron, or hydrogen, atom potential function.

The potential function is due to the coulomb attraction between the proton and electron and is given by

The time-independent Schrodinger’s wave equation to three dimensions

While solving, we get the separation-of-variables constants n, l, and m - known as quantum numbers.

The electron energy may be written in the form

The negative energy indicates that the electron is bound to the nucleus and the energy of the bound
electron is quantized. If the energy were to become positive, then the electron would no longer be a bound
particle and the total energy would no longer be quantized.
Hydrogen Atom Problem
The solution of the wave equation may be designated by ψnlm, where n, l, and m are the various quantum
numbers.
For the lowest energy state, n=1, l=0, and m=0, and the wave function is given by

This function is spherically symmetric, and the parameter a0 is equal to the Bohr radius.
Hydrogen Atom Problem
The radial probability density function, or the probability of finding the electron at a particular distance from
the nucleus in the (a) lowest energy state and (b) next-higher energy state.
Quantum Numbers

The quantum numbers are related by

Principal quantum number

Azimuthal or angular quantum number

Magnetic quantum number

Quantization condition on the “spin” of the electron:

Intrinsic angular momentum s of an electron

Pauli Exclusion Principle: no two electrons in an interacting system can have the same set
of quantum numbers n, l, m, and s.
Quantum Numbers
Initial Part of the Periodic Table
Formation of Allowed and Forbidden Energy Bands

(a) Probability density function of an isolated hydrogen atom. (b) Overlapping probability density functions of
two adjacent hydrogen atoms. (c) The splitting of the n 1 state.
References

• Semiconductor Physics and Devices- Basic Principles by

Donald A. Neamen

• Solid State Electronic Devices by Ben G. Streetman and

Sanjay Kumar Banerjee

• Physics of Semiconductor Devices by S.M. Sze and Kwok K.

Ng

• State-of-the-art Research Papers

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