Elements of Semiconductors (ELE142)
By
Associate Prof. Dr. Islam Mansour
Lecture #1 : Introduction
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ELE142: Course Info
Course Title Elements of Semiconductors
Course Code ELE142
Credit Hours 3
Contact Hours Lecture 2 Tutorials 2 Lab. -
Prerequisite(s) BAS011
Basics of semiconductor physics – Fermi-Dirac distribution – Carriers concentrations –
Topics Intrinsic and Extrinsic materials – Charge neutrality – Currents in Semiconductors
(drift current – diffusion current) – Semiconductor parameters (mobility, Scattering,
lifetime) – Hall effect. – PN junction theory – Diode IV characteristics – large and small
analysis – Analog and digital diode applications (Rectifiers, Clipping circuits, Clamping
Circuits, multipliers) – Special purpose diodes (Light emitting diodes, photodiodes,
Zener diode, and its applications)– Basics of Bipolar junction transistors (BJT) and field
effect transistors (FET) – physical operations, characteristics, specifications.
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Assessment
Assessment Tools Week Weight
Midterm Exam# 1 7 20 %
Midterm Exam# 2 12 20 %
Mini Project 13 10 %
Quizzes & Home assignments 4&9 10 %
Final Examination 15 40 %
Total 100 %
Course Outlines
• Introduction ➔ Basics of semiconductor physics, Atomic structure, energy bands,
types of materials, and materials used in Electronics
• Semiconductor ➔ Intrinsic Semiconductors, Doped Semiconductors, and Current
Flow in Semiconductors (drift current ‐ diffusion current)
• PN junction, Modeling Circuits of Diode ➔ Diode IV characteristics
• Diode Applications ➔ Linear Power Supply, Rectifiers, Clipping circuits, Clamping
Circuits, multipliers
• Special-purpose Diodes ➔ Light emitting diodes, photodiodes, Zener diodes,
Varactor diodes, Schottky diodes, and PIN diodes
• Basics of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) ➔ Physical operations, characteristics,
DC and AC characteristics and Applications
• Printed Circuit Fabrication Techniques
• Field Effect Transistors (FET)
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References
• Sedra, A.S. and Smith, K.C. (2020). Microelectronic Circuits. 8th Edition,
Oxford University Press, New York.
• Thomas L. Floyd (2018), Electronic Devices, 10th Edition.
• Razavi, B. (2014), Fundamentals of Microelectronics. 2nd Edition,
John Wiley & Sons, New York.
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Course Outlines
• Introduction ➔ Basics of semiconductor physics, Atomic structure, energy bands,
types of materials, and materials used in Electronics
• Semiconductor ➔ Intrinsic Semiconductors, Doped Semiconductors, and Current
Flow in Semiconductors (drift current ‐ diffusion current)
• PN junction, Modeling Circuits of Diode ➔ Diode IV characteristics
• Diode Applications ➔ Linear Power Supply, Rectifiers, Clipping circuits, Clamping
Circuits, multipliers
• Special-purpose Diodes ➔ Light emitting diodes, photodiodes, Zener diodes,
Varactor diode, Schottky diodes and PIN diodes
• Basics of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) ➔ Physical operations, characteristics,
DC and AC characteristics and Applications
• Printed Circuit Fabrication Techniques
• Field Effect Transistors (FET)
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Introduction to Electronics
Basic Elements
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Semiconductor Electronic devices
• Diodes
Diodes Structure, circuits, applications and special purpose diodes
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Semiconductor Electronic devices (Cont.)
• Transistors
Bipolar Junction Field Effect
Transistors Transistors
(BJT) (FET)
BJT Structure and FET Structure
circuits and circuits
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Atomic structure
• Atomic Number: equals the number of protons in
the nucleus, which is the same as the number of
electrons in an electrically balanced (neutral) atom.
Periodic table of the elements
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Atomic structure (Cont.)
• Electrons and Shells: Electrons near the nucleus have less energy than those
in more distant orbits.
• The Maximum Number of Electrons in Each Shell:
silicon atom
number of the shell
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Atomic structure (Cont.)
For purposes of discussing electrical properties, an atom can be represented
by the valence shell and a core that consists of all the inner shells and the
nucleus.
Valence band
silicon atom
Valence Electrons
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Materials Types
Insulators Conductors Semiconductors
✓ An insulator is a ✓ A conductor is a
material that does not material that ✓ A semiconductor
conduct electrical easily conducts is a material that
current under normal electrical current. is between
conditions. ✓ valence electron conductors and
✓ Valence electrons are very loosely bound insulators
tightly bound to the to the atom
✓ E.g.: silicon (Si),
atoms
✓ E.g.: copper, silver, and germanium
✓ E.g.: rubber, plastics, gold (Ge).
glass
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Materials Types (Cont.)
• Band Gap structure: Energy diagrams for the three types of materials.
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• Semiconductors are materials whose conductivity lies between
that of conductors and insulators.
• What is so special about semiconductors?
– The electrical conductivity can be dramatically changed by
introducing extrinsic dopant atoms
– We have two types of carriers: electrons and holes
• Silicon (Si) is the semiconductor material used in the majority of today’s
electronic devices
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Materials Types (Cont.)
• Comparison of a Semiconductor Atom to a Conductor Atom:
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Semiconductor Materials
• There are two kinds of semiconductors:
– Single-element semiconductors, such as germanium and silicon, which are in group
IV in the periodic table.
– Compound semiconductors, such as gallium-arsenide, which are formed by
combining elements from groups III and V or groups II and VI.
• Compound semiconductors are useful in special electronic circuit
applications as well as in applications that involve light, such as light-
emitting diodes (LEDs).
• Today’s integrated-circuit technology is almost entirely based on silicon
semiconductors ➔We will focus on silicon devices.
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Single-element semiconductors
Semiconductor
materials
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Compound semiconductors
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Semiconductor Materials
• Silicon and Germanium:
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• Intrinsic (Pure) crystal ➔ No impurities
• A silicon atom has four valence electrons.
• It shares one of its valence electrons with
each of its four neighboring atoms.
• Each pair of shared electrons forms a covalent
bond.
• The result is that a crystal of pure or intrinsic
silicon has a regular lattice structure.
• At 0 K, no free electrons are available.
• Thus, at such low temperatures, the intrinsic
silicon crystal behaves as an insulator.
2D representation of the silicon crystal.
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• Intrinsic crystal (no impurities) ➔ At Temperature of 0 K
➢ Energy band
diagram for an
unexcited atom in
a pure silicon
crystal.
➢ No electrons in
the conduction
band.
Silicon crystal
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• Conduction Electrons and Holes:
• At room temperature,
with sufficient thermal
energy, some electrons are
released from a covalent
bonds, the electron leaves
a “void” called a “hole” of
the covalent bonds.
• Electrons in the
conduction band are
free electrons.
• Holes are in valence
band.
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• Intrinsic crystal (no impurities)➔ At room temperature
Electron-hole pairs
in a silicon crystal.
Free electrons are
being generated
continuously while
some recombine
with holes.
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• “electron-hole pair” is generated when an electron is freed.
• “electron-hole recombination” occurs when an electron “falls”
into a hole.
Movement of electron and hole through crystal at
time t=t1, t2 and t3
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• Intrinsic carrier densities as a function of the
temperature for Silicon, Germanium and
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)
The number of electrons per unit Volume for
an intrinsic semiconductor, ni:
“from semiconductor physics”
• Where B is a material-dependent parameter,
• B = 7.3 × 1015 for Silicon (Si).
• Where k (Boltzmann constant) = 1.38 × 10−23 J/K.
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
Eg ➔ Bandgap Energy
Eg = 1.12 ev (Si)
Eg = 0.67 ev (Ge)
• eV (electron volt) represents the energy necessary to move one
electron across a potential difference of 1 V.
• 1 eV = 1.6 × 10−19 J
Example
Solution
B = 7.3 × 1015 and k = 1.38 × 10−23
• Although this number seems large, to place it into context note that silicon has 5×1022 atoms/cm3.
• Thus at room temperature only one in about 5 × 1012 atoms is ionized and contributing a free electron
and a hole!
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
The number of electrons
The number of electrons
per unit Volume at T2.
per unit Volume at T2.
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Semiconductor Materials (Cont.)
• For pure (intrinsic) semiconductors:
Density of holes (p) = Density of electrons (n) = ni
p = n = ni
p × n = n i2
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Thank You
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