Chapter 8:

Semiconductor Technology
 Basic Atomic Theory
• A basic understanding of atomic activity is
necessary to understand the operation and
application of semiconductor devices in electronic
circuits.
• Semiconductor devices, such as transistors and
diodes, form the basis of nearly all modern
electronic systems.

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 Classifications of Material
• Materials can be classified in many ways.
• One way of classification is into solid, liquid, or gas
states. The materials in this section are all classed as
solid-state.
• Other methods of classification include: electrical
conductivity, color, density, hardness, resiliency,
composition, and so on.
• Classes of material according to conductivity are:
insulators, conductors, semiconductors, and
superconductors.
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 Review of
Basic Atomic
Model
• Atoms are comprised of
electrons, neutrons, and
protons.
• Electrons are found orbiting the
nucleus of an at atom at specific
intervals, based upon their
energy levels.
• The outermost orbit is the
valence orbit.
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 Energy Levels
• Valence band electrons are
the furthest from the
nucleus and have higher
energy levels than electrons
in lower orbits.
• The region beyond the
valence band is called the
conduction band.
• Electrons in the conduction
band are easily made to be
free electrons.

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 Intrinsic Semiconductors
• Silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide are the
primary materials used in semiconductor devices.
• Silicon and germanium are elements and are
intrinsic semiconductors.
• In pure form, silicon and germanium do not
exhibit the characteristics needed for practical
solid-state devices.

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 Isolated Semiconductor Atoms
• Silicon and Germanium are electrically neutral; that is, each has the
same number of orbiting electrons as protons.
• Both silicon and germanium have four valence band electrons, and so
they are referred to as tetravalent atoms. This is an important
characteristic of semiconductor atoms.

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 Semiconductor Crystals
• Tetravalent atoms such as silicon, gallium arsenide,
and germanium bond together to form a crystal or
crystal lattice.
• Because of the crystalline structure of semiconductor
materials, valence electrons are shared between
atoms.
• This sharing of valence electrons is called covalent
bonding. Covalent bonding makes it more difficult
for materials to move their electrons into the
conduction band.
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 Electron Distribution
• Considering the distribution of electrons at two
temperatures:
– Absolute zero - atoms at their lowest energy level.
– Room temperature - valence electrons have absorbed
enough energy to move into the conduction band.
• Atoms with broken covalent bonds (missing an
electron) have a hole present where the electron
was. For every electron in the conduction band,
there is a hole in the valence band. They are called
electron-hole pairs (EPHs).
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 Electron Distribution
• As more energy is applied to a semiconductor,
more electrons will move into the conduction band
and current will flow more easily through the
material.
• Therefore, the resistance of intrinsic
semiconductor materials decreases with increasing
temperature.
• This is a negative temperature coefficient.

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 Semiconductor Doping
• Impurities are added to intrinsic semiconductor
materials to improve the electrical properties of the
material.
• This process is referred to as doping and the
resulting material is called extrinsic semiconductor.
• There are two major classifications of doping
materials.
– Trivalent - aluminum, gallium, boron
– Pentavalent - antimony, arsenic, phosphorous

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 Trivalent Doping
• Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor
material.
• By adding a trivalent material to the crystal
structure, holes are introduced and provide a
mechanism for conduction.
• Because trivalent materials can accept an additional
electron, they are called acceptor atoms.
• A silicon crystal doped with trivalent material is
called p-type material.

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Trivalent Doping

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 Pentavalent Doping
• Doping silicon with pentavalent material results in
extra electrons being available, improving the
conduction characteristics.
• Pentavalent materials donate electrons, and
therefore are called donor atoms.
• Once a silicon crystal has been doped with
pentavalent materials, it is called n-type
semiconductor material.

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Pentavalent Doping

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Energy Levels

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 Current Flow in a Semiconductor
• When a doped
semiconductor has a
voltage applied to it,
current will flow from
negative to positive,
regardless of whether
it is p- or n-type
material.
• The current flow is
radically different for
the two types of
material.
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 Current Flow Through N-Type
Material
• N-type material has many conduction band
electrons.
• If a voltage is connected across n-type crystal, free
electrons will move toward the positive terminal.
• As electrons are moved from one atom towards
the positive terminal, a hole is left behind,
allowing more electrons to shift towards the
source voltage.
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 Current Flow Through P-Type
Material
• Current flow in p-type material causes the shift of
“holes” towards the negative terminal because of
the shifting of the covalent electrons.
• Hole flow moves from positive to negative in a p-
type semiconductor material.
• Actual current flow is still electron current flow
from negative to positive.

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 Electron versus Hole Flow
• Electron flow in p-type
material occurs in the
valence band; electron
movement in n-type
material occurs in the
conduction band
• Electrons are the majority
carriers in n-type
material; they are holes in
p-type material.

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 Semiconductor Junctions
• When p-type material
meets n-type material Fig 8-16
within a single silicon
crystal, a pn junction is
formed.

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 Unbiased Junction
• The pn junction is formed in the process of
creating the semiconductor device.
• Before carrier migration, there are equal numbers
of holes and electrons on either side of the
junction.
• Because of random thermal energy, some
electrons will pass across the pn junction mating
with holes on the other side. This is
recombination.

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 Unbiased Junction
• After a time, the region will be depleted of charge
carriers because of the migration of electrons and
holes.
• This leaves an area known as the depletion region
in the pn junction.
• Further electron migration will not take place until
the barrier potential is overcome.
• In silicon, the potential is 0.6–0.7 V; in
germanium, it is 0.2–0.3 V.
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 Forward Biased Junction
• An external source can either oppose or aid the barrier potential.
• If the positive side of the voltage is connected to the p-type
material, and the negative side to the n-type material, then the
junction is said to be forward biased.

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 Forward Biased Junction
• In a forward biased junction, the following
conditions exist:
– Forward bias overcomes barrier potential.
– Forward bias narrows the depletion region.
– There is maximum current flow with forward bias.

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 Reverse Biased Junction
• Reverse bias occurs
when the negative
source is connected to
the p-type material and
the positive source is
connected to the n-type
material.
• Reverse bias
strengthens the barrier
potential.
• Reverse bias widens the
depletion region.
• Current flow is
minimum.
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 Reverse Biased Junction
• A reversed biased junction has zero current flow
(ideally).
• Reverse current is temperature dependent.
• If reverse biased is increased enough, the reverse
current increases dramatically.
• This breakdown is called junction breakdown. The
voltage required to reach this point is the reverse
breakdown voltage.
• As the breakdown occurs, avalanche may occur and
destroy the device if uncontrolled.

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Troubleshooting
Semiconductors
• Mechanical
considerations:
– Leads should be bent with
needle-nose pliers.
– Some semiconductors have
glass packages and need to
be handled with care.
– Repetitious bending of the
leads can cause them to
break.
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 Soldering/Desoldering
• Troubleshooting often requires the component to
be soldered or desoldered into or from the circuit
board.
• Semiconductor devices are temperature sensitive
and caution should be used in
soldering/desoldering.
• Heat sinking solid-state devices is essential to
protect them from thermal damage.

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 Electrical Considerations
• Junction voltage measurements are useful in
troubleshooting semiconductor devices.
• A forward-biased silicon junction will have
approximately 0.7 V across it; if germanium, it
will have approximately 0.3 V.
• An ohmmeter can be used to test a pn junction.
• A front-to-back ration of at least 1:10 should be
the result of an ohmmeter test.
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