EMT 272/297 Semiconductor

Fundamentals

Chapter 3b

Nonequilibrium Excess
Carriers in Semiconductors
Outlines
 Carrier Generation and Recombination
◦ The Semiconductor in Equilibrium
◦ Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination
 Characteristics of Excess Carriers
◦ Continuity Equations
◦ Time-Dependent Diffusion Equations
 Quasi-Fermi Energy Levels
 Thermionic Emission Process

 Tunneling Process

 High Field Effects

 Carrier Generation
Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination

Introduction
 When external field (electric, thermal, optical) is
applied on the semiconductor, the semiconductor is
operating under non- equilibrium conductions.
 Excess electrons in the conduction band and excess
holes in the valence band may exist in addition to the
thermal equilibrium condition
 Excess carriers’ movements: diffusion, drift,
recombination and generation

3
 Carrier Generation
Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination

 Generation
 Generation is the process whereby electrons and holes are

created
 Recombination
 Recombination is the process whereby electrons and holes are

annihilated

 Any deviation from thermal equilibrium will tend to change the

electron and hole concentration in a semiconductor.
(thermal exitation, photon pumping, carrier injection)
 When the external excitation is removed, the concentrations of
electron and hole in semiconductor will return eventually to their
thermal-equilibrium values
 Carrier Generation
The Semiconductor in Equilibrium and Recombination

 Thermal-equilibrium concentrations of electron and hole in

conduction and valence bands are independent of time.
 Since the net carrier concentrations are independent of time, the
rate at which the electrons and holes are generated and the rate
at which they recombine must be equal.

For direction band-to-

band transition (In Direct bandgap semiconductor
thermal equilibrium)
Gno  G po

Rno  R po

Gno  G po  Rno  R po
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination

When external force (electric, optical,

thermal) is applied, excess electrons
and holes are create in pairs

g n  g p
With generation of excess carriers,
concentration of electrons and holes
are increase above their thermal
excess hole
equilibrium n  n0   n, p  p0 concentrations
p
excess electron concentrations
' are recombined
'
R R
Electrons and holes
the same time ofn generation
at
p are equal
in a nonequilibrium condition np  n0 p0 =ni
2
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination

Excess carriers recombination rate

 The rate at which electrons recombine must be proportional to the electron

concentration and must also be proportional to the hole concentration.
 The net rate change in electron concentration

  𝑑𝑛 ( 𝑡 ) =∝ 𝑟 [ 𝑛2
𝑖 − 𝑛 ( 𝑡 ) 𝑝 (𝑡 )]
𝑑𝑡

 where, and

 𝑑 (𝛿 𝑛 (𝑡 )) =∝𝑟 [ 𝑛2𝑖 − (𝑛𝑜 +𝛿 𝑛 ( 𝑡 ))( 𝑝 𝑜 +𝛿 𝑝 ( 𝑡 ) ) ]= − ∝𝑟 𝛿 𝑛 ( 𝑡 ) ¿

𝑑𝑡
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination
Low-Level Injection and High-Level Injection
Can be easily solve by impose
 𝑑 (𝛿 𝑛 (𝑡 )) =− ∝𝑟 𝛿 𝑛 ( 𝑡 ) ¿ the condition of low-level
𝑑𝑡 injection

Low-level injection: excess carrier concentration is much less than

thermal equilibrium majority carrier concentrations
n-type material: no>>po, δn(t) << no
p-type material: po>>no, δn(t)<<po

High-level injection: excess carrier concentration is comparable to

or greater than the thermal equilibrium majority carrier
concentrations
n-type material: no>> po, δn(t) >= no
p-type material: po>>no, δn(t)>= po
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination
Carrier Recombination Rate Under Low-level Injection

Carrier recombination rate

Under low-level injection:

p-type material: po>> no and po >> n(t)

 The solution to the equation is an exponential decay from the initial excess
concentration, or

where,
 Carrier Generation
Excess Carrier Generation and Recombination and Recombination

(low - levelinjection)

( p-type, low level injection)

n-type material, no>>po

( n-type, low level injection)

 Characteristics of
Continuity Equations Excess Carriers
 For the x component of the particle current density
shown and from the calculus, the Taylor expansion
gives

  If ,then there will be a net increase in the number

of holes in the differential volume per unit time

 The net increase in the number of holes per unit time in the differential volume
element is given by
 Characteristics of
Continuity Equations Excess Carriers

The recombination rate holes including

thermal-equilibrium recombination
and excess recombination

The recombination lifetime which

includes thermal-equilibrium carrier
lifetime and excess carrier lifetime

Continuity equation for holes

Continuity equation for electrons

 Characteristics of
Time-Dependent Diffusion Equation Excess Carriers

The current density in material is

By dividing current density the charge of each individual particle, we obtain

particle flux

Thus the continuity equations can be rewritten as

 Characteristics of
Time-Dependent Diffusion Equation Excess Carriers

Time-dependent diffusion
equations for holes
and electrons, respectively.
 Characteristics of
Time-Dependent Diffusion Equation Excess Carriers

The thermal equilibrium concentrations, no and po, are not function of

time. For homogeneous semiconductor, no and po are also independent
of space coordinates

Homogeneous
semiconductor

 involving the total concentrations, p and n, and terms

involving only the excess concentrations, δp and δn.
 Quasi-Fermi Energy
Quasi-Fermi Energy Levels Levels
 At thermal equilibrium,
 the electron and hole concentrations are functions of the Fermi-level.
 The Fermi level remains constant throughout the entire material
 The carrier concentrations is exponentially determined by the Fermi-level
 Quasi-Fermi Energy
Quasi-Fermi Energy Levels Levels
 At non-thermal equilibrium
 If excess carriers are created, thermal equilibrium no longer exists and 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.

 In such a way, the quasi-Fermi levels for electrons and holes specified for

non- thermal equilibrium conditions do not hold constants over the entire
material
 If δn and δp are the excess electron and hole concentrations, respectively,

we may write

 where Efn, and Efp, are

the quasi-Fermi energy
levels for electrons and
holes, respectively.
 Quasi-Fermi Energy
Quasi-Fermi Energy Levels Levels

 Q1;

Calculate the quasi-Fermi energy levels. Consider an n-type

semiconductor at T = 300 K with carrier concentrations of , ,
and . In non-equilibrium, assume that the excess carrier
concentration are .
 Thermionic Emission Process

 THERMIONIC EMISSION PROCESS– condition where the

carriers have sufficient energy to ‘thermionically’ emitted into
the vacuum. Thus, the electrons are emitted across a barrier.

 This occurs because the thermal energy given to the carrier

overcomes the binding potential, also known as work function.
 Thermionic Emission Process
 q- electron affinity is the energy
difference between the condition
band edge & the vacuum level in
the s/cond.
 q – work function (energy between
s
Fermi level & vacuum level in the (a)
s/cond).
 If energy > q - electron can be

thermionically emitted into the (12)

vacuum.
• ELECTRON DENSITY WITH ENERGY> q
may be written as :

 q (   Vn ) 
nth   n( E )dE  N C exp  
q  kT  (b)

NC – effective density of states in cond. band.

Vn – is the difference between bottom of cond.
(a) The band diagram of an isolated n-
band & Fermi level. type semi-conductor.
(b) The thermionic emission process.
 Tunneling Process

QUANTUM TUNNELING PHENOMENA:

• The energy diagram when two
isolated semiconductor samples are
brought close together. The distance
between them is d, the potential barrier
height qVo is equal to electron affinity q.

•If d<<<, electron at left-side semiconductor

may transport across the barrier & and
move to the other side (even if electron
energy is less than barrier height.)

(a) The band diagram of two isolated

semiconductors with a distance d.
(b) One-dimensional potential barrier.
(c) Schematic representation of the wave function
across the potential barrier.
 High Field Effects

 At low electric field, drift velocity is proportional to the applied field, and
assume that time interval between collision c is independent of the
applied field. (Assumption for drift velocity < thermal velocity of carrier,
107 cm/s for Si at room temperature).
 As the drift velocity reach thermal velocity, its field dependence on the
electric field will depart from linear relationship.
 Drift velocity increases less rapidly when electric field increased. At
large field, the drift velocity approaches a saturation velocity.

vs
Drift vn , v p 
velocity: 1   E / E  
0
 1/ 

Where vs – saturation velocity (107cm/s for Si at

300K).
E0 – constant field which is 7 x 103 V/cm for electrons
and E0 = 2 x 104V/cm for holes in high-purity Si
materials.
 - 2 for electrons and 1 for holes.
High Field Effects

-shows the measured drift

velocity of electrons and holes
in Si as a function of the
electric field.

- Drift velocity increases less

rapidly when electric field
increased.

- At large field, the drift velocity

approaches a saturation
velocity.

Drift velocity versus electric field in Si.

 High Field Effects
 shows the differentiation
between high-field transport in
n-type GaAs and Si.

 For n-type GaAs – vs reached

maximum level, then
decreases when the field
increases. This phenomenon is
due to energy bands structure
of GaAs that allows the transfer
of conduction electrons from
high mobility energy minimum
(called valley) to low mobility.

Drift velocity versus electric field in Si and GaAs. Note that for n-  Means that, electron transfer
type GaAs, there is a region of negative differential mobility.
from the central valley to the
satellite valleys along [111]
direction.