EE 152 BASIC ELECTRONICS

GIDEON ADOM-BAMFI
 Course Content
Semiconductor
Semiconductor Operational
Materials and
Diodes & Amplifiers and
Properties Transistor as an
Applications Switching Theory
Amplifier

Semiconductor Bipolar
Diodes Junction
Transistor

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Course Objective:
The course is designed to give students knowledge in the analysis, selection,
biasing, and applications of semiconductor devices and circuits as well as the
design principles.

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Course Content
Grading System:
• Exams 70%
• Quizzes 5%
• Mid-Semester Exams 15%
• Lab Work 10%

Software: Multisim

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Recommended Textbooks
1. Electronic Principles by Albert Pual Malvino and David Bates

2. Principles of Electronics by V K Mehta

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 1
SEMICONDUCTOR
MATERIALS AND
PROPERTIES

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1. CONDUCTORS, INSULATORS AND
SEMICONDUCTORS

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Electronic Materials
The goal of electronic materials is to generate and control the flow of an electrical
current.
Electronic materials can be classified into the following:
1. Conductors
Have low resistance which allows electrical current flow.

2. Insulators
have high resistance which suppresses electrical current flow.

3. Semiconductors
Can allow or suppress electrical current flow

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Conductors, semiconductors and insulators
The difference in the behaviour of electronic materials in terms of their conductivity can
be beautifully explained with the help of energy bands.

Insulators Conductors Semi – Conductors

Large energy difference Conduction band and Small energy difference between
between conduction band valence band overlap conduction band and valence band
and valence band 9
Conductors
Good conductors have low resistance so electrons flow through them with ease.
Best element conductors include:
• Copper, silver, gold, aluminium, & nickel.

Alloys are also good conductors:

• Brass & steel

Good conductors can also be liquid:

• Salt water

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Atomic Structure of Conductors
• The atomic structure of good conductors
usually includes only one electron in their
outer shell.

• It is called a valence electron.

• It is easily striped from the atom, producing

current flow.

Copper Atom

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Insulators
• Insulators have a high resistance so current does not flow in them.

• Good insulators include: Glass, ceramic, plastics, & wood

• Most insulators are compounds of several elements.

• The atoms are tightly bound to one another so electrons are difficult to
strip away for current flow.

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Semi-Conductors
• A semiconductor is a material with conducting properties between those
of a good insulator and a good conductor.

• Common elements such as carbon, silicon, and germanium are

semiconductors.

• Silicon is the best and most widely used semiconductor.

Questions
1. Why is Silicon the most widely used semiconductor?
2. Why is Silicon preferred to Germanium?
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Semi-Conductors Elements in the Periodic Table
Question
1. Why are Group 2 or
Group 6 elements not used
to dope semiconductors?

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Semi-Conductor Valence Orbit

The main characteristic of semiconductor

element is that it has four electrons in its
outer or valence orbit.

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Crystal Lattice Structure
• A crystal is a substance whose atoms or
molecules are arranged in a ordered
pattern.

• The unique capability of semiconductor

atoms is their ability to link together to
form a physical structure called a crystal
2-D Structure
lattice.

• The atoms link together with one

another sharing their outer electrons.

• These links are called covalent bonds.

3-D Structure 16
Silicon
• Silicon is a tetravalent element, which means it has four valence electrons and
four vacancies.
• In intrinsic (pure) silicon, atoms join together by forming covalent bonds. Each
atom shares its valence electrons with each of four adjacent neighbours
effectively filling its outer shell.
• When temperature goes up, electrons can become free to move about the Si
lattice.
• Atomic density: 5 x 1022 atoms/cm3

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Electronic Properties of Si
• Silicon is a semiconductor material.
• Pure Si has a relatively high electrical resistivity at room temperature.

There are two(2) types of mobile charge-carriers in Si:

• Electrons - negatively charged
• Holes - are positively charged.

The concentration (#/cm3) of conduction electrons & holes in a semiconductor can be

modulated in several ways:
• by adding special impurity atoms ( dopants )
• by applying an electric field
• by changing the temperature
• by irradiation
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2. Classification of Semiconductors

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Semiconductors are classified into two types:
a) Intrinsic semiconductors

b) Extrinsic semiconductors

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Intrinsic Semiconductors
• A semiconductor is said to be intrinsic if it contains no impurities and no crystalline
defects.
• The structure has zero overall charge.

Behaviour at absolute zero

• At absolute zero, every electron is at the lowest energy state.
• Electrons occupy all of the electronic states in the valence band, and the states in the
conduction band are empty.
• The intrinsic semiconductor thus behaves as a perfect insulator at absolute zero
temperature.
• However, the covalent bonds can be broken if sufficient energy is applied to the
semiconductor.

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Intrinsic Semiconductors
Behaviour at room or higher temperatures
• At room or higher temperatures, electrons acquire thermal energy, which is
transferred to them from the crystal lattice.

• The atoms in the crystal lattice vibrate, and these vibrations can be transmitted
through the crystal as acoustic waves called phonons.

• Phonons can excite electrons from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band
(CB).

• Electrons leaving the VB to CB creates a vacancy called hole in the valence band. A
hole is a vacancy in a covalent bond with a unit positive charge associated with it.
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Intrinsic Semiconductors
Behaviour at room or higher temperatures
• The electron is now free, and there is a free hole in the valence band.

• Every electron that escapes to conduction band creates a corresponding hole in the
valence band, creating an electron-hole pair.

• When electron-hole pair is created by absorption of phonons, we call the process

thermal generation.

• If photons provide the energy, the process is termed optical generation.

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Intrinsic Semiconductors
• The free electrons in the semiconductor can fall into holes in a process known as
recombination.

• Energy is given up by the electrons in this process.

• An intrinsic semiconductor is said to be in thermal equilibrium at any given

temperature when the recombination rate is equal to the ionization rate.

• For an intrinsic semiconductor at thermal equilibrium, the equilibrium concentration

no of electrons in the conduction band is the same as the equilibrium concentration
po of holes in the valence band:
no = po = ni
Where ni is the equilibrium carrier concentration in an intrinsic semiconductor
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Law of mass action
For an intrinsic semiconductor
no = po = ni
n = concentration of electrons per unit volume
p = concentration of holes per unit volume

• This is due to fact that when an electron makes a transition to the conduction band,
it leaves a hole behind in valence band .
• Thus the number of holes and electrons are equal, hence
np = ni2
• This equation is called as mass-action law.
• This equation is valid for extrinsic as well.

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Carrier Concentration in Intrinsic Si
The intrinsic carrier concentration ni depends on;
• the semiconductor material, and
• the temperature

For silicon at 300 K, ni has a value of 1.5 × 1010cm-3

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Doping
• To increase the conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor, one can introduce an
impurity in a process known as doping.

• These impurities are atoms from column III or V of the periodic table. They are
referred to as dopants

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Extrinsic Semiconductors
• Intrinsic conduction is very small.
• Conductivity levels can be raised and controlled by doping with minute levels of
impurity atoms to give extrinsic or doped semiconductors.

Extrinsic semiconductors may be further divided into either

• N-type
• P-type

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N-type Semiconductors
• This is formed by adding a pentavalent atom to the intrinsic semiconductor.

• These atoms with five valence electrons are known as donor atoms because they
provide an extra electron to the semiconductor’s crystal structure.

• The extra electron becomes a conduction electron.

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N-type Semiconductors

For N-type, n >> p;

n is the majority carrier concentration n n
p is the minority carrier concentration pn
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P-type Semiconductors
• Here the doping atom has only three electrons in its outer shell.

• It is relatively easy for an electron from a neighbouring atom to move in, so

releasing a hole at its parent atom.

• The freed hole is available for conduction.

• The energy needed to free the electron from its parent is usually small compared
to the thermal energy so each impurity atom contributes one hole for conduction
(fully ionised).

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P-type Semiconductors

For P-type, p >> n;

p is the majority carrier concentration pp
n is the minority carrier concentration n p
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Summary of Charge Carriers

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Electron and Hole Concentrations
Under thermal equilibrium conditions, the product of the conduction-electron
density and the hole density is ALWAYS equal to the square of n i:

np = ni2

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Question 1
▷ 
Calculate the hole and electron densities in a piece of p-type silicon that has been doped
with 5 × 1016 acceptor atoms per cm3. ni = 1.5 × 1010 cm3 (at room temperature).

Solution
P-type ; p ≫ n
np = ni2
NA = p = 5 × 1016 cm-3
n==
n = 4.5 × 103 electrons per cm3

NB: p ≫ ni and n ≪ ni in a p-type material. The more holes you put in the less electrons
you have and vice versa
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 Carrier Movement

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1. Drift Current

2. Diffusion Current

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Carrier Movement
There are two mechanisms by which holes and free electrons move through a silicon
crystal.

Drift
The carrier motion is generated by the electrical field across a piece of silicon. This
motion will produce drift current.

Diffusion
The carrier motion is generated by the different concentration of carrier in a piece of
silicon. The diffused motion, usually carriers diffuse from high concentration to low
concentration, will give rise to diffusion current.

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Carrier Mobility
▷ 
Mobility
• Mobility is a measure of how easily a carrier moves in particular material.
• It is normally expressed in centimetres squared per volt-second (cm 2/Vs).
• Carrier mobility, µ = and it is the drift velocity per unit field.

Drift velocity
• Drift velocity is the average velocity with which the charge carriers drift in a definite
direction under the influence of an applied electric field.
• The unit of µ is = cm2/Vs

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1. Drift Current
• Drift current is produced by the motion of electrons and holes under an electric
field.
• The net current is always in the direction of applied electric field.
• The current due to both charges move in the same direction.
Idrift = In(drift) + Ip(drift)

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Current Density
•▷ In
  a semiconductor, it is often more useful to talk about current density.
• Current Density (J) is the amount of charge crossing a plane unit area per unit time.
J=
• For a semiconductor with an applied electric field, the total drift current is:
Jdrift = Jn(drift) + Jp(drift)

Where
• Jn(drift)is the current due to electrons
• Jp(drift) is the current due to holes

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Conductivity
• When an electric field E is applied to a semiconductor, the free electrons drift with
average velocity ve = −µeE , where µe is the electron mobility.

• The holes drift with a velocity vh = +µhE, where µh is the hole mobility.

• Although the free electrons and holes drift in opposite directions, the current
densities add because the charge polarities are opposite.

• The electron charge density is ρe = −nq and the hole charge density is ρh = +pq,
where n and p represent the electron and hole concentrations respectively.

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Conductivity
• The total conduction current density can be written as:
Jdrift = ρeve + ρhvh = (nµe + pµp)qE = σE

• This equation defines the conductivity σ of the semiconductor. It is given by:

σ = (nµe + pµp)q

• Alternatively, the conductivity can be obtained from the dimensions of the

semiconductor as follows.

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Conductivity
•▷ From
  ohm’s law, the resistance R of a uniform sample of length L and cross-sectional
area A as illustrated in the semiconductor block below, is
R==
• Since the semiconductor is uniform, V = EL and using I = JA,

Jdrift = = σE
• where σ = is the conductivity.
• E is the electric field and ρ is the resistivity

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Example 2
A rod of intrinsic silicon is 1 cm long and has a diameter of 1mm. At room temperature,
the intrinsic concentration in the silicon is n i = 1.5 × 1016 per m3. The electron and hole
mobilities are µe = 0.13 m2V−1 s−1 and µh = 0.05 m2V−1 s−1.
Calculate the conductivity of the silicon and the resistance R of the rod.

Solution
The conductivity is calculated as follows:
σ = ni(µe + µh)q
σ = 1.5 × 1016 × (0.13 + 0.05) × 1.602 × 10-19
σ = 4.33 × 10-4 S/m

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▷ 
Solution
Resistance is calculated as:
R==

R = 29.4 MΩ

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Temperature sensitivity
• In both types of extrinsic semiconductor virtually all available charge carries are
freed from their parent atoms at room temperature.

• Temperature variations thus make little difference to the conductivity, σ.

• For intrinsic conductivity the number of carriers, and thus, increases rapidly with
temperature.

• For both extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms the conductivity is zero at T = 0 K

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2. Diffusion Current
• The directional movement of charge carriers due to their concentration gradient
produces a component of current known as diffusion current.

• It is encountered only in semiconductors and is normally absent in conductors.

• With no applied voltage, if the number of charge carriers (either holes or electrons)
in one region of a semiconductor is less compared to the rest of the region, then
there exists a concentration gradient.

• As a result, the carriers tend to move gradually or diffuse from the region of higher
concentration to the region of lower concentration.

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2. Diffusion Current
• This process is called diffusion and electric current produced due to this process is
called diffusion current.

• This process continues until all the carriers are evenly distributed through the
material.

• Hence when there is no applied voltage, the net diffusion current will be zero.

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2. Diffusion Current
• In general, the hole diffusion current density is given by:
Jp(diff) = − qDh∇p
• Where Dh is the hole diffusion constant and ∇p is the gradient of p
• Similarly, the electron diffusion current density is given by
Jn(diff) = + qDe∇n

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Total Current
The total current in a semiconductor = the electron and hole drift currents + the
electron and hole diffusion currents.
Jtotal = Jdrift + Jdiffusion

Jtotal = Jdrift + Jp(diff) + Jn(diff)

Jtotal = σE + q(De∇n − Dh∇p)

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Carrier Lifetime /Mean Lifetime
• Because hole-electron pairs are continually created by thermal agitation of a
semiconductor lattice, it might seem that the number of holes and free electrons
would continually increase with time.

• This does not happen because free electrons are continually recombining with holes.

• At any temperature, a stable state is reached when the creation rate of hole-electron
pairs is equal to the recombination rate.

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Carrier Lifetime /Mean Lifetime
• The mean lifetime 𝜏n of a free electron is the average time that the electron exists in
the free state before recombination.

• The mean lifetime 𝜏p for the hole is defined similarly.

• In the intrinsic semiconductor, 𝜏n is equal to 𝜏p because the number of free electrons

must be equal to the number of holes.

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Terminologies
Donor Majority carrier
Impurity atom that increases n The most abundant carrier

Minority carrier
Acceptor the least abundant carrier
Impurity atom that increases p
Intrinsic semiconductor
n = p = ni
N-type material
Contains more electrons than holes Extrinsic semiconductor
Doped semiconductor
P-type material
Contains more holes than electrons

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Summary
• In its pure state, semiconductor material is an excellent insulator.

• The commonly used semiconductor material is silicon.

• Semiconductor materials can be doped with other atoms to add or subtract

electrons.

• An N-type semiconductor material has extra electrons.

• In an N-type semiconductor, conduction is mainly due to electrons (negative

charges).

• Positive charges (holes) are the minority carriers.

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Summary
• A P-type semiconductor material has a shortage of electrons with vacancies called
holes.

• In a P-type semiconductor, conduction is mainly due to holes (positive charges).

• Negative charges (electrons) are the minority carriers.

• The heavier the doping, the greater the conductivity or the lower the resistance.

• By controlling the doping of silicon the semiconductor material can be made as

conductive as desired.

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Thanks!
Any questions?

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