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Lecture 1 Basic Semiconductor Theory

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63 views34 pages

Lecture 1 Basic Semiconductor Theory

Uploaded by

Ayyub
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ECEG-2131: Applied

Electronics I
Lecture 1

Basic Semiconductor Theory


Kiros Tesfay

Email: [email protected]
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
Addis Ababa University 1
Outline

• Atomic Theory
• Semiconductor Materials and their
Types
Learning Outcomes

 At the end of the lecture, students should be able to know


about:
• Semiconductors.
• Energy Bands.
• Carrier concentration.
• Donor and Acceptors.
• P-and N-type materials.
Semiconductors
 Solid-state materials can be grouped into three
classes:
• Insulators (oxides)
• Semiconductors (mostly group IV elements)
• Conductors (metals)
 Insulators have very low conductivities (high
resistivity),
 Conductors have high conductivity and
 Semiconductors have conductivity and
resistivity between the two.
Semiconductors
Energy Bands
 Energy bands are building blocks that control the semiconductor
behavior
 Band: another name for an orbital shell (valence shell = valence
band).
 Energy Gap: the difference between the energy levels of any two
orbital shells.
 Conduction Band: the band outside the valence shell.
Semiconductors Composition

• Elemental
 Si, Ge
• Compound
 III-V: GaAs
 II-VI: ZnO
• Alloys
 Binary: Si1-xGex
 Ternary: AlxGa1-xAs
 Quaternary: GaxIn1-xAsyP1-y
Semiconductors
Semiconductors
Semiconductors
 Many of the compound semiconductors have
electrical and optical properties that are different
from those of silicon or germanium.
 These semiconductors, especially GaAs, are used
mainly for high-speed electronic and photonic
applications.
 Silicon in the form of silica and silicates comprises
25% of the Earth’s crust, and silicon is second only to
oxygen in abundance.
 Hence, we will be focusing on Si as a semiconductor.
Free Carriers in Energy Band

 What are the free carriers?


• Electrons: Electrons excited from the valence
band into the conduction band.
• Holes: An empty states in the valence band.
 Typical symbols used for carriers
Carrier Concentration
Electron -Hole Pair Terminologies

 When a conduction electron is thermally


generated, a hole is also generated in the valence
band and this phenomenon is called electron-
hole pair generation.
 When an electron from conduction band falls into
a hole in valance band they will combine back
and the phenomenon is called electron-hole
recombination
Intrinsic Semiconductor
 Thermal equilibrium: is a steady-state condition
at a given temperature without any external
excitations such as light, pressure, or an electric
field.
 An intrinsic semiconductor is one that contains
relatively small amounts of impurities compared
with the thermally generated electrons and
holes.
 When a semiconductor is doped with impurities,
the semiconductor becomes extrinsic and
impurity energy levels are introduced.
Intrinsic Carrier Concentration

 Intrinsic materials (high purity)


 Number of carriers, ni is
ni = n = p ni2 = np
where
n = number of electrons/cm3
p = number of holes/cm3
Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
 For intrinsic semiconductor, carrier concentration
ni at a given temperature is given by,

 Where
 B is a material-dependent parameter that is
7.3/5.2 × 1015cm−3 K−3/2 for silicon
 T is the temperature in K
 Eg, a parameter known as the bandgap energy, is
1.12 electron volt (eV) for silicon
 k is Boltzmann’s constant (8.62 × 10−5 eV/K)
Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
 Calculate the value of ni for silicon at room
temperature (T=300 K).
 Substituting the values given above in

 ni = 7.3×1015(300)3/2e−1.12/(2×8.62×10−5 ×300)
= 1.5×1010 carriers/cm3
 Similarily at room temp (T=300K), ni
 Si  1x1010/cm3
 Ge  2.5 x 1013/cm3
 GaAs  1,7 x 106/cm3
Manipulating Carrier Numbers
 Excitation
• Applying an electric field (bias).
• Changing the temperature.
• Radiation (shining light, e.g. laser).
 Introduce dopant-extrinsic materials
• Doping: Introducing foreign atoms ( donors or acceptors) to
engineer semiconductor electrical properties.
• Processes:
 Ion implantation
 Diffusion
Donors
 Donors for Si come from Group V.

• P, As & Sb  5 valence electrons


• Electron ‘donated’, the site becomes +ve ion
Donors
Donors Concentration
 For donor concentration, ND
 ND << ni : intrinsic semiconductor
 carrier concentration, n = p = ni
 ND >> ni :
 carrier concentration is given by

 for 1013 < ND < 1019, the equation can be simplified:


Acceptors
 Acceptors for Si come from Group III
 B  3 valence electrons
 Electrons ‘accepted’, the site becomes -ve ion
Acceptors
Acceptor Concentration
 For acceptor concentration, NA
 NA << ni : intrinsic semiconductor
 carrier concentration, n = p = ni
 NA >> ni :
 carrier concentration is given by

 for 1013 < NA < 1019, the equation can be simplified:


Doped with Donors and
Acceptors
Charge Neutrality
 In thermal equilibrium, the semiconductor

crystal is electrically neutral.


 The electrons are distributed among the various

energy states, creating negative and positive


charges, but the net charge density is zero.
 A compensated semiconductor is one that

contains both donor and acceptor impurity


atoms in the same region.
 Charge neutrality condition:
Class work

 What is the electron and hole density if you


dope Si with Boron to 1016 /Cm3 ?
n = 104/cm3 p = 1016/cm3
 What is the electron and hole density if you
dope Si with Phosphorus to 1014 /Cm3 ?
n = 1014/cm3 p = 106/cm3
Exercice 1

 Calculate the value of ni for gallium


arsenide (GaAs) at T = 300 K. The
constant B = 3.56 × 1014 cm−3 K−3/2 and
the bandgap voltage Eg = 1.42 eV.
Exercice 2
1) Calculate carrier density ni for silicon at T = 350 K
for B = 7.3 × 1015cm−3 K−3/2 for silicon
Eg = 1.12 eV for silicon
k = 8.62 × 10−5 eV/K
2) If a dopant concentration ND = 1017/cm3 are added
to silicon. Find the electron and hole
concentrations at T = 350 K.
Answers
3) ni = 4.15×1011/cm3
4) n = 1017/cm3, p = 1.72 ×106/cm3
Exercice 3
 Boron atoms are added to a Si film resulting
in an impurity density of 4 × 1016 cm–3.
a) What is the conductivity type (N-type or P-type)
of this film?
b) What are the equilibrium electron and hole
densities at 300 K and 600 K?
c) Why does the mobile carrier concentration
increase at high temperatures?
d) Where is the Fermi level located if T = 600 K?
Exercice 4
 In a phosphorus-doped silicon layer
with impurity concentration of 1017/cm3
, find the hole and electron
concentrations at 27°C and 125°C.
Summary: Terminologies
 Thermal equilibrium: steady-state condition at a given temp
without external excitations: light, pressure or electric field.
 Intrinsic Semiconductor : n = p = ni
 Extrinsic Semiconductor : doped semiconductor
 Compensated Semiconductor : Contains both donor and acceptor
impurity atoms.
 Donor : impurity atom that increases n
 Acceptor : impurity atom that increases p
 N-type material : Contains more electrons than holes
 P-type material : Contains more holes than electrons
 Majority Carrier : most abundant carrier
 Minority Carrier : least abundant carrier
What to Do This Week?

 Reading Assignment
 Drift and Diffusion Current
 Resistivity and Conductivity of a material.
Ethiopian Electric Power Training & Development
Center
•1

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