Hu_ch02v3.

fm Page 56 Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:22 PM

56 Chapter 2 ● Motion and Recombination of Electrons and Holes

● PROBLEMS ●

● Mobility ●

2.1 (a) For an electron mobility of 500 cm²/V·s, calculate the time between collisions.
(Take mn = m0 in these calculations.)
(b) For an electric field 100 V/cm, calculate the distance an electron travels by drift
between collisions.
2.2 An electron is moving in a piece of very lightly doped silicon under an applied field
such that its drift velocity is one-tenth of its thermal velocity. Calculate the average
number of collisions it will experience in traversing by drift a region 1 µm long. What
is the voltage across this region?
2.3 The electron mobility is determined by collisions that come in two flavors:
(1) scattering due to phonons (lattice vibrations) and
(2) scattering due to ionized impurities.
The mobilities from phonon interactions alone, µ1, and from ionized impurities alone
µ2, depend on the electron effective mass mn, ionized impurity density Ni, and
temperature as follows:
–70
2.2 × 10 5⁄2 3⁄2 2
µ 1 = -------------------------- k g K cm ⁄ ( V ⋅ s )
5⁄2 3⁄2
mn T
3⁄2
7.45T 1⁄2 3⁄2
µ 2 = ----------------------- k g ⁄ ( cm ⋅ K ⋅ V ⋅ s)
1⁄2
mn Ni

Consider a uniformly doped N-type semiconductor with Nd = 1017cm–3 and mn =

0.27m0.
(a) Make a plot of log( µ 1 ) and log( µ 2 ) versus temperature from 100 to 700 K.
(b) What is the total electron mobility at 300 K?
(c) Calculate the electron drift current density if the sample is biased as shown in
Fig. 2–15 (T = 300 K):

1 nm
N

1V
FIGURE 2–15

● Drift ●

2.4 Phosphorus donor atoms at a concentration of 1016cm–3 are distributed uniformly

throughout a silicon sample.
(a) What is the sample resistivity at 300 K?
(b) If 1017cm–3 of boron is included in addition to the phosphorus, what is the resulting
resistivity and conductivity type (N-type or P-type material)?
(c) Sketch the energy band diagram for part (a) and for part (b) and show the position
of the Fermi level.
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Problems 57

2.5 An N-type silicon sample has a uniform density Nd = 1017cm–3 of arsenic, and a P-type
sample has Na = 1015cm–3. A third sample has both impurities present at the same time.
(a) Find the equilibrium minority carrier concentrations at 300 K in each sample.
(b) Find the conductivity of each sample at 300 K.
(c) Find the Fermi level in each material at 300 K with respect to either the conduction
band edge (Ec) or the valence band edge (Ev).
2.6 (a) A silicon sample maintained at T = 300 K is uniformly doped with Nd = 1016cm–3
donors. Calculate the resistivity of the sample.
(b) The silicon sample of part (a) is “compensated” by adding Na = 1016cm–3
acceptors. Calculate the resistivity of the compensated sample. (Exercise caution
in choosing the mobility values to be employed in this part of the problem.)
(c) Compute the resistivity of intrinsic (Na = 0, Nd = 0) silicon at T = 300 K. Compare
it with the result of part (b) and comment.
2.7 A sample of N-type silicon is at the room temperature. When an electric field with a
strength of 1000 V/cm is applied to the sample, the hole velocity is measured and found
to be 2 × 105 cm/sec.
(a) Estimate the thermal equilibrium electron and hole densities, indicating which is
the minority carrier.
(b) Find the position of EF with respect to Ec and Ev.
(c) The sample is used to make an integrated circuit resistor. The width and height of
the sample are 10 µm and 1.5 µm, respectively, and the length of the sample is
20 µm. Calculate the resistance of the sample.

● Diffusion ●

2.8 A general relationship for the current density carried by electrons of density n is J = qnv,
where q is the electronic charge and v is the electron velocity.
(a) Find the velocity of electrons, v(x), that are moving only by diffusion if they have a
density distribution of n ( x ) = n 0 exp ( – x ⁄ λ ) . The electric field is zero.
(b) What would be the electric field, Ᏹ(x), that would lead to an electron drift velocity
equal to that of the diffusion velocity in part (a)?
(c) At 300 K, what value of λ would make the field in part (b) to be 1000 V/cm?
2.9 Figure 2–16 is a part of the energy band diagram of a P-type semiconductor bar under
equilibrium conditions (i.e., EF is constant). The valence band edge is sloped because
doping is nonuniform along the bar. Assume that Ev rises with a slope of ∆ ⁄ L .

EF
Ev

x
0 L
FIGURE 2–16

(a) Write an expression for the electric field inside this semiconductor bar.
(b) Within the Boltzmann approximation, what is the electron concentration n(x) along
the bar? Assume that n(x = 0) is n0. Express your answer in terms of n0, ∆ , and L.
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58 Chapter 2 ● Motion and Recombination of Electrons and Holes

(c) Given that the semiconductor bar is under equilibrium, the total electron and hole
currents are individually zero. Use this fact and your answers to parts (a) and
(b) to derive the Einstein relation (Dn/µn = kT/q) relating electron mobility and
diffusion constant.

● REFERENCES ●
1. Baccarani, G., and P. Ostoja. “Electron Mobility Empirically Related to the Phosphorus
Concentration in Silicon.” Solid State Electronics, 18, 1975, 579.
2. Antoniadis, D. A., A. G. Gonzalez, and R. W. Dutton. “Boron in Near-Intrinsic <100> and
<111> Silicon Under Inert and Oxidizing Ambients—Diffusion and Segregation,”
J. Electrochem. Soc.: Solid-State Science and Technology, 5, 1978, 813.
3. Beadle, W. E., J. C. C. Tsai, and R. D. Plummer. Quick Reference Manual for Silicon
Integrated Circuit Technology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1985. 2–22, 2–23, 2–27.
4. Sze, S. M. Semiconductor Devices. New York: Wiley, 1985, 33.

● GENERAL REFERENCES ●

1. Neamen, D. A. Semiconductor Physics and Devices, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
2. Pierret, R. F. Semiconductor Device Fundamentals. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1996.
3. Sze, S. M. Semiconductor Devices. New York: Wiley, 1985.