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Semiconductors Review

Semiconductors have properties between conductors and insulators due to their electronic band structure. They have a small band gap allowing thermal or optical excitation of electrons. Intrinsic semiconductors have equal numbers of electrons and holes as charge carriers. Doping introduces impurities to create an excess of electrons or holes, making the semiconductor an n-type or p-type extrinsic semiconductor. A p-n junction diode is formed by joining a p-type and n-type semiconductor, producing a useful electronic device.

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54 views

Semiconductors Review

Semiconductors have properties between conductors and insulators due to their electronic band structure. They have a small band gap allowing thermal or optical excitation of electrons. Intrinsic semiconductors have equal numbers of electrons and holes as charge carriers. Doping introduces impurities to create an excess of electrons or holes, making the semiconductor an n-type or p-type extrinsic semiconductor. A p-n junction diode is formed by joining a p-type and n-type semiconductor, producing a useful electronic device.

Uploaded by

Ivar Sharma
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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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Semiconductors

Review
Valence and
Core Electrons
.
considering the electronic
configuration of an atom,
electrons can be divided into
two categories:
valence electrons &
core electrons,
according to their positions in
an atom.
Valence electrons
Are those occupying
the outermost shell or highest
energy level of an atom
while core electrons are those
occupying the innermost shell
or
lowest energy level.
This difference greatly
influences the role of the
two types of electrons in a
chemical reaction.
Generally, valence electrons
can participate in the
formation of chemical
bonding, but core electrons
cannot.
The number of valence
electrons is critical to the
chemical property of an atom.
On the other hand, although
core electrons are not involved in
bonding,
they do have an influence
on the chemical reactivity
of an atom
Metal :
1 Valance electron
Semiconductor:
4 Valance electrons
Insulator:
8 Valance electrons
Resistivity Chart

Notice also that there is a very


small margin between the
resistivity of the conductors
such as silver and gold,
compared to a much larger
margin for the resistivity of the
insulators between glass and
quartz.
Note that the resistivity of all
the materials at any one time
also depends upon their
temperature.
Notice that

there is a very small margin between the

resistivity of the conductors such as silver

and gold, compared to


a much larger margin for the resistivity of

the insulators between glass and quartz.


Further the resistivity of all the

materials at any one time also depends

upon their temperature


What decides the Resistivity ?
(Conductivity)

Number of free Electrons


(Valance Electrons)
Metals
have free electrons and partially filled
valence bands, therefore they are highly
conductive (a).

Conduction band and valance band overlap


Semimetals
have their highest band filled. This filled
band, however, overlaps with the next
higher band, therefore they are conductive
but
with slightly higher resistivity than normal
metals (b). Examples: arsenic, bismuth, and
antimony.
Insulators
have filled valence bands and empty
conduction bands, separated by a large
band gap Eg(typically >4eV), they have
high resistivity .

Band gap of 6 eV
Semiconductors
have similar band structure as
insulators but with a much smaller
band gap.
Some electrons can jump to the
empty conduction band by
thermal or optical excitation

Band gap of the order of 1 eV


An intrinsic semiconductor is
ideally a perfect crystal. When
an electron in an intrinsic
semiconductor gets
enough energy, it can go to the
conduction band and leave behind
a hole. This process is called
electronhole pair (EHP) creation.
In semiconductors therefore
both electron and hole
Are called charge carriers &
Electron is a ve charge carrier and
hole is a positive charge carrier
are responsible for conduction
When we say a hole moves from
atom A to atom B what actually
happens is an electron moves from
B to A. It looks just as though
something positively charged went
from A to B.
The number of carriers in
an intrinsic semiconductor
is one of the identifiable properties
of a material
These are denoted as n the
number of electrons
per cubic centimeter,
& p for the number of holes per
cubic centimeter.
For the intrinsic material,
since electrons and holes are
always created in pairs,
n = p = ni
where ni is the symbol for
intrinsic carrier concentration .
In an intrinsic semiconductor and
under equilibrium conditions,
these two quantities are equal
, since they occur in pairs.
If a bond is broken, creating
an electron, it also creates a hole in
the process. However, this does not
make an efficient semiconductor
.
Forbidden Energy Gap in a semiconductor
depends upon temperature

EG(T) = 1.21 - 3.60 X 10-4 T


For Silicon Si (14)
1.1 eV at Room Temperature (3000 K)

EG(T) = 0.785 - 2.23 X 10-4 T


For Germanium Ge (32)
0.72 eV at Room Temperature (3000 K)
The intrinsic concentration
of carriers is a function of temperature

Ni2 = A0 T3 Exp EG(0)/KT


Where
Ni = Intrinsic concentration at desired temperature T
A0 = constant dependant of T
K = Boltzman constant (8.620X10-5 eV/ deg K)
EG(0) = Energy Gap at zero deg K
T = Temperature in Deg K at which Ni is required
For Silicon
ni(T)=5.291019(T/300)2.54exp(6726/T)
A pure silicon crystal or
germanium crystal is
known as an
intrinsic semiconductor.
There are not enough free electrons and holes
in an intrinsic semi-conductor to produce a usable
current.
The electrical action of these can
be modified by
doping i. e adding impurity atoms
to a crystal to increase either
the number of free holes or
no of free electrons.
When a crystal has been doped,
it is called a
extrinsic semi-conductor.
They are of two types
n-type semiconductor
having free electrons as majority
carriers

p-type semiconductor
having free holes as majority carriers
Doner & Acceptor

Conduction Band
Donar Level

Acceptor level

Valance Band
Generation of electron hole pairs
caused by radiations may be due to

Intrinsic excitation or

Extrinsic excitation
Intrinsic Excitation
Photon leads movement of Electron
from Valance Band to
Conduction band

Extrinsic Excitation
Photon leads movement of Electron
from Donar level to Conduction band
Or
From Valance band to acceptor level
Current in a semiconductor is due to
two distinct phenomenon
Carrier drift in a electric field
(This conduction current is also present in metals)

Diffusion of carriers if
a concentration gradient exists
(this phenomenon does not take place in metals)
By themselves, these doped materials
are of little use.

However, if a junction is made by


joining p-type semiconductor to n-type
semiconductor a useful device is
produced known as
Diode.

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