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Lecture 1

1) Semiconductors like silicon have a periodic crystal structure where silicon atoms share electrons to form covalent bonds. 2) At temperatures above absolute zero, some electrons gain enough energy to break bonds and move freely, leaving behind "holes". 3) In an intrinsic semiconductor with no impurities, electron-hole pairs are generated thermally in equal concentrations, denoted ni.

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Vivek Kushwah
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11 views

Lecture 1

1) Semiconductors like silicon have a periodic crystal structure where silicon atoms share electrons to form covalent bonds. 2) At temperatures above absolute zero, some electrons gain enough energy to break bonds and move freely, leaving behind "holes". 3) In an intrinsic semiconductor with no impurities, electron-hole pairs are generated thermally in equal concentrations, denoted ni.

Uploaded by

Vivek Kushwah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Amity School of Engineering & Technology

Analog Electronics

Semiconductor Theory

Prepared By:
Dr. Vivek Singh Kushwah
ECE Dept. , ASET
SemiconductorAmity
Materials
School of Engineering & Technology

• The Semiconductor Industry


• Semiconductor devices such as diodes, transistors and integrated circuits can be found
everywhere in our daily lives, in Walkman, televisions, automobiles, washing machines
and computers. We have come to rely on them and increasingly have come to expect
higher performance at lower cost.
• Personal computers clearly illustrate this trend. Anyone who wants to replace a three to
five year old computer finds that the trade-in value of his (or her) computer is surprising
low. On the bright side, one finds that the complexity and performance of the today’s
personal computers vastly exceeds that of their old computer and that for about the same
purchase price, adjusted for inflation.
Why semiconductors?
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

• SEMICONDUCTORS: They are here, there, and everywhere


• Computers, palm pilots, Silicon (Si) MOSFETs, ICs, CMOS
laptops, anything “intelligent”
• Cell phones, pagers Si ICs, GaAs FETs, BJTs
• CD players AlGaAs and InGaP laser diodes, Si photodiodes
• TV remotes, mobile terminals Light emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Satellite dishes InGaAs MMICs (Monolithic
Microwave ICs)
• Fiber networks InGaAsP laser diodes, pin photodiodes
• Traffic signals, car GaN LEDs (green, blue)
taillights InGaAsP LEDs (red, amber)
• Air bags Si MEMs, Si ICs
Introduction
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

Semiconductors are materials whose electrical properties lie


between Conductors and Insulators.

Ex : Silicon and Germanium

Give the examples of Conductors and Insulators!

Difference in conductivity
The Silicon Atomic Structure
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

-
- -
-
- -
- Si -
- 14 -
- -
-
-
Silicon: our primary example and
focus
Atomic no. 14 However, like all
14 electrons in three shells: 2 ) 8 ) 4 other elements it
i.e., 4 electrons in the outer "bonding" would prefer to have
shell
Silicon forms strong covalent bonds with
8 electrons in its
4 neighbors outer shell
The Silicon Atomic Structure
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

-
- -
-
- -
- Si -
-
14 -
- -
-
-
Silicon : It’s a Group 4 element which means it has 4 electrons
in outer shell

However, like all other elements it would prefer to have 8


electrons in its outer shell
The Germanium Atomic Structure
Amity School of Engineering & Technology
Bonding of Si atoms
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

This results in the covalent bonding of Si atoms in the


crystal matrix

A Covalent Bond Formed by the Sharing of


Electrons in an Outer Energy Level
Band Gap Energy
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

n=3 n=3

n=2 n=2

n=1 n=1

Atom 1 Atom 2

Discrete energy levels for 2 atoms separated by a


large distance.

Note that the band gap energy,


Eg for insulators is ~ 10 eV,
while for metals it is close to 0
Typical continuous band pictures at eV (1eV=1.6x10-19 J).
0 K for different solid materials.
Electrons and Holes
Amity School of Engineering & Technology
Si and Ge are tetravalent elements – each atom of Si (Ge) has 4 valence
electrons in crystal matrix

T=0 all electrons are bound in For T> 0 thermal fluctuations can
covalent bonds break electrons free creating
electron-hole pairs
no carriers available for conduction. Both can move throughout the lattice
and therefore conduct current.
Electrons and Holes
Amity School of Engineering & Technology
For T>0
some electrons in the valence band receive
enough thermal energy to be excited
across the band gap to the conduction
band.
The result is a material with some electrons
in an otherwise empty conduction band and
some unoccupied states in an otherwise
filled valence band.
An empty state in the valence band is
referred to as a hole.
Electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor. If the conduction band electron and the
The bottom of the conduction band hole are created by the excitation of a
denotes as Ec and the top of the valence valence band electron to the conduction
band denotes as Ev. band, they are called an electron-hole pair
(EHP).
Silicon Lattice Structure
Amity School of Engineering & Technology

At 0K, all Free electron


electrons
are tightly
- - - - Vacancy
shared with - Si -- Si -- Si - - Si - left by
neighbours - - - - electron.
 no - - - - - Overall
current - Si -- Si -- - -+ Si - -
Si - on
Sicharge
flow - - - - - - silicon is
- - - - - zero 
this “hole”
- Si -- Si - - Si - - Si - - Si - must be
- - - -- - - positive
- - -
- Si -- Si -- Si - +- Si -
- - - -
-
- Si -
- Shares electrons
with 4 neighbouring
Adding heat (even to room atoms  8
temperature) allows some bonds to electrons in outer
break, and electrons can flow shell
Intrinsic Material
Amity School of Engineering & Technology
A perfect semiconductor crystal with no impurities or lattice defects is called an
intrinsic semiconductor.

At T=0 K – No At T>0
charge carriers Valence band Electron-hole pairs are generated
is filled with electrons Conduction EHPs are the only charge carriers in
band is empty intrinsic material

Since electron and holes are created in


pairs – the electron concentration in
conduction band, n (electron/cm3) is
equal to the concentration of holes in the
valence band, p (holes/cm3).
Each of these intrinsic carrier
concentrations is denoted ni.
Thus for intrinsic materials n=p=ni

Electron-hole pairs in the covalent bonding


model in the Si crystal.

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