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ADVANCED
SEMICONDUCTOR
FUNDAMENTALS
ROBERT F. PIERRET Preface
Advanced Semiconductor Fundamentals is viewed by the author as a doorway to the
graduate or journal-level discussion of solid-state devices. It was originally prepared in
part as.a supplement to a widely used graduate text and in part to provide background
information required in advanced-level volumes of the Modular Series on Solid State
Devices. Since its introduction in 1987, the volume has subsequently become routinely
employed in introductory graduate-level courses on solid-state devices The second edi-
tion primarily revises dated sections of the volume and, with a significant increase in
end-of-chapter problems, expands its usefulness as a stand-alone text
‘The designation “advanced” used in the ttle of the volume is of course a relative
term: the materialin the volume is “advanced” relative to that in Modular Series Volume
Tand chapters one through three in Semiconductor Device Fundamentals, other works
by the author. The cited works are recommended prerequisites for the present volume.
The present volume extends and reinforces the concepts presented in the cited works.
Following the general philosophy of the Modular Series, the present volume is
devoted to a specific topic area and is essentially self-contained. The modular nature of
the series permits the volumes to be used in courses of either standard or nonstandara
format, the latter including short courses, television or web-based courses, and in-house
continuing education courses. Students, practicing engineers, and scientists should also
find this and the other volumes useful for individual instruction, whether it be for learn-
ing, reference, or review. Coherent presentation of the material in Advanced
Semiconductor Fundamentals in the standard lecture format requires at least 15 fifty-
minute periods. With minor deletions, the material in this volume is regularly covered
during the first sin weeks of a one-semester, three-credit-hour, first-year graduate-level
course in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University.
‘The topic coverage in the second edition is essentially identical to that in the first
edition. The treatment includes basic semiconductor properties, elements of Quantum
Mechanics, energy band theory, equilibrium carrier statistics, recombination-generation
processes, and drift/diffusion carrier transport, Unfortunately, length limitations pre~
cluded coverage of a number of other desirable topics. Nevertheless, the coverage should
be sufficient for understanding or delving deeper into the operation of the major semi
conductor device structures. Of the many semiconductors silicon (Si) totally dominates
the present marketplace: the vast majority of discrete devices and integrated circuits are
silicon based. Given its position of dominance, attention is focused herein on Si in she
text development. Where feasible, however, GaAsand other semiconductors are featured
as the discussion warrants
It should be mentioned that throughout the volume every effort has been made
to use normally encountered symbols for a given quantity. In some instances this has
led to dual-meaning symbols (e-g..k for wavenumber and for the Boltzmann constant).
‘The proper interpretation of a dual-meaning symbol is invariably obvious from con-
text. In the autho-’s opinion it is preferable to court ambiguity rather than introduce
v Preface
alternative symbols and/or cumbersome subscripts that are unlikely to be encountered
in other works.
Finally, | would like to acknowledge the influence of the classic text by McKelvey
U.P. MeKelvey, Solid State and Semiconductor Physics, Harper and Row, New York,
1966). Chapter 2 and portions of Chapter 3 parallel McKelvey’s organization andior
topic presentation. I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Prof.
Mark Lundstrom, a Purdue University colleague, who was most helpful in supplying
key information on several topics and Tom Robbins, ECE Publisher at Prentice Hall,
‘who exhibited great patience in dealing with a difficult author.
Prof, Robert F Pierret
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
W. Lafayette, IN
(Fundamental Theories of Physics 40) Louis de Broglie (auth.)-Heisenberg’s Uncertainties and the Probabilistic Interpretation of Wave Mechanics_ with Critical Notes of the Author-Springer Netherlands .pdf
(Undergraduate Texts in Contemporary Physics) Narciso Garcia, Arthur Damask, Steven Schwarz - Physics For Computer Science Students - With Emphasis On Atomic and Semiconductor Physics-Springer (1998)
