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Outline - Basic Semiconductor Physics

The document outlines the key concepts in semiconductor physics covered in Lecture 1, including: 1. Semiconductors have resistivity between conductors and insulators. Silicon is a commonly used semiconductor that forms covalent bonds in its crystalline structure. 2. Intrinsic silicon has electron-hole pairs generated thermally, with concentrations depending on band gap energy and temperature. 3. Doping silicon with elements like phosphorus or boron introduces excess electrons or holes, creating n-type or p-type materials with different carrier concentrations and properties.

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46 views

Outline - Basic Semiconductor Physics

The document outlines the key concepts in semiconductor physics covered in Lecture 1, including: 1. Semiconductors have resistivity between conductors and insulators. Silicon is a commonly used semiconductor that forms covalent bonds in its crystalline structure. 2. Intrinsic silicon has electron-hole pairs generated thermally, with concentrations depending on band gap energy and temperature. 3. Doping silicon with elements like phosphorus or boron introduces excess electrons or holes, creating n-type or p-type materials with different carrier concentrations and properties.

Uploaded by

dfere
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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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Lecture 1

OUTLINE
• Basic Semiconductor Physics
– Semiconductors
– Intrinsic (undoped) silicon
– Doping
– Carrier concentrations

Reading: Chapter 2.1

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 1


What is a Semiconductor?
• Low resistivity => “conductor”
• High resistivity => “insulator”
• Intermediate resistivity => “semiconductor”
– conductivity lies between that of conductors and insulators
– generally crystalline in structure for IC devices
• In recent years, however, non-crystalline semiconductors have
become commercially very important

polycrystalline amorphous crystalline


EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 2
Semiconductor Materials

Phosphorus
(P)
Gallium
(Ga)

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 3


Silicon
• Atomic density: 5 x 1022 atoms/cm3
• Si has four valence electrons. Therefore, it can form
covalent bonds with four of its nearest neighbors.
• When temperature goes up, electrons can become
free to move about the Si lattice.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 4


Electronic Properties of Si
• Silicon is a semiconductor material.
– Pure Si has a relatively high electrical resistivity at room temperature.

• There are 2 types of mobile charge-carriers in Si:


– Conduction electrons are negatively charged;
– Holes are positively charged.

• The concentration (#/cm3) of conduction electrons & holes in a


semiconductor can be modulated in several ways:
1. by adding special impurity atoms ( dopants )
2. by applying an electric field
3. by changing the temperature
4. by irradiation

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 5


Electron-Hole Pair Generation
• When a conduction electron is thermally generated,
a “hole” is also generated.
• A hole is associated with a positive charge, and is
free to move about the Si lattice as well.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 6


Carrier Concentrations in Intrinsic Si
• The “band-gap energy” Eg is the amount of energy
needed to remove an electron from a covalent bond.
• The concentration of conduction electrons in intrinsic
silicon, ni, depends exponentially on Eg and the
absolute temperature (T):
15 3/ 2
− Eg
ni = 5.2 × 10 T exp electrons / cm 3
2 kT

ni ≅ 1 × 1010 electrons / cm 3 at 300K


ni ≅ 1 × 1015 electrons / cm 3 at 600K
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 7
Doping (N type)
• Si can be “doped” with other elements to change its
electrical properties.
• For example, if Si is doped with phosphorus (P), each
P atom can contribute a conduction electron, so that
the Si lattice has more electrons than holes, i.e. it
becomes “N type”:
Notation:
n = conduction electron
concentration

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 8


Doping (P type)
• If Si is doped with Boron (B), each B atom can
contribute a hole, so that the Si lattice has more
holes than electrons, i.e. it becomes “P type”:
Notation:
p = hole concentration

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 9


Summary of Charge Carriers

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 10


Electron and Hole Concentrations
• Under thermal equilibrium conditions, the product
of the conduction-electron density and the hole
density is ALWAYS equal to the square of ni:
2
np = ni

N-type material P-type material


n ≈ ND p ≈ NA
2 2
n n
p≈ i n≈ i
ND NA

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 11


Terminology
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: the most abundant carrier


minority carrier: the least abundant carrier

intrinsic semiconductor: n = p = ni
extrinsic semiconductor: doped semiconductor

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 12


Summary
• The band gap energy is the energy required to free an
electron from a covalent bond.
– Eg for Si at 300K = 1.12eV
• In a pure Si crystal, conduction electrons and holes are
formed in pairs.
– Holes can be considered as positively charged mobile particles
which exist inside a semiconductor.
– Both holes and electrons can conduct current.
• Substitutional dopants in Si:
– Group-V elements (donors) contribute conduction electrons
– Group-III elements (acceptors) contribute holes
– Very low ionization energies (<50 meV)
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 1, Slide 13

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