Chapter 2

SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS AND

DIODES
What is the relation between
Resistivity and conductivity
 Drift and Diffusion Currents
 Current
 Generated by the movement of charged particles (negatively charged
electrons and positively charged holes).

 Carriers
 The charged electrons and holes are referred to as carriers.
 The two basic processes which cause electrons and holes move in a
semiconductor:
 Drift - the movement caused by electric field.
 Diffusion - the flow caused by variations in the concentration.
 Recall the periodic table !
 Elements are grouped according to their valence electrons (this determines
the chemical properties of an element).
 Elemental Semiconductors: Silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) are in
group IV. Hence, they have 4 electrons in their outer shells.
 Compound Semiconductor : Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a group III-V.
 From chemistry, an atom needs eight electrons to be stable.
Semiconductor Materials and Properties
 An atom is composed of a nucleus, which contains positively charged
protons and neutral neutrons, and negatively charged electrons that
orbit the nucleus.
 Electrons in the outermost shell are called valence electrons.

Atomic structure:
(a) Germanium
(b) Silicon
 But: Atom Needs Eight Electrons To Be Stable

 The Si atom has four valence electrons, meaning that four more
electrons are needed for stability.
 Si Atoms come into close proximity to each other, the valence
electrons interact to form a crystal.
 The valence electrons are shared between atoms, forming what are
called covalent bonds.
 1. Becomes free
electron

3. Electron moves to fill

space

5. Electron moves to fill

space

2. Becomes empty

4. Becomes empty
 Intrinsic Semiconductor
 Intrinsic Semiconductor
 A single-crystal semiconductor material (Pure only Si) with no other
types of atoms within the crystal.
 The densities of electrons and holes are equal.
 The notation ni is used as intrinsic carrier concentration for the
concentration of the free electrons as well as that of the holes:

B = a coefficient related to the specific semiconductor material

Eg = the bandgap energy (eV)
T = the temperature (Kelvin) remember that K = °C + 273.15
k = Boltzmann’s constant (86 x 10-6 eV/K)
 Cont…
 Electrons can jump from one level to another if they absorb enough
energy to make the difference between their level and the level they
are jumping to.

At temperature T= 0° K At temperature T> 0° K

Fermi level is the term used to describe the top of the

collection of electron energy levels at absolute zero
temperature
Cont…
 The values of B and Eg for several semiconductor materials:

Example:
Calculate the intrinsic carrier
concentration in silicon
at T = 300 K.

 Can you find the intrinsic carrier concentration of Ge at T=300 K?

 Extrinsic Semiconductor
 In intrinsic semiconductors, the concentrations of electron and hole are
relatively small.
 Very small current is possible.
 Increasing the amount of current needs increasing the amount of
electrons or holes.

 Adding controlled amount of certain impurities to the semiconductor

can rapidly increase these concentrations.
 Two types can be used as additive impurities from group III and group
V elements (recall periodic table for group III and V).
 Donor Impurity
 Impurity with five valence electrons is
diffused in silicon are called donor atoms.
 For example, when a phosphorous atom
diffused in a silicon atom:
 Four of its valence electrons are used to
satisfy the covalent bond requirements.
 The fifth valence electron is free to move.

 The phosphorous atom is called a donor impurity, since it

donates an electron that is free to move.
 When a donor impurity is added, free electrons are created without
generating holes. This process is called doping.
 A semiconductor that contains donor impurity is called n-type
semiconductor.
 Acceptor Impurity
 Similarly, impurity with three valence
electrons is diffused in silicon are called
acceptor atoms.
 For example, when a boron atom replaces a
silicon atom:
 Its three valence electrons are used to satisfy the
covalent bond for three.
 This leaves one bond position open.
 The boron atom is called an acceptor impurity, since it accepts a
valence electron.
 Acceptor atoms lead to creation of holes without electrons being
generated. This process is also called doping.
 A semiconductor that contains acceptor impurity is called p-
type semiconductor.
 Doped Semiconductors
 The materials containing impurity atoms are called extrinsic
semiconductors, or doped semiconductors.

 The doping process, which allows to control the concentrations of free

electronics and holes, determines the conductivity and currents in the
materials.
 The relation between the electron concentrations and hole
concentrations in thermal equilibrium:

no = the thermal equilibrium concentration of free electrons

po = the thermal equilibrium concentration of holes
ni = the intrinsic carrier concentration
 Cont…
 At room temperature (T = 300 K), each donor atom donates a free
electron to the semiconductor.
 If the donor concentration Nd is much larger than the intrinsic concentration,
approximately:

 Then, the hole concentration:

 Cont…
 Similarly, at room temperature, each acceptor atom accepts a
valence electron, creating a hole.
 If the acceptor concentration Na is much larger than the intrinsic
concentration, approximately:

 Then, the electron concentration:

 Cont…
 Example
Calculate the thermal equilibrium electron and hole concentrations.
Consider silicon at T = 300 K doped with phosphorous at a
concentration of Nd = 1016 cm-3 and ni = 1.5 x 1010 cm-3.
 Majority and Minority Carriers
 Note that:
 In n-type semiconductor, electrons are called the majority carrier
while the minority carrier belongs to the holes.
 In p-type semiconductor, holes are the called the majority carrier
while the minority carrier belongs to the electrons.

 Hint, the question may come based on major and minor carrier keywords
other than electrons and holes.
EXAMPLE 2.2 Calculate the thermal equilibrium majority and minority charge carrier
concentration of the n-type silicon material at temperature T = 300° K doped with
phosphorus at a concentration of cm-3.