Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics

University of Calcutta

A Diamond Jubilee Celebration program

Organized by
Radio Physics and Electronics Association (1960)
CAS in Radio Physics and Electronics (1963)
S. K. Mitra Centre for Space weather (2004)
Centre fur TeleInFrastructur (CTIF) -India (2007)
UGC Networking Resource Centre in Physical Sciences (2008)
Centre for Research & Training in Microwave & Millimeterwave Technology (2008)
National MEMS Design Centre (2009)
 Workshop on
Frontiers of Electronics and Communication
at
North Eastern Regional Institute of Science andTechnology
(NERIST),
Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh
August 08, 2007

Modern Semiconductor Materials And Devices

Physics, Technology and Challenges
P. K. Basu

Director, UGC Networking Resource Centre for Physical Science

Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics
University of Calcutta
A Lecture under IEEE National Distinguished Lecture
Programme
 DEVICE PHYSICS

NanoDev - 1

P. K. Basu
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics
92 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road
Kolkata 700 009
 Current Voltage Relation
v
J

A
L

Current density J = Charge crossing unit area per sec.

Consider a bar of cross section area = 1 cm2, length = v cm = velocity of
electrons. Electrons in volume v x 1 cm3 will cross unit area per unit time.
Total no of electrons = n x v x 1; Total charge = nev
J = nev = neµE; v = µE; µ = mobility of electrons ,
E = Electric field = V/length.
I = J xA = neµE x A= neµV(A/L)
V = (1/ ne µ)(L/A) I = RI : Ohm’s law
R = ρL/A ; ρ =(1/σ) = specific resistance; σ = conductivity = neµ.
•What is a Semiconductor?
•Has conductivity between metal(107) and insulator(10-
7
)
•A band gap separates the conduction and valence
bands
•Band gap varies from 0.1 – 3.0 eV; higher gaps
corresponds to insulators
•Typical Semiconductors :
Ge : 0.7 eV : Elemental
Si : 1.1 eV : Elemental
GaAs: 1.43 eV : III-V compound
ZnS : 2.6 : II-VI Compound
InxGa1-xAs : III-V alloy
Si is the most widely used material in electronics/ VLSI
 Semi
condu
ctor

III-V II-VI IV-VI IV-IV MISC

AlAs, BAs GaAs InAs ZnS MgS SnTe PbTe Si

HgS CdS Te
AlP BN GaP InP ZnSe MgSe EuTe PbSe Ge
HgSe CdTe GaSe
AlSb BP GaSb InSb ZnTe MnSe YbTe PbS C
HgTe CdSe CuCl
AlN BSb GaN InN ZnO MnTe SnTe GeTe SiC
 Semiconductor Alloys
• Binary Alloy: Si1-xGex (0 < x <1) ;
•Ternary Alloy : Si1-x-yGexCy ; Ga1-xAlxAs : mixture of GaAs
and AlAs.
• Quaternary Alloy : In1-xGaxAsyP1-y
• Lattice matched system: a (GaAs) = 5.653 Ǻ; a(AlAs) =
5.661Ǻ; mismatch ~0.14% between GaAs and AlAs; lower
between GaAs and AlGaAs.
 Polycrystals
Amorphous Single crystal
Growth of single crystal
of Si

View of finished wafer

of Si
Hydrogen bond Si: Atomic No. 14 : 2 + 8+ 4
electrons. Covalent bonding in Si.
4 outermost electrons shared by 4
nearest neighbours
Pure Si crystal at T > 0K. A bond is broken by thermal energy.
An EHP is created. An el goes from VB to CB. An empty
state(hole) is created in Si crystal. ni = pi = Intrinsic carrier
concentration.
•What is a Semiconductor?
•Has conductivity between metal(107) and insulator(10-7)
•A band gap separates the conduction and valence bands
•Band gap varies from 0.1 – 3.0 eV; higher gaps corresponds to insulators
•The upper band, the CB is empty at 0K and VB is full at 0K.
•Electric field > no e in CB > no flow of e > no current. Similarly at VB all states are full. No e
can gain energy from E-field> no movement of charge> no current. Semiconductor is an
insulator at 0k.
•At higher temperature electrons go from VB to CB. There is an EHP. Now e and h are
accelerated by E-field and current flows.
•J = e(nμn +p μp)E = σE Ohm’s law > Current is proportional to electric field μ = mobility
conductivity.
•Intrinsic (pure) semiconductor: n =p; n ~ exp(-Eg /kBT).
•Intrinsic n or p increases with decrease in gap, increase in T
•N =1.5 x 1010cm-3 at 300 K. No control on n or p or conductivity.
 Current Flow and Conductivity

•Current density J = σ E
•To calculate conductivity of intrinsic Si at
room temperature
•Conductivity σ = e(niμn + piμp) ; μn = 1500 μn =
500;
n = 1.5 x 1010 ; conductivity = 4.8 x 10-6
mho/cm ⇒ very low and cannot be controlled.

HOW TO INCREASE AND CONTROL

CONDUCTIVITY?
Doped /Extrinsic Semiconductors
 Donor and Donor Binding Energy
•Consider pure Si doped with Gr. V atom like P, As etc.
•P atom substitutes a Si atom. 4 electrons out of 5 take part in
bonding process.
•Extra 5th electron rotates around parent nucleus. H – atom
problem – Bohr theory needed.
•Electron mass = effective mass; material permittivity in
Coulomb force.
•Binding energy = 13.6 (m*/m0) (eps0 /eps)2 eV.
•m* = 0.12 m0 ; eps = 16 eps0
•Binding energy ~ 6 meV. < kT at 300 (26 meV)
•P atom easily ionised ⇒ P+ ions + 1 electron ⇒ overall charge
neutrality
•The e goes to CB > one e per P atom
•If P atom = 1015 cm -3, same number of free electrons.
•Conductivity increases by 5 orders!
 Carrier Concentration

3/ 2
1 2mc 
• dN =S c ( E ) dE = 

2π2  2



( E −E c )1 / 2 dE

•n = NC exp[- (EC – EF)/kBT]

• NC = [4√2 (πm*kBT)3/2]/h3 : Effective Density of States
• p = Nv exp[- (EF – EV )/kBT]
• NV = [4√2 (πm*kB T)3/2 ]/h3 : Effective Density of States
• np = ni2
• When n (or ND) = NC , Fermi level touches CB edge: condition
for degeneracy
 Band Structure Calculation
• Kronig Penney model
• Tight binding approximation
• Nearly free electron model
• Pseudopotential method
• k.p perturbation (useful near the band
extrema of semiconductors)
 6 kz
L3 Γ2
4
ky
L1 Γ15
2
X1
Γ25
0 kx
L′3 HH
-2 LH
X4
(111) k 0 k (100)
Constant energy surfaces in
Band Structure of Si CB of Si

L3 E(eV)

4 Γ15
X3
2
L1 Γ1 X1
Γ15
L3
-2
SO X5
k=π/a(111) k=(000) k=2π/a(100)

Band Structure of GaAs

Direct and Indirect Gap Semiconductors

E E
Conduction
band

Eg ħω Eg
ħω

Valence
band

0 k 0 k
 Si ky

3
hh

lh
1

3 1 1 3

kx
Heavy 1
∆
holes
(mLight
*
lh)(m
holes *
)
lh

Split-off 3
holes (m*lh)

(a) (b)

(a) VB structure (b) constant energy surfaces

E k =E k 0 +
(k −k
 x
2
0 x )2
+
(
k y −k 0 y 2 +(k z −k 0 z )2 
.
)
2  ml mt 
 

[
E (k ) = Ak 2 ± B 2 k 4 + C 2 (k x2 k y2 + k y2 k z2 + k z2 k x2 ] 1/ 2
 Scattering Mechanisms
Bulk: Impurity, Phonons, Defects (Alloy Disorder)
QW: Remote Impurity Scattering in MD structures,
Surface Roughness
QWR: Reduced scattering rate for 1 DEG
QD: Phonon bottleneck
 Hot Carrier Phenomena

Velocity saturation, ndr, velocity overshoot and ballistic transport

 DEVICE PHYSICS: Fundamentals

P. K. Basu
Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics
92 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road
Kolkata 700 009
p-n junction
METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD
EFFECT TRANISTORS

MOSFETs
 Classification
•Enhancement mode : n channel , p channel
•Depletion mode: n channel, p channel
CMOS INVERTER
Isub = μ0 Cox (W/L)(m-1)(VT)2 exp[(VG –VT)/mkT] x [ 1 – exp(- Vds/kT)]
m = 1 + (Cdm/Cox)
Lower VT increases subthreshold leakage current. Vds has little effect on
subthreshold current.
Trends of power supply voltage of CMOS
 MOSFET: The Leaky Switch

Subthreshold leakage (Isub) Gate tunneling leakage (Igate)

Dominant when device is
OFF.
Enhanced by reduced VT
due to process scaling
Due to aggressive scaling
of the gate oxide layer
thickness (Tox)
A super exponential
function of Tox
Comparable to Isub at 90nm
technology
Power consumption vs supply for a CMOS
gate using bulk and SOI CMOS devices
Power Explosion

IEDM 2003
 Leakage Power

A. Grove, IEDM 2002

Leakage power limits Vt scaling

 Leakage Current Components

I1 = pn reverse bias current I4 = Hot carrier injection

I2 = Weak Inversion I5 = GIDL
I3 = Gate oxide tunneling I6 = DIBL
Cross section of bulk and SOI MOS
devices
 Quantum Size
Effect
• Free Electron, ψ ~ eikx (2) Confine the electron
Let us take E ~ 10 meV (Particle in a box
De Broglie Wavelength, L << λ ~ 100 Å)
2 2
k h 1 2
nπx
E= = 2 Ψ ~ A sin
2m λ 2m L
2
h 2
 nπ 
λ= En =  
2mE 2m  L 
λ ~ 500 Å n =1, E1 = 56 meV
n = 2, E2 = 224 meV
m = 0.067 mo m = 0.067 mo, L = 100 Å
SEM of a 8 nm wide Quantum Wire
 Band bending and subbands at Si-SiO2 interface
To CB of SiO2

High gate voltage→ triangular potential →

e motion quantized → predicted by
Schrieffer → verified in Si MOSFET by
IBM in 1966
Classical and QM electron distribution
Surface potential shift with QM effect
(dashed line)
Different Tunneling Processes through Thin
Gate
 Different Forms of FETs

(a) MOSFET (b) FIN FET (c ) Nano Wire FET (d) Vertical NWFET: complete
uniform wrap-around gate (e) Array of Vertical NWFETs as in (d).
C. Thelander, Materials Today, vol. 9, no. 10, p. 28 (2006)
 High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs)

Modulation doped
or GaAs

Or AlGaAs

The 2DEG in GaN is separated from impurity ions in AlGaN. Reduced Coulomb
scattering leads to mobility enhancement. The text-book examples deal with
AlGaAs/GaAs modulation doped single heterojunction.
Resonant Tunneling Diodes
 QCA – The Four Dot Device

• Uses electrons in cells to store and transmit data

– Electrons move between different positions via
electron tunneling
• Logic functions performed by Coulombic interactions
Carbon Nanotubes between Metal Electrodes
 References
1. B G Streetman and S. Banerjee: Solid State Electronic Devices, 5th edn,
Prentice Hall, NJ, 2000 (Indian edn)
2. D. A. Neamen, Semiconductor Physics and Devices: Basic Principles, 3rd
edn, McGraw-Hill, Boston , 2003 (Indian edn)
3. Sima Dimitrijev, Principles of Semiconductor Devices, Oxford Univ. Press,
NY, 2006 (Indian edn)
4. M. Shur, Introduction to Electronic Devices, Wiley, NY, 1996.
5. J. Singh, Semiconductor Devices: An Introduction, McGraw-hill, NY,
1994.
6. J. Singh, Semiconductor Devices: Basic Principles, Wiley, NY, 2001.
7. B. R. Nag, Theory of Electrical Conduction in Semiconductors, Pergamon,
UK, 1972.
8. B. R. Nag, Electron conduction in compound semiconductors, Springer,
Berlin, 1980.
 References (contd)

• M Balkanski and R F Wallis (2000) Semiconductor Physics and Applications, Oxford

Univ Presss, Oxford UK.
• P K Basu (2003) Theory of Optical Processes in Semiconductors: Bulk and
Microstructures, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.
• G Bastard (1988) Wave mechanics Applied to Semiconductor Heterostructures, Les
Editions de Physique, Les Ulis.
• C Weisbuch and B Vinter (1991) Quantum Semiconductor Structures, Academic, San
Diego
• V Mitin, M A Strocio and Kochelap (1999) Quantum Heterostructures, John Wiley,
NY.
• B K Ridley (2000) Quantum Processes in Semiconductors, 5th edition, Clarendon
Press, Oxford,
• Paul Harrison (2000) Quantum Wells, Wires and Dots: Theoretical and
Computational Physics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK.
• Omar Manasreh (2005).Semiconductor Heterojunctions and Nanostructures, McGraw
Hill, NY.
• John H. Davies (1998) The Physics of Low-Dimensional Semiconductors: An
Introduction, Cambridge Univ Press , Cambridge, UK.
• Jasprit Singh (2003) Electronic and optoelectronic properties of semiconductor
structures, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, New York.
• R A Smith (1964) Semiconductors, Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK.