ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND

INTEGRATED CIRCUITS (EL2006)

Last few classes

# Drift of carriers in electric and magnetic fields

Drift and resistance : Evaluating expression for resistivity Effect of temperature and doping on mobility : Effect of impurity and lattice scattering High field effects : What happens, if field is increased beyond a limit. Hall Effect : Useful effect, which helps in getting to know a couple of parameters

L 1 R w.t w.t

.L

# Invariance of the Fermi level at equilibrium

f1 ( E) = f2 ( E )
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Todays Class
New

Chapter Excess Carriers in Semiconductors : Introduction

Optical absorption Luminescence

EXCESS CARRIERS IN
SEMICONDUCTORS

Most semiconductor devices operate by the creation of charge carriers in excess of the thermal equilibrium values.

These excess carriers can be created by

Can be injected across a forward biased pn junction.

or
Optical excitation Electron bombardment

OPTICAL ABSORPTION
* Good technique for measurement of band gap of a material Two possible cases arise when light of some particular wave length is shone on a sample. h Eg h < Eg

Will be abosrbed in SC

Will be transmitted through SC.

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OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.)

OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.)

If a beam of photons with h > Eg falls on a semiconductor, then a predictable amount of absorption is going to occur. Ratio of transmitted light to incident light will depend on 1. Photon wavelength 2. Thickness of sample

We wish to find out a formal mathematical relationship for this dependence !!

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OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.)

Let us assume : Intensity of the incident photon beam directed on the sample ( photons / cm2 s ) = I0

Thickness of sample : l
Wavelength of light :

OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.)

As the beam passes through the sample, its intensity at a distance x from the surface can be calculated by considering the probability of absorption within any increment dx.

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OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.) Degradation of the intensity [dI (x) / dx] is proportional to the intensity remaining at x : -dI (x) / dx = . I (x)

=> I (x) = I0 . e- x
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And hence the intensity of light transmitted through the sample thickness l is

It = I0

-. l e
1

is called the absorption coefficient (cm

). will depend upon photon wavelength and the material.

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OPTICAL ABSORPTION ( Contd.)

E = hC / = 1.24 /
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Band gaps of some common semiconductors relative to the optical spectrum

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Luminescence
When electron hole pairs are generated in a semiconductor, or when carriers are excited into higher impurity levels, from which they fall to their equilibrium states, light can be given off by the material. Many of the semiconductors are well suited for light emission, particularly the compound semiconductors with direct band gaps. This general property of light emission is called luminescence.

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Luminescence (contd.)
electroluminescence * If carriers are cathodoluminescence *If the excitation excited by occurs by the photon *If the excited introduction of absorption, carriers are a current into created by a sample, high energy electron bombardment of the material, Photoluminescence
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Photoluminescence ( Contd.)
Fluorescence
Fast process. Emission of photons stops after approx. 10-8 sec after excitation is turned off.

Phosphorescence
Persists for a longer time . Main reason behind that recombination occurs through traps.

Reason behind : Direct recombination. Applications : Fluorescent lamp

Applications : TV Picture tube

Material : ZnS
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Carrier recombination and generation

Explanation of phenomenon of phosphorescence

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NEXT CLASS
Carrier life time and photoconductivity
Direct recombination of electrons and holes
Indirect recombination: Trapping

Steady state carrier generation; quasi Fermi levels

Photoconductive devices

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Thanks
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