CHAPTER 2 (ANDERSON)

Homogeneous Semiconductor
SEMICONDUCTOR FUNDAMENTALS
COVALENT BONDINGS

Neighboring atoms
share their outermost
electrons with each
other.

Eg. : Silicon atom

share the electrons in
the third shell with
another 4 Si atoms in
order to stabilize.
SEMICONDUCTOR FUNDAMENTALS
ENERGY BANDS

Discrete states of the isolated atoms broadened into energy bands.

Eg. : In Si case, the third shell splits into two bands in crystalline Si. The lower band is
called the valence band, and the upper band is called the conduction band, which is split off
from the valence band by an energy of 1.12 eV (band gap)
 SEMICONDUCTOR FUNDAMENTALS
ENERGY BANDS
Electron affinity Ionization energy

Conduction
band edge
(lowest energy)

Energy gap

Valence band edge

(highest energy)

• Electron affinity : Energy difference between the vacuum level and the vacant state of the
lowest energy.
• Ionization energy : minimum energy required to excite an electron from the top of valence
band to the vacuum level.
• Energy gap / band gap : minimum energy required to excite an electron from valence band
to conduction band.
SEMICONDUCTOR FUNDAMENTALS
ENERGY BANDS

Electrons need to be at the conduction band in order to conduct current.

Conductivity of these materials depends on the width of their energy gap.
BAND STRUCTURE OF SEMICONDUCTOR
BANDGAP & MATERIAL CLASSIFICATION
Example of semiconductor
Metals – Insulators – Semiconductors:
at room temperature:
classified based on the band gap
GaAs EG = 1.42 eV
Metals : very narrow/ overlapping EV and EC
Si EG = 1.12 eV
Insulators: very wide band gap.
Ge EG = 0.66 eV
Semiconductors : EG in between metal and insulator
BAND STRUCTURE OF SEMICONDUCTOR
ENERGY BAND MODEL

• Energy band diagram shows the bottom edge of conduction band (CB), Ec and
the top edge of valence band (VB) EV.
• Ec and Ev are separated by the band gap energy Eg.

BANDGAP

• EG = Energy required to cross the band gap in the energy band model
= Energy required to break a bond in the bonding model

• EG = EC -EV
BAND STRUCTURE OF SEMICONDUCTOR

ELECTRONS IN CONDUCTION BAND (CB) , HOLES IN VALENCE BAND (VB)

• Electrons must be in the CB to be carriers. Electrons in VB are not carriers.

• Empty states or holes in VB are carriers. Empty states in CB are not holes, thus, not
carriers.

Electrons in CB Holes in VB
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
• “Intrinsic” – extremely pure semiconductor material. The electrons and holes of
intrinsic semiconductors are from the semiconductor material itself.

• Terms:
n0 = number of electrons/cm3
p0 = number of holes/cm3

• Intrinsic material in equilibrium:

n0 = p0 = ni Electron and hole created simultaneously.

• Intrinsic material electron concentration, ni, (/cm3) represents the number of

electrons (/cm3) that are carriers. ni are the number of electrons /cm3 that are excited
by temperature and have entered the conduction band from the
valence band.

• ni typical values at room temperature:

2 x 106 / cm3 for GaAs
1 x 1010/ cm3 for Si
2 x 1013/ cm3 for Ge
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
• At 0 K, no excitation

• Bonding model shows

all bonds not broken

•Energy band model

shows valence band
completely filled

Energy
Band
Model

Bonding Model
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
When there is excitation
According to bonding model: Si-si bond is
ELECTRONS AS CARRIERS broken. Electron is freed and free to wander
within crystal. Electron is now a carrier.

According to energy band model: Electron in

valence band acquires enough energy to
overcome the band gap and jumps into the
conduction band. Electrons in the
conduction band are carriers.

When there is a free electron,

According to bonding model: nearby shared
electrons fill in the broken bond, leaving a
broken bond. The moving broken bond hole.

According to energy band model: when

electrons leave the valence band, an empty state is
left and are filled in by nearby valence electron.
Empty states in the valence band are holes.
 INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRON AND HOLE DISTRIBUTION WITH ENERGY

Ef = Ei n=p

Intrinsic Material
•Distribution is zero at band edges
•Reaches peak value close to band edges then decays to zero into the band
•Near midgap, electrons and holes approximately equal
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

The intrinsic concentration is too small a number to cause satisfactory current flow.

Consider silicon: Just to illustrate

• ni 1 x 1010 means 1 x 1010 broken bonds
• Volume density 5 x 1022 atoms/ cm3
• Each atom has 4 bonds
• 1 cm3 has 2 x 1023 bonds, of which 1 x 1010 are broken
• Less than 1 broken bond for each 1013 bond

To achieve a desired carrier concentration, impurities are put

into the materials making it extrinsic.
EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

• Doping: process of adding controlled amount of specific impurity atoms to increase n

or p
• Dopants to increase n are called DONORS.
• Dopants to increase p are called ACCEPTORS.
• For group IV s/c material, donors from group V, acceptors from group III
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
n-type s/c (DONORS impurities)

Bonding Model :
•Column V – 5 valence electrons. 4 fits, 1 weakly bound.
•At room temp, weakly bound electron is readily freed as a carrier
•Electron concentration increases.
•Hole concentration does not increase.
•No increase, no bonds broken.
•Donor ion is “ionized”. +vely charged.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
n-type s/c (DONORS impurities)

Energy Band Model :

•Column V element adds ED close to conduction band
• At T=0 K, ED filled with electrons from donor
• At room temp, electrons at ED have sufficient energy to (all) enter the
conduction band.
• Electrons in conduction band are carriers hence n increases
• No increase in p. Electrons from ED do not leave empty states in the
valence band.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
p-type (ACCEPTORS impurities)

Bonding Model :
•Column III – 3 electrons. 3 fits in. One more. Missing bond.
•At room temp, nearby valence electrons fill in the bond, leaving a broken bond.
•Hole concentration increases.
•Electron concentration does not increase. No increase. Broken bond does not free an
•electron.
•Acceptor ion “ionized”. Becomes –vely charged.

Note that the electrons and holes are carriers and are free to move within the crystal. However, the donor ions and
acceptor ions are fixed and are not free to move – the ions are not carriers.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
p-type (ACCEPTORS impurities)

Energy Band Model :

•Column III element adds EA close to valence band
•At T=0 K, EA empty
•At room temp, electrons in valence band have sufficient energy to fill up EA but this
electrons are not carriers.
•However, the electrons filling up EA leaves behind empty states in the valence band
thus creating holes i.e. p increase.
•No increase in n. Electrons in EA are not carriers. Only electrons inconduction band
are considered carriers.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
HOW DO ELECTRONS AND HOLES POPULATE THE SEMICONDUCTOR

Allowed states refer to

where the electrons are
allowed to be along the
energy levels

Density of states S(E) show how the allowed states are distributed in the valence band
and in the conduction band.
S(E) represents number of allowed states per unit volume per unit energy around energy
E ie. the density of states at energy E
In the bandgap, the density of states are zero.
Presence of states does not mean presence of electrons
Fermi -Dirac probability function f(E) is the probability that an electron occupies a
given state at energy E in an allowed band.

How many states exist at Probability the state at

energy E
S(E) f(E) energy E will be filled
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
DENSITY STATE OF FUNCTIONS
The equations representing the two graphs are:

From the graph,

In conduction band, S(E) is zero at EC
In valence band, S(E) is zero at EV
Deeper into the band, S(E) increases with
square root of energy

Now that we know how and where the allowed states

are situated, we need to know probability of the
existence of electrons and holes at the conduction band, valence band
and bandgap. Only then can we know how the
electrons and holes are distributed.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
FERMI-DIRAC STATISTIC
Now that we know the number of available states at
each energy, how do the electrons occupy these
states?
We need to know how the electrons are “distributed
in energy”.
Again, Quantum Mechanics tell us that the electrons
follow the “Fermi-Distribution Function”
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
FERMI-DIRAC STATISTIC
E5
EF

E4

E3

E2

E1

As T=0 K : As T=0 K :

Consider when E<Ef • A quantum state being occupied in energy

[(E-Ef)/kT]→exp(-∞)=0 resulting f(E)=1 level E1-E4 is unity
• E5 is zero
Consider when E>Ef • Ef must be above E4 and less than E5
[(E-Ef)/kT]→exp(∞)= ∞ resulting f(E)=0

Fermi level EF is not an allowed and existing energy level. It is conceptual, and it
is created to allow mathematical calculation of the electron and hole distribution.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
FERMI-DIRAC STATISTIC

E5

E4
E3
E2

E1

When T > 0K
•Electron gain thermal energy so that some electrons can jump to higher energy level.
•Two electron from E4 have gained enough energy to jump to E5 and one from E3 to E4
•As temperature change the distribution of electrons versus energy changes.
•E=Ef resulting f(E)= 1/2
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRON AND HOLE DISTRIBUTION WITH ENERGY

Extrinsic: n-type material Extrinsic: p-type material

•Distribution is zero at band edges •Distribution is zero at band edges
•Reaches peak value close to band edges then •Reaches peak value close to band edges then
decays to zero into the band decays to zero into the band
•Above midgap, electrons more than holes •Below midgap, holes more than electrons
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRON AND HOLE DISTRIBUTION WITH ENERGY

The electron and hole distribution

n(E)= S(E)f(E)
p(E)=S(E)[1-f(E))=S(E)fp(E)

The total number of electron in CB / hole in VB, at equilibrium is :

S
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRON AND HOLE DISTRIBUTION WITH ENERGY

The total number of electron in CB / hole in VB, in terms of Nc nd Nv

•| no= equilibrium electron concentration/ cm3

o •| NC= “Effective” density of CB states
•| NV= “Effective” density of VB states
•| po= equilibrium hole concentration/ cm3
•| EC-EF= distance of Fermi level from edge of CB
o •| EV-EF= distance of Fermi level from edge of VB

Remember :
The closer Ef moves up to Ec, the larger n is;
The closer Ef moves down to Ev, the larger p is.
 CARRIER CONCENTRATION
For INTRINSIC semiconductor :

no = po = ni and Ei = Ef then :

n0 =

p0 =

NON--
For NON ( Ec + Ev ) kT N v
Ei = + ln
DEGENERATE 2 2 Nc
semiconductor :
( Ec + Ev ) 3  m * dsh 
Ei = + kT ln 
2 4  m * dse 
CARRIER CONCENTRATION
 DEGENERATE & NON-DEGENERATE

nopo=ni2 Nondegenerate semiconductor

Known as Law of Mass Action

•A semiconductor is said to be nondegenerate if the

probability of any state in the conduction band being
occupied by an electron is small, or the probability of
any state in the valence band being occupied by an
hole is small.
•Then implies that the Fermi level is at least 2.3kt
below the conduction band edge and at least 2.3kT
above the valence band edge.
*2.3kT or 3 kT
 CARRIER CONCENTRATION
NON--DEGENERATE semiconductor :
For NON

For n-type semiconductor, as long as ND >> ni,

we can make the approximation that
no ≅ND when ND>>ni

Similar to p-type material, as long as NA >> ni,

we can make the approximation that

 no  po ≅NA when NA>>ni

E f − Ei = kT ln 
 ni 
No increase , so does Ef - Ei
Wheter the material is doped n-type or p-type,
however, as long as the doping level is not
degenerate, it is still true that

nopo=ni2
CARRIER CONCENTRATION
Carrier concentrations at high temperature (total ionization) non-
degenerate semiconductor

Space charge neutrality :

p0+ND=no+NA po-no+ND-NA=0

For n-type: For p-type:

majority carrier : majority carrier :

1
1
N D − N A  N D − N A  
2 2
N A − N D  N A − N D  
2 2
no = +   + ni 
2
po = +   + ni 
2
2  2   2  2  

Minority carrier for both n and p-type using : nopo= ni2

CARRIER CONCENTRATION
CARRIER CONCENTRATION
Carrier concentrations at low temperature non-degenerate
semiconductor

Space charge neutrality :

p0+ND +pA =no+NA + nD

po+ pA – no - nD+ND-NA=0

pA= hole still attached to the acceptor

nD= un-ionized donor
 DEGENERATE & NON-DEGENERATE
N: Non-degenerate s/c dopant atoms are far apart enough to assume there is no
interaction between dopant atoms.
D: The states for the higher donor levels can overlap if the doping concentration is high
enough (dopant atoms close enough together).

N: Condition for non-degenerate:EC-EF>2.3kT and EF-EV>2.3kT.

D: When EC-EF and EF-EV is less than 2.3kT, the semiconductor is “heavily” doped @
degenerate.

N: Maximum non-degenrate doping for silicon:

ND ~1.6x1018 / cm3
NA ~ 9.1x1017 / cm3

D: Degenerate s/c are heavily doped, often noted by n+ or p+. The heavier a s/c is
doped, the closer EF gets to the band edges. If the Fermi level is closer than 2.3kT to
band edges than almost all the formulas that has been introduced for carrier
concentration is not applicable.
 CARRIER CONCENTRATION
For COMPENSATED semiconductor :

Semiconductor that contain both donors and acceptors are called “compensated semiconductor”.

Uncompensated semiconductor refers to a material with single doping, or single dominant doping.

For uncompensated semiconductor, no=ND-NA ND>NA n type Majority

•| if doped with ND, n0=ND
po=NA-ND NA>ND p type carrier
•| if doped with NA, p0=NA

For compensated semiconductor,

•| If ND>NA, n-type compensated nopo=ni2 Minority carrier
•| If NA>ND, p-type compensated

It is assumed that doping concentration is much greater than the intrinsic carrier concentration. ND-
NA or NA-ND.>>ni

Example: In device fabrication of BJT ~ n-type is next doped with p then next with n.