What distinguishes

semiconductors?
- resistance/resistivity
- crystalline
structure
The resistance
of a bar of material
with dimensions L, W, t:
W

L
R
Wt

Resistivity is:
metals:
< 10-3 -cm
insulators:
>102 -cm
semiconductors: 10-3 -cm < < 102 -cm

Figure 1: Electrical conductivities of some common materials.

2

Conductivity
of
semiconductor
material can be varied over orders
of magnitude by changes in:-temperature
-optical excitation
-impurity content
Periodic table
Column IV Si, Ge Elemental semiconductors
III-V Compound semiconductors example: GaAs
II-VI Compound semiconductors example: CdTe
3

The Portion of Periodic Table

Where Semiconductors Occur

inary compounds: GaAs, GaP, GaN, CdTe, InP etc.

ernary compounds: AlGaAs, GaAsP, HgCdTe, etc.
uaternary compounds: InGaAsP, AlGaInAs, etc.

pplications:
transistors, integrated circuits (Si)
light emitting diodes (LEDs) (GaAs, GaN, GaP)
lasers (AlGaInAs, InGaAsP, GaAs, AlGaAs)
light detectors(Si, InGaAsP, CdSe, InSb, HgCdTe)

Crystal Lattices

olids classified according to atomic arrangement:

Crystalline
Amorphous
Polycrystalline

(a) Crystalline
Polycrystalline

(b) Amorphous

(c)
6

Solid
state
devices
employ
semiconductor materials in all of the
above forms.
Examples:
Amorphous silicon (a-Si) used to make
thin film transistors (TFTs) used as
switching elements in LCDs.
Ploycrystalline Si Gate materials in
MOSFETs.

The atoms making up the CRYSTAL are

arranged in a periodic fashion called
LATTICE.
UNIT CELL is representative of the entire
lattice and is generally repeated throughout
the structure.
PRIMITIVE CELL is the smallest unit cell that
can be repeated to form the lattice.
Crystal lattice determines:
Density of solid (mechanical property)
Allowed energy bands of electrons (electrical
property).
8

Atoms in a Crystal

The Unit Cell Concept

The simplest repeating unit in a crystal
is called a unit cell.
Opposite faces of a unit cell are
parallel.
The edge of the unit cell connects
equivalent points.
Not unique. There can be several unit
cells of a crystal.
The smallest possible unit cell is called
primitive cell of a particular crystal
structure.

Unit Cell

Unit and Primitive Cells

A, B, and C are
primitive unit cells.
Why?
D, E, and F are not.
Why?
Notice: the volumes of
A, B, and C are the
same. Also, the choice
of origin is different,
but it doesnt matter
Also: There is only one
lattice point in the
primitive unit cell.

The 3D Bravais Lattices

In 3D, there are 7
lattice systems,
which give rise to
14 Bravais
lattices
The general
lattice is triclinic,
and all others are
derived from
putting restraints
on the triclinic
lattice

The 14 Bravais Lattices

in 3D
P = primitive
(1 lattice point)
I = Bodycentred (2
lattice pts)
F = Facecentred (4
lattice pts)
C = Sidecentred (2
lattice pts)

Cubic Lattices

Simple (SC)

Body-centered (BCC)

Face-centered (FCC

a lattice constant
All three structures have different
primitive cells, but the same cubic unit
15
cell.

Lattice Maximum
Packing Fraction
As atoms are packed into the lattice in any
of these arrangements (i.e. sc, fcc or bcc),
the distances between neighboring atoms
will be determined by a balance between
the forces that attract them together and
other forces that hold them apart.
We can calculate the maximum fraction of
the lattice volume that can be filled with
atoms by approximating the atoms as
hard spheres.

Lattice Maximum
Packing Fraction
The figure illustrates
the packing of
spheres in a facecentered cubic cell of
side a, such that the
nearest neighbors
touch.
The dimension a for
a cubic unit cell is
called the lattice
constant.

Planes and Directions

Miller indices - A shorthand notation to describe
certain crystallographic directions and planes in a
material. Denoted by [ ], <>, ( ) brackets. A
negative number is represented by a bar over the
number.

Planes and Directions

In discussing crystals it is very helpful to
be able to refer to planes and directions
within the lattice. The notation system
generally adopted uses a set of three
integers to describe the position of a plane
or the direction of a vector within the lattice.
We first set up an xyz coordinate system
with the origin at any lattice point and the
axes are lined up with the edges of the cubic
unit cell.
The three integers describing a particular
plane are found as listed in the next slide.

Planes and Directions

1. Find the intercepts of the plane with the
crystal axes and express these intercepts as
integral multiples of the basis vectors (the
plane can be moved in and out from the
origin, retaining its orientation, until such an
integral intercept is discovered on each
axis).
2. Take the reciprocals of the three integers
found in step 1 and reduce these to the
smallest set of integers h, k, and l, which
have the same relationship to each other as
the three reciprocals.

Example 1.2 (Streetman)

The plane illustrated in
the figure has intercepts
at 2a, 4b and 1c along
the three crystal axes.
Taking the reciprocals of
these intercepts, we get
, and 1.
These
three
fractions
have
the
same
relationship to each other
as the integers 2,1, and 4
(obtained by multiplying
each fraction by 4).
Thus the plane can be

Assignment # 1
Problems 1.1 till 1.5, Neamen (3 rd Ed.)
Problems 1.3 till 1.7, Streetman (6th Ed.)

Due date: 24th Sep 2013

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