Tutorial 1:

Carrier Concentration
1- We define the charge carriers in a semiconductor material as follows:

n = number of electrons/cm3
p = number of holes/cm3

2- In an intrinsic semiconductor under equilibrium conditions, the number of

electrons and holes are equal: n=p=ni

where ni is the intrinsic carrier concentration.

3- The Law of Mass Action tells us that at equilibrium, the product of the
electron concentration and the hole concentration are equal to the square of
the intrinsic carrier concentration: np= ni2

Example 1.1A:
Assume that a piece of silicon at room temperature is doped
with 10^16/cm3 phosphorus atoms. What is the hole concentration in the material?

Example 1.1B:
As the temperature of the semiconductor increases, so does the intrinsic carrier
concentration. At 50C, the intrinsic carrier concentration in Si increases to
approximately 61010/cm3. What is the hole concentration in the material
described above at 50C?
CARRIER DISTRIBUTION
To determine the distribution of carriers as a function of energy within a
semiconductor, we need to know two things:
1- The number of states that are found at a given energy level E. This is given
by the density of states function g(E). Typically, the density of states
function has units of #/eVcm3.
2- The probability that these states are occupied. This is given by the Fermi
function f(E): f(E)=1/{1+exp[(EEF)/kBT]}
where EF is the Fermi energy, kB is the Boltzmann constant, and T is
temperature.
Example 1.2A:
Let's assume that we have an impurity level that is located 0.05eV below the Fermi
level in silicon. What is the probability that this state is occupied at 300K?

Example 1.2B:
Now assume that there are 10^17/cm3 of these impurity atoms in silicon. What is
the concentration of holes, p in the semiconductor under this doping condition (at
room temperature)?

Equilibrium Carrier Concentrations

We determine the equilibrium concentration of electrons and holes by integrating
f(E)g(E)dE and making a few simplifying assumptions:
n=ni exp{(EFEi)/kBT}
p=ni exp{(EiEF)/kBT}
where EF is the Fermi level, Ei is the Fermi level for the intrinsic semiconductor,
kB is the Boltzmann constant, and T is the temperature.
where the intrinsic carrier concentration ni is given as:
Eg
ni= Nc Nv e 2 KBT

where Nc is the effective density of states in the conduction band, and Nv is the
effective density of states in the valence band. Eg is the band gap of the
semiconductor.
Example 1.3A:
Calculate the intrinsic carrier concentration for GaAs at 40C. (For GaAs, the band
gap is 1.42eV, the effective density of states in the conduction band is
410^17cm3, and the effective density of states in the valence band is
910^18cm3.

Example 1.3B:
Now assume that GaAs is doped with ND=10^17/cm3 donor atoms. What is the
location of the Fermi Level at 40C, relative to the intrinsic Fermi level?

POSITION OF Ei
If we know the effective masses of electrons and holes in a semiconductor, we can
determine the position of Ei, the intrinsic Fermi level, relative to midgap:
 Ec + Ev 3
Ei= 2
+ 4 kBT ln (mp/ mn)

where mp is the effective mass of holes and mn is the effective mass of electrons
in the semiconductor.
Effective masses for some important semiconductors at 300K:
Material mn/m0 - mp/m0
Si 1.18 0.81 Ge 0.55 0.36 GaAs 0.066 0.52
where m0 is the rest mass of an electron.

Example 1.4A:
What is the position of Ei relative to midgap for GaAs at room temperature?

Example 1.4B:
Assume that we have a semiconductor where mn=2mp. What is the position of Ei
relative to midgap at 300K?