SEMICONDUTORS Materials

Conductors

Semiconductors

Insulators

Conduction Band Conduction Band Valence Band Small Forbidden Energy Band Valence Band

Conduction Band Large Forbidden Energy Band Valence Band

Both the Bands Overlaps

For Germanium the forbidden energy gap is 0.7eV and for silicon it is 1.1eV. In semiconductors the conductivities are of the order of 102 mho-metre. For insulators the forbidden energy gap > 3eV. Types of semiconductors based on origin 1. Elemental semiconductors: Semiconductors in natural form (Si, Ge) 2. Compound Semiconductors I. Inorganic Semiconductors: Cds, GaAs, CdSe, Inp, etc. II. Organic Semiconductors: Anthracene, doped pthalocyanines, etc. III. Organic polymers semiconductors: polypyrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.

In semiconductors the valence band is totally filled and the conduction band is empty, but the forbidden energy gap is very small. The semiconductors at 0K behaves as insulators, however at room temperature, some electrons in the valence band acquire thermal energy greater that the band gap energy and jump over to the conduction band, where they are free to move under the influence of external electric field. When an electron breaks away from a covalent bond, the empty place or the vacancy left in the bond is called a hole. In intrinsic semiconductors the electrons and the holes are created in pairs. On application of external field the free electron and the holes moves in opposite direction in the semiconductor crystal. The number of free electrons in the conduction band and the holes in the valence band are exactly equal.
n e = n h = n i , where ni is the number density of intrinsic carriers (electrons or holes) in a pure

semiconductor. [Note: For extrinsic semiconductors n e xnh = ni ]

The electrical conduction in the semiconductors is caused by the motion of the electrons in the conduction band and the holes in the valence band.
I = I e + Ih ,

For pure semiconductors at room temperature, the current strength is weak. Doping: It is the process of deliberate addition of impurities to intrinsic semiconductors in order to increase its conductivity in a controlled manner. A doped semiconductor is called an extrinsic semiconductors. They are of two types: n-type semiconductor, p-type semiconductor. n-type semiconductors: When a pure semiconductor of Si or Ge with valency four is doped with pentavalent impurities like Arsenic or Phosphorus. The four of the five valency electrons of the impurity atom forms covalent bond with the adjoining four atoms in the silicon crystal thus leaving one free electron. Thus each impurity atom donates one free electron to the crystal structure. Hence these impurity atoms are called donor atoms and since the electrical conductions takes place due to these donated electrons the resulting semiconductor is called a donor type or n-type semiconductor. Electrons are the majority charge carriers in the n-type semiconductors. n-type semiconductor as a whole is electrically neutral. When we add pentavalent impurity in an intrinsic semiconductor, the Fermi level in the forbidden energy gap shifts very close to the conduction band. If the doping is very large Fermi level may move into the conduction band. A very small energy can excite the electrons from the donor level to the conduction band, hence by doping the conductivity of semiconductor is increased. p-type semiconductor: When a pure semiconductor of Si or Ge with valency four is doped with trivalent impurities like Gallium, Indium or Boron, the three valence electrons of the impurity atom forms three covalent bonds with the adjoining Si atoms leaving one incomplete covalent bond due to deficiency of an electron. This electron moves to the conduction band thereby leaving a vacancy called hole. An electron moving from Si-Si bond to fill the vacancy leaves a hole behind. In this way the holes moves in the crystal. The trivalent impurities are called acceptor atoms and the conductions of electricity takes place due to the motion of the holes and hence the resulting semiconductor is called acceptor type or ptype semiconductor. Holes are the majority charge carriers in the p-type semiconductors. p-type semiconductor as a whole is electrically neutral. When we add trivalent impurity in an intrinsic semiconductor, the Fermi level in the forbidden energy gap shifts very close to the valence band. If the doping is very large Fermi level may move into the valence band. At room temperature, due to thermal energy the electrons from the valence band are transferred to the acceptor level, thus producing large number of holes in the valence band. On application of external electric field the holes in the p-type semiconductor acts as carriers of current. Note: n-type semiconductor is better than p-type semiconductor as electrons have more mobility than the holes. For a given applied voltage, current conduction in n-type is more than p-type semiconductor.