Semiconductors

Fundamental Solid-State Principles

Introduction
A semiconductor is a material that is neither a
good conductor nor a good insulator, but
rather, lies in between the two. In their purest
form, semiconductors have few applications
in electronics.
However, when the characteristics of a pure
semiconductor are altered through a process
known as doping, many useful electronic
devices can be developed.
Outline
1. atomic theory
2. doping
3. pn junction
4. bias
1. Atomic theory
Atom
Bohr model
Atomic Theory
Valence shell
outermost shell
Determines the conductivity of the atom
Can contain up to 8 e-

Atomic theory
1 valence e-  perfect conductor
8 valence e-  insulator
4 valence e-  semiconductor

Conductivity decreases with an increase in the
number of valence electrons.
Semiconductors
Silicon (Si) - 14
Germanium (Ge) - 32
Carbon (C) – 6

Carbon is used primarily in the production of
resistors and potentiometers.
Silicon is commonly used than germanium
because it is more tolerant of heat.
Charge and conduction
 The net charge of an atom is zero.
 Positive net charge
 Negative net charge
 Fundamental laws
 Electrons travel in orbital shells
 Each orbital shell relates to a specific energy range
(Which orbital electrons have higher energy levels?)
 For an electron to jump from its shell to one having a
higher energy level, it must absorb enough energy to
make up the difference between the energy levels of
the two shells.
 If an electron absorbs enough energy to jump from one
shell to another, it will eventually give up the energy
it absorbed and return to a lower-energy shell.

Energy gaps
 Energy gap – difference between energy levels of any two orbital
shells
 For conductors, semiconductors, and insulators, the valence to
conduction-band energy gaps are approximately 0.4, 1.1, and 1.8
eV.
 The higher the energy gap, the harder it is to cause conduction.
(Why?)
 Excited state
Covalent bonding
 Covalent bonding – a means of holding atoms together by
sharing valence electrons.
 The atoms are held together, forming a solid substance.
 The atoms are electrically stable, because their valence shells
are complete.
 The completed valence shells cause the silicon to act as an
insulator.  Thus, intrinsic (pure) silicon or germanium is a
very poor conductor.
Why is silicon more often used than
germanium?
At room temperature, a silicon crystal has
fewer free electrons than a germanium.
Hence, silicon is a better insulator ( desirable
characteristic).

How about carbon?
Conduction
Hole  a gap in the covalent bond
Electron-hole pair  a free electron and its
matching valence band hole
Recombination  when a free electron returns
to the valence shell
Lifetime  the time from electron-hole pair
generation to recombination
Conduction versus Temperature
At room temperature, thermal energy (heat)
causes the constant creation of electron-hole
pairs, with their subsequent recombination.
A semiconductor always has some number of
free electrons even when no voltage is
applied to the element.
temperature, free electrons
-273 degree Celsius  absolute zero
!!!Conductivity in a semiconductor varies
directly with temperature.
SECTION REVIEW
1.What are the 3 particles that make up the atom?
2.What is the relationship between the number of
valence electrons and the conductivity of a
given element?
3.How many valence e- are there in a conductor? An
insulator? A semiconductor?
4.What 3 semiconductor elements are most
commonly used in electronics?
5.What are the relationships between electrons and
orbital shells ?
6.What is an energy gap? What are the energy gap
values for insulators, semiconductors, and
conductors?
7.What forms of energy are given off by an electron
that is falling into the valence band from the
SECTION REVIEW
8. What is covalent bonding?
9. What are the effects of covalent bonding on

intrinsic semiconductor materials?

10. What is an electron-hole pair?

11. What is recombination?

12. How long is the typical lifetime of an

electron-hole pair?
13. What is the relationship between

temperature and conductivity?

14. Why aren’t electron-hole pairs generated in

a semiconductor when its temperature drops

to absolute zero?
2. Doping
Doping – process of adding impurity atoms to
intrinsic silicon or germanium to improve the
conductivity of the semiconductor.
Extrinsic – impure
Two element types used for doping
 Trivalent (acceptor atoms)
 Pentavalent (donor atoms)
P-type material
N-type material
Doping elements
Trivalent impurities Pentavalent impurities
Aluminum (Al) Phosphorus (P)
Gallium (Ga) Arsenic (As)
Boron (B) Antimony (Sb)
Indium (In) Bismuth (Bi)
N-type vs P-type materials
N-type materials
 Pentavalent + intrinsic = n-type
 N-type materials are still electrically neutral!
 Majority carriers: conduction band/free electrons
 Minority carriers: valence band holes

P-type materials
oTrivalent + intrinsic = p-type
oMajority carriers : hole
oMinority carriers: free electrons
oP-type materials are still electrically neutral!
Section review
1.What is doping? Why is it necessary?
2.What is an impurity element?
3.What are trivalent and pentavalent elements?
4.Despite their respective characteristics, n-type
and p-type materials are still electrically
neutral. Why?
5.In what ways are n-type and p-type materials
similar? In what ways are they different?
1-3 The PN Junction
n-type + p-type = useful pn junction
Diffusion results:
 One net + charge in the n-type material
 One net – charge in the p-type material

Depletion layer
 At a large-scale picture:
 Each electron that diffuses across the
junction leaves one positively charged
bond in the n-type material and produces
one negatively charged bond in the p-type
material.
 Both conduction-band electrons (free
electrons) and valence-band holes are
needed for conduction through the
materials.
When an electron diffuses across a
junction, the n-type material lost a
conduction-band electron. When the
electrons fall into a hole in the p-type
material, the material has lost a
valence band- hole.
Both bonds have been depleted of
charge carriers.
Section review
1.What is the overall charge on an n-type
covalent bond that has just given up a
conduction-band electron?
2.What is the overall charge on an p-type
covalent bond that has just accepted an
extra valence-band electron?
3.Describe the forming of the depletion layer.
4.What is barrier potential? What causes it?
1-4 Bias
A PN junction is useful because we can control
the width of the depletion layer.
By controlling the depletion layer width, we
control the resistance, thus we can control the
amount of current that can pass through a
device.
 dep. layer width, resistance, junction current
  dep. layer width, resistance, junction current
Bias – potential applied to a pn junction to
obtain a desirable mode of operation.
Bias
Two types:
 Forward bias
 Reverse bias
Forward bias – potential used to reduce the
resistance of the pn junction
Reverse bias – potential used to increase the
resistance of the pn junction
Forward Bias
 When the applied voltage causes the n-type material to
be more negative than the p-type material.
 Allows current to pass
 Majority carriers in the n-type and p-type materials are
pushed toward the junction.
 Minority carriers in the n-type and p-type materials are
drawn away from the junction.
Forward bias
 Bulk resistance
 combined resistance of the n-type and p-type
materials in a FB pn junction
 Typically in the range of 5 ohms or less
 Forward voltage (VF)
 Voltage across a FB pn junction
 0.7 v for silicon
 0.3 v for germanium
 Two ways of forward biasing a pn junction:
 By applying a potential to the n-material that
drives it more negative than the p-material
 By applying a potential to the p-material that
drives it more positive than the n-material
Reverse bias
 When the applied potential causes the n-type material to be
more positive than the p-type material.
 Depletion layer becomes wider, junction current reduced to
near zero
 Majority carriers in the n-type and p-type materials are
drawn away from the junction
 Minority carriers in the n-type and p-type materials are
pushed toward the junction
 Diffusion current
 Majority carrier current during the time the depletion
layer is growing



Reverse bias
Two ways to reverse bias a junction:
 By applying a potential to the n-type material
that drives it more positive than the p-type
material
 By applying a potential to the p-type material
that drives it more negative than the n-type
material
Bottom line
Bias type Junction Junction
polarities resistance

Forward N-type is more Extremely low

(-) than p-type

reverse P-type is more Extremely high

(-) than n-type
Final Note
Silicon is more tolerant of heat and more
abundant than germanium. It is also a better
insulator than germanium (at room
temperature)
Germanium oxide is water soluble, making
germanium more difficult to process than
silicon.
When heated, silicon readily produces silicon
dioxide, which is critical to the production of
integrated circuits. Germanium lacks any
comparable property.
Section review
1.What are the resistance and current
characteristics of a pn junction when its
depletion layer is at its maximum width? Its
minimum width?
2.What purpose is served by the use of bias?
3.What effect does forward bias have on
depletion layer width of a pn junction?
4.What is the junction resistance of a FB pn
junction?
5.What are the approximate values of VF for FB Si
and Ge pn junctions?
Section review
6.List the commonly used methods for forward
biasing a pn junction?
7.What effect does reverse bias have on the
depletion layer width of a pn junction?
8.What is the junction resistance of a reverse-
biased pn junction?
9.List the commonly used methods for reverser
biasing a pn junction.
10.Why is silicon more commonly used than the
germanium in the production of solid-state
components?
11.
12.