Semiconductor Materials Covalent Bonding and Intrinsic Materials Energy Levels Extrinsic Materials Semiconductor Diodes 2 6 Semiconductor Material Semiconductors are a special class of elements having a conductivity between that of a good conductor and that of an insulator.
They are fall into two classes : single crystal and compound Single crystal e.g Ge and Si Compound e.g GaAs , GaN, GaAsP, and CdS
13 Al 14 Si 15 P 16 S 17 Cl 18 Ar 4 19 K 20 Ca 21 Sc 22 Ti 23 V 24 Cr 25 Mn 26 Fe 27 Co 28 Ni 29 Cu 30 Zn 31 Ga 32 Ge 33 As 34 Se 35 Br 36 Kr 5 37 Rb 38 Sr 39 Y 40 Zr 41 Nb 42 Mo 43 Tc 44 Ru 45 Rh 46 Pd 47 Ag 48 Cd 49 In 50 Sn 51 Sb 52 Te 53 I 54 Xe 6 55 Cs 56 Ba *
72 Hf 73 Ta 74 W 75 Re 76 Os 77 Ir 78 Pt 79 Au 80 Hg 81 Tl 82 Pb 83 Bi 84 Po 85 At 86 Rn 7 87 Fr 88 Ra **
104 Rf 105 Db 106 Sg 107 Bh 108 Hs 109 Mt 110 Ds 111 Rg 112 Uub 113 Uut 114 Uuq 115 Uup 116 Uuh 117 Uus 118 Uuo
* Lanthanides 57 La 58 Ce 59 Pr 60 Nd 61 Pm 62 Sm 63 Eu 64 Gd 65 Tb 66 Dy 67 Ho 68 Er 69 Tm 70 Yb 71 Lu ** Actinides 89 Ac 90 Th 91 Pa 92 U 93 Np 94 Pu 95 Am 96 Cm 97 Bk 98 Cf 99 Es 100 Fm 101 Md 102 No 103 Lr Single crystal e.g Ge and Si Compound e.g GaAs , GaN, GaAsP, and CdS Historical Diode, in 1939 was using Ge Transistor, in 1947 was using Ge In1954 Si was used in Transistor because Si is less temperature sensitive and abundantly available. High speed transistor was using GaAs in 1970 (which is 5 times faster compared to Si) Si, Ge and GaAs are the semiconductor of choice
10 11 Atomic structure shells + Valence shell (4 valence electrons) Valence electron orbiting electrons Germanium + Valence shell (4 valence electrons) Valence electron Nucleus orbiting electrons Silicon 14 orbiting electrons (Tetravalent) 32 orbiting electrons (tetravalent) Atomic structure Nucleus shells + Valence shell (3 valence electrons) Valence electron orbiting electrons Gallium Nucleus shells + Valence shell (5 valence electrons) Valence electron orbiting electrons Arsenic 31 orbiting electrons (trivalent) 33 orbiting electrons (pentavalent) Covalent bonding Covalent bonding of Si crystal Covalent bonding of GaAs crystal Covalent bonding Can their be free electrons in materials with valence bonds?
Even though the covalent bond will result in a stronger bond between the valence electrons and their parent atom, it is still possible for the valence electrons to absorb sufficient kinetic energy from external natural causes to break the covalent bond and assume the free state. 16 Intrinsic Material A semiconductor material that has been carefully refined to reduce the number of impurities to a very low level essentially as pure as can be made available through modern technology. 18 Intrinsic Carriers The free electrons in the material due only to external causes
19 Semiconductor Intrinsic Carrier (per Cubic Centimeter) GaAs 1.7 x 10 6 Si 1.5 x 10 10
Ge 2.5 x 10 13
Relative Mobility ( n ) The ability of the free careers to move throughout the material
20 Semiconductor n (cm 2 /V.s) GaAs 8500
Si 1500 Ge 3900 Intrinsic Carrier & Relative Mobility ( n )
Effect of temperature Conductor increase resistance with increase in heat (number of carrier do not increase)- is said to have a positive temperature coefficient.
Semiconductor- increase conductivity with increase in heat ( number of carrier increase)- is said to have a negative temperature coefficient. 24 Energy Levels Within the atomic structure of each and every isolated atom there are specific energy levels associated with each shell and orbiting electrons. The energy level associated with each shell will be different for every element.
The farther an electron is from the nucleus, the higher is the energy state, and any electron that has left its parent atom has a higher energy state than any electron in the atomic structure. 25 Energy Levels Only specific levels can exist for the electrons in the atomic structure of an isolated atom. The result is a series of gaps between allowed energy levels. 26 Energy Nucleus Energy Gap Energy Gap etc. Valence Level Second Level Third Level (etc.)
Energy Levels: Different Types of Solids
Sensitivity of Material based on Energy Gap Requirement As the temperature increases, the conduction of the materials with smaller energy gap (e.g. Ge) will increase more rapidly as compared to the material with larger energy gap (e.g. Si)
This is because more electrons will move from valence band to conduction band as the energy required will be smaller.
Ge sensors and photodectors Si, GaAs for stable transistor applications 29 30 Extrinsic Materials The characteristic of a semiconductor can be altered significantly by the addition of specific impurity atoms to the relative pure semiconductor material.
The ability to change the characteristic of a material by adding impurities is called doping.
A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the doping process is called and extrinsic material. 31 Types of Extrinsic Materials Extrinsic Material n-type p-type 32 Types of Extrinsic Materials Both n-type and p-type materials are formed by adding a predetermined number of impurity atoms to a silicon base. 33 n-type Material An n-type material is created by introducing impurity atoms that have five valence electrons (pentavalent), such as antimony, arsenic, and phosphorus. 34 n-type Material An n-type material is created by introducing impurity atoms that have five valence electrons (pentavalent), such as antimony, arsenic, and phosphorus.
35 n-type Material The four covalent bonds are present. The fifth valence electron of Sb is not associated with any other covalent bond. This is loosely bound to its parent atom and is relatively free to move within the material.
36 n-type Material The impurity of Sb has donated a relatively free electron to the material. Therefore, the Sb atoms are known as donor atoms in this case.
37 p-type Material A p-type material is created by introducing impurity atoms that have three valence electrons, such as boron, gallium, and indium. 38 p-type Material Boron doping with Silicon
Insufficient electrons of Boron to complete all the covalent bonds. The resulting vacancy is called a hole.
A hole is represented by a small circle of a + sign indicating the absence of a negative charge. 39 Electron versus hole flow 41 Are there any holes in an intrinsic Semiconductor material?
Impurities not removed. Light or Thermal effects
43 Majority and Minority Carriers N-type material, the electron is called majority carrier and hole the minority carrier Majority and Minority Carriers P-type material, the hole is called majority carrier and electron the minority carrier. 46 Semiconductor Diode Created by simply joining an n-type and a p-type material together. 47 p n Formation of Depletion Layer 49 p n p n - - - + + + Depletion Region Fixed Ions Mobile Holes Mobile Electrons Junction or Barrier Voltage Depletion region has: No free charge carriers but Fixed rows of oppositely charged ions on its two side
Because of this charged separation, an electric potential is established (V B ) across the junction.
This is known as junction or barrier potential.
It stops further flow of carriers across the junction unless supplied by energy from an external source.
At room temperature, V B is about 0.3 V for Ge 0.7 V for Si 50 Bias Application of an external voltage across the two terminals to extract a response. 51 Types of Bias No Bias Reverse Bias Forward Bias 52 No Bias 53 p n V D = 0 V
p n + - I D = 0 mA
I D = 0 mA
Forward Bias P-N Junction 54 p n V D + - I D
I D Forward Bias P-N Junction 55 V I 0 0.3 Ge Forward Bias P-N Junction 56 V I 0 0.7 Si Reverse Bias 57 p n V D p n + - I s I s Reverse Bias P-N Junction 58 V I 0 Reverse Bias P-N Junction 59 V I 0 Reverse Bias P-N Junction 60 V I 0 Ideal Diode Characteristics An ideal diode
When Reverse Biased: Has infinite resistance and drop the applied voltage across its terminals
When Forward Biased: Has no resistance, and therefore 0 V across its terminals 61 V I 0 I D +
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The Practical Diode When Forward Biased Diode current remains zero until the knee voltage is reached Once the applied voltage reaches the value of V k , the diode turns on and conduct 62 V I 0 0.7 I D +
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63 DIODE: a semiconductor device Ideal diode Semiconductor Diodes 64 Ideal diode characteristics(1) 65 Ideal diode characteristics (2) 66 Ideal diode characteristics (3) 67 Ideal diode characteristics (4) 68 Zener Diodes A type of diode that is designed to work in the reverse breakdown region of its operating curve.
Two things happen when the reverse breakdown voltage (V BR ) is reached: The diode current increases drastically The diode reverse voltage remains relatively constant
69 V I 0 V BR Zener Diode As the voltage across a zener diode operated in the reverse region remains constant over a wide range of device current values, the zener-diode can be used a voltage regulator.
Voltage Regulator: A circuit designed to maintain a constant voltage despite minor variations in circuit current or input voltage 70 V I 0 V BR Zener Diode 71 V I 0 V BR Zener Diode 72 V I 0 V BR 73 Zener Diodes (1) 74 Zener Diodes (2) 75 LED: a diode that gives off light when energized In a FB p-n junction, there is recombination of electrons and holes near the junction Recombination requires energy to be given off Most of it as heat, in Si or Ge In other materials, photos of light energy emitted are sufficient to create visible light source Light emission when electrical source of energy is applied is called: electroluminescence Light Emitting Diode (LED) Light Emitting Diode (LED)
76 78
79
80 RESISTANCE LEVELS DC Resistance 81 82 ac or Dynamic Resistance 83