Evolution of Devices

Yesterdays Transistor (1947)

Todays Transistor (2006)

Why Semiconductors?
Conductors e.g Metals
Insulators e.g. Sand (SiO2)
Semiconductors
conductivity between conductors and insulators
Generally crystalline in structure
In recent years, non-crystalline semiconductors have
become commercially very important

Polycrystalline amorphous crystalline

What are semiconductors

Elements: Si, Ge, C

Binary: GaAs, InSb, SiC, CdSe, etc.
Ternary+: AlGaAs, InGaAs, etc.

Electrons and Holes in Semiconductors

Silicon Crystal Structure

Unit cell of silicon crystal is

cubic.

Each Si atom has 4 nearest

neighbors.

5.43

Silicon Wafers and Crystal Planes

z

(100) x

x
(011)

(111)

(100)
plane
(011)
flat

Si (111) plane

The standard notation

for crystal planes is
based on the cubic
unit cell.
Silicon wafers are
usually cut along the
(100) plane with a flat
or notch to help orient
the wafer during IC
fabrication.

Bond Model of Electrons and Holes (Intrinsic Si)

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Silicon crystal in
a two-dimensional
representation.

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

When an electron breaks loose and becomes a conduction

electron, a hole is also created.

Dopants in Silicon
Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

As

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

Si

N-type Si

P-type Si

As (Arsenic), a Group V element, introduces conduction electrons and creates

N-type silicon, and is called a donor.
B (Boron), a Group III element, introduces holes and creates P-type silicon,
and is called an acceptor.
Donors and acceptors are known as dopants.

Types of charges in semiconductors

Hole

Electron

Ionized
Donor

Ionized
Acceptor

Mobile Charge Carriers

they contribute to current flow
with electric field is applied.

Immobile Charges
they DO NOT
contribute to current flow
with electric field is applied.
However, they affect the
local electric field

From Atoms to Crystals

conduction band
Energy

p
s
valence band
isolated atoms

lattice spacing
Decreasing atomic separation

Energy states of Si atom (a) expand into energy bands of Si crystal (b).
The lower bands are filled and higher bands are empty in a semiconductor.
The highest filled band is the valence band.
The lowest empty band is the conduction band .

Energy Band Diagram

Conduction band

Ec

Eg Band gap
Ev
Valence band
Energy band diagram shows the bottom edge of conduction band,
Ec , and top edge of valence band, Ev .
Ec and Ev are separated by the band gap energy, Eg .

Measuring the Band Gap Energy by Light Absorption

electron
Ec
photons
Eg

photon energy: h v > E g

Ev
hole

Eg can be determined from the minimum energy (h) of

photons that are absorbed by the semiconductor.
Bandgap energies of selected semiconductors
Material
E g (eV)

PbTe

Ge

Si

GaAs

GaP

Diamond

0.31

0.67

1.12

1.42

2.25

6.0

Semiconductors, Insulators, and Conductors

Ec
Top of
conduction band

Ec

E g= 9 eV

empty

E g = 1.1 eV
Ev

Ev

Si (Semiconductor)

SiO (Insulator)
2

filled

Ec

Conductor

Totally filled bands and totally empty bands do not allow

current flow. (Just as there is no motion of liquid in a
. totally empty bottle.)
totally filled or
Metal conduction band is half-filled.
Semiconductors have lower Eg 's than insulators and can be
doped.

Donor and Acceptor Levels in the Band Model

Conduction Band
Ed

Donor Level

Ec

Donor ionization energy

Acceptor ionization energy

Acceptor Level

Ea

Valence Band

Ev

Ionization energy of selected donors and acceptors in silicon

Donors
Dopant
Sb
Ionization energy, E c E d or E a E v (meV) 39

Hydrogen:

E ion =

P
44

m0 q4
802h2

Acceptors
As
54

B
45

= 13.6 eV

Al
57

In
160

Dopants and Free Carriers

Donors
n-type

Acceptors
p-type

Dopant ionization
energy ~50meV (very low).

General Effects of Doping on n and p

_

Charge neutrality:

n + Na p Nd

=0

Na
Nd

: number of ionized acceptors /cm3

+
: number of ionized donors /cm3

Assuming total ionization of acceptors and donors:

n + Na p Nd
Na

: number of acceptors /cm3

Nd

: number of donors /cm3

=0

Density of States
E
gc

Ec

Ec
g(E)

Ev

Ev
gv

gc ( E )

number of states in E
1

3
E volume
eV cm

mn* 2mn* (E Ec )
gc (E)
2 h3

gv ( E )

m*p 2m*p (Ev E )

2 h3

Thermal Equilibrium

Thermal Equilibrium
An Analogy for Thermal Equilibrium
Sand particles

Dish
Vibrating Table

There is a certain probability for the electrons in the

conduction band to occupy high-energy states under
the agitation of thermal energy (vibrating atoms, etc.)

At E=EF, f(E)=1/2

Effect of T on f(E)

T=0K

Intrinsic Semiconductor
Extremely pure semiconductor sample containing an insignificant
amount of impurity atoms.
n = p = ni
Ef lies in the middle of the band gap
Material

Ge

Si

GaAs

Eg (eV)

0.67

1.12

1.42

ni (1/cm3)

2 x 1013

1 x 1010

2 x 106