Electrical Conducivity And Band gap measurement of Germanium

By Four Probe Method

Uday singh
M.Sc Physics
Roll No-16510092
uday.singh@iitgn.ac.in

Jan 16, 2017

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

Contents
1 Objective 3

2 Theory 3
2.1 The temperature dependence of resistivity of a semiconductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Band gap energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Observations 5
3.1 Experimental Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 Evaluation of the Band Gap Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Error analysis 8

5 Conclusion 8

6 References 8

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1 Objective
To study the temperature dependency of the resistivity of a Germanium sample and also measure
the band gap of the Germanium.

2 Theory
Resistivity is a basic property of any material that opposes flow of charge through it. It is also
known as specific resistance. From Ohms law resistivity of conductors is given by

m
=
ne2 t
where,
m= mass of the material
n=no. of free electrons
e=charge of electron
t=time taken between two collisions

For conductors n, e, m are constant so increase in temp. results in decrease in t due to increased
velocity of electrons. But for semiconductors increase in n is large as compared to decrease in t,
hence resistivity of semiconductors decreases with increase in temperature.
Four probe apparatus is one of the standard and most widely used apparatus for the measure-
ment of resistivity of semiconductors. This method is employed when the sample is in the form
of a thin wafer, such as a thin semiconductor material deposited on a substrate. The sample is
millimetre in size and having a thickness w (mm). It consists of four probe arranged linearly in a
straight line at equal distance S from each other. A constant current is passed through the two
outer probes and the potential drop V across the middle two probes is measured as given in the
figure below. An oven is provided with a heater to heat the sample so that behaviour of the sample
is studied with increase in temperature.

Figure 1: Schematic Diagram of Four P robe1

According to the band theory of solids, insulators and semiconductors are materials which pos-
sess a range of forbidden energy values at the Fermi level. The width of the band gap differentiates
insulators from semiconductors. In semiconductors the band gap is small enough so that at finite

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

temperatures thermal excitation of electrons across the gap into the empty conduction band is
possible and thus leads to a small but measurable conductivity. The band gap in insulators is too
large to have any appreciable concentration of charge carriers excited into the conduction band.
The temperature dependence of the resistivity of a pure (intrinsic) semiconductor is given by the
following formula
Eg Eg
= B(T )e 2kB T = 0 e 2kB T

where Eg = the width of the band gap

B(T) = Very weakly dependent on the temperature
kB = Boltzman Constant
T= Temperature
We can take B(T) to be almost constant as 0 . Thus we can measure the resistivity or conductivity
of a sample by taking data over a range of temperatures.

Eg
2k
= 0 e BT

For bulk samples where the sample thickness (w) is much greater than the probe spacing (s) i.e.
w >> s, the resistivity is calculated using the realtion
V
0 = I 2s

where
V = floating potential difference between the inner probes, unit: mV
I = current through the outer pair of the probes, unit: Ampere
s = spacing between point probes, unit: Meter
0 = resistivity, unit: ohm meter
If the side boundaries are adequately far from the probes the die may be considered to be identical
to a thin slice as given in the figure above. For this case of a slice of thickness w and with a non
conducting bottom surface the resistivity is computed by means of the divisor G7 (w/s) as given in
the formula given below

0 V 2s
= G7 (w/s) = I G7 (w/s)

The value of G7 can be evaluted from the formula given for w/s 0.5 which we will be using as for
our experiment ws = 0.250.50
1.3863
G7 (w/s) =
(w/s)

2.1 The temperature dependence of resistivity of a semiconductor

The resistivity of a semiconductor rises exponentially on decreasing the temperature as we have
seen before. So taking Logarithim we get
1 Eg
log10 = C +
2.3026 2kB T

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

where C = log10 0 is another constant. For convenience we can write

1 Eg 103
log10 = C +
2.3026 103 2kB T
103
Thus a graph between log of resistivity log1 0(), and T should be a straight line.

2.2 Band gap energy

103
The slope of the straight line graph between log of resistivity, log10 and T gives us,

1 Eg
slope = 3
2.3026 10 2kB
Therefore
Eg = 2.3026 103 2kB (slope)
Using the value of boltzman constant kB = 8.617 105 eV K 1 to get

Eg = 0.3973 slope eV

3 Observations
Current (I) = 5mA
Distance between the probes (s)= 2.0 mm = 2 103 m
Thickness of the sample (w) = 0.5 mm = 5 103 m
So ws = 0.25
D = G72S 3
(w/s) = 2.265mm = 2.265 10

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

3.1 Experimental Readings

1000
Sl Temp T Voltage(mV) Mean V Resistivity log10 T
No. K while heating while cooling in mV = V
I D (m) 103 in K 1
1 310 149.0 148.4 148.7 168.40 -0.828 3.226
2 315 133.0 140.2 136.6 154.70 -0.865 3.175
3 320 126.7 129.2 127.95 144.90 -0.893 3.125
4 325 116.5 117.9 117.2 132.73 -0.931 3.077
5 330 103.5 105.4 104.45 118.29 -0.981 3.030
6 335 90.2 91.6 90.9 102.94 -1.041 2.985
7 340 78.4 79.8 79.1 89.58 -1.102 2.941
8 345 68.0 68.7 68.35 77.41 -1.165 2.899
9 350 58.4 59.6 59 66.82 -1.229 2.857
10 355 49.7 51.3 50.5 57.19 -1.297 2.817
11 360 42.7 43.9 43.3 49.04 -1.364 2.778
12 365 37.2 36.9 37.05 41.96 -1.431 2.740
13 370 32.0 32.2 32.1 36.35 -1.493 2.703
14 375 27.5 27.8 27.65 31.31 -1.558 2.667
15 380 23.8 23.6 23.7 26.84 -1.625 2.632
16 385 20.7 20.6 20.65 23.39 -1.685 2.597
17 390 17.9 17.5 17.7 20.05 -1.752 2.564
18 395 15.6 15.5 15.55 17.61 -1.808 2.532
19 400 13.7 13.4 13.55 15.35 -1.868 2.500
20 405 11.9 11.7 11.8 13.36 -1.928 2.469
21 410 10.4 10.3 10.35 11.72 -1.985 2.439
22 415 9.2 9.1 9.15 10.36 -2.039 2.140
23 420 8.2 8.2 8.2 9.29 -2.086 2.381
24 425 7.2 7.4 7.3 8.27 -2.137 2.353
25 430 6.4 6.3 6.35 7.19 -2.197 2.326
26 435 5.7 5.6 5.65 6.40 -2.248 2.299
27 440 5.1 5.0 5.05 5.72 -2.297 2.273
28 445 4.5 4.5 4.5 5.10 -2.347 2.247
29 450 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.64 -2.387 2.222
30 455 3.7 3.6 3.65 4.13 -2.438 2.198
31 460 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.74 -2.481 2.174
32 465 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.40 -2.523 2.151
33 470 2.7 2.7 2.7 3.06 -2.569 2.128
34 475 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.72 -2.620 2.105
35 480 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.49 -2.658 2.083
36 485 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.38 -2.678 2.062

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

3.2 Plots

Figure 2: Dependence of resistivity() with temperature(T)

1000
Figure 3: Plot of T Vs log10

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Physics Lab Report IIT GANDHINAGAR

3.3 Evaluation of the Band Gap Energy

3
A plot of 10T Vs log10 gives the following Plot. From the boxed eqaution shown in the theory
part it is evident that the graph will be a straight line with some slope m which will be used to
determine the Band Gap EnergyEg .
So Energy Band Gap Eg is given by:

Eg = slope 0.3973 eV = 1.76 0.3973 eV = 0.6864 eV

Thus finally we get Energy Band Gap for the Germanium Sample as

Eg = 0.6864 eV

4 Error analysis
Energy Band Gap for Germanium sample at room temperature 295K has been found to be 0.72eV.
But we have got Eg = 0.6864 eV
So % of Error will be
0.72 0.6864
= 100 = 4.67%
0.72

5 Conclusion
From the Four Probe Experiment that we have done we have found the Energy Band Gap of a
Germanium to be 0.6864eV with 4.67% error and also found the graph that shows how Resistivity
of Germanium Semiconductor sample varies w.r.t Temperature.

6 References
1. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/2011/606714/fig2/
2. IITGN Physics Laboratory (https://sites.google.com/a/iitgn.ac.in/ph102/)
3. Wikipedia
4. Experimental Physics by B. Ghosh

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