Electronic Materials 1.

Electrical Properties
a. Basic relations
1. Electrical Properties
Ao
a. Basic Relations (cross e- I I
V - Ohm’s law
sect.
b. Microscopic Behavior area) V R
L
d. Atomistic Behavior
e. Resistivity of Metals Where: I – current [A = C/s] C - Coulomb
V – potential [V = J/C]
2. Semiconductors R – resistance [ = V/A] – Ohm
a. Intrinsic
b. Extrinsic n-type Note that L
R
d. Extrinsic p-type Ao
thus R  Ao
e. Compound Semiconductors  [ m] - resistivity
L
f. Applications
Alternative measure – conductivity, 
3. Electrical Properties of Ceramics
1 L
  [ m-1]
 R  Ao

ii. Conductivity
b. Microscopic behavior
Comparing relations for current density gives:
i. Current density, J
d 
Current I V L V   E  n  q  d or   n  q    - charge carrier
J     E- electric field E  mobility  m  2
thus
Area Ao R  Ao R  Ao L  strength  
V  s 

 Generalizing, for different types of carriers:
  n p  q p   p  nn  qn  n  ......
 A C  V V 
Note that: [J ]   2  2  and E  where: n – negative charges (# of free charge per unit volume, or density)
m m s L  m  p – positive charges
qp = qn = |e| =0.16·10-18 C – charge of an electron
Alternative relation for current density:
Charge carrier (+ or -) Mobility μ:
No. of carriers
J  charge per carrier  drift velocity
volume • When electric field is applied, free charge (electrons or holes) move but
m are scattered by imperfections in crystal lattice (impurities, vacancies,
vd J n  m 
3
 q [C]  vd   thermal vibrations, etc.)
s
Drift velocity
thus • Scattering causes e- to lose kinetic energy and change their directions
V of motion. There is net e- motion toward the + electrodes.
Drift velocity: The drift velocity of a free electron is the average electron
velocity in the direction of the force imposed by an electric field.

c. Atomistic Behavior and Energy Band Structure Band Gap Structure: Metals
Valence Band: Highest occupied energy band containing • Metals:
valence electrons -- Thermal energy puts - +
many electrons into
Conduction Band: The lowest unoccupied electron energy band
a higher energy state. net e- flow
Conducting or free electrons: Electrons that have been
promoted from filled to empty state
Energy Energy
• Energy States: empty
-- both cases show band
that for metals GAP empty
nearby energy band
partly
states are filled filled
filled states

accessible by valence
filled states

valence
thermal band band
fluctuations.
filled filled
band band

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 Band Gap Structure: Insulators and d. Conductivity and Resistivity of Metals
Semiconductors Conductivity:

• Insulators: • Semiconductors:
--Higher energy states Where n – density of free electrons (Cu ~ 1029 1/m3)
--Higher energy states not
me – electron mobility (Cu ~ 0.003 m2/Vs)
accessible due to large gap. separated by a smaller gap.
Energy Note that : d e 
Energy 0 
empty dT  - Result of decreasing electron
empty d e 
band  0
“free” path or μ
band
GAP
Gap small enough
? dN defects 
to be overcome by:
- Electrical potential
GAP
For metals:
- Thermal activation
• Since 1) valence band is partially filled, 2) the valence band and
filled
- Energy from some filled

filled states
filled states

light sources conduction band overlap, almost all e- are free e-. Therefore n is near
valence valence constant and is large.
band band
• What lowers the conductivity of metal?

filled filled
band • What lowers the mobility of e-: impurities, defects, anything that
band scatters e-
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2. Semiconductors
d. Conductivity and Resistivity of Metals
Types:
• Intrinsic: pure elemental solids and compounds
Resistivity:
• Extrinsic: doped elemental solids and compounds
- Temperature component, t: with properties controlled by impurities
t o+ a T
o, a – material constants Doping: process of adding impurities, usually by diffusion,
to create extrinsic semiconductors.
- Impurity component, i:
i =A ci (1 – ci)
A – constant, ci – atomic frac. of impurity
- Deformation component, d
   t  i  d

Temperature effects
a. Intrinsic i. Charge carriers
Valence 4+ In this case activation energy for creating charge
carriers is:
Temperature,
Light,
thus change of number of charge carriers with temp.
Electric field will be equal to

Empty conduction band Conductivity

k – Boltzman’s constant
= 1.38·10-23 J/mol K
electron(-) = 8.62 ·10-5 eV/atom K
Where p – hole density
Eg ≈ 1.1eV h – hole mobility ii. Conductivity

Since
hole(+)

Full valence band

2
 Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Conduction b. Extrinsic n – type
• Intrinsic: # holes/m 3 (impurities are added with an extra valence electron)
  n e e  p e h
hole mobility
# electrons/m3 electron mobility
• Extrinsic:
--
--occurs when impurities are added with a different
# valence electrons than the host (e.g., Si atoms)
• n-type Extrinsic: • p-type Extrinsic:
Phosphorus atom Boron atom
hole
conduction P – donor atom
4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+
electron
4+ 5+ 4+ 4+ 4+ 3+ 4+ 4+
valence
4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ electron 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+
Si atom
no applied electric field no applied electric field

c. Extrinsic p – type
For n-type extrinsic conductivity n >> p (impurities are added with one less valence electron)
thus Empty conduction
band

and since
Eg  Ed

n  no e kT Eg

hole(+)

ln  B – donor atom Full valence band

Effect of decreasing e
with T In this case of p-type extrinsic conductivity p >> n thus
and since

then
1/T

Exhaustion: no of extrinsic electrons is equal to no of impurity atoms

d. Compound Semiconductors Table 18.2 Band Gap Energies, Electron and Hole Mobilities,
and Intrinsic Electrical Conductivities at Room
Def: Semiconductors with “on-average” four Temperature for Semiconducting Materials
valence electrons

Examples: III - V or II – VI type

II - VI

III - V

Note: Compound can be made extrinsic by adding dopants or

if the elements are not in equal amounts

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 e. Applications
i. Light Detector/ Photoconductivity ii. p-n rectifying junction/light emitting diode (LED)
Empty conduction
band
Energy of photon • Allows flow of electrons in one direction only (e.g., useful
hc to convert alternating current to direct current.
electron(-) E  h  • Processing: diffuse P into one side of a B-doped crystal.
 • Results: p-type
+ n-type
-
Eg
where h – Planck’s constant
--No applied potential: + + -
= 6.63·10-34 J·s = 4.13·10-15 eV·s + + -
hole(+)
v – frequency of light [1/s]
no net current flow. - -
Full valence band  – light wavelength
Reverse bias: carrier
--Reverse
Photon c – speed d off light
li ht = 3·108 m/s
/ +p-type +
n-type -
When
flow away from p-n junction; - + - - +
carrier conc. greatly reduced +
ELight > Eg - photoconductivity
at junction; little current flow. + - -
• Upper bound hc 4.13 1015 eVs  3 108 m / s
Eviolet    3.1eV --Forward bias: carrier flow
violet 0.4 106 m p-type + - n-type
through p-type and n-type
• Lower bound + + -
Ered  1.8eV regions;
++- - -
• holes and electrons +-
Thus for photoconductivity recombine at p-n junction
E g  3.1eV
• current flows + possible
light
Materials used for light detectors: CdS, Ge, InP, InGaAs

Recombination
SUMMARY
- Photon wavelength • Electrical conductivity and resistivity are:
Empty conduction
band hc --material parameters.
 --geometry independent.
Ed Eg Ea • Electrical resistance is:
electron(-)
--a geometry and material dependent parameter.
Eg - If wavelength, , of emitted light • Conductors, semiconductors, and insulators...
hole(+) is in visible spectrum, the --different in whether there are accessible energy
obtained light is states for conductance electrons.
• For metals,
metals conductivity is increased by
Full valence band
• one color  monochromatic --reducing deformation
Photon
--reducing imperfections
• non-directional and out of --decreasing temperature.
3.1 eV phase  incoherent • For pure semiconductors, conductivity is increased by
--increasing temperature
--doping (e.g., adding B to Si (p-type) or P to Si (n-type)).

1.8 eV

i. Dielectric constant, r
Electrical Properties of Ceramics Stored charge, Q [C]
Parallel-plate capacitor
Topics: Q = C·V
• Dielectrics Where C – capacitance
• Ferroelectrics
[C] = [C/V = F (Farad)]
• Piezoelectric
a. Dielectrics • Capacitor with vacuum
Def: Nonmetallic insulators exhibiting an electric dipole
structure
Dipole: Pair of equal but opposite sign electrical
charges separated by a small distance
where o=8.85·10-12 F/m – permittivity of
Characteristics: vacuum
• Dielectric constant • Capacitor with dielectric
• Dielectric strength

where  – permittivity of dielectric

-dielectric constant
r > 1 - reason: Polarization

4
 • Polarization, P Sources of Polarization
Def: Increase in surface charge density due to the
presence of dielectric • Electronic, Pe: displacement of
the center of electron cloud

Surface charge density or dielectric

displacement , D [C/m2], is equal to • Ionic, Pi: displacement of ions in
respond to electrical field
- for vacuum capacitor

• Orientation,, Po: reorientation of

permanent dipoles
- for dielectric capacitor

E – electric field strength

P = Pe+ Pi +Po

b. Ferroelectrics
ii. Dielectric strength
Def: Dielectrics exhibiting spontaneous polarization
Def: Electrical potential gradient at which dielectric
“breaks-down” and becomes conductive Example: Barium titanite BaTiO3 (Perovskite structure)
Units: V/mil or kV/mm (1 mil = 0.001 in)
Characteristics:

Above 120oC – cubic structure

- no polarization

120oC – Curie temp.

temp

Below 120oC - Tetragonal structure

- ferroelectric behavior

Application: capacitors

c. Piezoelectrics
Def: Dielectrics which exhibit
• Polarization induced by external pressure
• Change of dimensions induced by electric field

Examples:
- Barium titanite
- PZT: Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 with Curie temp. ~ 200oC
-Quartz SiO3

Application:
- microphones
- strain gauges
- ultrasonic detectors/generators
- sensors and actuators in “smart” materials