2 SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

Objective: Gain a basic understanding of a few semiconductor-material properties,

including the two types of charge carriers that exist in a semiconductor and the two
mechanisms that generate currents in a semiconductor.

• Electronic devices are fabricated by using semiconductor materials along with

conductors and insulators.

• To better understand the behavior of electronic devices in circuits, we must

first understand a few of the characteristics of the semiconductor material.

• Silicon is by far the most common semiconductor material used for

semiconductor devices and integrated circuits.

• Other semiconductor materials are used for specialized applications. For

example, gallium arsenide and related compounds are used for very high-

speed devices and optical devices.

• A list of some semiconductor materials is given in Table 2-1.

Table 2-1: A list of some semiconductor materials

Elemental Semiconductor Compound Semiconductors

Si Silicon GaAs Gallium Arsenide
Ge Germanium GaP Gallium Phosphide
AlP Aluminium Phosphide
AlAs Aluminium Arsenide
InP Indium Phosphide

2.1 Intrinsic Semiconductors

• An atom comprises a nucleus, containing positively charged protons and

neutral neutrons, and negatively charged electrons that orbit the nucleus.
• The electrons are distributed in various "shells" at different distances from the

nucleus, and electron energy increases as the shell radius increases.

19
• Electrons in the outermost shell are called valence electrons, and the chemical
activity of a material is determined primarily by the number of such electrons.

• Elements in the periodic table can be grouped according to the number of

valence electrons.

• Table 2-2 shows a portion of the periodic table in which the more common
semiconductors are found.

• Silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) are in group IV and are elemental
semiconductors. In contrast, gallium arsenide is a group III–V compound

semiconductor.
• We will see that the elements in group III and group V are also important in

semiconductors.

20
 Table 2-2: A portion of the periodic table

III IV V
5 6
B C
Boron Carbon
13 14 15
Al Si P
Aluminum Silicon Phosphorus
31 32 33
Ga Ge As
Gallium Germanium Arsenic
49 51
In Sb
Indium Antimony

• Figure 2.1(a) shows five noninteracting silicon atoms, with the four valence
electrons of each atom shown as dashed lines emanating from the atom.

• As silicon atoms come into close proximity to each other, the valence electrons
interact to form a crystal.

• The final crystal structure is a tetrahedral configuration in which each silicon

atom has four nearest neighbors, as shown in Figure 2.1(b).

• The valence electrons are shared between atoms, forming covalent bonds.
• Germanium, gallium arsenide, and many other semiconductor materials have

the same tetrahedral configuration.

• Figure 2.1(c) is a two-dimensional representation of the lattice formed by the

five silicon atoms in Figure 2.1(a).

• An important property of such a lattice is that valence electrons are always

available on the silicon crystal's outer edge so that additional atoms can be
added to form very large single-crystal structures.

21
Figure 2.1: Silicon atoms in a crystal matrix: (a) five noninteracting silicon atoms,

each with four valence electrons, (b) the tetrahedral configuration, (c) a two-
dimensional representation showing the covalent bonding.

• At T = 0 K, silicon is an insulator; no charge flows through it.

• When silicon atoms come together to form a crystal, the electrons occupy

particular allowed energy bands. At T = 0 K, all valence electrons occupy the

valence energy band (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2: Two-dimensional representation of single-crystal silicon at T = 0 K; all

valence electrons are bound to the silicon atoms by covalent bonding

• If the temperature increases, the valence electrons may gain thermal energy.
Any such electron may gain enough thermal energy to break the covalent bond

and move away from its original position, as schematically shown in Figure 2.3.

22
Figure 2.3: the breaking of a covalent bond for T > 0 K creating an electron in the
conduction band and a positively charged "empty state."

• To break the covalent bond, the valence electron must gain minimum energy,
Eg, called the bandgap energy.

• The electrons that gain this minimum energy now exist in the conduction band
and are said to be free electrons.

• These free electrons in the conduction band can move throughout the crystal.
The net flow of electrons in the conduction band generates a current.

• As the temperature increases, more covalent bonds are broken, and more free
electrons and positive empty states are created.

• A valence electron with a certain thermal energy and is adjacent to an empty

state may move into that position, as shown in Figure 2.4, making it appear as

if a positive charge is moving through the semiconductor. This positively

charged "particle" is called a hole.

• Then, in semiconductors, two types of charged particles contribute to the

current: the negatively charged free electron and the positively charged hole.

23
 Figure 2.4: A two-dimensional representation of the silicon crystal showing the
movement of the positively charged "empty state."

• An intrinsic semiconductor is a single-crystal semiconductor material with no

other types of atoms within the crystal.

• In an intrinsic semiconductor, the densities of electrons and holes are equal

since the thermally generated electrons and holes are the only sources of such
particles.

2.2 Extrinsic Semiconductors

• Since the electron and hole concentrations in an intrinsic semiconductor are

relatively small, only minimal currents are possible.

• However, these concentrations can be significantly increased by adding

controlled amounts of certain impurities.

• A desirable impurity enters the crystal lattice and replaces (i.e., substitutes for)

one of the semiconductor atoms, even though the impurity atom does not have
the same valence electron structure. For silicon, the desirable substitutional

impurities are from the group III and V elements (see Table 2-2).
• The most common group V elements used for this purpose are phosphorus and

arsenic.
• For example, when a phosphorus atom substitutes for a silicon atom, as shown

in Figure 2.5, four of its valence electrons are used to satisfy the covalent bond
requirements.

24
 Figure 2.5: Two-dimensional representation of a silicon lattice doped with a
phosphorus atom showing the fifth phosphorus valence electron.

• The fifth valence electron is more loosely bound to the phosphorus atom.
• At room temperature, this electron has enough thermal energy to break the

bond, thus being free to move through the crystal and contribute to the
electron current in the semiconductor.

• When the fifth phosphorus valence electron moves into the conduction band,
a positively charged phosphorus ion is created, as shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6: the resulting positively charged phosphorus ion after the fifth valence

electron has moved into the conduction band

• The phosphorus atom is called a donor impurity since it donates an electron

that is free to move. Although the remaining phosphorus atom has a net
positive charge, it is immobile in the crystal and cannot contribute to the

current.
• Therefore, when a donor impurity is added to a semiconductor, free electrons

are created without generating holes.

25
 • This process is called doping, and it allows us to control the concentration of
free electrons in a semiconductor.

• A semiconductor that contains donor impurity atoms is called an n-type

semiconductor (for the negatively charged electrons) and has a preponderance

of electrons compared to holes.

• The most common group III element used for silicon doping is boron.

• When a boron atom replaces a silicon atom, its three valence electrons are used
to satisfy the covalent bond requirements for three of the four nearest silicon

atoms (Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.7: Two-dimensional representation of a silicon lattice doped with a boron

atom
• This leaves one bond position open. At room temperature, adjacent silicon

valence electrons have sufficient thermal energy to move into this position,
thereby creating a hole.

• This effect is shown in Figure 2.8.

• The boron atom then has a net negative charge but cannot move, and a hole

is created that can contribute to a hole current.

• Because the boron atom has accepted a valence electron, the boron is

therefore called an acceptor impurity. Acceptor atoms lead to the creation of

holes without electrons being generated. This process, also called doping, can

control the concentration of holes in a semiconductor.

26
 Figure 2.8: the resulting negatively charged boron ion after it has accepted an

electron from the valence band. A positively charged hole is created.

• A semiconductor that contains acceptor impurity atoms is called a p-type

semiconductor (for the positively charged holes created) and has a majority of
holes compared to electrons.

• The materials containing impurity atoms are called extrinsic semiconductors

or doped semiconductors.

• The doping process, which allows us to control the concentrations of free

electrons and holes, determines the material's conductivity and currents.

2.3 P-N Junction (Diode)

• When p and n regions of semiconductor materials are adjacent to one another,

they form a p-n Junction. The electronic device so formed is called a diode.
• A diode conducts current in one direction when it is operating in the forward-

biased mode.
• The forward-biased mode of a diode means connecting the p-region to the

positive terminal of a voltage source and the n-region to the negative terminal
of a voltage source. In this mode, the diode has little resistance to current, and

the diode behaves like a closed switch.

27
• When a diode is reverse biased, the p-region is connected to the negative
terminal of a voltage source whereas the n-region is connected to the positive

terminal of the voltage source.

• For an ideal diode, the relationship between the current and voltage is given

as:
  v D  
   
iD  I s  e nVT  1 (2.1)
 
 
Where:

I s -reverse-bias saturation current (10-18 to 10-12 A for silicon)

v T -Thermal Voltage (0.026V at room temp)

n-is usually called the emission coefficient or ideality factor, and its

value is in the range 1  n  2

• From equation (2.1), the ideal diode characteristics are plotted to show the
relationship between current (dependent variable) and voltage

(independent variable) as shown in Figure 2.9.

28
 Figure 2.9: Ideal I-V characteristics of a p-n junction diode

2.3.1 Diode Symbols

Figure 2.10: The basic p-n junction diode simplified geometry

Figure 2.11: Circuit symbol, and conventional current direction and voltage polarity

2.3.2 Diode circuits: DC analysis and Models

• Mathematical relationships, or models, that describe the current-voltage
characteristics of electrical elements allow us to analyze and design circuits
29
 without having to fabricate and test them in the laboratory. An example is
Ohm’s law, which describes the properties of a resistor.

• An ideal diode has the characteristics shown in Figure 2.12.

Figure 2.12: The ideal diode: (a) the I–V characteristics of the ideal diode, (b)

equivalent circuit under reverse bias (an open circuit), and (c) equivalent circuit in
the conducting state (a short circuit)

TASK:
Diodes, like all practical devices, are not ideal. One way to model non-ideal diodes

is to use graphical techniques. Graphical Techniques involve plotting two

simultaneous equations and locating their points of intersection, which is the

solution to the two simultaneous equations.

An example of a non-ideal diode is shown in Figure 2.13.

Figure 2.13: A simple diode circuit

If we apply KVL:
VPS  I D R  VD (2.2)

30
 VPS VD
ID   (2.3)
R R

Equation (2.3) is referred to as the circuit load line and is usually plotted on a

graph with the current I D on the vertical axis and the voltage VD on the horizontal

axis.

The diode voltage VD and current I D are related by the ideal diode equation (2.4).

  v D  
 V  
I D  I s  e T  1 (2.4)
 
 
Requirement:

Using MATLAB, plot equation (2.3) and equation (2.4) and determine the point of
intersection. Use the parameters of Figure 2.13. The point of intersection is the

quiescent point or the Q-point. ( 0  VD  10V )

Question:

What is the quiescent voltage VDQ and I DQ ? [10 marks]

Note:
If you're new to MATLAB and/or programming, I recommend taking the MATLAB
Onramp. The Onramp is an interactive, 2-hour course. It assumes no prior knowledge
and walks through creating variables, accessing arrays, logical operators, control
statements, and loops. (https://www.mathworks.com/learn/tutorials/matlab-
onramp.html)

31
2.3.3 Diode circuits: AC analysis and Models
• Diodes are often used in linear amplifier circuits, where time-varying signals

are used.
• In such applications, we need to model the diode behavior/characteristics

because ac signals may be superimposed on the dc voltages and currents.

• Consider Figure 2.14 where vi is a sinusoidal, time-varying signal.

• We can therefore say that the total source voltage v1 is the sum of the dc

voltage VPS and sinusoidal voltage vi .

Figure 2.14: circuit with combined dc and sinusoidal input.

• We can apply both dc analysis and ac analysis to this circuit.

2.3.3.1 Current-Voltage Relationships

• Since the source voltage contains both dc and ac components superimposed,

the diode voltage and current will also contain a dc and ac component
superimposed. The sinusoidal diode current superimposed on the quiescent

current is shown in Figure 2.15.

Figure 2.15: sinusoidal diode current superimposed on the quiescent current

32
• Similarly, the diode sinusoidal voltage superimposed on the quiescent voltage
is shown in Figure 2.16.

Figure 2.16: sinusoidal diode voltage superimposed on the quiescent value

• We can develop a linear model from a non-linear diode by assuming that the

ac signal is small compared to the dc component.

• The relationship between the diode current and diode voltage is (neglecting

the -1 in the diode equation):

 vD 
  VDQ vd 
VT 
 V  (2.5)
iD  I S e  IS e  T

• Equation (2.5) can be rewritten as:

 VDQ     vd  
  V    V  
iD  I S  e T     e T   (2.6)
   
   

• If the ac signal is “small”, then vd  VT , and we can expand the exponential

function into a linear series, as follows:


 v 

 d


VT


 vd
e 
 1 (2.7)
VT

• We may also write the quiescent diode current as:


VDQ 

 

I DQ  I S e

 VT 
  (2.8)

33
• The diode current-voltage relationship from Equation (2.6) can then be written
as:
 v  I DQ
iD  I DQ 1  d   I DQ   vd  I DQ  id (2.9)
 VT  VT

• id represents the ac component of the diode current.

• The diode ac current and voltage are related by Equation (2.10).

 I DQ  v  g  v
id    d d d (2.10)
 VT 

• The diode ac voltage is given by Equation (2.11).

 V 
vd   T  id  rd  id (2.11)
 I DQ 

• The parameters g d and rd are the diode small-signal incremental conductance

and resistance, also called the diffusion conductance and diffusion resistance.
• To analyze Figure 2.16, we first perform a dc analysis and then an ac analysis.

• These two types of analyses will use two equivalent circuits.

• The dc analysis is done using Figure 2.17.

Figure 2.17: dc equivalent circuit

• If the diode is forward biased, then the voltage across the diode is the linear
turn-on voltage.

• The ac analysis is done using Figure 2.18.

• The diode in Figure 2.18 has been replaced by its equivalent resistance rd . All

parameters in this circuit are the small-signal time-varying parameters.

34
 Figure 2.18: ac equivalent circuit

Example:

Analyze the circuit shown in Figure 2.14. Assume circuit and diode parameters of

VPS  5V , R  5k , V  0.6V , and vi  0.1sin  t V .

DC Analysis:
We use Figure 2.17:

We set vi  0 and then determine the dc quiescent current:

VPS V 5  0.6

I DQ    0.88mA
R 5
The dc value of output voltage is:

Vo  I DQ R  0.88mA5k  4.4V

AC analysis

We consider only the ac signals and parameters in the circuit in Figure 2.18. Here we

set VPS  0V .

vi  id rd  id R  id rd  R 
VT 0.026V
rd    0.0295k
I DQ 0.88mA

The ac diode current is:

vi 0.1sin t (V )
id    19.9sin t A
rd  R (0.0295  5)k

The ac component of the output voltage is:

35
 vo  iD R  5k19.9sin t A  0.0995sin t V 

2.4 Other Diode Types

There are many other types of diodes with specialized characteristics that are useful
in particular applications. We will briefly consider only a few of these diodes.

2.4.1 Solar Cells

• A solar cell is a p-n junction device with no voltage directly applied across the

junction.
• The p-n junction, which converts solar energy into electrical energy, is
connected to a load as indicated in Figure 2.19.

Figure 2.19: A p-n junction solar cell connected to load

• When light hits the space-charge region, electrons and holes are generated.

They are quickly separated and swept out of the space-charge region by the
electric field, thus creating a photocurrent.

• The generated photocurrent will produce a voltage across the load, which
means that the solar cell has supplied power.

• Solar cells are usually fabricated from silicon but may be made from GaAs or
other III–V compound semiconductors.

2.4.2 Photodiode
• Photodetectors are devices that convert optical signals into electrical signals.

An example is a photodiode, which is similar to a solar cell except that the p-n
junction is operated with a reverse-bias voltage.
36
 • Incident photons or light waves create excess electrons and holes in the space-
charge region. These excess carriers are quickly separated and swept out of the

space-charge region by the electric field, thus creating a “photocurrent.”

• This generated photocurrent is directly proportional to the incident photon

flux.

2.4.3 Light-Emitting Diode

• The light-emitting diode (LED) converts current to light.

• When a forward-bias voltage is applied across a p-n junction, electrons and

holes flow across the space-charge region and become excess minority
carriers.

• These excess minority carriers diffuse into the neutral semiconductor regions,
where they recombine with majority carriers.

• If the semiconductor is a direct bandgap material, such as GaAs, the electron

and hole can recombine with no change in momentum, and a photon or light

wave can be emitted.

• Conversely, in an indirect bandgap material, such as silicon, when an electron

and hole recombine, both energy and momentum must be conserved, so the
emission of a photon is very unlikely.
• Therefore, LEDs are fabricated from GaAs or other compound semiconductor
materials.

• In an LED, the diode current is directly proportional to the recombination rate,

which means that the output light intensity is also proportional to the diode

current.
• Monolithic arrays of LEDs are fabricated for numeric and alphanumeric

displays, such as the readout of a digital voltmeter.

• An LED may be integrated into an optical cavity to produce a coherent photon

output with a very narrow bandwidth.

37
 • Such a device is a laser diode, which is used in optical communications
applications.

• The LED can be used in conjunction with a photodiode to create an optical

system such as that shown in Figure 2.20. The light signal created may travel

over relatively long distances through the optical fiber, because of the low
optical absorption in high-quality optical fibers.

Figure 2.20: Basic elements in an optical transmission system

2.4.4 Schottky Barrier Diode

• A Schottky barrier diode, or simply a Schottky diode, is formed when a metal,

such as aluminum, is brought into contact with a moderately doped n-type

semiconductor to form a rectifying junction.

• The simplified Schottky diode symbol is shown in and the circuit is shown in

Figure 2.21: Schottky barrier diode simplified geometry

38
 Figure 2.22: Schottky barrier diode circuit symbol

• The current-voltage characteristics of a Schottky diode are very similar to

those of a p-n junction diode.

• The same ideal diode equation can be used for both devices.
• However, there are two important differences between the two diodes that

directly affect the response of the Schottky diode.

• First, the current mechanism in the two devices is different. The current in a p-

n junction diode is controlled by the diffusion of minority carriers. The current

in a Schottky diode results from the flow of majority carriers over the potential

barrier at the metallurgical junction. This means that there is no minority

carrier storage in the Schottky diode, so the switching time from a forward bias

to a reverse bias is very short compared to that of a p-n junction diode. The

storage time, ts , for a Schottky diode is essentially zero.

• Second, the reverse-saturation current IS for a Schottky diode is larger than

that of a p-n junction diode for comparable device areas. This property means
that it takes less forward bias voltage to induce a particular current compared

to a p-n junction diode.

• Figure 2.23 compares the characteristics of the two diodes. We can see that the

Schottky diode has a smaller turn-on voltage than the p-n junction diode.

39
Figure 2.23: Comparison of the forward-bias I–V characteristics of a p-n junction diode and a
Schottky barrier diode.

2.4.5 Zener Diode

• When a reverse-bias voltage is increasingly applied to a diode, at a certain

voltage called the breakdown voltage, the junction breaks down and the
reverse bias current increases rapidly.

• The zener diode I-V characteristics are shown in Figure 2.24.

40