Chapter 2

Basic semiconductor physics (I)

Semester: Fall 2019

Professor: Sung-Jin Choi
School of EE, Kookmin University

Class Notes, IC fabrication

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Prof. S.-J. Choi (All rights reserved)
 Electrical resistance
Resistivity
Resistance
Conductivity
Conductance

What is this unit?

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 Resistivity range of materials

Semiconductor
= semi + conductor

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 Silicon structure
The Si Atom The Si crystal

atom

High performance semiconductor devices require defect-free crystals

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 Carrier concentration of intrinsic Si

Thermally
Generated
EHP

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 Small value!!  almost insulator 5
 Dopants in Si
• By substituting a Si atom with a special impurity atom
(Column V or column III element), a conduction
electron or hole is created.

Group V for n-type Group III for p-type

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 Energy band description

Conduction electrons

Full ionization

Full ionization

holes

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 Semiconductor with both acceptors and donors has 4
kinds of charge carriers

Mobile;
Non-fixed They contribute to current flow
when e-field is applied

Immobile; they DO NOT

contribute to current flow when
Fixed e-field is applied. However, they
affect the local e-field

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 Charge neutrality condition

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 How to calculate n and p

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 N-type and P-type material

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 Carrier drift
• When an electric field is applied to a semiconductor,
mobile carriers will be accelerated by the electrostatic
force. This force superimposes on the random thermal
motion of carriers:

E.g. Electrons drift in the direction opposite to the E-field

Average drift velocity: |v| = μE

Mobility [cm2/V∙sec]
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 Carrier mobility
• Mobile carriers are always in random thermal motion.
If no electric field is applied, the average current in any
direction is zero.

– Mobility is reduced by
• Collision with the vibrating atoms
– “phonon” scattering

• Deflection by ionized impurity atoms

– “impurity” scattering

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 Carrier mobility

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Phonon scattering 14
 Carrier mobility
Impurity scattering

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 Electrical conductivity
• When an electric field is applied, current flow due to
drift of mobile carriers (electrons and holes):
Electron current
density
방향이 반대

Hole current density

Total current density

Conductivity
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 Electrical resistivity ρ

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 Example calculation
• Consider a Si sample doped with 1016 /cm3 Boron.
What is its electrical resistivity?

– Answer

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 Example: dopant compensation
• Consider the same Si sample (with 1016/cm3 Boron),
doped additionally with 1017/cm3 Arsenic. What is the
new resistivity?
– Answer

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 Summary of doping technology
• intrinsic semiconductor: undoped semiconductor
• extrinsic semiconductor: doped semiconductor
• donor: impurity atom that increases the electron concentration group
V elements (P, As) in Si
• acceptor: impurity atom that increases the hole concentration group III
elements (B, In) in Si
• n-type material: semiconductor containing more electrons than holes
• p-type material: semiconductor containing more holes than electrons
• majority carrier: the most abundant mobile carrier in a semiconductor
• minority carrier: the least abundant mobile carrier in a semiconductor
• mobile carriers: charge carriers that contribute to current flow when
electric field is applied.

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 Sheet resistance Rs

• Rs is the resistance when W = L (unit in ohms/square)

• The Rs value for a given layer (e.g. doped Si, metals) in an

IC technology is used
– for design and layout of resistors
– for estimating values of parasitic resistance in a device or
circuit
– Rs를 알고 있다면, 다양한 layout의 resistance 추측 및
디자인이 가능

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 Electrical resistance of layout patterns

empirically
0.6Rs

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 Rs when ρ(x) is function of depth x

병렬연결

두께

Class Notes, IC fabrication, Prof. S.-J. Choi Dopant concentration에 따라서 mobility도 변화
23
(All rights reserved)
 How to measure Rs

The Four-Point Probe is used to measure Rs

– 4 probes are arranged in-line with equal spacing s
– 2 outer probes used to flow current I through the
sample
– 2 inner probes are used to sense the resultant voltage
drop V with a voltmeter
If ρ is known, then Rs
measurement can be
used to determine t
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