Chapter 3

Semiconductors Fundamentals
Metals, Semiconductors, Insulators

Eg< 2eV Eg > 4eV

 Semiconductors

Elemental semiconductors such as Compound semiconductors by

silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) combining elements from
column IV of the periodic table
(SiC and SiGe) or by
combining elements from
columns III and V (GaAs,
GaN, InP, AlGaAs, AlSb,
GaP,AlP and AlAs).

✓ About 98% of all semiconductor devices are fabricated from single-crystal

silicon, such as integrated circuits, microprocessors and memory chips.

✓ The remaining 2% make use of III-V compounds, such as light-emitting

diodes, laser diodes and some microwave-frequency components.
 Compound Semiconductors

GaAs, GaP, InP, Alx Ga 1-x As Gax In1-xPy As1-y

AlSb, GaP, AlP,
AlAs.
x and y are mole fractions
Direct & Indirect Semiconductors

Diamond Structure
(Indirect Bandgap)

Zencblende structure
(Direct Bandgap)
 k oc = k ov k oc  k ov

Emission of photons of Emission of photons

energy Eg and phonons
 The electron and the hole concept
✓The drop of water corresponds to an electron
✓The air bubble in water corresponds to a hole
✓The bottom and top pipes correspond to the valence and the
conduction band, respectively

✓ Tilting the pipes corresponds to the application of an electric field to

the semiconductor.
 Carrier density
Density of states (DOS)

✓ To obtain the carrier density per unit volume we must first calculate the
number of allowed states per energy range per unit volume...the density
of states (DOS)

✓ For electrons in the conduction band where the E-k relation is of the form,
2
E = EC + *
( k − k oc ) 2

2m e
The density of states is given by,

3
 2me*  2
GC (E ) = 4  2  ( E − EC ) 2
1

 
 h 
✓ Similarly, for holes in the valence band where the E-k relation is of the
form,
2
E = EV − *
( k − k ov ) 2

2m h
The density of states is given by,

3
 2mh*  2
GV (E ) = 4  2  ( EV − E ) 2
1

 
 h 
 Fermi energy
The probability that an electron occupies an electronic state with energy E
is given by the Fermi-Dirac distribution,

1
F (E) =
1 + e( E − EF )/ kT
✓ The Fermi energy is the energy for which the probability of occupation by
an electron is exactly ½.

✓ The Fermi distribution function is simplified for an electron in the

conduction band since,

(E − EF )  3kT  F (E )  e−(E − EF ) kT
Which is Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution

and for a hole in the valence band,

1 − F ( E )  1 − e −( E − E F ) kT
 Intrinsic carrier concentration

The electron density in the conduction band is given by,

E top →  E top → 
n=  n(E )dE =  GC (E )F (E )dE
EC EC

Let x = (E-EC )/ kT
3
 2m   − 

* 2
E E
n = 4  2  ( )   e dx

3
2 −x
1
e 2 F C
kT exp  kT x 2
 h   0
3
 2me*kT  2
 E − EC 
n= 2  exp F 
 2   kT 
 h 

The effective density of states in the conduction band, NC

  EC − E F 
n = N C exp − 
 kT 

NC = 2.8 x 1019 cm-3 For Si (300 K)

NC = 4.7 x 1017 cm-3 For GaAs (300 K)

Similarly for holes in the valence band,

3

 EF − EV   2m kT  * 2

p = NV exp −  where NV = 2 h

 kT  2
 h 

The effective density of states in the valence band, NV

For Si (300 K) NV = 1.04 x 1019 cm-3

For GaAs (300 K) NV = 7 x 1018 cm-3
 Graphically,

Thermal excitation causes covalent bonds to break creating an equal

number of electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence
band…n = p = ni … the intrinsic carrier concentration.
 Calculating the Fermi level

Since n = p,

 EC − E F   E F − EV 
N C exp −  = NV exp − 
 kT   kT 

EC + EV kT  NV 
Ei = EF = + ln  -13 meV
2 2  NC  for Si@300K

At 300 K this term << Eg, where Eg = EC – EV , so the Fermi level lies very
close to the middle of the bandgap for an intrinsic semiconductor.
 Mass Action Law
 Eg 
np = n = N C NV exp −
2
i 
 kT 
This expression is independent
 Eg 
of EF and is valid for extrinsic ni = N C NV exp − 
(doped) semiconductors too.  2kT 

For Si (300 K) ni = 9.65 x 109 cm-3

For GaAs (300 K) ni = 2.25 x 106 cm-3
 Doping (extrinsic semiconductors)

✓ When a group V (e.g As) or group III (e.g. B) atom is substituted into the Si
lattice an electron is donated or accepted and the semiconductor becomes
n-type or p-type respectively.

✓ The properties of semiconductors can therefore be easily changed through

doping.
 Donor & Acceptor levels

✓ At 0K the extra electrons associated with the donor atoms are ‘fixed’ to the
donor sites at an energy level ED.

✓ As the temperature increases there is enough thermal energy to ionize the

donor atoms i.e. for an electron to make the transition into the conduction
band which is only an energy jump of EC-ED.

✓ To create holes in the valence band in a p-type semiconductor, electrons

need only an energy of EA-EV.
✓ The energy required for the extra electron in a donor atom (or for the extra
hole in an acceptor atom) to escape from the atom is called the BINDING
ENERGY

✓ The donor and acceptor binding energies are expected to be relatively

smaller than the Band gap energy.

BINDING ENERGY FOR DONORS (eV) BINDING ENERGY FOR ACCEPTORS (eV)
P As Sb B Al Ga In

Si .045 .049 .039 .045 .057 .065 .016

Ge .012 .013 .010 .010 .010 .011 .011

Effect of Temperature Variation on Doped Semiconductors
✓ The conductivity of doped semiconductors is strongly dependent on
temperature

✓ At zero temperature none of the dopants are ionized and the semiconductor
is insulating.

✓ With increasing temperature electrons are excited into the conduction band
from the donor levels and from the valence band into the acceptor levels.

 Ionization of the dopants is usually complete at room temperature

p-TYPE CONDUCTION n-TYPE CONDUCTION

Ec

Ev

ZERO INTERMEDIATE ROOM ZERO INTERMEDIATE ROOM

TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURE
✓ At room temperature most of the carriers in extrinsic semiconductors are
provided by the dopants whose ionization energy is much smaller than the
gap energy

✓ At higher temperatures however more and more carriers are excited

across the energy gap and these eventually swamp the carriers provided
by the dopants

 The extrinsic semiconductor then looks like an Intrinsic one

LOW ROOM HIGH

TEMPERATURES TEMPERATURE TEMPERATURES
 Calculation of extrinsic Fermi level
✓ At 300 K there is usually enough thermal energy to completely ionize the
dopant atoms, so for n-type semiconductor n = ND (donor concentration)

 EC − E F 
n = N C exp − 
 kT 

 E − EF 
N D = N C exp − C 
 kT 

 NC 
 EC − EF = kT ln 
 ND 

✓So as the concentration of donor atoms increases the Fermi level moves
closer to the bottom of the conduction band.
✓ Similarly for p-type semiconductors, p = NA (acceptor concentration)…

 E − EV 
p = NV exp − F 
 kT 

 E F − EV 
N A = NV exp − 
 kT 

 NV 
 EF − EV = kT ln 
 NA 

✓ So as the concentration of acceptor atoms increases the Fermi level

moves closer to the top of the valence band.
 ✓ It is often useful to express the carrier density in terms of the intrinsic
carrier concentration and the intrinsic Fermi level…

 E − EF 
For electrons, n = N C exp − C 
 kT 
 E − Ei   Ei − E F 
n = N C exp − C  exp − 
 kT   kT 
 E − Ei 
n = ni exp F 
 kT 
 Ei − E F 
Similarly for holes, p = ni exp 
 kT 

 E − EF   E − Ei  np = ni2
The product np is then, np = ni exp i ni exp F 
 kT   kT 
So the law of mass action holds also for extrinsic semiconductors.
Backup
Effective mass and energy bandgap of Ge, Si and GaAs

Harmonic mean Geometric mean