Electronic Devices

Lecture 9
16-09-2022
Prof. Ramesha C K

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Fermi level positioning in Si at 300K as a
function of doping concentration.

EF donor dope

EF acceptor doped

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Fermi-Dirac Distribution in
Semiconductors

The Fermi distribution function applied to semiconductors:

(a) intrinsic material; (b) n-type material; (c) p-type material.

2022-09-16 3
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Electron and Hole Concentrations (n0, p0)
at Thermal Equilibrium

If density of states = N(E)

Probability of occupancy = f(E),
Then the conc. of the electrons in the conduction is :


n0 = 
EC
f ( E ) N ( E )dE

2022-09-16 4
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Electron and Hole Concentrations (n0,
p0) at Thermal Equilibrium

• N(E) increases with E ( N(E)  E)

• while the Fermi function f(E) becomes extremely small for

large E.

• f(E)N(E) decreases rapidly above EC so that very few

electrons can occupy energy states far above the
conduction band edge.

2022-09-16 5
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Electron and Hole Concentrations
(n0, p0) at Thermal Equilibrium

Effective density of states (NC): when all of the distributed electron

states in C.B. can be represented by an effective density of states (NC)
located at C.B. edge (EC).

n0 = N C f ( E C )

Assume that EC –EF  ~3 kT where kT = 0.0259 eV at room temp.

1
f ( EC ) =  e −( EC − EF ) / kT
1 + e ( EC − EF ) / kT
2022-09-16 6
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Degenerate and non-Degenerate Semiconductor

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Relation between electron/hole concentration and density of states

3/ 2
−( EC − EF ) / kT  2m n* kT 
n0 = N C f ( EC ) = N C e where N C = 2 2

 h 

Similarly, concentration of holes in V.B. will be :

p0 = N V [1 − f ( EV )]
1
[1 − f ( EV )] = 1 − ( EV − E F ) / kT
1+ e
− ( E F − EV ) / kT
e  2m kT  * 3/ 2
− ( E F − EV ) / kT
p0 = NV [1 − f ( EV )] = N V e N V = 2
 h 2


p

 
For Silicon Nc= 2.8× 1019 /cm3 and Nv = 1.04 × 1019 /cm3
2022-09-16 8
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
 Schematic Band Diagram

Schematic band diagram, density of states, Fermi–Dirac distribution, and the carrier
concentrations for (a) intrinsic, (b) n-type, and (c) p-type semiconductors
at thermal equilibrium.
2022-09-16 9
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
 • Recall these two equations :

n0 = N C f ( EC ) = N C e −( EC − EF ) / kT
p0 = NV [1 − f ( EV )] = N V e −( EF − EV ) / kT
Intrinsic electron and hole concentrations where almost EF = Ei :

pi = NV e − ( Ei − EV ) / kT ni = N C e −( EC − Ei ) / kT

n0 p0 = ( N C e − ( EC − EF ) / kT )( NV e − ( EF − EV ) / kT ) =
−( EC − EV ) / kT − E g / kT
N C NV e = N C NV e

ni pi = ( N C e −( EC − Ei ) / kT )( N V e −( Ei − EV ) / kT ) =
−( EC − EV ) / kT − E g / kT
N C NV e = N C NV e
2022-09-16 10
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Thus, intrinsic electron and hole concentrations are equal since the carriers are created
in pairs : ni = pi :
Thus, intrinsic concentration : n0 p0 = ni2
Also,
Note: ni of Si at RT = 1.5 x 1010 cm-3 & EC – Ei = Eg/2 if NC = NV
− E g / 2 kT
ni = N C NV e
Two convenient expressions :
− ( E C −E F ) / kT − ( EC −Ei ) / kT ( E F −Ei ) / kT ( E F −Ei ) / kT
n 0 = NCe = NCe e = nie
Thus,
− ( E F −E V ) / kT − ( Ei −E V ) / kT ( Ei −E F ) / kT ( Ei −E F ) / kT
p0 = N V e = NVe e = nie
n0 = ni e ( EF − Ei ) / kT
p0 = ni e ( Ei − EF ) / kT

2022-09-16 11
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Example:

Find the equilibrium electron and hole concentrations and the location of the
Fermi level (with respect to the intrinsic Fermi level Ei) in silicon at 300K if the
silicon contains 8  1016 cm-3 Arsenic (As) and 2  1016 cm-3 boron (B) atoms.

n0 = ni e ( E F − Ei ) / kT
p0 = ni e ( Ei − EF ) / kT

n = 6 1016 cm-3
ni2
p= = 3.5 10 3 cm-3
n
E f − Ei = kT ln( n / ni ) = 0.393eV
Ec − E f = kT ln( N c / n) = 0.0258 ln( 2.8 1019 / 6 1016 )
= 0.159 eV
12
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Temperature Dependence of Carrier Concentrations

− E g / 2 kT
ni = N C NV e
3/ 2
 2m kT  *
N C = 2 n
2
 h  3/ 2
 2kT  − E / 2 kT
 2m kT * 3/ 2
ni (T ) = 2 2  (m n* m *p ) 3 / 4 e g
= 2   h 
p
NV
 h 2 
 

Take ni to calculate n0 and p0 in the following equations:

n0 = ni e ( E F − Ei ) / kT
p0 = ni e ( Ei − EF ) / kT

2022-09-16 13
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Temperature dependence of carrier concentrations

Figure 3—17
Intrinsic carrier concentration for Ge, Si, and GaAs as a function of
2022-09-16 inverse temperature. The room temperature values are marked for 14
reference.
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Carrier Concentration vs. Inverse Temperature

Device operation region

100K

Figure 3—18
2022-09-16 Carrier concentration vs. inverse temperature for Si doped with 15
1015 donors/cm3.
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
A silicon crystal is known to contain 10-4 atomic percent of arsenic (As) as an
impurity. It then receives a uniform doping 3 1016 cm-3 phosphorous (P) atoms
and a subsequent uniform doping of 1018cm-3 boron (B) atoms. A thermal
annealing treatment then completely activates all impurities.

(a) What is the conductivity type of this silicon sample?

(b) What is the density of the majority carriers?

16
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Conductivity and Hall effect

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

 Materials out of Equilibrium

✓ Until now we have considered materials in

equilibrium.

✓ Let’s apply an electric field.

✓ A material can be characterized electrically using its

conductivity or its resistivity.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

 Drift and Mobility

The reaction of a conductor material in the

presence of an external applied electric field

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

 Conductivity and Resistivity

• We can measure the resistivity, but how do we relate it to the

physics of motion of electrons?

• We have said that through the introduction of the band

structure we have created a model for a new equivalent “free
space” where the “quasi-particles” electrons and holes follow a
new energy-momentum law 𝐸 𝑘 .
• But inside a solid we also need to consider the collisions
(scatterings) experienced by particles.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

 Scattering

• What kind of collision events scatter the particles?

• The most important ones are:
– Vibrations of crystal atoms (phonons)
scattering increases with temperature
– Ionized impurity scattering (Coulomb interaction)
scattering increases with carrier concentration
– Electron-electron interaction (Coulomb interaction)
scattering increases with doping concentration

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Electrons in crystal in equilibrium

• Electrons behave like a “gas” and obey the Boltzmann

distribution at a specific temperature (this is our initial
condition)

Average kinetic energy

thermal velocity

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

 𝑣𝑡ℎ in Si at 300K forelectrons

conductivity mass

• This can be interpreted as the root-mean-square

of the total speed in 3D.
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
 Scattering

• For a given field there is going to be a random distribution of

“times between collisions” and a corresponding “mean free
path”.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus