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Intro To Semicon Materials
Intro To Semicon Materials
Intro To Semicon Materials
Semiconductor Materials
Prerequisites
To understand this presentation, you should
have the following prior knowledge:
Draw the structure of an atom, including electrons,
protons, and neutrons.
Define resistance and conductance.
Label an electronic schematic, indicating current flow.
Define Ohms and Kirchhoffs laws.
Describe the characteristics of DC and AC (sine wave)
voltages.
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Bardeen,Shockley,andBrattainatBellLabsBrattainand
Thefirstgermaniumbipolartransistor.Roughly50yearslater,
Bardeeninventedthebipolartransistorin1947.
electronicsaccountfor10%(4trilliondollars)oftheworldGDP.
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Electronics Milestones
1874 Braun invents the solid-state
rectifier.
1906 DeForest invents triode vacuum
tube.
1907-1927
First radio circuits developed
from diodes and triodes.
1925 Lilienfeld field-effect device
patent filed.
1947 Bardeen and Brattain at Bell
Laboratories invent bipolar
transistors.
1952 Commercial bipolar transistor
production at Texas Instruments.
1956 Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley
receive Nobel prize.
MicroelectronicCircuitDesign,4E
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McGrawHill
Chap15
THE ATOM
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THE ATOM
Electron has a mass of nearly 9.1 10 31 kg
and a charge of 1.6 1019 C. The diameter
of an atom is approximately 1010 m and that
of the nucleus about 1015 m.
The number of protons in the atom of an
element gives its atomic number while the
atomic mass number is determined by the
number of protons and neutrons present in
the nucleus.
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Electronic Materials
Conductors
Good conductors have low resistance so
electrons flow through them with ease.
Best element conductors include:
Copper, silver, gold, aluminum, & nickel
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Insulators
Insulators have a high resistance so current
does not flow in them.
Good insulators include:
Glass, ceramic, plastics, & wood
Semiconductors
Semiconductors are materials that essentially
can be conditioned to act as good conductors,
or good insulators, or any thing in between.
Common elements such as carbon, silicon,
and germanium are semiconductors.
Silicon is the best and most widely used
semiconductor.
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Conductor
Semiconductor
Insulator
Conductivity
Very high
In-between
Very low
Valence
Electrons
1 to 3
58
Energy Gap(Eg)
0 eV
Eg(Ge) 0.67 eV 5 eV
Eg(Si) 1.10 eV
Resistivity ()
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Current Carriers
Particle that carry charges
Their uniform motion produces electrical
current
Negative charges: electrons and negative
ions
Positive charges: protons, positive ions and
holes
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Current carriers
Carriers for Conductors
Electrons are the only carriers of conductors
Carriers of Semiconductors
Free electrons and holes are the two carriers of
semiconductors
Electron flow: due to movement of free electrons
Hole flow: due to the transfer of valence
electrons from atom to atom, has same direction
as the conventional current flow.
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Current carriers
Hole
Vacancy in the valence orbit.
A completely filled valence has eight
electrons, short of this means existence of
hole.
When a valence electron gains enough
energy and becomes a free electron, it leaves
a HOLE in the valence.
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Current carriers
Diffusion
Random movement of carriers without any
voltage
Drift
Uniform movement of carriers due to applied
voltage.
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Covalent Bonding
Semiconductors exhibit covalent bonding in
their crystal structures.
Sharing of valence electrons with
neighboring atoms.
When thermal energy is applied on the
valence electron, it breaks the bond and
becomes a free electron.
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Recombination
When a free electron loses energy and falls
back into a hole in the valence.
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Lifetime
Amount of time that there is an existing free
electron.
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Zn
Cd
III
B
Al
Ga
In
IV
C
Si
Ge
Sn
Pb
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VI
P
As
Sb
Bi
S
Se
Te
Doping
To make the semiconductor conduct electricity,
other atoms called impurities must be added.
Impurities are different elements.
This process is called doping.
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In Summary
In its pure state, semiconductor material is an excellent
insulator.
The commonly used semiconductor material is silicon.
Semiconductor materials can be doped with other atoms to
add or subtract electrons.
An N-type semiconductor material has extra electrons.
A P-type semiconductor material has a shortage of
electrons with vacancies called holes.
The heavier the doping, the greater the conductivity or the
lower the resistance.
By controlling the doping of silicon the semiconductor
material can be made as conductive as desired.
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