SEMICONDUCTOR

PHYSICS
By

Dr. Akpochafor Michael O.

College of Medicine, Lagos
University Teaching Hospital/ IAEA
Fellow
 INTRODUCTION
 Solid materials can be generally grouped into three
categories namely: conductors, semiconductors and
insulators.

 Semi conductors are materials with electrical properties

lying between conductors and insulators

 The conductivity of semiconductor materials can vary

over a range of magnitude by changing its temperature,
optical excitation and impurity content
 INTRODUCTION
 Every material has energy bands namely:
i. valence band (VB)
ii. conduction band (CB).
 separated by a band gap (Energy band gap )

𝟏 −𝟒 𝒆𝒗
 ENERGY BANDS
 The VB is the allowed energy band that is filled with
electrons while the CB is the empty energy band.

 Conductivity increases when the electrons moves to the

CB and holes (empty spaces) are created in the VB

 In conductors like metals, the valence band is partially

filled with electrons and they overlap with the
conduction band, even at 0K conduction can take place

 A small energy gap exists between the VB and CB of

semiconductor materials while insulators have a wider
gap preventing electrons to move from VB to CB
 CLASSIFICATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR

Elemental composition Dopant addition

Can be formed by a single
elemental material, commonly
group IV elements ( e.g.
Carbon, Silicon, Germanium) Extrinsic
Intrinsic
Or Modifies
combination of elements from pure
electrical
group I to group VII to form semiconductor
conductivity by
binary, ternary and quaternary formed without
the addition of
compound semiconductors the addition of
external dopant
(e.g GaAs, CdxMn(1-x)Te, impurities
e.g. P or N type
(dopant)
Cu2ZnSnSe etc.) formation
 Intrinsic SC

 Conductivity takes place by thermally excited electrons from VB to

CB i.e. charge carriers (holes and electrons) are thermally generated

Figure 2: Typical energy band diagrams of an intrinsic semiconductor

material illustrating (a) no electron excitation at 0 K, (b) the excitation
of one electron and (b) excitation of all electrons from valence band to
conduction band after bombardment of the atoms with light.
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
 Another way to create (almost) free charge carriers is to
contaminate a material with impurities that occupy lattice sites in
place of the atoms of the pure semiconductor - so-called doping

 A pure Si doped with group V elements (or donor atoms) will have
excess electrons, the newly formed SC is called N-type

 What if we dope with an acceptor atom (group III elements), we

have excess holes, and is referred to as a P-type SC

 what we aim to achieve is to increase electrical conductivity,

either increasing any of the charge carrier or by shifting the band
level
 A p-n Junction
P N

+ + - - -
+

+ + + - - -

+ + + - - -

Junction

 When we fused an N-type material and a P-type, a P-N junction is

formed.
 There is a lot of physics at the junction. It is the formation of a
depletion layer with ion diffusion creating a barrier potential
 The flexibilities at the junction gives semiconductor devices wide
areas of application.
 Application
Solid state detectors: Diodes

 Diodes are semiconductor devices that require low

voltage supply to create a high electric field across a
pn junction (positive-negative junction) which enables
charge collection without necessarily depending on
external bias.

 The working principle of diode is illustrated in the

figure below.
Schematics of a Si pn junction diode as a radiation detector

Incident Radiation

-ᵠ̥+

Hole
Anode
Electro Cathode
n
P n

S.n W
Sp
Electrometer
Radiation current
 As illustrated in the figure above, the incident ionizing radiation
generates electron-hole pairs throughout the diode.

 The minority carriers (electrons on the p side and holes on the n

side) diffuse toward the pn junction.

 Those carriers within approximately one diffusion length from

the junction edge are able to reach it before recombination
occurs.

 They are then swept across the junction by the built-in potential
and measured by the electrometer.

 The total current consists of the radiation-induced photocurrent

(radiation current) and the electrical leakage current due to the
offset voltage from the electrometer.
 Diodes are used for in-vivo dosimetry and can also be
used to estimate delivered dose during total/half body
irradiation treatment.

 One of the advantages of Diodes is their high sensitivity

and Real-time readout.

 However, Diodes are susceptible to influence quantities

such as temperature, pressure and depth and therefore
require a lot of correction factors.
SEMICONDUCTOR DOSIMETRY
Silicon diode dosimetry systems
 Other Applications…
 Devices made from semiconductor materials are the
foundation of modern electronics, including radio,
computers, telephones, and may other devices.
Semiconductor devices include the transistor, many
kinds of diodes including the light emitting diode, the
silicon controlled rectifier, and digital and analog
integrated circuits. Solar photovoltaic panels are large
semiconductor devices that directly convert light
energy into electrical energy
Dankie = Thank you