ELEC-E3220 Semiconductor Devices: Spring 2017 Course Overview

ELEC-E3220
Semiconductor Devices
Spring 2017
Course overview
Overview of the course
• Topics to be covered
• Lectures & material
• Examination
• Exercises
• Schedule
• MyCourses website
Topics to be covered
• Summary of p-n and metal-semiconductor junction

physics
• Solar cells
• Radiation sensors
• Mechanical sensors – visit to Murata
• MOS capacitor
• MOSFET
• Semiconductor device fabrication (basics, background
for Microfabrication course)
Lectures / exercises
• Time: Monday 12.15 - 15.00 and

Wednesday 12.15 - 16.00
• Place: Micronova building, large seminar hall
• Lecturers:
Hele Savin, Micronova building, 4th floor (4156)
Ville Vähänissi, Micronova building, 4th floor (4151)
Mikko Juntunen, Micronova building, 4th floor (4157)
Toni Pasanen, Micronova building, 4th floor (4153)
• Course assistant:
Toni Pasanen, Micronova building, 4th floor (4153)
(email: firstname.surname@aalto.fi)
Course material
• Chenming Calvin Hu "Modern Semiconductor

Devices for Integrated Circuits", Pearson Education
(2010) - chapters 3,4,5,6,7 (https://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~hu/Book-
Chapters-and-Lecture-Slides-download.html)
• Lecture slides
• Handouts on solar cells and mechanical sensors

Choices for passing the course
TWO possibilities
1. Take the exam (February 15th 2017) + solve the

exercises (extra points available)
or
2. Take only the exam (in February or fall 2017)

→ Grade 100 % from the exam
Exam
• The next exam is held on 15.2.2017 13:00-16:00

• Typically the exam is held once during spring and
once during autumn
• The exam consists of 5 exercises covering all the
course topics (each worth of 6 points)
• A formulary will be available in the exam and can be
used also in the exercises
Exercises
Two types of exercises:

1) Numerical exercises that must be solved individually and
returned to MyCourses (in pdf-format):
• Three sets, 9 problems in total → possibility to obtain 9 points
• Exercise sessions on 11.1., 18.1. & 25.1. (assistant’s and co-
students’ help available, highly recommended but not
obligatory)
• Exercises will be available well in advance and students are
advised to try to solve them beforehand
• Deadline for submission on Friday following the exercise
session at 23:55
• Solutions will be provided during the demo sessions (on
Monday following the DL)
Exercises
2) On-site exercises: Small works that are completed

entirely during the lectures (16.1., 1.2. & 6.2.)
• Three exercises, possibility to obtain 1 point per session
• Earning the point requires attendance to the lecture and
returning the answer / participation in group work. The
points cannot be substituted by any other way due to the
nature of the exercises.
9
Grading
• Exam: 5 x 6 p. = 30 p.
• Points earned from the exercises will be divided by two
and added to the points earned from the exam
• Max. 12/2 = 6 p. extra (corresponds one problem in the exam)
• The points are valid only in the first exam a student attends
(either in February or fall 2017)
Schedule
My Courses
• https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/view.php?id=13423&section
=2
• All material available there
– Lecture slides
– Book chapters
– Exercises and their return boxes
– News
– …
• Return the exercises to MyCourses in pdf-format!
• Post any questions primarily to the Discussion forum (can be
found from the course front page). In personal issues (e.g.
regarding the grading), you can contact the course assistant
Toni Pasanen (toni.pasanen(at)aalto.fi).
Excursion to Murata
• On Wednesday 8.2.
• http://www.murata.com/en-
eu/about/company/muratalocations/europe/mfi/overview
• More information and binding enrollment later via MyCourses
• If a student enrolls but do not show up, points will be reduced!
13
Summary of Semiconductor
Physics
14
Outline
• Materials used in semiconductor devices

• Crystal structures and orientations (important for device
fabrication)
• Basics
– Band diagram
– Carrier concentrations
– Carrier transport
15
Main material for semiconductor
devices: Silicon
• Reasons why silicon is a desirable material
– Cheap
• One of the most abundant element in Earth
– Silicon has excellent material properties
• High strength, elasticity and hardness (mechanical properties)
• Piezoresistive
• Good heat capacity
– Fabrication techniques are well established
– Microsensors often include electronic circuits, so both the circuit and
the device can be made on the same substrate
• Some disadvantages
– In-direct forbidden energy gap (weak optical radiation)
– Non-magnetic material
– Not a piezoelectric material
16
Silicon – most widely used semiconductor
• An ingot of silicon,
consisting of a single
large crystal of silicon.
• Such an ingot is sliced
into individual wafers and
then used to make a
variety of semiconductor
devices
• Therefore it is important
to understand basics of
semiconductor physics ->
operation of devices
17
Semiconductor structure
• Each atom is surrounded by 8 electrons
• The electrons occupy certain energy levels, which is different for each element
in the periodic table.
• Electrons in the covalent bond cannot move
– No current flow possible (material is insulator)
– Only at absolute zero are all electrons in a bonded arrangement
18
Crystal Faces in Cubic Lattice Structure
• Miller index (three-number digit) tells the orientation of the crystal

• Etching rate depends on the orientation of the lattice structure (e.g. slower
rate in (111) than in (100)
→ formation of distinct geometric structures and 3-D features
→ utilized in sensor fabrication
Electrons and holes
• At elevated temperatures, the electron can gain enough energy to escape
from its bond
– the electron is free to move around the crystal lattice and participate in conduction
• The space (hole) left behind by the electrons allows a covalent bond to
move from one electron to another, thus appearing to be a positive charge
moving through the crystal lattice.
• Both the electron and hole can participate in conduction and are called “
charge carriers".
20
Band diagram
• Band diagram is often used to describe the physical processes in semiconductors
• The presence of the bond introduces two distinct energy states for the electrons.
– Bound state (the lowest energy position) = Valence band
– Free state (If the electron has enough energy to break its bond) = Conduction
band
• The electron cannot attain energy values intermediate to these two levels
• The minimum energy required to break the covalent bond is called the "band gap”
21
22
Intrinsic semiconductor
• Pure (=non-doped) semiconductor material is called intrinsic
• Intrinsic carrier concentration (ni) is the number of electrons (holes) in the
conduction (valence) band
• ni depends on
– Temperature
– Band gap
23
Doping – the key issue
• It is possible to shift the balance of electrons and holes by "doping" the lattice
with other atoms → make the semiconductor more conductive
• By controlling doping, we can control the conductivity/resistivity of the material
• n-type vs. p-type semiconductors (majority carriers either electron or holes)
24
Doping – band diagram
Summary of semiconductor
physics and basic
structures
25
Doping - animations
26
Equilibrium carrier concentration
• Typically majority
carrier
concentration ~
doping
concentration
27
Carrier transport – diffusion
• Carriers flow from the high-concentration region to the low-concentration
region
28
Carrier transport - drift
• Transport due to the movement of carriers in an electric

field (also present in metals)
29
Animations
• The animations were taken from the following page:

http://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/ Chapter 3
• Free access ! Please study them if you could not attend
the class.
30
End of lecture
• Topic next time: p-n junction & Schottky diode
31

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ELEC-E3220

• Summary of p-n and metal-semiconductor junction

• Time: Monday 12.15 - 15.00 and

• Chenming Calvin Hu "Modern Semiconductor

• Handouts on solar cells and mechanical sensors

1. Take the exam (February 15th 2017) + solve the

2. Take only the exam (in February or fall 2017)

• The next exam is held on 15.2.2017 13:00-16:00

Two types of exercises:

2) On-site exercises: Small works that are completed

• Materials used in semiconductor devices

• Miller index (three-number digit) tells the orientation of the crystal

• Transport due to the movement of carriers in an electric

• The animations were taken from the following page:

• Topic next time: p-n junction & Schottky diode

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