Physics

Investlgatory
Report

SemiConduetons

Submitted By

G.Kavi Chandra
Class: XII
 Roll No : 19
Kendriya Vidyalaya No.2 Uppal

Certificate
This is to certify that G.Kavi Chandra
student of Class XII, Kendriya Vidyalaya No.2 Uppal, has
completed the project titled "SemiConductors" during the
academic year 2014-2015 and submitted satisfactory
report, as compiled in the following pages, under my
supervision.
 Acknowlebgement
Iwould like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my teacher Mr N.V.N.G.K Rao who
gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic SemiConductors,
which also helped me in doing a lot of Research
and icame to know about so many new things I
am really thankful to them.
Secondly iwould also like to thank my parents
and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this
project within the limited time frame.
 INTRODuCTION

Semiconductors :-Most of the solids can be placed in one of

the two classes: Metals and insulators. Metals are those
through which electric charge can easily flow, while
insulators are those through which electriccharge is difficult
to flow. This distinction between the metals and the insulators
can be explained on the basis of the number of free electrons
in them. Metals have a large number of free electrons which
act as charge carriers, while insulators have practically no
free electrons.
There are however, certain solids whose electrical
conductivity is intermediate between metals and insulators.
They are called 'Semiconductors'. Carbon, silicon and
germanium are examples of semi-conductors. In
semiconductors the outer most electrons are neither so rigidly
bound with the atom as in an insulator, nor so loosely bound
as in metal. At absolute zero a semiconductor becomes an
ideal insulator.

Theory and Definition

Semiconductors are the materials whose electrical
conductivity lies in between metals and insulator. The
energy band structure of the semiconductors is similar to the
insulators but in their case, the size of the forbidden energy
gap is much smaller than that of the insulator. In this class of
crystals, the forbidden gap is of the order of about lev, and
the two energy bands are distinctly separate with no
overlapping. At absolute o0, no electron has any energy even
to jump the forbidden gap and reach the conduction
band. Therefore the substance is an insulator.
But when we heat the crystal and thus provide some energy to
the atoms and their electrons, it becomes an easy matter for
some electrons to jump the small (x lev) energy gap and go
to conduction band. Thus at higher temperatures, the crystal
becomes aconductors. This is the specific property of the
crystal which is known as a semiconductor.
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON CONDUCTVITY OF
SEMICONDUCTOR

At OK, all semiconductors are insulators. The valence band

at absolute zero is completely filled and there are no free
electrons in conduction band. At roomn temperature the
electrons jump to the conduction band due to the thermal
energy. When the temperature increases, a large number of
electrons cross over the forbidden gap and jumpfrom valence
to conduction band. Hence conductivity of semiconductor
increases with temperature.
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
Pure semiconductors are called intrinsic semi
conductors. In a pure semiconductor, each atom behaves as
if there are8 electrons in its valence shell and therefore the
entire material behaves as an insulator at low temperatures.
A semiconductor atom needs energy of the order of 1. lev to
shake off the valenceelectron. This energy becomes available
to iteven at room temperature. Due to thermal agitation of
crystal structure, electrons from afew covalent bonds come
out. The bondfrom which electron is freed, a vacancy is
created there. The vacancy in the covalent bond is called a
hole.

This hole can be filled by some other electron in a covalent

bond. As an electron from covalent bond moves to fill the
hole, the hole is created in the covalent bond from which the
electron has moved. Since the direction of movement of the
hole is opposite to that of the negative electron, a hole
behaves as apositive chargecarrier. Thus, at room
temperature, a pure semiconductor will have electrons and
holes wandering in random directions. These electrons and
holes are called intrinsic carriers.

As the crystal is neutral, the number of free electrons will be

equal to the number of holes. In an intrinsic seniconductor, if
ne denotes the electron number density in conduction band,
nhthe hole number density in valence band and ni the number
density or concentration of charge carriers, then
ne = n, = n;

EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS

As the conductivity of intrinsic semi-conductors is poor, so

intrinsic semi-conductors are of little practical
importance. The conductivity of pure semi-conductor can,
however be enormously increased by addition of some
pentavalent or a trivalent impurity in a very small amount
(about 1to 106 parts of the semi-conductor). The process of
adding an impurity to a pure semiconductor so as to improve
its conductivity is called doping Such semi-conductors are
called extrinsic semi-conductors. Extrinsic semiconductors
are of two types :
i) n-type semiconductor
i) P-type seniconductor

N-TYPE SEMICONDUCTOR
When an impurity atom belonging to group Vof the periodic
table like Arsenic is added to the pure semi-conductor, then
four of the five impurity electrons form covalent bonds by
sharing one electron with each of the four nearest silicon
atoms, and fifth electron from each impurity atom is almost
free to conduct electricity. As the pentavalent impurity
increases the number of free electrons, it is called donor
impurity. The electrons soset free in the silicon crystal are
called extrinsic carriers and the n-type Si-crystal is called n
type extrinsic semiconductor. Therefore n-type Si-crystal will
have a large number of free electrons (majority carriers) and
have a snall number of holes (minority carriers).
In terms of valence and conduction band one can think that
all such electrons create a donor energy level just below the
conduction band as shown in figure. As the energy gap
between donor energy level and the conduction band is very
Small, the electrons can easily raise themselves to conduction
band even at room temperature. Hence, the conductivity of n
type extrinsic semiconductor is markedly increased.
In a doped or extrinsic semiconductor, the number density of
the conduction band (ne) and the number density of holes in
the valence band (nh) differ from that in a pure
semiconductor. If ni is the number density of electrons is
conduction band, then it is proved that
n n, = n2

PTYPE SEMICONDUCTOR
f atrivalent impurity like indium is added in pure semi
conductor, the impurity atom can provide only three valence
electrons for covalent bond formation. Thus a gap is left in
one of the covalent bonds.
The gap acts as a hole that tends to accept electrons. As the
trivalent impurity atoms accept electrons from the silicon
crystal, it is called acceptor impurity. The holes so created
are extrinsic carriers and the p-type Si-crystal so obtained is
called p-type extrinsic semiconductor. Again, as the pure Si
crystal also possesses afew electrons and holes, therefore, the
p-type si-crystal will have a lage number of holes (majority
carriers) and a small number of electrons (minority carriers).
It terms of valence and conduction band one can think that all
such holes create an accepter energy level just above the top
of the valance band as shown in figure. The electrons from
valence band can raise themselves to the accepter energ
level by absorbing thermal energy at room temperature and in
turn create holes in the valence band.
Number density of valence band holes (nh) in p-type
semiconductor is approximately equal to that of the acceptor
atoms (Na) and is very large as compared to the number
density of conduction band electrons (ne). Thus,
n,N, >> ne

ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF SEMICONDUCTORS

Considera block of semiconductor of length ll area of cross
section A and having number density of electrons and holes as
ne and nh respectively. Suppose that on applying a potential
difference, say V, acurrent I flows through it as shown in
figure. The electron current (Tc) and the hole current (Ih)
constitute the current I flowing through the semi conductor
i.e.

I= le + Ih (i)
It ne is the number density of conduction band electrons in the
semiconductor and ve, the drift velocity of electrons then
le = eneAve
Similarly, the hole current, Ih = enhAvh
From (i) I= eneAve + enhAvh
I=eA(neve + nhvh) (i)
Ifp is the resistivity of the material of the semiconductor, then
the resistance offered by the semiconductor to theflow of current is given by :
R=plA (iii)
Since V= RI, from equation (ii) and (iii) we have
V= RI= pllA eA (neve t nh vh)
V=ple(neve t nhvh) (iv)
IfE is the electric field set up across the semiconductor, then:
E= VII (v)
from equation (iv) and (v), we have
E=pe (neve + nhvh)
1/p=e (ne ve/E t nh vh/E)
On applying electric field, the drift velocity acquired by the electrons (or
holes) per unit strength of electric field is called mobility of electrons (or
holes). Therefore,
mobility of electrons and holes is given by:
ue = ve/E and h = vh/E
l/p= e(ne ue + nh uh) (vi)
Also, o= llpis called conductivity of the material of semiconductor
=e (ne ue + nh uh) (vi)

The relation (vi) and (vii) show that the conductivity and
resistivity of a semiconductor depend upon the electron and hole number
densities and their mobilities. As ne and nh increases with rise intemperature,
therefore, conductivity of semiconductor increases with rise in temperature
and resistivity decreases with rise in temperature.
Pn junction diode

A p-n junction is an interface or a boundary between two semiconductor material types,

namely the p-type and the n-type, inside a semiconductor. The p-side or the positive side
of the semiconductor has an excess of holes and the n-side or the negative side has an
excess ofelectrons.

-type
ateri materia!

Empty holes. Free

electrons

Depletion
Region
A single p-n junction has two different types
of bias:

Forward bias: The positive terminal of the voltage potential is connected to the p-type
while the negative terminal is connected to the n-type.

Reverse bias: The negative terminal of the voltage potential is connected to the p-type and
the positive is connected to the n-type.
 Forward bias of the PN junction:

When the p-type is connected to the positive terminal of

the battery and the n-type to the negative terminal then the (4)

p-n junction is said to be forward-biased. When the p-n

junction is forward biased, the built-in electric field at the
p-n junction and the applied electric field are in opposite
directions. When both the electric fields add up the
resultant electric field has a magnitude lesser than the
built-in electric field. This results in a less resistive and
thinner depletion region. The depletion region's resistance
becomes negligible when the applied voltage is large. In
silicon, at the voltage of 0.6 V, the resistance of the 1Batery induced electric fieid 2Bult-in electric leld
depletion region becomes completely negligible and the 9 Conventional curent Electron current
current flows across it unimpeded.
 Reverse bias of the PN junction:

No current flow

When the p-type is connected to the negative terminal of

the battery and the n-type is connected to the positive side
then the p-n junction is said to be reverse biased. In this
case, the built-in electric field and the applied electric field
are in the same direction. When the two fields are added,
the resultant electric field is in the same direction as the
built-in electric field creating a more resistive, thicker
depletion region. The depletion region becomes more
resistive and thicker if the applied voltage becomes larger.
Battery induced electric field 2 Built-in electrnic fheld
Key Differences between Forward Biasing
and Reverse Biasing:

It is basically understood thata forward biased voltage permits a large flow of

current thus operates as a closed switch. While a reverse biased voltage does not allow
sufficient current flow hence fundamentally termed as an open switched condition.
In case of forward applied potential, the PN junction device offers very low resistance. On
the other side, in case of reverse applied voltage. pn junction device offers very high
resistance.

º On applying a forward voltage to a PN junction device the depletion width decreases with
the increase in supplied voltage. While, when reverse biasing is provided to a PN junction
device then the width of the depletion region increases with supplied voltage.