Chapter two:

Semiconductors
conductivities lying between those of good conductors and insulators.
the resistivity of semiconductors varies from10-5 to 10+4 ohm/m as
compared to the values ranging from 10-8 to10-6 ohm-m for conductors
and from 107 to 108 ohm/m for insulators.
 band gap energy
• The band gap energies for the elements of group IV at 0K are as
follows:
• C (Diamond) 5.51 eV
• Ge 0.75 eV
• Si 1.16eV
• Sn(grey) 0.08 eV
• Pd 0 eV
• At room temperature, diamond behaves as an insulator, Ge and Si as
semiconductors and Sn and Pd as conductors.
 Type of semiconductors
• Depending on the nature of impurities added, the semiconductors are
classified as follows:
• pure or intrinsic semiconductors
• Impurity or extrinsic semiconductors
 Type of semiconductors
• Depending on the structure semiconductors
are classified as follows:

-elemental semiconductors.

-compound semiconductors.
 pure or intrinsic semiconductor

• intrinsic semiconductor such as pure Ge or Si are un

doped semiconductor. The electrical conductivity of
this type of semiconductor is solely determined by
thermally generated carriers.
 pure or intrinsic semiconductor

+ +
+ + +
+ 4 4
4 4 4
4
Valence electron
electrons
+ + +
+ + +
4 4
4 4 4
4
Si atoms
+ + +
+ + +
4 4 4
4 4 4

(a) a two dimensional (b) Silicon crystal containing

representation of Si crystal at T=0k an electron –hole pair at T>0k
generation and recombination of an electron and a hole.
electrons Conduction band

hv recombination of e and h
Generation of e- h pair

Band gap

holes

Valence band

In equilibrium, g = R =C ni Pi
where C is a proportionality constant which depends on the nature of the material.
Since in an intrinsic semiconductor, ni =Pi , we have
g= R=C n2
 Mobility of hole and electrons.

• the electrons move mainly under the influence of the applied field
while the holes move under the combined effect of the applied electric
field and the ionic field of the lattice.

• Thus the prosperities such as effective mass, mobility, etc. of a hole

are quite different from the corresponding properties of electrons.
 Impurity or extrinsic semiconductors

• The impurity atoms are referred to as acceptor or p-type and donor

or n-type impurities as they contribute excess holes and electrons
respectively to the semiconducting material.
• The semiconductor is accordingly known as p-type or n-type
semiconductor. The dopants are added in the ratio of about 1 in 10 6
to 108 atoms of the semiconducting material.

• the conductivity of the semiconductor is greatly affected by such

substitution.
 Donor or n-type semiconductor

• N-type semiconductor can be made by introducing pentavalent impurity

atom of group V ,such as Phosphorus, arsenic or antimony

+4 +4
+4
Extra electron
Valence
electrons

+5 +4
+4

Impurity atom
Si atoms (P)

+4 +4 +4

A pentavalent Impurity atom (P) in a silicon crystal

Energy level diagram of an n-type semiconductor

Conduction band

Donor level
Band gap

Valence band

The depth of the donor level below the conduction band is merely about 0.01 eV for Ge
and 0.03 eV for silicon.
majority and minority carriers
• In n-type semiconductors, the current is carried mainly by electrons
which are called majority carriers. The thermally generated holes are
called minority carriers. The electron concentration, n, is obviously
quite large as compared to hole concentration, p, but their product
always remains constant.
• i.e., np = niPi = n2i
• where ni and Pi are the intrinsic values of the carrier concentration.
This relationship is called the law of mass –action
Acceptor or p-type semiconductor

• If a trivalent impurity atom of group III, such as boron,

aluminum, gallium or indium, is introduced into
silicon it cause to making the p-type semiconductor
b

+4 +4
+4
hole
Valence
a
electrons
+3 +4
+4
Impurity atom (B)
Si atoms

+4 +4 +4
energy level diagram of a P-type semiconductor
• The acceptor levels are located at a distance of a bout 0.01eV above
the top of the valence band in Ge and a bout 0.046 to 0.16 eV in Si.

Conduction band

Band gap

Acceptor level

Valence band
Majority and minority carriers In a p-type
semiconductors
• In a p-type semiconductors, holes are the majority carriers and
thermally generated electrons are the minority carriers. In this case, p
is quite large as compared to n but the law of mass action still holds,
i.e., np = ni Pi=ni2. It may also be noted that in either type of
semiconductors, the overall charge neutrality is maintained as no
charge is added to or removed from the material.
•
 Drift velocity, Mobility and
conductivity of intrinsic
semiconductors
• This extra velocity acquired by the carriers in the presence of an applied electric fields called the drift
velocity and is denoted by vd.
vd α ε or vd = µε
jn=ne vdn
vdn=µn ε then j n = ne µ n ε
Comparing it with Ohms law, i.e.,
jn= σn ε
Where
σn = ne µn
Similarly, we can write the expression for the conductivity due to holes in the valence band as
σp= peµp
σ= σn+ σp = e (nµn+pµp)
 Drift velocity, Mobility and
conductivity of intrinsic
semiconductors
• For an intrinsic semiconductor
• n = p = ni
• Therefore
• σ= e ni (µn+µp)
• It is important to note that, in semiconductors, the movement of carriers or the flow of current
is, in fact, the consequence of the following two processes:
• 1-Drift of carriers under the effect of an applied field; the resulting current is called the drift
current.
• 2- Diffusion of carriers under the effect of concentration gradient of dopants presents inside the
semiconductor; the corresponding current is called the diffusion current
• The diffusion current contribution is absent in semiconductor having a uniform distribution of
impurities.
Variation of conductivity with temperature
• intrinsic carrier concentration, ni,

• The first term on the right hand side is the dominant term. The plot of
lnσ versus 1/T is a right line. The slope of the line gives an estimate of
the band gap of the semiconductor.
Variation of conductivity with temperature

lnσ

1/T
electron concentration in the conduction
band
• The number of free electrons per unit volume in an energy range E and
(E+dE) can be written as
• Dn= D(E) f(E) dE
• Where D(E) is the density of states defined as the total number of
allowed electronic states per unit volume in a semiconductor and f(E)
is the Fermi distribution function representing the probability of
occupation of a state with energy E. the expression for f(E) is given as
•
electron concentration in the conduction
band

It apparent that an electron occupying an energy state E in the conduction band, in

fact, possess the kinetic energy (E-Ec), Thus
electron concentration in the conduction
band
The concentration of electrons, n, in the conduction band is obtained by integrating
eq.(1.5.5) from E=Ec to E=

Now, near room temperature, KT≈ 0.026 eV. Therefore, for energies greater than Ec
lelectron concentration in the conduction
band

Let E-Ec/kT= x dE=KTdX

For E=Ec , X=0
electron concentration in the conduction
band
electron concentration in the conduction
band

For silicon
 Example : Calculate the effective densities of states in the conduction and
valence bands of germanium, silicon and gallium arsenide at 300K.

Solution: .
The effective density of states in the conduction band of germanium equals
 Note that the effective density of states is temperature dependent
and can be obtain from:

where Nc(300 K) is the effective density of states at 300 K.

hole concentration in the valence band

• An expression similar to electrons for the number of holes per unit

volume in the energy range E and E+dE can be written as

• Where we have replaced f(E) by [1- f(E)] which represents the

probability of an energy state E not to be occupied by an electron, i.e.,
the probability of finding a hole in the energy state E.
 • In the valence band, since E<Ef the exponential term in the denominator
may be neglect in comparison to unity. Thus, we get

Also in the kinetic energy of a hole in the energy state in the valence band is (E v-E).
• dE=-KT dx For E=Ev , x=0
These formula for electron and hole concentration are valid for intrinsic
and extrinsic materials. For intrinsic materials, these equations can also
be written as

Where the Fermi level EF has been replaced by the intrinsic level Ei
 Fermi level
• For an intrinsic semiconductor, N=p=ni then

or
 Fermi level
• At 0K

• i.e., the Fermi level lies in the middle of the conduction band and valence
band. This is also true at all other temperatures provided
• However, in general,
• and the Fermi level is raised slightly as T exceeds 0K. For Si at 300K, the
increase in Fermi energy is about 0.01eV only which may be neglected
for all practical purposes.
 Law of mass action and intrinsic carrier concentration

• Since for an intrinsic semiconductor,

n= p=ni ,

This is called the law of mass action and holds for both intrinsic and extrinsic
semiconductors. If impurity atoms are added to a semiconductor to increase n, there will
be a corresponding decrease in P such that the product np remains constant
For a pure Ge a 300K, the intrinsic electron concentration is about 2.4
x1019m-3 when the concentration of germanium atoms is 4.4x 10 28 m-3.
This shows that, at ordinary temperature, only about five covalent bonds
per 1010 atoms of germanium are broken and contribute to intrinsic
conduction.
On the other hand, in metals such as copper, about 10 28 electrons per cubic
meter are a available for conduction.
 carrier concentration, Fermi level and conductivity for extrinsic
semiconductor.

• the donor or acceptor levels are present in an extrinsic

semiconductor depending on the type of impurity present.
• The concentration of donors or acceptors in semiconductor
affect the Fermi energy, the carrier concentration and the
conductivity of the semiconductor.
 carrier concentration, Fermi level and in
N-type semiconductor
• he electron concentration in the conduction band is

• The electron concentration must be equal to the sum of the concentration of

ionized donors, Nd, in the donor levels and the concentration of thermally
generated holes in the valence band, i.e.,

• If a sufficient number of donors are present to produce electrons in the

conduction band, the concentration of thermally generated holes gets
suppressed as a consequence of the law of mass action. thus p may be
neglected , therefore becomes
• N=N+
• the concentration of minority carriers (holes) is given by
Energy band diagram of an n-type
semiconductor
Conduction Band
Conduction bandVVVV
Ec

EF

Ed

Ei

Ev

Valance Band
This gives the position of the Fermi level at moderate temperatures.
• Nc varies as this equation is not valid for T=0K, also, it is not valid
for
because, at very high temperatures, the assumption of suppressing the holes
does not hold good. The only valid information obtainable from this
equation is that the Fermi level lies somewhere near the middle of the
donor level and the conduction band edge at moderate temperatures. This is
particularly true for those values of T and Nd for which the second term on
the right hand side is negligible. As T increases, the Fermi level moves
downwards and crosses the donor level.
For sufficiently large temperatures, it drops to (E g/2) , i.e., coincides with
the intrinsic level Ei., this is, however not apparent . in such a case, the
extrinsic semiconductor behaves like an intrinsic one.
Conductivity of N-type semiconductor
• A direct relation ship between the equilibrium carrier concentration
and the position of Fermi level relative to the intrinsic level is
Conductivity for a typical n-type germanium
semiconductor
D

BA
Lnσ 1

1/T
P-type semiconductor

Neglecting n in comparison with for p-type semiconductor, we

get

• Assuming to be large as compared to k

Conductivity of P-type semiconductor

The variation of conductivity with temperature is similar to that for the n-type semiconductor.
Mixed semiconductor

• In semiconductor containing both n and p-type impurities, the law of

electrical neutrality is written as

• For we obtain

• This shows that, for equal concentrations of donors and acceptors, the
semiconductor behaves as pure or intrinsic semiconductor.