Semiconductors

Semiconductors can be divided up into pure or intrinsic semiconductors

and impure or doped semiconductors. In this course we are going to
investigate both as well as some basic semiconductor devices

Intrinsic Semiconductors
By definition a semiconductor or insulator is a solid where the Fermi level
(chemical potential at 0k) is at an energy where the density of states is
zero. This implies that there is a certain energy band which is full and the
next band at higher energies is completely empty.
This is depicted in figure a on the next slide.
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The highest occupied band is known as the conduction band and the
lowest occupied band is known as the valence band. At higher
temperatures the electrons have to be distributed as shown in figure b
above. We are unable to apply this distribution unless we know the
position of the chemical potential.
If we set the chemical potential just above the valence band, the density of
occupied states would be given as in figure c, where many states would be
emptied in the valence band and only a very few would be populated in
the conduction band. In this case the total number of electrons would
have to decrease which would violate the conservation of charge.
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Similar arguments can be made to not place the chemical potential just
below the conduction band.
As a result the chemical potential is found close to the middle of the gap
as given in figure d on the pervious slide. At higher temperatures this
results in an equal number of missing electrons in the valence band and
excited electrons in the conduction band.
It is the excited electrons in the conduction band and the lack of electrons
in the valence bands (holes) that now contribute to the transport in the
solid at a finite temperature.

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Temperature Dependence of the Carrier Density
The electron density in the conduction band is given by:

R
1
n= gC (E )f (E , T )dE
V
EC

gC (E ) is the density of states in the conduction band and EC is the energy

of the conduction band minimum.

The hole density in the valence band is given by:

EV
R
1
p= gV (E )[1 f (E , T )]dE
V

where EV is the energy of the valence band maximum.

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We now attempt to derive simple expressions for both gC (E ) and
gV (E ).
If the chemical potential is situated in the centre of the gap between the
conduction and valence bands most electrons in the conduction band will
be found close to the conduction band minimum and in the case of the
valence band, most holes will be found close to the valence band
maximum. This can clearly be seen from the combination of the density of
states function and the fact that for higher energies the Fermi-Dirac
distribution falls to zero.
From the general band structure of a non-metallic solid, the band
structure close to the band gap and the point is approximately parabolic
and so we simplify the band structure as shown in the figure below:

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Both the conduction band and the valence band on the previous slide are
parabolic but they are not necessarily free electron like.
The bands can be described by making use of the concept of effective
mass defined earlier.
In the case of these parabolic bands the effective mass is the inverse of the
curvature of the band, such that the effective mass is the same everywhere.
We require only two effective masses, one for the maximum of the valence
band and one for the minimum of the conduction band.
Common practice sets EV = 0 and EC = Eg , where Eg is the band gap.

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If we apply an Electric field any electrons in the conduction band will
be accelerated by:
E
a = (e)
me
Since me is positive the direction of the acceleration corresponds with
what is expected for electrons in an electric field.
In the valence band:
E
a = (e)
mh
but now the effective mass is negative such that:
E
a = (e)
|mh |
the double negative results in a positive. This can be interpreted as the
motion of positive carriers with a positive effective mass.

We therefore assume going forward that mh is positive and holes rather

than electrons are the carriers in the valence band.
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The dispersion of the conduction band is written as:

~2 k 2
E = Eg +
2me

The density of states in the conduction band is given by:

V  2me 3/2
gC (E )dE = 2 (E Eg )1/2 dE
2 ~2
For the valence band we obtain:

~2 k 2
E =
2mh

The density of states in the valence band is given by:

V  2mh 3/2
gV (E )dE = (E )1/2 dE
2 2 ~2

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We are still not in a position to solve for the electron density n in the
conduction band and the hole density p in the valence band analytically.
We thus attempt to simply the Fermi-Dirac expression.
If the chemical potential lies in the middle of the gap between the
conduction and valence band, the gap size is of the order of a few hundred
meV and we are interested in the properties of the material at around
room temperature of 25meV .

The Fermi-Dirac distributions is simplified for the conduction band:

1
f (E , T ) = e (E )/kB T
e (E )/kB T +1
and for the valence band:
1
1 f (E , T ) = 1 e (E )/kB T
e (E )/kB T +1
Note:Make sure you can derive the above simplified Fermi-Dirac
expressions for both the conduction and valence bands.
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We thus have for the density of electrons in the conduction band:
R
1 V  2me 3/2
n= (E Eg )1/2 e (E )/kB T dE
V 2 2 ~2
EC

R
(2me )3/2 /kB T
= e (E Eg )1/2 e E /kB TdE
2 2 ~3
EC

Let Xg = (E Eg )/kB T such that:

R
(2me )3/2 1/2
= (kB T )3/2 e (Eg )/kB T Xg e Xg dXg
2 2 ~3
0

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The previous integral can be evaluated to give /2 such that we obtain:
 2m k T 3/2
e B
n=2 e (Eg )/kB T = Neff
C e (Eg )/kB T
~2
C is the effective number of states per volume for the conduction band.
Neff

The same calculation can be carried out for the valence band resulting in
the hole density given by:
 2m k T 3/2
h B
p=2 e /kB T = Neff
V e /kB T
~2
V is the effective number of states per volume for the valence band.
Neff

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The electron density and hole density in the conduction and valence
band respectively are now expressed in-terms of a Boltzmann distribution
for two levels with energies Eg and

The band structure can now be displayed as two discrete energy levels as
shown in the figure on the left below. (Remember: It is only hidden in the
effective masses)

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The product of the electron density n and hole density p results in a
constant expression at any given temperature, independent of the
chemical potential.
 k T 3
B
np = 4 (me mh )3/2 e Eg /kB T
2~2
The above expression is referred to as the law mass action.

From this we can finally calculate the carrier concentration of an intrinsic

semiconductor at a given temperature. The intrinsic electron density ni
must be equal to the intrinsic hole density pi and is given by:
 k T 3/2
B
ni = pi = 2 (me mh )3/4 e Eg /2kB T
2~2
The table shows the electron density at low temperatures for Si and GaAs.

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Given the charge neutrality of the solid n = p, we are able to determine
the position of the chemical potential:

Eg 3  m 
h
= + kB T ln
2 4 me

If the electron effective mass is the same as the effective mass of the holes,
the chemical potential will lie in the middle of the gap independent of
temperature.
If the effective mass of the holes is greater than that of the electrons, the
curvature of the valence band would be low and that of the conduction
band high, than many more holes than electrons would be created. The
chemical potential would move up as the temperature is raised, so as to
avoid this asymmetry.

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Determining the Band Gap and effective Mass
The band gap can be easily determined by the absorption of photons.
Only photons of energy greater than the band gap will be absorbed.
Studying the optical absorption of semiconductors as a function of photon
energy will result in a clear picture of the band gap.

Cyclotron resonances is a technique used to determine the effective mass

of the holes and electrons. On the application of an applied static field B,
the electrons move on circular orbits around the axes of the field with an
angular frequency given by:
Be
c =
me
The angular frequency can be determined via the absorption of incident
radio frequency waves. Strong absorption occurs when the incident radio
waves matche the cyclotron frequency exactly.
The magnetic field sets up a quantisation of the free electron energy given
by ~c on the absorption of the correct quanta of energy, transitions to
higher levels will occur.
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Doped Semiconductors
In the case of intrinsic semiconductors the carrier concentration is
low such that there is no appreciable conductivity at room temperature.
Through the process of doping it is possible to rectify this problem.
There are two different doping types in semiconductors n-type and p-type

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n-doping in Si is realised by including pentavalent donor atoms such as P,
As or Sb into the Si lattice. Four of the five electrons tightly bound with
the fifth electron available for transport. This electron has a very small
binding energy and can easily be removed by thermal excitations.

p-doping is Si is realised by including trivalent acceptor atoms such as B,

Al, Ga or In. The result is that one electron is missing from one of the
four covalent bonds normal from the silicon lattice.The dopant atom can
accept an electron from a neighbouring atoms covalent bond to complete
the fourth bond. The dopant atom accepts an electron, causing the loss of
half of one bond from the neighbouring atom and resulting in the
formation of a hole.

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The position of the chemical potential is shown for both donor and
acceptor doping. In the case of a donor stae, the donor levels are placed
just below the conduction band minimum. When a donor atom is ionised,
the extra electron is transferred into the conduction band.
The acceptor levels are placed just above the valence band maximum.
When an acceptor atom is ionised, an extra electron is transferred from
the valence band to the acceptor atom.

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Carrier Density
The figure below can be used to provide a qualitative description of how
the chemical potential and carrier density of a dopped semiconductor
changes as a function of temperature.

At low temperatures almost non of the donor atoms are ionised, the
chemical potential lies half way between the donor level at the conduction
band.

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At some intermediate temperature all the donors are ionised and the
carrier concentration in the conduction band corresponds to the
concentration of the donors Nd . This is known as the extrinsic region.
At even higher temperatures, there will be a transfer of electrons from the
valence band across the band gap resulting in a strong increase of the
carriers. This is known as the intrinsic region.
The question now is: How does the position of the chemical potential
change and why?

The basic principle is the same as in the intrinsic semiconductor case: The
overall crystal has to remain charge neutral as the temperature is changed.
The chemical potential will respond in such a way as to ensure the charge
neutrality. That is the number of electrons in the conduction band plus
the number of (negatively) charged acceptor atoms must be equal to the
number of the holes in the valence band plus the number of positively
charged donor atoms. .

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The figures below, depict the movement of the chemical potential(red
hashed line) of a n-doped semiconductor as the temperature is
increased from left to right.

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The figure above gives a quantitative picture of the position of the
chemical potential and the logarithmic carrier density as a function of
inverse temperature.

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The doping of a semiconductor leads to the enhancement of one of the
carrier types. In n-type doping the majority carrier is the electron whilst in
p-type doping the majority carrier is holes. Both carriers play a vital role in
several devices that make use of semiconductor material.
The actual density of the electrons and holes can be measured using the
Hall effect. The Hall effect returns both the sign and the density of the
carriers.

1
If a semiconductor has a positive RH = ne it is clear that this is due to
the holes in the valence band. If we are dealing with a purely n or p doped
sample and the intrinsic carriers do not play a role, the interpretation of
RH is simple.

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Conductivity of Semiconductors
The conductivity:
ne 2
=
me
and mobility:
e
=
me

as defined in the Drude model can be regarded as a reasonable

approximations if the free electron mass me is replaced with the effective
mass m at the Fermi level.

The conduction of current in a semiconductor requires the inclusion of

both the holes and electrons , so the basic definition of conductivity as
given above, needs to be modified.

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We make use of the concept of mobility to modify the definition of
conductivity:

= e(ne + ph )

n and p are the electron and hole densities and e and h the mobilities.

It should be noted, that the key difference between the conductivity of a

metal and semiconductor is the temperature dependence. For metals as
the temperature is increased the conductivity decreases. The primary
reason is the decrease in relaxation time due to the increase in phonon
scattering due to the thermal vibrations of the crystal lattice. This
behaviour is usually opposite for semiconductors. At high temperatures
there is also going to be a decrease in the relaxation time but the increase
in density of carriers compensates.

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Semiconductor Devices
Since the first realisation of the transistor in the late 1940s
semiconductor material appears in one form or another in virtually every
electronic device today.

The pn Junction
The simplest semiconductor device to consider is that of a pn junction.
The junction between semiconductors each with a different type of
majority carrier.

The figure above depicts the energy levels and carrier densities of separate
p and n semiconductors. Ionised donors(acceptors) are given by the plus
(minus) signs.
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In reality the creation of a pn junction does not result in an abrupt
sharp defined interface between the p-type and n-type material, however
we will attempt to model and understand the mechanisms of the device
making the assumption that an abrupt interface is obtained.
The figure below depicts the results when the two semiconductors are
joined.

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The depletion layer is the result of the migration of the electrons in the
conduction band to the holes in the valence bands. The recombination of
the electrons and holes leads to the formation of a dipole field due to the
ionised donor and acceptor atoms.
The dipole field is seen as an obstacle by the migrating holes and
electrons. The migration of carriers continue until a state of equilibrium is
established. The desire for the holes to recombine is impaired by the
dipole field.

October 17, 2017 28 / 44

The pn junction can also be described by considering the effects the
combination of semiconductors has on the chemical potential.

In thermal equilibrium the chemical potential has to be constant

throughout the whole system. This is depicted in the figure below.

This can only be achieved by the bending (macroscopic potential) of the

conduction and valence bands throughout the depletion layer.
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How is the potential of the depletion region determined?
The charge densities in the p and n regions are given by:

p = eNa and n = +eNd

where Na and Nd are the acceptor and donor concentrations, respectively.

From charge neutrality we require that:

Na dp = Nd dn

where dp and dn are the depths of the depletion layer in the p and n sides.

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Making use of Poissons equation and knowing the charge density, we can
solve for the macroscopic potential.

d 2U
2
=
dx 0

We impose the following boundary conditions:

dU(x)
U(x) and
dx
have to be continuous at the interface (x = 0).

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The solutions for the electric field(left) and potential (right) are given
in the figure below:

The total potential difference across the space charge layer is:
e  
U = Nd dn2 + Na dp2
20
You will be asked to calculate the above expression on your weekly
problem sheets.
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Making use of the expression from the previous page and the condition of
charge neutrality, the depth of the depletion zones can be defined as:
 U2 Nd 1/2  U2 Na 1/2
0 0
dp = and dn =
eNa Na + Nd eNd Na + Nd

In the case that U, dp and dn are not known, we make use of the fact
that the chemical potential at low temperatures must be very close to the
conduction band minimum in the n-doped region and very close to the
valence band maximum in the p-doped region. We therefore have:

U Eg

The thickness of the depletion layer is thus found to be between 0.1 and
1m.

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To demonstrate the basic working principles of the pn junction we are
going to make a few approximations:
1. We make use of an approximation of the carrier densities in the
conduction and valence bands on both sides of the junction.
2. We approximate the Fermi-Dirac distribution with that of the
Boltzmann distribution.
Making use of our earlier expressions for the density of electrons (n) and
the density of holes (p):
C e (Eg )/kB T and p = N V e /kB T
n = Neff eff

together with the figure below:

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We obtain the following densities in the p-region:
C e (Eg eU)/kB T and p = N V e (eU)/kB T
np = Neff p eff

and in the n-region:

C e (Eg )/kB T and p = N V e /kB T
nn = Neff n eff

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Drift and Diffusion Currents
Once equilibrium is achieved in the pn junction, there is still the
possibility for charge transport to take place through the depletion layer.
If a minority carrier in the p region penetrates into the depletion layer, the
electric field can transport the electron to the n-side. The same can
happen for the minority carriers the holes on the n-side. This current is
known as the drift current.

Majority careers moving through the depletion layers will have to move
against the electric field such that carriers with a sufficiently high thermal
energy will contribute to what is known as the diffusion current.
In the case of equilibrium the drift current is equal to the diffusion current.
We can also say that these current are proportional to the carrier densities
such that:

|Idiffusion | = |Idrift | = |I0 | = Ce (Eg eU) /kB T

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If an external voltage were to be applied across the depletion layer,
the diffusion current can be enhanced or reduced. This essentially is a
diode.

The figures below depict the situation of biasing the pn junction.

If a voltage is applied to a pn junction, it is reasonable to assume that the

full voltage drop is across the depletion layer. This makes sense as it is the
depletion layer which dominates the resistance of the junction. A voltage
drop of V will shift the bands relative to each other by eV .

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In figure b on the previous page a forward bias is applied, that is a
field that opposes the field of the depletion layer. In the case of electrons,a
forward bias is applied when the p-side of the junction is made more
positive. This can be thought of making the final destination that the
diffusion electrons are trying to get to, more accessible.

In figure c on the previous page a reverse bias is applied, that is a field

that enhances the field of the depletion layer. In the case of electrons,a
reverse bias is applied when the p-side of the junction is made more
negative. This can be thought of making the final destination that the
diffusion electron are trying to get to, more inaccessible.

This has no effect on the drift velocity. The diffusion current is changed as
the chemical potential on the n-side is shifted by eV such that;

|Idiffusion | = Ce ((+eV )Eg eU)/kB T

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The net current is therefore given by the difference between the drift
current and the diffusion current:
 
I = Idiffusion Idrift = I0 e eV /kB T 1

In the case of reverse bias, the chemical potential on the n side is lowered
by eV , the diffusion current is given by:

|Idiffusion | = Ce ((eV )Eg eU)/kB T

and the resulting current:

 
I = Idiffusion Idrift = I0 e eV /kB T 1

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The plot below shows the characteristic I (V ) curve for a diode.

The current is zero if there is no applied voltage and it increases

exponentially on the application of a bias. In the case of reverse bias the
current is clipped at I0 due to to the negative exponential as shown on the
previous slide.
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Transistors
Transistors are most likely the single most important application of
semiconductor materials. Transistors come in many different varieties and
forms. We shall discuss the metal oxide field effect transistor (MOSFET).

MOSFETSs are typically found in integrated technology such as memory

and processors. The figure below shows the typical design and SEM image
of a MOSFET.

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A transistor can be thought of as a simple switch such that under
certain conditions current is allowed to flow. This switching behaviour is
depicted in the figure below.

The basic structure of a MOSFET comprises of two pn regions. A voltage

is applied across the source-drain resulting in one of the pn junctions being
revered biased at all times.
The voltage applied to the gate is used to control the flow of electrons
from the source to the drain of the transistor.

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If we apply a positive voltage to the metal gate, the following occurs:
The majority hole carriers in the p-region directly below the gate are
repelled away from the gate which is now positive.

Minority carriers in the p-type martial are attracted towards the gate.

If a certain threshold voltage is obtained (On/Off threshold), the

minority carriers in a small channel below the oxide layer become the
majority and a conduction path between the source and drain is
realised.

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The figure below depicts the conduction band bending resulting from
the positive voltage applied to the metal gate.

At equilibrium the fermi level of the metal and the p-type semiconductor
align. In p-type semiconductors the chemical potential is close to the
valence band maximum. If a great enough voltage is applied to the metal
gate, the conduction band is bent such that is gets very close to the
chemical potential and the conduction band is populated. The region of
the band populated is known as an inversion layer as is shown on the
schematic above.
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