Excess Carriers in

Semiconductors
Chapter 4

Excess Carriers in Semiconductors

Until now, we were only focusing on semiconductors in
equilibrium conditions
When voltage is applied, or a light is shined, the
semiconductor is operating under nonequilibrium conditions
If an external excitation (i.e voltage, or light) is applied,
concentration of excess carriers are generated in addition to
the equilibrium concentration
When excess holes or electrons are created increase in
current

Direct Recombination of Excess Electrons

and Holes
Direct recombination: excess electrons fall from conduction
band to holes in the valence band
Net rate of change of conduction band electrons:
Initial excess electron concentration = n
Initial excess hole concentration = p
Net rate of change of instantaneous excess carrier
concentration:
Case of low level injection:

Direct Recombination of Excess Electrons

and Holes

Indirect Recombination and Trapping

In certain semiconductors, recombination happens indirectly
Recombination occurs via recombination centers within the
bandgap
An impurity or defect can serve as a
recombination center
Each EHP recombines in two steps: hole
capture and electron capture.
Example: Er is a recombination center
If a carrier (hole or electron) is
captured at the recombination center
and then reexcited without recombining
Trapping

Indirect Recombination and Trapping

Fermi level is meaningful only when no excess carriers are
present
Fn : quasi-fermi level for electrons
Fp : quasi-fermi level for holes
Carrier concentration equations:
no =
po =
Deviation of Fn and Fp from EF indicates how far the carrier
concentrations are from the equilibrium values of no and po .

Diffusion
When excess carriers are created nonuniformly in a
semiconductor, the n and p concentration varies with position
Diffusion: net motion of carriers from region of high
concentration to region of low concentration.
There are two basic sources of current in semiconductors:
diffusion due to carrier gradient and drift in an electric field
Example of diffusion: perfume bottle opened in a closed
room

Diffusion of Carriers
Carriers in semiconductors diffuse in a carrier gradient by
random thermal motion and by scattering
Example: excess electrons injected at t = 0 and x = 0. As
time passes, electrons will diffuse to regions of low electron
concentration until n(x) is constant
Calculation of the rate at which carriers diffuse:

Dn : electron diffusion coefficient

Dp : hole diffusion coefficent

Diffusion and Drift of Carriers

Diffusion current (Jdiff) :
If an electric field is present in addition to diffusion, the
current will have two components: a diffusion component and
a drift component:
Relation between carrier flow
and current:

Minority carriers can contribute significantly to the current

through diffusion

Diffusion and Drift of Carriers

Example: Assume that in n-type GaAs semiconductor at T =
300K, the electron concentration varies linearly from 1 10 18
to 7 1017 cm-3 over a distance of 0.10cm. Calculate the
diffusion current density if the electron diffusion coefficient is
Dn = 225 cm2/s

Electric Field
Electrons drift in a direction opposite to the electric field
their potential energy increases in the direction of the field
Relation between electric field and electrostatic potential V(x):

In band diagram to the right, since electrons

drift downhill, the E-field points uphill
At equilibrium, no net current flows. If any
fluctuation causes diffusion current a drift
current will counteract the diffusion current
There must be a relation between diffusion coefficient
and mobility such that net current is zero

Einstein Relation
Set current density = 0
Einstein relation:
Einstein relation allows us to calculate D or from a
measurement of the other.
D/ at room T = 0.026
Built-in E-field results from balance of drift and diffusion at
equilibrium due to the gradient in Ei . This is due to doping
gradients
D (cm2/s) D (cm2/s) (cm2/s) (cm2/s)
n

Ge

100

50

3900

1900

Si

35

12.5

1350

480

GaAs

220

10

8500

400

Continuity Equation
We need to consider effects of recombination on diffusion of
carriers
Continuity equation :
If current is carried mainly by diffusion:
Diffusion equation:

Steady State Carrier Injection and

Diffusion Length

Steady State Carrier Injection and

Diffusion Length

Expect distribution of excess holes to decay to zero for large

values of x due to recombination
Solution form:
Evaluate C1 and C2 from boundary conditions:
Solution:
Diffusion length(Ln or Lp) represents
average distance an electron or hole
diffuses before recombining
Diffusion current:

Example II