Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory

Boylestad

Semiconductor Diodes
Chapter 1
Atomic Theory of Materials
 Electrical Classification of Materials
• Conductor – a substance, body or material….
… which supports the flow of electricity
… which allows electric current to flow with ease
… which has a very low electrical resistance
… with less than four valence electrons
Ex. Metals
• Insulator – material with more than four valence
electrons.
- has a characteristic that is extremely
opposite to that of a conductor
ex. glass

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 Electrical Classification of Materials
• Semiconductor – with exactly four valence electrons
- has characteristics in between conductor and
insulator

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Chapter 1 Semiconductors: A General Introduction

Semiconductor Materials

Elemental: Si, Ge

Compound: GaAs
AlAs
GaP

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 Review of Basic Atomic Model

• Atoms are comprised of

electrons, neutrons and protons.

• Electrons are found orbiting the

nucleus of an atom at specific
intervals, based upon their
energy levels.

• The outermost orbit is the

valence orbit.

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 Energy levels

• Valence band electrons

are the furthest from the
nucleus and have higher
energy levels than
electrons in lower orbits.

• The region beyond the

valence band is called the
conduction band.

• Electrons in the
conduction band are
easily made to be free
electrons.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Energy- Gap (Eg) Comparison

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Semiconductor Theory
Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Silicon(Si), germanium(Ge) and gallium arsenide
(GaAs) are the primary materials used in
semiconductor devices.
• Si and Ge are elements and are intrinsic
semiconductor.
• In pure form, Si and Ge do not exhibit the
characteristics needed for practical solid-state
devices.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Isolated Semiconductor Atoms
• Si and Ge are electrically neutral, that is, each has the same number of
orbiting electrons as protons.

• Both Si and Ge have four valence band electrons, and so they are
referred to as tetravalent atoms.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Semiconductor Crystals
• Tetravalent atoms such as Si, GaAs and Ge
bond together to form a crystal or crystal lattice.
• Because of the crystalline structure of
semiconductor materials, valence electrons are
shared between atoms.
• This sharing of valence electrons is called
covalent bonding. Covalent bonding makes it
more difficult for materials to move their
electrons into the conduction band.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Tetravalent atoms bond
to form a crystal lattice.
Each atom has four
valence electron. In
the outer ring they
share four atom with
other atoms for a total
of eight valence
electrons. The shared
electrons are referred
to as “covalent bond”.

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 Semiconductor Doping
• Impurities are added to intrinsic semiconductor materials to improve
the electrical properties of the material.
• This process is referred to as doping and the resulting material is
called an extrinsic semiconductor.
• There are two major classifications of doping material.
– Trivalent – gallium, aluminum, boron, indium
• Materials with three valence electron
– Pentavalent – phosphorus, antimony, arsenic
• Materials with five valence electrons

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 Pentavalent and Trivalent materials

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Trivalent Doping
• Silicon is the most widely used semiconductor
material.
• By adding a trivalent material to the crystal
structure, holes are introduced and provide a
mechanism for conduction.
• Because trivalent materials can accept an
additional electron, they are called acceptor
atoms.
• A silicon crystal doped with trivalent material is
called p – type material.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Trivalent Doping

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Trivalent Doping

When doped
with trivalent
material holes
are created in
the
semiconductor
valence band.

Doping
impurity in this
case is
aluminum.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Pentavalent Doping
• Doping silicon with pentavalent material results
in extra electrons being available, improving the
conduction characteristics.
• Pentavalent materials donate electrons, and
therefore are called donor atoms.
• Once a silicon crystal has been doped with
pentavalent materials, it is called n-type
semiconductor material.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Pentavalent Doping

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Pentavalent Doping
Impurity doping material
phosphorus added to
silicon.
Note that valence shell
is full with eight
electrons, and extra
electron is available.

It is now called an
n-type semiconductor

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
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 Review
• Semiconductors (pure) have equal numbers of
free electrons and holes.
• P-type materials (doped with trivalent materials)
will always have more holes than electrons in
the conduction band.
• N-type material (doped with pentavalent
materials) will always have more free electrons
in the conduction band than holes.

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 Semiconductor Junctions

When p-type material meets n-

type material within a single
silicon crystal, a pn junction is
formed.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory © 2013 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc
Boylestad Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved