CHAPTER ONE

Basic Semiconductor Theory

 1, Atomic theory
Structure of matter
• Here are a few basic scientific terms that are often
used in the study of chemistry. They are also very
important in the study of electronics.
• First, matter is anything that occupies space and
that has weight. Matter can be a solid, a liquid, or
a gaseous material. Solid matter includes things as
metal and wood; liquid matter is exemplified by
water and gasoline; and gaseous matter includes
such things as oxygen and hydrogen.
• Matter changes state when the particles of which
they are made are heated.
Contd…
• As they are heated, the particles move and strike one
another, causing them to move farther apart.
• Ice is converted into a liquid by adding heat.
• If heated to a high temperature, water becomes a gas
(steam).
• Some materials require more heat than others to
become a liquid or a gas.
• All materials can be made to change from a solid to a
liquid or from a liquid to a gas if enough heat is
added.
• Similarly these materials can change into liquids or
solids if heat is taken from them.
 element
• The next important term in the study of the
structure of matter is the element.
• An element is considered to be the basic material
that makes up all matter.
• elements such as hydrogen, aluminum, copper,
iron, and iodine are a few of the over 100 elements
known to exist.
• Some elements exist in nature and some are
manufactured.
• Everything around us is made up of elements.
Contd…
• There are many more materials in our world than
there are elements.
• Other materials are made by combining
elements.
• A combination of two or more elements is called a
compound. For example, water is a compound
made from the elements hydrogen and oxygen.
• Salt is made from sodium and chlorine.
• Another important term is molecule.
• A molecule is believed to be the smallest particle
that a compound can be reduced to before being
broken down into its basic elements.
Contd…
• For example, one molecule of water has two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
• An atom is considered to be the smallest particles
to which an element can be reduced.
• The smallest particles that are found in all atoms
are called electrons, protons, and neutrons.
• The relationship of matter, elements, compounds,
molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, and neutrons
is shown in Figure 1-1.
 Contd…

Figure1.1: Structure of Matter

 Contd…
• The number of protons that each atom has is called its
atomic number.
• The nucleus of an atom contains protons (+) and neutrons
(N).
• Since neutrons have no charge and protons have positive
charges, the nucleus of an atom has a positive charge. The
mass, or weight, of a proton is over 1800 times that of an
electron, whose mass is about 9x10–28 g.
• Electrons move easily in their orbits around the nucleus of
an atom. It is the movement of electrons that causes
electrical energy to exist.
• Atoms consist of a dense, positively charged nucleus
surrounded by a series of orbits that occupy energy levels,
which are commonly called shells. The shell that has highest
energy is known as the valence shell, and the electrons in it
are known as valence electrons.
 2, Semiconductor materials and their
types
• Electrons each carry a single unit of negative
electric charge while; protons each exhibit a single
unit of positive charge. Since atoms normally
contain an equal number of electrons and
protons; the net charge present will be zero.
Electrons are in constant motion as they orbit
around the nucleus of the atom.
• The maximum number of electrons present in the
first shell is 2, in the second shell 8, and in the
third, fourth and fifth shells it is 18, 32 and 50,
respectively. In electronics, only the outer most
shell is important.
Contd…
• If the valence shell contains the maximum number
of electrons possible; the electrons are rigidly
bonded together and the material has the
properties of an insulator. If, however, the valence
shell does not have its full complement of
electrons; the electrons can be easily loosened
from their orbital bonds, and the material has the
properties associated with an electrical conductor.
• A silicon atom contains four electrons in its
valence shell.
• When silicon atoms combine to form a solid
crystal, the valence shells overlap from one atom
to another.
Contd…
• Each individual valence electron is shared by two
atoms as shown in Fig. 1.2. By sharing the
electrons between four adjacent atoms each
individual silicon atom appears to have eight
electrons in its valence shell. This sharing of
valence electrons is called covalent bonding.
Contd…

Figure 1.2 Silicon Lattice showing covalent bonding

 Contd…
• Regardless of whether the impurity element produces surplus
electrons or holes;
• The material will no longer behave as an insulator or a
metallic conductor. Instead, we call the material a
semiconductor.
• The term simply indicates that the substance is no longer a
good insulator or a good conductor but is somewhere in
between.
• Conductor is a material that will support a generous flow of
charge when a voltage source is applied across its terminals.
• An insulator is a material that offers a very low level of
conductivity for an applied voltage source.
• A semiconductor, therefore, is a material that has a
conductivity level somewhere between the extremes of an
insulator and a conductor.
Contd…

Fig. 1.3. conductivity of materials

Contd…
• A semiconductor material is one those electrical
properties lie in between those of insulators and
good conductors. Examples are : germanium and
silicon.
• In terms of energy bands, semiconductors can be
defined as those materials which have almost an
empty conduction band and almost filled valence
band with a very narrow energy gap (of the order
of 1 eV) separating the two.
• At 00K, there are no electrons in the conduction
band and the valence band is completely filled
 Contd…
• With increase in temperature, width of the
forbidden energy bands is decreased so that
some of the electrons are liberated into the
conduction band.
Moreover, such departing
electrons leave behind
positive holes in the
valence band (Fig. 1.4).
Hence, semiconductor
current is the sum of
electron and hole currents
flowing in opposite Fig 1.4. Energy band
 3. Semiconductor materials types
A. Intrinsic Semiconductor :An intrinsic semiconductor is one
which is made of the semiconductor material in its extremely
pure form. Common examples of such semiconductors are :
pure germanium and silicon which have forbidden energy
gaps of 0.72eV and 1.1eV respectively.
 The energy gap is so small that even at ordinary room
temperature, there are many electrons which possess
sufficient energy to jump across the small energy gap
between the valence and the conduction bands.
 When an electric field is applied to an intrinsic semiconductor
at a temperature greater than 00K, conduction electrons move
to the anode and the holes in the valence band move to the
cathode. Hence semiconductor current consists of movement
of electrons and holes in opposite directions.
 Electron current is due to movement of electrons in the conduction band
whereas hole current is within the valence band as a result of the holes
‘jumping’ from one atom to another.
Contd…
• The number of such charge carriers per unit
volume (i.e. intrinsic carrier density) is given by

• where N is constant for a given semiconductor, Eg

is the band gap energy in joules, k is Boltzmann’s
constant and T is the temperature in 0K.
• Note : an intrinsic semiconductor may be defined
as one in which the number of conduction
electrons is equal to the number of holes.
Contd…
B. Extrinsic Semiconductor:
• When extremely small amounts (about 1 part in 108) impurity or
doping agent or dopant is added to intrinsic semiconductor is called
extrinsic or impurity semiconductors. The usual doping agents are :
1. pentavalent atoms having five valence electrons (arsenic, antimony,
phosphorus) . Pentavalent doping atom is known as donor atom
because it donates or contributes one electron to the conduction band
of pure germanium.
[Link] atoms having three valence electrons (gallium, indium,
aluminum, boron). The trivalent atom, on the other hand, is called
acceptor atom because it accepts one electron from the germanium
atom.
Depending on the type of doping material used, extrinsic semiconductors
can be sub-divided into two classes :
(i) N-type semiconductors and
(ii) P-type semiconductors.
 Contd…
• The process of introducing an atom of another
(impurity) element into the lattice of another pure
material is called doping.
• When the pure material is doped with an impurity with
five electrons in its valence shell (i.e. a pentavalent
impurity) . it will become an N-type material.
• If, however, the pure material is doped with an impurity
having three electrons in its valence shell (i.e. a
trivalent impurity) it will become P-type material.
• N-type semiconductor material contains an excess of
negative charge carriers, and
• P-type material contains an excess of positive charge
carriers.
 N-type Extrinsic Semiconductor
• This type of semiconductor is obtained when a
pentavalent material like antimony(Sb) is added to pure
Silicon crystal.
• In its pure state, silicon is an insulator because the
covalent bonding rigidly holds all of the electrons
• no free (easily loosened) electrons to conduct current.
If, however, an atom of a different element (i.e. an
impurity) is introduced that has five electrons in its
valence shell, a surplus electron will be present, as
shown in Fig. 1.5. These free electrons become
available for use as charge carriers and;
• They can be made to move through the lattice by
applying an external potential difference to the
material.
 Contd…

Figure 1.5: Free negative charge carriers (electrons)

produced by introducing a pentavalent impurity
Contd…
• The effect of such impurity elements is indicated in Fig.
1.6 (using antimony as the impurity in a silicon
base).Note that the four covalent bonds are still
present. The additional fifth electron due to the
impurity atom is unassociated with any particular
covalent bond.
• This remaining electron, loosely bound to its parent
(antimony) atom, is relatively free to move within the
newly formed n-type material.
• Since the inserted impurity atom has donated a
relatively “free” electron to the structure:
• Diffused impurities with five valence electrons are
called donor atoms.
Contd…

• Figure 1.6 Antimony impurity in n-type material

P-type Extrinsic Semiconductor
• This type of semiconductor is obtained when traces of a
trivalent like boron (B) are added to a pure germanium
crystal. In this case, the three valence electrons of boron
atom form covalent bonds with four surrounding germanium
atoms but one bond is left incomplete and gives rise to a hole
as shown in Fig. 1.7 . Thus, boron which is called an acceptor
impurity causes as many positive holes in a germanium
crystal as there are boron atoms thereby producing a P-type
(P for positive) extrinsic semiconductor.
• Similarly, if the impurity element introduced into the pure
silicon lattice has three electrons in its valence shell,
• The absence of the fourth electron needed for proper
covalent bonding will produce gaps into which electrons can
fit, as shown in Fig. 1.7.
• These gaps are referred to as holes.
Contd…

• Figure 1.7 Holes produced by introducing a trivalent

impurity
 P-Type Material
• The p-type material is formed by doping a pure
germanium or silicon crystal with impurity atoms
having three valence electrons.
• The elements most frequently used for this
purpose are boron, gallium, and indium.
• The effect of one of these elements, boron, on a
base of silicon is indicated in Fig. 1.8.
Contd…

• Figure 1.8 Boron impurity in p-type material

Contd…
• Note that there is now an insufficient number of
electrons to complete the covalent bonds of the
newly formed lattice.
• The resulting vacancy is called a hole and is
represented by a small circle or positive sign due to
the absence of a negative charge.
• Since the resulting vacancy will readily accept a
“free” electron:
• The diffused impurities with three valence electrons
are called acceptor atoms.
 Majority and Minority Carriers
• In an n-type material (Fig.1.9a) the electron is called
the majority carrier and the hole the minority
carrier. For the p-type material the number of holes
far outweighs the number of electrons, as shown in
Fig.1.9b. In a p-type material the hole is the
majority carrier and the electron is the minority
carrier.
Contd…
• When the fifth electron of a donor atom leaves the
parent atom;
– the atom remaining acquires a net positive charge:
– hence the positive sign in the donor-ion representation.
• For similar reasons, the negative sign appears in
the acceptor ion.
• The n- and p-type materials represent the basic
building blocks of semiconductor devices.
 Contd…

• Figure 1.9a (a) n-type material; (b) p-type material

 [Link] Junction Formation(1)
 P-N junction is formed by joining n-type and p-type
semiconductor materials
 It is a two terminal device that allows electric current
in one direction and blocks electric current in
another direction.

Figure1. 20. How

is PN Junction
Formed
 PN Junction Formation (2)
 The concentration difference between electrons and holes appears
at their junction.
 Due to the difference in the concentration of free electrons and
holes, some electrons will diffuse from the N-type region to the P-
type region, and some holes will diffuse from the P-type region to
the N-type region.
 As a result of their diffusion, the P region loses holes, leaving
negatively charged impurity ions, and the N region loses electrons,
leaving positively charged impurity ions.
 The ions in the semiconductor cannot move arbitrarily in an open
circuit, so they do not participate in conduction.
 These immovable charged particles form a space charge zone near
the interface between the P and N zones. The thickness of the
space charge zone is related to the concentration of dopants.
 PN Junction Formation (3)
 After the space charge region is formed, due to the
interaction between the positive and negative charges,
an internal electric field is formed in the space charge
region.
 The direction of this electric field is opposite to the
direction of carrier diffusion, which used to prevent
diffusion.
 On the other hand, this electric field will cause the
minority carrier holes in the N region to drift to the P
region, and the minority carrier electrons in the P
region to drift to the N region. The direction of the drift
movement is just opposite to the diffusion movement.
 PN Junction Formation (4)
The holes drifting from the N region to the P
region supplement the holes lost in the P-
region on the original interface, and the
electrons drifting from the P region to the N
region supplement the electrons lost in the N
region on the original interface, which makes
the electric charge is reduced and the internal
electric field is weakened.

Figure 1.21. PN Junction

Depletion Region