BEEE201L- Electronic Materials

Dr. Mallikarjuna Golla

Assistant professor
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, SELECT
Vellore Institute of Technology-Vellore Campus
[Link]@[Link]
Cabin: CBMR, 207-C
BEEE102L- Basic Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Module-2 : Semiconductor materials

Dr. Mallikarjuna Golla

Assistant professor
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, SELECT
Vellore Institute of Technology-Vellore Campus
 CONTENT

• Classification of semiconductor, doping of semiconductor,

• Temperature dependence, metal-semiconductor junction;
• Carrier concentration, carrier generation and recombination, carrier
actions, diffusion and conduction equations, continuity equation;
• Organic semiconductor;
• Direct and indirect band gaps, optical absorption, Piezo-resistivity;
• Application of semiconductor materials: PN junction diodes, BJT, JFET,
MOSFET

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Introduction of Semiconductors
Valence Electrons

Atomic Structure of Copper

29 Protons, 29 Electrons
Copper valence electron easily
moves from atom to atom.

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Conductors: Made up of atoms, usually Semiconductors: Made up of atoms Insulators are materials whose
metals which have valence electrons that can that are both relatively good electrons are held firmly to their
travel easily when an electromotive force conductors and relatively good nucleus. An insulator is a material
(emf voltage electrical potential) is applied. insulators depend on the type of having a high resistance which does
conditions applied.. not allow electric current to flow in it.
Why Silicon ?

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 For 1° increase in temperature, conductivity of
pure germanium increases by 6% and
conductivity of pure silicon increases by 8%.

Due to this, the solar panels manufactured with

silicon only.

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Classification of semiconductor
Classification of semiconductor based on purity is mainly divided into two types 1) Intrinsic semiconductor
2) Extrinsic semiconductor.

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 ➢ The process of adding impurity to a semiconductor is called doping.
➢ By doping of semiconductor, useful electronic devices such as diode,
transistor, SCR etc…can be fabricated.
➢ Conductivity of semiconductor is controlled through doping. Such
property is not present in metals. It has fixed conductivity.

1) Intrinsic semiconductor

➢ Semiconductors are tetravalent, IVth group elements, having four

valance electrons in the outermost of an orbit.
➢ Examples: Carbon (Dimond and Graphite), silicon, germanium, tin,
lead and so on.

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ELECTRON AND HOLE CONCENTRATIONS
Kasap Book 5.1.4

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Nc and Nv are effective density of states at CB edge and VB edge
h is Planck constant equal to 6.626 ×10−34 Joule seconds
k is Boltzmann constant equal to 1.38 ×10−23 J/K or 8.625 ×10−5 ev/K

n is the electron concentration, and Asst.

Dr. Mallikarjuna Golla, p is Prof.,
the hole concentration.
SELECT 21
 Multiply eq. 5.6 and 5.8

where Eg = Ec − Ev is the bandgap energy.

In the special case of an intrinsic semiconductor, n = p, which we can denote as ni,

the intrinsic concentration.

➢ Go through Table 5.1 in Kasap Text Book

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Kasap
Book 5.1.
𝑃𝐸 = 𝑚. 𝑔. ℎ
𝑚
𝐽 = 𝐾𝑔. 2 . 𝑚
𝑆
2 −2
𝐾𝑔. 𝑚 . 𝑆

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 Eg = 1.10eV for Si
as per table

𝐶 = 𝐴. 𝑆𝑒𝑐
𝑉
𝐶 = . 𝑆𝑒𝑐
Ω

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 Ready to accept electron
2) Extrinsic semiconductor. 5
Ready to donate electron

1
4
3
1

2 2
3

❖ Doping:- Addition of impurity to the Pure Semiconductor at a controlled rate.

❖ To make the semiconductor conduct electricity, other atoms called impurities must be
added. This process is called doping.
❖ The doped semiconductor material is called as extrinsic semiconductor.
❖ The conductivity of extrinsic semiconductor is good.
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 n-type semiconductor p-type semiconductor
In n-type semiconductor pentavalent impurities In p-type semiconductor trivalent
are used for doping. impurities are used for doping.
Pentavalent impurities: Arsenic (As), Trivalent impurities: Aluminium (Al),
Phosphorous (Pi), Antimony (Sb), etc. Boron (B), Indium (In), Gallium (Ga), etc.
The impurity is called donor impurity. The impurity is called acceptor impurity.
In n-type semiconductor, the electrons are In p-type semiconductor, the holes are
majority charge carriers and holes are minority majority charge carriers and electrons are
charge carriers. minority charge carriers.
In n-type semiconductor, conductivity is In p-type semiconductor, conductivity is
mainly due to electrons, which are negatively mainly due to holes, which are positively
charged. charged.

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Atomic Structure and Crystal Lattice

The unique capability of semiconductor atoms is their

ability to link together to form a physical structure called
Atomic Structure of Silicon a crystal lattice. These links are called covalent bonds.
14 Protons, 14 Electrons

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N-type P-type
Doped Semiconductors
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1. An impurity, or element like arsenic, has 5 valence electrons.
2. Adding arsenic (doping) will allow four of the arsenic valence electrons to bond
with the neighbouring silicon atoms.
3. The one electron left over for each arsenic atom becomes available to conduct
current flow.
Resistance Effects of Doping
If you use lots of arsenic atoms for doping, there will be lots of extra
electrons so the resistance of the material will be low and current will flow freely.
If you use only a few arsenic atoms, there will be fewer free electrons so the
resistance will be high and less current will flow. By controlling the doping
amount, virtually any resistance can be achieved.

1. We can also dope a semiconductor material with an atom such as boron that has
only 3 valence electrons.
2. The 3-electrons in the outer orbit do form covalent bonds with its neighbouring
semiconductor atoms as before. But one electron is missing from the bond.
3. This place where a fourth electron should be is referred to as a hole.
4. The hole assumes a positive charge so it can attract electrons from some other
source.
[Link]. Mallikarjuna
Holes become aGolla, Asst.
type of Prof.,
current SELECT
carrier like the electron to support current 29flow.
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n-TYPE DOPING
Consider what happens when small amounts of a pentavalent (valency of 5) element
from Group V in the Periodic Table, such as As, P, Sb, are introduced into a pure Si
crystal. We only add small amounts (e.g., one impurity atom for every million host
atoms) because we wish to surround each impurity atom by millions of Si atoms,
thereby forcing the impurity atoms to bond with Si atoms in the same diamond
crystal structure.

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Thus, the concentration of ionized donors at a temperature T is given by

If impurity atoms are added in the ratio 1: 103 (i.e 1 impurity for 103 semiconductor
atoms) is called heavily doped and represented with 𝑁 + , 𝑃+ .
If impurity atoms are added in the ratio 1: 106 (i.e 1 impurity for 106 semiconductor
atoms) is called moderately doped and represented with 𝑁 , 𝑃 .

If impurity atoms are added in the ratio 1: 109 (i.e 1 impurity for 109 semiconductor
atoms) is called lightly doped and represented with 𝑁 − , 𝑃− .
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 Current Flow in N-type Semiconductors

• The DC voltage source has a positive terminal

that attracts the free electrons in the
semiconductor and pulls them away from their
atoms leaving the atoms charged positively.
• Electrons from the negative terminal of the
supply enter the semiconductor material and are
attracted by the positive charge of the atoms
missing one of their electrons.
• Current flows from the positive terminal to the
negative terminals.
Direction of flow
of electrons
Majority Carriers –Electrons
Minority Carriers -Holes

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p-TYPE DOPING

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 Current Flow in P-type Semiconductors

➢ Electrons from the negative supply terminal are

attracted to the positive holes and fill them.
➢ The positive terminal of the supply pulls the
electrons from the holes leaving the holes to
attract more electrons.
➢ Current flows from the positive terminal to the
negative terminal.
➢ Inside the semiconductor current flow is actually
by the movement of the holes from positive to
negative. Direction of
flow of holes
Majority Carriers -Holes
Minority Carriers -Electrons

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COMPENSATION DOPING
Compensation doping is a term used to describe the doping of a
semiconductor with both donors and acceptors to control the properties.

For example, a p-type semiconductor doped with Na acceptors can be converted to an

n-type semiconductor by simply adding donors until the concentration Nd exceeds Na.

The electron concentration is then given by Nd − Na provided the latter is

larger than ni. When both acceptors and donors are present, what
essentially happens is that electrons from donors recombine with the holes
from the acceptors so that the mass action law is obeyed.

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Semiconductor has two types of currents i.e 1) Drift current 2) Diffusion current

1) Drift current
It flows due to presence of electric field or potential difference.
Movement of carriers due to electric field is called drift.
𝑱𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝜶 𝑬

Electrons (n) and holes (p) drift current densities

𝑱𝒏, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 = 𝒏 𝒆 𝝁𝒏 𝑬

𝑱𝒑, 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒕 = 𝒑 𝒆 𝝁𝒑 𝑬

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2) Diffusion current

It flows due to presence of gradient (change) in concentration of carriers. Electrons

and holes travel from higher concentration to lower concentration, because of
thermal energy, which results in diffusion current.

When carriers move due to concentration gradient then

such a movement is called diffusion. Diffusion current
density directly proportional to concentration gradient.
𝒅𝒏 𝒅𝒑
𝑱𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝜶 (𝒐𝒓)
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒏
𝑱𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝒆 𝑫𝒏
𝒅𝒙
𝑫𝒏 , 𝑫𝒑 are diffusion constants of electrons and
𝒅𝒑 holes, respectively
𝑱𝒑, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = −𝒆 𝑫𝒑
𝒅𝒙
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 TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF CONDUCTIVITY (n-type)
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF CARRIER CONCENTRATION

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At low temperature

At high temperature

The numerical factor 1/2 in Equation 5.19 arises because donor occupation statistics is different by this
factor from the usual Fermi–Dirac function, as mentioned earlier.

Nc and Nv are effective density of states at CB edge and VB edge

Nd and Na are donor and acceptor concentration
ΔE = Ec − Ed
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TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF MOBILITY

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TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF CONDUCTIVITY

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Carrier Generation

It is a process of generating free electron and hole pair by providing sufficient

energy to valance electron.
Carrier generation is four types
(i) Thermal Excitation
(ii) Photo Excitation
(iii) Impact Ionization
(iv) Electrical Excitation

Thermal excitation
Free electron and hole pair is created by providing thermal energy to a valance electron

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Photo Excitation
When light falls on semiconductor, photons present in light by the absorption radiant
energy. If a photon energy greater or equal to Eg. Then an electron gets excited from
VB to CB and a pair of electron and hole is produced.
Photon energy ≥ 𝐸𝑔

Impact Ionization
A pair of free electron and hole is produced through collision of high energy carrier
with semiconductor atom .

Electrical Excitation
An electron and hole pair is produced by application of very strong electric field (V/cm)

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Carrier Recombination

It refers to disappears of an electron and hole pair when free electron returns from
CB to VB.

Indirect recombination Direct recombination

Energy released in the form of heat Energy released in the form of photon (Light)
It occurs in Si and Ge It occurs in GaAS, GaP, GaAsP

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Mean life time of carrier
It is the average time interval for which an electron or hole survives before
recombination.
It is represented with 𝜏𝑛 and 𝜏𝑝

Diffusion Length
It is the average distance of an electron or hole travels before recombination.
It is represented with 𝐿𝑛 and 𝐿𝑝

𝐿𝑛 = 𝐷𝑛 𝜏𝑛
𝐿𝑝 = 𝐷𝑝 𝜏𝑝

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Direct and Indirect Band Gaps
𝑝2 ℎ2 𝑘 2
The energy of an electron is given by 𝐸 = =
2𝑚 2𝑚
Where p is momentum, m is mass of electron, h is planks constant and k is
propagation constant. Thus 𝐸 ∝ 𝑘 2 which is an equation of parabola. The graph
of E vs k is shown below

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Maximum of VB and minimum of CB occur at same Maximum value of VB and minimum of CB occur at
momentum values two different momentum values.
The minimum of CB and maximum of VB occurring at The minimum of CB and maximum of VB occurring at
same propagation constant (k). different propagation constant (k).
Electron making transition from CB to VB, need not In order to make transition from minimum point in CB
undergo any change in its momentum. When electron fall to maximum point in VB, the electron requires some
from CB to VB, it disappear with hole (recombination of momentum. First it will go to some defect state and
electron and hole) and their pair release the energy in the then fall directly on the VB. When ever it has some
form of Light. i.e Photon of light. deflection, it radiates the energy in the form heat in the
lattice itself.
The compound semiconductor such as GaAs, GaN, GaSb, All elemental semiconductor such as Si, Ge, SiC, GaP
InP, InAs are direct gap semiconductor. are indirect gap semiconductor.
These direct gap semiconductors are used in LED and These indirect gap semiconductors are used in diodes
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Lasers etc. and solar panels etc.
Carrier generation and recombination in Direct and Indirect bandgap

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 Module-2
List of problems from Kasap:
Example 5.1 page 423
EXAMPLE 5.4
Example 5.5 page 431
EXAMPLE 5.6
List of problems from Donald Neaman:
Example 4.2 page 112
Example 4.5 page 126
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Junctions

Metal-Metal Junction Seeback effect

Schottky junction
Metal-Semiconductor Junction
Ohmic junction

Semiconductor-Semiconductor Junction P-N junction

[Link]
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Metal-Metal Junction
Most important rule for junction is fermi level must line up at equilibrium
(there is no external potential applied to the system).

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Two metals come together to form a junction at equilibrium with two
different work functions. In such a case, the electrons will go from low
work function to high work function. This interns leads contact potential at
the surface and this contact potential oppose further movement of
electrons. The value of 𝑣0 depends upon work functions of the two
different material.

𝑣0 → Oppose the further movement of electrons

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 1. Schottky junction ∅𝑚 > ∅𝑠𝑒𝑚
Metal-Semiconductor Junction
2. Ohmic junction ∅𝑚 < ∅𝑠𝑒𝑚

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Diffusion and Conduction Equations

It flows due to presence of gradient (change) in concentration of carriers. Electrons

and holes travel from higher concentration to lower concentration, because of
thermal energy, which results in diffusion current.

When carriers move due to concentration gradient then

such a movement is called diffusion. Diffusion current
density directly proportional to concentration gradient.
𝒅𝒏 𝒅𝒑
𝑱𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝜶 (𝒐𝒓)
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒏
𝑱𝒏, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝒆 𝑫𝒏
𝒅𝒙
𝒅𝒑
𝑱𝒑, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 = −𝒆 𝑫𝒑
𝒅𝒙
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𝑫𝒏 , 𝑫𝒑 are diffusion constants of electrons and holes, respectively.
𝐿2𝑛 Mean life time of carrier (𝜏), Diffusion Length (L)
𝐷𝑛 =
𝜏𝑛
𝐿2𝑝
𝐷𝑝 =
𝜏𝑝

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Continuity equation

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[Link]

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 Optical Absorption
Optical absorption means the absorption of electromagnetic
radiations of light by semiconductor materials.
We have already seen that a photon of energy hf greater
than Eg can be absorbed in a semiconductor, resulting
in the excitation of an electron from the valence band
to the conduction band, as illustrated in Figure 5.36.

The average energy of electrons in the conduction band

is 3/2 kT above Ec (average kinetic energy is 3/2 kT),
which means that the electrons are very close to Ec.

If the photon energy is much larger than the bandgap

energy Eg, then the excited electron is not near Ec and has
to lose the extra energy hf − Eg to reach thermal
equilibrium.
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The excess energy hf − Eg is lost to lattice vibrations as heat as the electron is scattered
from one atomic vibration to another. This process is called thermalization.
If, on the other hand, the photon energy hf is less than the bandgap energy, the photon
will not be absorbed and we can say that the semiconductor is transparent to
wavelengths longer than hc∕Eg provided that there are no energy states in the bandgap.
There, of course, will be reflections occurring at the air/semiconductor surface due to
the change in the refractive index.

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Piezo-resistivity
Piezo-resistivity is an electromechanical phenomenon in which the electrical
resistivity of a material changes reversibly with strain.
Stress – Force per unit area
Strain – Deflection per unit length/area
Applications: Variety of Sensors such as Force, strain, pressure and bio-medical
instruments.

The change in the resistivity may be due to a change in the concentration of

carriers or due to a change in the drift mobility of the carriers, both of which
can be modified by a strain in the crystal. Typically, in an extrinsic or doped
semiconductor, the concentration of carriers does not change as significantly as
the drift mobility; the piezoresistivity is then associated with the change in the
mobility.

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Organic semiconductor

Organic semiconductors are solids whose building blocks are pi-bonded molecules or
polymers made up by carbon and hydrogen atoms and – at times – heteroatoms such as
nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. They exist in the form of molecular crystals or amorphous
thin films.

In general, they are electrical insulators, but become semiconducting when charges are
either injected from appropriate electrodes, upon doping or by photoexcitation.

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 Inorganic vs Organic
In inorganic semiconductors as Si or Ge, atoms are • Very low molecular crystal degree: polycrystalline or
bond together by very strong covalent bonds. amorphous films.
Electrons and holes can freely move within aperiodic • Randomly oriented molecules that interacts with very
structure (meff). Charge carriers can be considered as small forces(Van Der Waals).
delocalized planar waves very high mobility
• Charge carriers, free mean path could be smaller that
interatomic distance!
•Perfect crystal structure
• Worse delocalization, charge carriers moves through
•continuous bands localized energetic states (Hopping).
•Scattering limited: • No crystal structure
Impurities • Discrete energetic levels
Phonons • Phonon assisted transport
•Mobility decreases with Temperature • Mobility increases with temperature, thermal activation
There are different doping approaches:
Chemical doping
Electrochemical doping
Photo-induced doping
Charge injection doping
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Application of semiconductor materials:
P-N Junction Diode

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• A piece of semiconductor material, if one half is doped by P-type and the other half is
doped by N-type impurity, a P-N junction is formed.
• The plane dividing the two half's or zones is called PN junction.
• The N-type has high concentration of free electron while P type has high concentration
of holes. Therefore at the junction there is tendency of the free electrons to diffuse
over to the P-side and holes to the N-side (This process is called diffusion).
• The net opposite charge in each layer prevents it for the diffusion into that layer.
• The bearing is set up near the junction which prevent further moment of charge
carriers. This is called a potential barrier (0.3V
Dr. Mallikarjuna for Germanium
Golla, Asst. Prof., SELECT and 0.7 for Silicon). 87
 Diode Operating
Conditions

✓ No bias
✓ Forward bias
✓ Reverse bias

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Forward bias

• When positive terminal of battery is connected to the P-type and negative terminal to the N-type of the PN junction
diode, the bias applied is known as forward bias.
• The applied positive potential repels the holes in the P-type region so that the holes move towards the junction and
the applied negative potential repels the electrons in the N-type region and the electrons move towards the junction
(When applied voltage VF is less than internal barrier V0) and hence the forward current IF is almost zero.
• Eventually when the applied potential is more than the internal barrier (V0) potential the barrier will disappear.
• Hence, the holes cross the junction from P-type to N-type and the electrons cross the junction in the opposite
direction resulting in relatively large current flow in the external circuit. 89
Reverse bias

• When the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the

P-type and positive terminal is connected to N-type of the
PN junction, the bias applied is known as reverse bias.
• Under this condition, holes form the majority carriers of P-
side move towards the negative terminal of the battery and
electrons which form the majority carriers of the N-side are
attracted towards the positive terminal of the battery.

• Hence the width of the depletion region which is depleted of mobile carriers increases.
• Thus the electric filed produced by applied reverse bias is in the same direction of electric field and hence the barrier is
increased.
• Therefore, theoretically no current should flow in the external circuit.
• But in practice very small reverse current in the order of microamperes flows under bias. This current is called as
reverse saturation current.

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 • The magnitude of reverse saturation current mainly depends upon junction temperature because
the major source of minority carriers is thermally broken covalent bonds.

For large reverse bias is applied,

• The free electrons from the N-type moving towards the positive terminal of the battery
acquire sufficient energy to move with high velocity to dislodge valence electrons
from semiconductor atom in the crystal.
• Thus large number of free electrons are formed which is commonly called as
avalanche of free electrons. This leads to the break down of junction leading to very
large reverse current. The reverse voltage at which the junction break down is known
as breakdown voltage.

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V-I Characteristics

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Applications
• PN junction diode is used as a more triple, voltage doubler and quadruples in voltage multiplier circuit.
• They are used as a switch in many electronics circuits.
• They are used in power supply.
• This diode can be used by many circuits rectifiers, varactor for voltage-controlled oscillators.
• While PN junction diode produced light when biased with a current, so it is used in light emitting diode applications.
• This diode can be also used for another diode called a light amplification stimulation emission of radiation.
• In power electronics engineering, it can be used in solar cells.
• It can be used as a detector for the demodulation circuit.
• In digital electronics, this diode can be used as switches in digital logic design.
• This diode can be used as a rectifier in the DC power supply.
• While we are using the clipping circuit, this diode can be used to clip the portion of AC.
• They are used as clamper to change the reference voltage.
• Zener diode most commonly used in stabilizing circuits.
• It can be used as a varactor diode for use in the voltage-controlled tuning circuit as may be found in radio and TV
receivers.
• The voltage across the PN junction biased is used to create temperature sensors and reference voltages.
• This diode can be used as voltage multipliers to increase the output voltage.
• It can be used as a signal diode in communication circuits.
• These diodes must be used in various daily life applications like computers, radios, radars as wave shaping circuits.
• It is used in many circuits or diode-like, a switching diode, Zener diode, PIN photo-diode, varactor diode. 93
 Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

A Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both electron and
hole charge carriers. In contrast, unipolar transistors, such as filed-effect transistors,
only use one kind of charge carrier for their operation.

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Transistor Biasing
For proper working of a transistor, it is essential to apply voltages of correct polarity across its two
junctions (CBJ and EBJ).

Emitter-base junction is always forward biased and Collector-base junction is always reverse-biased

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Operation of NPN transistor

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Transistor Circuit Configurations

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Common-Emitter (CE) Common-Collector (CB) Common-Base (CB)
configuration configuration configuration
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CE Configuration
Voltage gain, current gain and power gain of a common emitter configuration is high
when compared to other transistor configurations.

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CE Configuration

Input characteristics

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CE Configuration Output characteristics

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Transistor terms and formulas

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Field Effect Transistor (FET)

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 Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET)
• A moderately doped semiconductor used as channel.
• One end of the channel is called drain (D) and other end is called Source (S).
• Carriers travel through channel from source to drain, which results flow of drain current.
• Source: It is the terminal through which majority carriers enter channel.
• Drain: It is the terminal through which majority carriers leaves or exit the channel.
• Two heavily doped P+ regions are formed in n-type channel. These P+ regions are
internally shorted to each other and they are acts as gate regions.

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Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET)

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Enhancement MOSFET (n-type)

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N and P Channel MOSFET

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