INTRODUCTION

Devices in which a controlled flow of electrons can be obtained are the

basic building blocks of all the electronic circuits. Before the discovery of
transistor in 1948, such devices were mostly vacuum tubes (also called
valves) like the vacuum diode which has two electrodes, viz., anode (often
called plate) and cathode; triode which has three electrodes – cathode,
plate and grid; tetrode and pentode (respectively with 4 and 5
electrodes).
In a vacuum tube, the electrons are supplied by a heated cathode and
the controlled flow of these electrons in vacuum is obtained by varying
the voltage between its different electrodes. Vacuum is required in the
inter-electrode space; otherwise the moving electrons may lose their
energy on collision with the air molecules in their path. In these devices
the electrons can flow only from the cathode to the anode (i.e., only in
one
direction). Therefore, such devices are generally referred to as valves.
These vacuum tube devices are bulky, consume high power, operate
generally at high voltages (~100 V) and have limited life and low reliability.
The seed of the development of modern solid-state semiconductor
electronics goes back to 1930’s when it was realised that some solid-
state semiconductors and their junctions offer the possibility of
controlling the number and the direction of flow of charge carriers
through them.
Simple excitations like light, heat or small applied voltage can change
the number of mobile charges in a semiconductor.
• Note that the supply and flow of charge carriers in
the semiconductor devices are within the solid
itself, while in the earlier vacuum tubes/valves, the
mobile electrons were obtained from a heated
cathode and they were made to flow in an
evacuated space or vacuum. No external heating or
large evacuated space is required by the
semiconductor devices. They are small in size,
consume low power, operate at low voltages and
have long life and high reliability.
Even the Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) used in television
and computer monitors which work on the principle
of vacuum tubes are being replaced by Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD) monitors with supporting solid state
electronics. Much before the full implications of the
semiconductor devices was formally understood, a
naturally occurring crystal of galena (Lead sulphide,
PbS) with a metal point contact attached to it was
used as detector of radio waves.
 CLASSIFICATION OF
METALS,CONDUCTORS
AND SEMICONDUCTOR
• On the basis of conductivity
• On the basis of the relative values of electrical conductivity (σ ) or
resistivity
(ρ = 1/σ ), the solids are broadly classified as:
• (i) Metals: They possess very low resistivity (or high conductivity).
ρ ~ 10–2 – 10–8 Ω m
σ ~ 102
– 108
S m–1
• (ii) Semiconductors: They have resistivity or conductivity intermediate to
metals and insulators.
ρ ~ 10–5 – 106 Ω m
σ ~ 105 – 10–6 S m–1
• (iii)Insulators: They have high resistivity (or low conductivity).
ρ ~ 1011 – 1019 Ω m
σ ~ 10–11 – 10–19 S m–1
The values of ρ and σ given above are indicative of magnitude and could
well go outside the ranges as well. Relative values of the resistivity
are not the only criteria for distinguishing metals, insulators and
semiconductors from each other. There are some other differences, which
will become clear as we go along in this chapter.
Our interest in this chapter is in the study of semiconductors which could
be:
(i) Elemental semiconductors: Si and Ge
(ii) Compound semiconductors: Examples are:
* Inorganic: CdS, GaAs, CdSe, InP, etc.
* Organic: anthracene, doped pthalocyanines, etc.
* Organic polymers: polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, etc.
Most of the currently available semiconductor devices are based on
elemental semiconductors Si or Ge and compound inorganic
semiconductor
However, after 1990, a few semiconductor devices using
organic semiconductors and semiconducting polymers have
beendeveloped signalling the birth of a futuristic technology
of polymer electronics and molecular-electronics. In this
chapter, we will restrictourselves to the study of inorganic
semiconductors, particularlyelemental semiconductors Si and
Ge. The general concepts introducedhere for discussing the
elemental semiconductors, by-and-large, applyto most of the
compound semiconductors as well.
On the basis of energy bands: According to the Bohr
atomic model, in an isolated atom the energy ofany of its
electrons is decided by the orbit in which it revolves. But
whenthe atoms come together to form a solid they are close
to each other. Sothe outer orbits of electrons from
neighbouring atoms would come veryclose or could even
overlap. This would make the nature of electron motionin a
solid very different from that in an isolated [Link] the
crystal each electron has a unique position and no
twoelectrons see exactly the same pattern of surrounding
charges. Becauseof this, each electron will have a different
energy level. These differentenergy levels with continuous
energy variation form what are calledenergy bands. The
energy band which includes the energy levels of thevalence
electrons is called the valence band. The energy band above
thevalence band is called the conduction band.
With no external energy, allthe valence electrons will reside
in the valence band. If the lowest level inthe conduction band
happens to be lower than the highest level of thevalence
band, the electrons from the valence band can easily move
intothe conduction band. Normally the conduction band is
empty. But whenit overlaps on the valence band electrons can
move freely into it. This isthe case with metallic [Link]
there is some gap between the conduction band and the
valenceband, electrons in the valence band all remain bound
and no free electronsare available in the conduction band.
This makes the material aninsulator.
But some of the electrons from the valence band may
gainexternal energy to cross the gap between the conduction
band and thevalence band. Then these electrons will move
into the conduction [Link] the same time they will create
vacant energy levels in the valence bandwhere other valence
electrons can move. Thus the process creates thepossibility of
conduction due to electrons in conduction band as well asdue
to vacancies in the valence [Link] us consider what
happens in the case of Si or Ge crystal containingN atoms.

For Si, the outermost orbit is the third orbit (n = 3), while for
Geit is the fourth orbit (n = 4). The number of electrons in the
outermostorbit is 4 (2s and 2p electrons). Hence, the total
number of outer electronsin the crystal is 4N. The maximum
possible number of electrons in theouter orbit is 8 (2s + 6p
electrons). So, for the 4N valence electrons thereare 8N
available energy states. These 8N discrete energy levels can
eitherform a continuous band or they may be grouped in
different bandsdepending upon the distance between the
atoms in the crystal (see boxon Band Theory of Solids).
At the distance between the atoms in the crystal lattices of Si
and Ge,the energy band of these 8N states is split apart into
two which areseparated by an energy gap. The lower band
which iscompletely occupied by the 4N valence electrons at
temperature of absolute325zero is the valence band. The
other band consisting of 4N energy states,called the
conduction band, is completely empty at absolute zero.

The lowest energy level in

theconduction band is shown as EC andhighest energy level in
the valence bandis shown as EV. Above ECand below EVthere
are a large number of closely spacedenergy levels.