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Characteristics of Semiconductor Materials

Chapter 2 : Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology by M. Quirk and J. Serda
Chapter 3.1 and 3.2 : Semiconductor Science by Tudor E. Jenkins

Saroj Kumar Patra,

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology ( NTNU )

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Electron Shells in Atoms

Q=2
P = 10
O = 32
N = 32
M = 18
L=8
K=2

Figure 2.2 Quirk & Serda

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Elementary Model of Carbon Atom

Proton
(positive charge) - Atomic number
(number of protons)
Electron
(negative charge)
Nucleus (center of atom;
- contains protons and neutrons)
C 6
Orbital shell
+ N
- + -
N +N +
N N +
+ N
- Valence electron
Neutron
(neutral charge)

- Valence shell
(outer shell of atom)
Carbon atom: The nucleus contains
an equal number of protons (+) and
neutrons (6 each). Six electrons (-)
orbit around the nucleus.

Figure 2.1 Quirk & Serda

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Group IV A Elemental
semiconductors
Semiconductors
Group IVA

C, Carbon 6

Si, Silicon 14

Ge, Germanium 32

Sn, Tin 50

Pb, Lead 82

Figure 2.18 Quirk & Serda

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Covalent Bonding of Pure Silicon

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Silicon atoms share valence electrons

to form insulator-like bonds.

Figure 2.19 Quirk & Serda

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Crystal Structure of Si and GaAs

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Crystal Structure

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Classifying Materials

• Conductors

• Insulators

• Semiconductors

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Energy Bandgaps
Electron Energy Electron Energy Electron Energy

Conduction
Band Conduction
Band
Conduction Overlapping bands

Energy Gap
Energy Gap

Band - little energy is

needed for
Valence Band conduction

Valence Band
Valence Band

Insulator Conductor Semiconductor

Figure 2.4 Quirk & Serda

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Energy Band Diagram for III-V
Semiconductor

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Covalent Bonding in Pure Silicon

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Silicon atoms share valence electrons

to form insulator-like bonds.

Figure 2.19 Quirk & Serda

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Doping of Silicon
Deposition Step Drive-in & Diffusion Step

dopant dispenser

wafer substrate Activation

dopant layer Step
diffusion of dopant
Si Si PP
atoms through silicon
wafer PP Si Si

Si Si P

Figure 2.21 Quirk & Serda

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Silicon Dopants
Acceptor Impurities Semiconductor Donor Impurities

Group III (p-type) Group IV Group V (n-type)

Boron 5 Carbon 6 Nitrogen 7

Aluminum 13 Silicon 14 Phosphorus 15

Gallium 31 Germanium 32 Arsenic 33

Indium 49 Tin 50 Antimony 51

* Items underlined are the most commonly used in silicon-based IC manufacturing.

Figure 2.22 Quirk & Serda

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Electrons in n-type Silicon with

Phosphorus Dopants
Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si P Si Excess electron (-)

Si P Si Si Si Phosphorus atom
serves as n-type
dopant
Si Si Si P Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Donor atoms provide excess electrons

to form n-type silicon.
Figure 2.23 Quirk & Serda

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Conduction in n-type Silicon

Positive terminal from
power supply

Negative terminal
from power supply

Free electrons flow toward

positive terminal.

Figure 2.24 Quirk & Serda

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Holes in p-type Silicon with Boron

Dopant
Si Si Si Si Si

Si Si Si B Si + Hole

Boron atom serves

Si B Si Si Si as p-type dopant

Si Si Si B Si

Si Si Si Si Si

Acceptor atoms provide a deficiency

of electrons to form p-type silicon.
Figure 2.25 Quirk & Serda

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Conduction in p-type Silicon

Positive terminal
from voltage supply

Negative terminal
from voltage supply

-Electrons flow toward

positive terminal

+Holes flow toward

negative terminal
Figure 2.26 Quirk & Serda

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Impurity States
n-type p-type

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Density of Impurity States

(for amorphous semiconductor)

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Density of Electrons and Hole in a

Semiconductor

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How Size affects Resistance

Low Resistance High Resistance

L
R=
A

Figure 2.12 Quirk & Serda

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Electrical Conductivity and

Mobility
• The simplest picture of electrical conductivity and mobility can be understood by
considering the electrons in a semiconductor as a classical gas in the body of the
material.
• Then using the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function we can get the relation,

• At a temperature of 300 K and using free electron mass for ‘m’, we have

• The random nature of electron velocities means that the time average current that flows
is zero.
• On application of an electric field to the semiconductor, the electrons will drift in the
opposite direction of the field, so that there is now a net flow of charge and hence a flow
of current. Therefore the equation of motion using drift velocity vd can be written as:

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Electrical Conductivity and

Mobility(continued) τ

• The second term in the equation is introduced to prevent ever increasing electron
velocity with the electric field on. Therefore electrons are accelerated until a time τ and
then suffer scattering within the system and their velocity randomized.
• In the absence of Electric field the equation becomes:

τ
• The solution can be written as:

• The relaxation time represents the tendency of scattering in the semiconductor to return
the electron distribution to thermal equilibrium.
• Therefore in the steady state the ‘d/dt’ term will not be there.
τ

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Electrical Conductivity and

Mobility(continued)
• The current density ‘J’ is therefore given as:

• Where ‘n’ is the number of electrons per unit volume of the semiconductor. This is
Ohm’s Law
τ
σ

τ Electrical Conductivity
Or σ

• The mobility is expressed as :

| | τ
μ
| | Mobility

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Silicon 1021

Resistivity vs. 1020

Dopant Concentration (atoms/cm3)

Dopant 1019

Concentration 1018

1017
n-type p-type
1016

1015

1014

1013
10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103
Electrical Resistivity (ohm-cm)
Redrawn from VLSI Fabrication Principles, Silicon and Gallium Arsenide, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Figure 2.27 Quirk & Serda

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Cross-section of planar pn-junction

p-type Si n-type Si

Figure 2.28 Quirk & Serda

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Flow of Free Electrons in Copper

One electron in
the valence ring
Copper atom -
-
-
Maximum # Actual #
-
- -
Shell # e- per shell e- per shell
- - -
K 2 2 - - - - -
L 8 8
M 18 18 - Cu 29 -
N 32 1
Total # 60 29 - - - - -
K
- - - -
L -
-
- M -
Figure 2.11 Quirk & Serda N

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Alternative Semiconductor
Materials
Comparison of Some Physical Properties for Semiconductor Materials
Property Si Ge GaAs SiO2
Melting point 1700
1412 937 1238
(C) (approx.)
Atomic Weight 28.09 72.60 144.63 60.08
Atomic Density
3 4.99 x1022 4.42x1022 2.21x1022 2.3x1022
(atoms/cm )
Energy Band 8
Gap (eV) 1.11 0.67 1.40
(approx.)

Table 2.3 Quirk & Serda

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Resistivity vs. Impurity

Concentration for Si and GaAs

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Electronic Properties of some

Semiconductors

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Physical Constants

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TFE4180 Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Characteristics of Semiconductor Materials