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APPLIED PHYSICS

LECTURE
WEEK-6
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Electrical Conduction in Solids

(Band Theory of Solids)

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Valence Electrons
• Valence electrons are those special electrons which are placed in the outermost shell of an atom.
• When ever there is an interaction between any two atoms, the electrons present in their outermost
shell are the ones which first communicate with each other.

• When they interact, they determine the reaction of an atom in a chemical reaction. They are
responsible for incitement of a chemical reaction.
• They can absorb or release energy in the form of a photon.
• These electrons also determine an atom’s electric conductivity. By electrical conductivity, the
elements are divided into three groups.
➢ Insulators
➢ Semiconductors
➢ Conductors
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Insulator
• The valance band is full, but the conduction band is totally empty, so free electrons from
conduction band is not available.
• In an insulator , the energy gap between valance band and conduction band is very
large and approximately equal to 5 eV or more. Hence electron cannot jump from
valance band to conduction band. So, a very high energy is required to push the
electrons to the conduction band.
• The resistivity of insulator lie between 10000 to 1017 ohm meter at a room temperature .
• An insulator does not conduct at room temperature because there are no conduction
electrons in it, an insulator may conduct if its temperature is very high or if a high voltage
is applied across it. This is known as breakdown of the insulator.
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Semiconductors
• In semiconductors, electron is loosely bound to the nucleus hence requires less energy for
separating them from the nucleus. Semiconductors are materials whose electrical resistivity lies
between insulator and conductor e.g. germanium and silicon.
• The number of valence electrons in an element is 4, the element will have the properties of
purely metallic only non-metallic elements. The properties of such elements and materials are
in between metallic and nonmetallic.
• The resistivity of semiconductors lie between 10 ohm to 1000 ohm meter at room temperature.
• The forbidden gape is very small equal to 1 eV, the energy band diagram of a
semiconductors .
• The conductivity increase with temperature. As the temperature is increased, some of the
valance electron acquire thermal greater than forbidden energy gape and hence moves into
the conduction band.
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Conductors
• Conductors are characterized by high electrical conductivity; these are the solids in which
plenty of free electrons are available for electrical conduction. Ex. Silver , copper, iron.
• It has less than 4 electrons in its outermost shell that means it has less than four valence
electrons.
• In general electrical resistivity of conductor is very low and is of the order of 10 (-6) ohm cm.
• There is no forbidden gap, and the conduction band and valance band are overlapping
each other ,so a slight potential difference the conductor causes the free electrons to
constitute electric current.
• Due to the absence of forbidden gape ,there is no structure to establish holes. The total
current in conductor is simply a flow of electrons for conductor , the energy gape is of the
order of 0.01 eV .
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Energy Band
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Fermi Level
• The highest energy level that an electron can occupy at the absolute zero
temperature is known as the Fermi Level.
• The Fermi level lies between the valence band and conduction band because at
absolute zero temperature the electrons are all in the lowest energy state.
• Due to lack of sufficient energy at 0 Kelvin, the Fermi level can be considered as the
sea of fermions (or electrons) above which no electrons exist.
• The Fermi level changes as the solids are warmed and as electrons are added to or
withdrawn from the solid.
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Fermi -Dirac Probability Function

This describes the occupancy of energy levels by electrons in a solid. The probability
that the energy level E is filled by an electron is given by

where
• k is the Boltzmann constant (8.62x10-5 eV/k )
• T is the absolute temperature
• EF is the Fermi level or the Fermi energy
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• The Fermi function f(E) gives the probability that a given available electron energy state
will be occupied at a given temperature.
• The basic nature of this function dictates that at ordinary temperatures, most of the levels
up to the Fermi level EF are filled, and relatively few electrons have energies above the
Fermi level.
• The Fermi level is on the order of electron volts (e.g., 7 eV for copper), whereas the
thermal energy kT is only about 0.026 eV at 300K.
• The band theory of solids gives the picture that there is a sizable gap between the Fermi
level and the conduction band of the semiconductor. At higher temperatures, a larger
fraction of the electrons can bridge this gap and participate in electrical conduction.
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At Room Temperature

• The probability of finding electron at room temperature is 50%.

• Only those electron are used in conduction which are near from fermi
level.
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Semiconductors
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Intrinsic Semiconductor and Extrinsic Semiconductor

• The semiconductor is divided into two types.
1. Intrinsic Semiconductor
2. Extrinsic semiconductor.
• The pure form of the semiconductor is known as the intrinsic semiconductor.
• The semiconductor in which impurities are added for making it conductive is known
as the extrinsic semiconductor.
• The conductivity of the intrinsic semiconductor become zero at room temperature
while the extrinsic semiconductor is very little conductive at room temperature.
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Silicon Atom and Covalent Bond

• Silicon has a valency of 4 i.e. 4 electrons in its
outer shell
• Each silicon atom shares its 4 outer electrons
with 4 neighboring atoms
• These shared electrons – bonds – are shown
as horizontal and vertical lines between the
atoms
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Intrinsic Semiconductor
• An extremely pure semiconductor is called as
Intrinsic Semiconductor. On the basis of the energy
band phenomenon, an intrinsic semiconductor at
absolute zero temperature is shown.
• Its valence band is completely filled and the
conduction band is completely empty.
• When the temperature is raised and some heat
energy is supplied to it, some of the valence
electrons are lifted to conduction band leaving
behind holes in the valence band as shown.
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Intrinsic Semiconductor
• The electrons reaching at the conduction band move
randomly.

• The holes created in the crystal also free to move any where
in valence band.

• Total number of electrons and holes are same.

• This behavior of the semiconductor shows that they have a

negative temperature coefficient of resistance.

• This means that with the increase in temperature, the

resistivity of the material decreases and the conductivity
increases.
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Extrinsic Semiconductor
• A semiconductor to which an impurity at controlled rate is added to make it
conductive is known as an extrinsic Semiconductor.
• An intrinsic semiconductor is capable to conduct a little current even at room
temperature, but it is not useful for the preparation of various electronic
devices. Thus, to make it conductive a small amount of suitable impurity is
added to the material.
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Doping
• The process by which a controlled amount of impurity is added to a pure semiconductor is
known as Doping.
• The amount and type of impurity which is to be added to a material must be closely controlled
during the preparation of extrinsic semiconductor.
• Generally, one impurity atom is added to a 108 atoms of a semiconductor.
• The purpose of adding impurity in the semiconductor crystal is to increase the number of free
electrons or holes to make it conductive.
• If a Pentavalent impurity, having five valence electrons is added to a pure semiconductor
numerous free electrons created in the semiconductor.
• If a trivalent impurity having three valence electrons is added, numerous holes created in the
semiconductor.
• Depending upon the type of impurity added the extrinsic semiconductor may be classified
as n type semiconductor and p type semiconductor.
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N-Type Semiconductor Material

• To form n-type semiconductor
Pentavalent impurity, is added.
• e.g. Phosphorus is added having
atomic number 15 .
• It has 15 protons and 15 electrons – 5
of these electrons are in its outer shell.
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N-Type Semiconductor Material

• Suppose we remove silicon atoms from the
crystal lattice.
• We replace it with a phosphorus atoms.
• We now have an electron that is not bonded
– it is thus free for conduction
• As more electrons are available for
conduction, we have increased the
conductivity of the material.
• If we now apply a potential difference across
the silicon electron will flow toward the
positive terminal of the battery.
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N-Type Silicon Material

• This type of silicon is called n-type.
• This is because the majority charge carriers are negative electrons.
• A small number of minority charge carriers – holes – will exist due to electrons-hole
pairs being created in the silicon atoms due to heat.
• The silicon is still electrically neutral as the number of protons is equal to the number
of electrons.
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P-Type Semiconductor Material

• To form p-type semiconductor

Trivalent impurity .
• e.g. Boron is added having
atomic number 5 .
• It has 5 protons and 5 electrons –
3 of these electrons are in its outer
shell
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P-Type Semiconductor Material

• As before, we remove a silicon atom from the

crystal lattice
• •This time we replace it with a boron atom
• •Notice we have a hole in a valence bond –
this hole is thus free for conduction
• As more holes are available for conduction we
have increased the conductivity of the material
• •If we now apply a potential difference across
the silicon hole will flow toward the negative
terminal of the battery.
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P-type Silicon Material

• This type of silicon is called p-type

• This is because the majority charge carriers are positive holes.
• A small number of minority charge carriers – electrons – will exist due to
electrons-hole pairs being created in the silicon atoms due to heat.
• The silicon is still electrically neutral as the number of protons is equal to the
number of electrons
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Energy Band Diagram Compression

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Types of Current Flow in Semiconductors

• Two types of current in

semiconductor
➢ Electron current
➢ Hole current
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Acceptor Dopant: an acceptor is a dopant atom that when
added to a semiconductor can form a p-type region.
•Donor Dopant: a donor is a dopant atom that, when added to
a semiconductor, can form an n-type region.

•Pentavalent Impurity: N-Type Material is formed. Phosphorus is

pentavalent impurity.

•Trivalent Impurity: P-type material is formed. Boron is trivalent

impurity
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Formation of a PN-Junction
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Formation of a PN-Junction
• Joining n-type material with p-type material causes excess electrons in the n-type
material to diffuse to the p-type side and excess holes from the p-type material to diffuse
to the n-type side.
• Movement of electrons to the p-type side exposes positive ion cores in the n-type side
while movement of holes to the n-type side exposes negative ion cores in the p-type
side, resulting in an electron field at the junction and forming the depletion region.
• A voltage results from the electric field formed at the junction.
• Since the n-type region has a high electron concentration and the p-type a high hole
concentration, electrons diffuse from the n-type side to the p-type side.
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Formation of a PN-Junction
• Similarly, holes flow by diffusion from the p-type side to the n-type side.
• If the electrons and holes were not charged, this diffusion process would continue until
the concentration of electrons and holes on the two sides were the same, as happens if
two gasses come into contact with each other.
• However, in a p-n junction, when the electrons and holes move to the other side of the
junction, they leave behind exposed charges on dopant atom sites, which are fixed in
the crystal lattice and are unable to move. On the n-type side, positive ion cores are
exposed. On the p-type side, negative ion cores are exposed.
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P-N Junction
• A p-n junction is an interface or a
boundary between two
semiconductor material types,
namely the p-type and the n-type,
inside a semiconductor. The p-side or
the positive side of the
semiconductor has an excess of holes
and the n-side or the negative side
has an excess of electrons.
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Energy Band Diagram of PN-Junction

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Energy Band Diagram of PN-Junction

• The open circles on the left side of the junction above represent "holes" or deficiencies of
electrons in the lattice which can act like positive charge carriers.
• The solid circles on the right of the junction represent the available electrons from the n-type
dopant.
• Near the junction, electrons diffuse across to combine with holes, creating a "depletion region".
• The energy level sketch above right is a way to visualize the equilibrium condition of the P-N
junction.
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• The upward direction in the diagram represents increasing electron energy.
• For a p-n junction at equilibrium, the fermi levels match on the two sides of the junctions.
• Electrons and holes reach an equilibrium at the junction and form a depletion region.
• The upward direction in the diagram represents increasing electron energy. That implies that you
would have to supply energy to get an electron to go up on the diagram, and supply energy to
get a hole to go down.
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Barrier Potential

• Silicon has potential barrier voltage of 0.7V.

• Germanium has potential barrier voltage drop of 0.3V.
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DIODE

• A PN Junction is also called DIODE.