Problems 21

Miller indices The set of integers used to describe a crystal plane.

primitive cell The smallest unit cell that can be repeated to form a lattice.
substrate A semiconductor wafer or other material used as the starting material for further
semiconductor processing, such as epitaxial growth or diffusion.
ternary semiconductor A three-element compound semiconductor, such as aluminum gal-
lium arsenide (AlGaAs).
unit cell A small volume of a crystal that can be used to reproduce the entire crystal.
zincblende lattice A lattice structure identical to the diamond lattice except that there are
two types of atoms instead of one.

CHECKPOINT
After studying this chapter, the reader should have the ability to:
■ List the most common elemental semiconductor material.
■ Describe the concept of a unit cell.
■ Determine the volume density of atoms for various lattice structures.
■ Determine the Miller indices of a crystal-lattice plane.
■ Sketch a lattice plane given the Miller indices.
■ Determine the surface density of atoms on a given crystal-lattice plane.
■ Describe the tetrahedral configuration of silicon atoms.
■ Understand and describe various defects in a single-crystal lattice.

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. List two elemental semiconductor materials and two compound semiconductor materials.
2. Sketch three lattice structures: (a) simple cubic, (b) body-centered cubic, and
(c) face-centered cubic.
3. Describe the procedure for finding the volume density of atoms in a crystal.
4. Describe the procedure for obtaining the Miller indices that describe a plane in a crystal.
5. Describe the procedure for finding the surface density of atoms on a particular lattice
plane.
6. Describe why a unit cell, that is not a primitive unit cell, might be preferable to a primi-
tive unit cell.
7. Describe covalent bonding in silicon.
8. What is meant by a substitutional impurity in a crystal? What is meant by an interstitial
impurity?

PROBLEMS
Section 1.3 Space Lattices
1.1 Determine the number of atoms per unit cell in a (a) face-centered cubic, (b) body-
centered cubic, and (c) diamond lattice.
1.2 Assume that each atom is a hard sphere with the surface of each atom in contact with
the surface of its nearest neighbor. Determine the percentage of total unit cell volume

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 22 CHAPTER 1 The Crystal Structure of Solids

that is occupied in (a) a simple cubic lattice, (b) a face-centered cubic lattice, (c) a
body-centered cubic lattice, and (d) a diamond lattice.
1.3 If the lattice constant of silicon is 5.43 Å, calculate (a) the distance from the center of
one silicon atom to the center of its nearest neighbor, (b) the number density of silicon
atoms (#/cm3), and (c) the mass density (g/cm3) of silicon.
1.4 (a) The lattice constant of GaAs is 5.65 Å. Determine the number of Ga atoms and
As atoms per cm3. (b) Determine the volume density of germanium atoms in a germa-
nium semiconductor. The lattice constant of germanium is 5.65 Å.
1.5 The lattice constant of GaAs is a  5.65 Å. Calculate (a) the distance between the
centers of the nearest Ga and As atoms, and (b) the distance between the centers of the
nearest As atoms.
1.6 Calculate the angle between any pair of bonds in the tetrahedral structure.
1.7 Assume the radius of an atom, which can be represented as a hard sphere, is r  1.95 Å.
The atom is placed in a (a) simple cubic, (b) fcc, (c) bcc, and (d) diamond lattice. As-
suming that nearest atoms are touching each other, what is the lattice constant of each
lattice?
1.8 A crystal is composed of two elements, A and B. The basic crystal structure is a face-
centered cubic with element A at each of the corners and element B in the center of
each face. The effective radius of element A is rA  1.035 Å. Assume that the ele-
ments are hard spheres with the surface of each A-type atom in contact with the sur-
face of its nearest A-type neighbor. Calculate (a) the maximum radius of the B-type
element that will fit into this structure, (b) the lattice constant, and (c) the volume
density (#/cm3) of both the A-type atoms and the B-type atoms.
1.9 (a) A crystal with a simple cubic lattice structure is composed of atoms with an ef-
fective radius of r  2.25 Å and has an atomic weight of 12.5. Determine the mass
density assuming the atoms are hard spheres and nearest neighbors are touching each
other. (b) Repeat part (a) for a body-centered cubic structure.
1.10 A material, with a volume of 1 cm3, is composed of an fcc lattice with a lattice con-
stant of 2.5 mm. The “atoms” in this material are actually coffee beans. Assume the
coffee beans are hard spheres with each bean touching its nearest neighbor. Determine
the volume of coffee after the coffee beans have been ground. (Assume 100% packing
density of the ground coffee.)
1.11 The crystal structure of sodium chloride (NaCl) is a simple cubic with the Na and Cl
atoms alternating positions. Each Na atom is then surrounded by six Cl atoms and
likewise each Cl atom is surrounded by six Na atoms. (a) Sketch the atoms in a (100)
plane. (b) Assume the atoms are hard spheres with nearest neighbors touching. The
effective radius of Na is 1.0 Å and the effective radius of Cl is 1.8 Å. Determine the
lattice constant. (c) Calculate the volume density of Na and Cl atoms. (d ) Calculate
the mass density of NaCl.
1.12 (a) A material is composed of two types of atoms. Atom A has an effective radius of
2.2 Å and atom B has an effective radius of 1.8 Å. The lattice is a bcc with atoms A at
the corners and atom B in the center. Determine the lattice constant and the volume den-
sities of A atoms and B atoms. (b) Repeat part (a) with atoms B at the corners and atom
A in the center. (c) What comparison can be made of the materials in parts (a) and (b)?
1.13 (a) Consider the materials described in Problem 1.12(a) and 1.12(b). For each case,
calculate the surface density of A atoms and B atoms in the (100) plane. What com-
parison can be made of the two materials? (b) Repeat part (a) for the (110) plane.

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 Problems 23

1.14 (a) The crystal structure of a particular material consists of a single atom in the center
of a cube. The lattice constant is a0 and the diameter of the atom is a0. Determine the
volume density of atoms and the surface density of atoms in the (110) plane. (b) Com-
pare the results of part (a) to the results for the case of the simple cubic structure
shown in Figure 1.5a with the same lattice constant.
1.15 The lattice constant of a simple cubic lattice is a0. (a) Sketch the following planes:
(i) (110), (ii) (111), (iii) (220), and (iv) (321). (b) Sketch the following directions:
(i) [110], (ii) [111], (iii) [220], and (iv) [321].
1.16 For a simple cubic lattice, determine the Miller indices for the planes shown in
Figure P1.16.
1.17 A body-centered cubic lattice has a lattice constant of 4.83 Å. A plane cutting the
lattice has intercepts of 9.66 Å, 19.32 Å, and 14.49 Å along the three cartesian coordi-
nates. What are the Miller indices of the plane?
1.18 The lattice constant of a simple cubic primitive cell is 5.28 Å. Determine the distance
between the nearest parallel (a) (100), (b) (110), and (c) (111) planes.
1.19 The lattice constant of a single crystal is 4.73 Å. Calculate the surface density (#/cm2)
of atoms on the (i) (100), (ii) (110), and (iii) (111) plane for a (a) simple cubic,
(b) body-centered cubic, and (c) face-centered cubic lattice.
1.20 Determine the surface density of atoms for silicon on the (a) (100) plane, (b) (110)
plane, and (c) (111) plane.
1.21 Consider a face-centered cubic lattice. Assume the atoms are hard spheres with the
surfaces of the nearest neighbors touching. Assume the effective radius of the atom
is 2.37 Å. (a) Determine the volume density of atoms in the crystal. (b) Calculate the
surface density of atoms in the (110) plane. (c) Determine the distance between near-
est (110) planes. (d ) Repeat parts (b) and (c) for the (111) plane.

z z
4a

y y
3a 2a
a

x 4a
x
(a) (b)

Figure P1.16 | Figure for Problem 1.16.

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 24 CHAPTER 1 The Crystal Structure of Solids

Section 1.5 Atomic Bonding

1.22 Calculate the density of valence electrons in silicon.
1.23 The structure of GaAs is the zincblende lattice. The lattice constant is 5.65 Å.
Calculate the density of valence electrons in GaAs.

Section 1.6 Imperfections and Impurities in Solids

1.24 (a) If 5  1017 phosphorus atoms per cm3 are add to silicon as a substitutional impurity,
determine the percentage of silicon atoms per unit volume that are displaced in the sin-
gle crystal lattice. (b) Repeat part (a) for 2  1015 boron atoms per cm3 added to silicon.
1.25 (a) Assume that 2  1016 cm3 of boron atoms are distributed homogeneously
throughout single crystal silicon. What is the fraction by weight of boron in the
crystal? (b) If phosphorus atoms, at a concentration of 1018 cm3, are added to the
material in part (a), determine the fraction by weight of phosphorus.
1.26 If 2  1016 cm3 boron atoms are added to silicon as a substitutional impurity and are
distributed uniformly throughout the semiconductor, determine the distance between
boron atoms in terms of the silicon lattice constant. (Assume the boron atoms are dis-
tributed in a rectangular or cubic array.)
1.27 Repeat Problem 1.26 for 4  1015 cm3 phosphorus atoms being added to silicon.

READING LIST
1. Azaroff, L.V., and J. J. Brophy. Electronic Processes in Materials. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1963.
2. Campbell, S. A. The Science and Engineering of Microelectronic Fabrication. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
3. Dimitrijev, S. Principles of Semiconductor Devices. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2006.
4. Kittel, C. Introduction to Solid State Physics, 7th ed. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1993.
*5. Li, S. S. Semiconductor Physical Electronics. New York: Plenum Press, 1993.
6. McKelvey, J. P. Solid State Physics for Engineering and Materials Science. Malabar,
FL: Krieger, 1993.
7. Pierret, R. F. Semiconductor Device Fundamentals. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,
1996.
8. Runyan, W. R., and K. E. Bean. Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Processing and
Technology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1990.
9. Singh, J. Semiconductor Devices: Basic Principles. New York: John Wiley and Sons,
2001.
10. Streetman, B. G., and S. K. Banerjee. Solid State Electronic Devices, 6th ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
11. Sze, S. M. VLSI Technology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.
*12. Wolfe, C. M., N. Holonyak, Jr., and G. E. Stillman. Physical Properties of
Semiconductors. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

*Indicates references that are at an advanced level compared to this text.

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