SEMICONDUCTORS

SEMICONDUCTORS

•Single-element Compound
semiconductors semiconductors

•such as
•- such as
Germanium - Gallium-arsenide
Silicon
GROUP IV
SINGLE-ELEMENT SEMICONDUCTORS
Single-element semiconductors are in GROUP IV in the periodic table

Single-element semiconductors are antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), astatine (At), boron (B), polonium (Po), tellurium (Te),
silicon (Si), and germanium (Ge). Compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium
nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon germanium are also commonly used.
 SILICON
Valence electrons produces the covalent bonds that
hold the atoms together

Need four more electrons to

complete outermost shell
At sufficiently low temperatures, approaching absolute
zero (0 K), all the covalent bonds are intact and no electrons
are available to conduct electric current. Thus, at such low
temperatures, the intrinsic silicon crystal behaves as an
insulator.
At room temperature, sufficient thermal energy exists to
break some of the covalent bonds, a process known as
thermal generation. when a covalent bond is broken,
an electron is freed. The free electron can wander away
from its parent atom, and it becomes available to conduct
electric current if an electric field is applied to the crystal.
Creation of electron-hole pairs in a
silicon crystal

In the process, some electrons may fill

some of the holes. This process is called
Recombination

As the electron leaves its parent When an electron jumps to the conduction band, a
atom, it leaves behind a net positive vacancy is left in the valence band within the crystal.
charge, equal to the magnitude of the
electron charge. This vacancy is called a Hole
In the process, some electrons may fill some of the holes. This
process is called Recombination
To summarize, a piece of intrinsic silicon at room
temperature has, at any instant, a number of
conduction-band (free) electrons that are
unattached to any atom and are essentially drifting
randomly throughout the material. There is also an
equal number of holes in the valence band created
when these electrons jump into the conduction band.

The recombination rate is proportional to the number

of free electrons and holes, which in turn is determined
by the thermal generation rate.
The latter is a strong function of temperature.
the recombination rate is equal to the generation rate,
and one can conclude that
In thermal equilibrium, the recombination rate is equal to the generation rate, and one can
conclude that the concentration of free electrons n is equal to the concentration of holes p,

Where ni denotes the number of free electrons and holes in a unit volume (cm3) of intrinsic
silicon at a given temperature. Results from semiconductor physics gives as