Electrical Engineering Materials

New Materials + New Applications:

The most exciting time for electronics in 30 years

High frequency/power applications

 Technological challenges

•Lack of wafers
•Strain in the epitaxial system
•Material imperfections

•Ceramic-like surface (etching,

contacts??)
•Charge trapping, device instabilities
and current collapse
•Premature breakdowns & device
degradations

•Device strong self-heating

Continuous improvements and/or new ideas are needed

for device technology
Course Description
 TEXT BOOKS:
[1] Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices (3rd Edition) by S. O. Kasap
[2] Semiconductor Device Physics and Design by Umesh K. Mishra
[3] Physics of Semiconductor Devices (3rd Edition) by Simon M. Sze Kwok K.
Ng

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
[1] Ben G. Streetman, Sanjay Banerjee, “Solid State Electronic Devices”,
Prentice Hall of India.
[2] L Solymar, D Walsh,“Electrical Properties of Material”, Seventh Edition
[3] Rolf E. Hummel,“Electronic Properties of Materials”.
[4] Robert E. Newnham,“Properties of Materials: Anisotropy, Symmetry,
Structure”
[5] Rob Zachariason,“Electrical Materials”
[6] Jasprit Singh, “Electronic and Optoelectronic Properties of Semiconductor
Structures”
[7] David Jiles,“Introduction to the Electronic Properties of Materials”
[8] Tony Blythe and David Bloor,“Electrical Properties of Polymers”
[9] Valerie Randle, “The Measurement of Grain Boundary Geometry (Series in
Microscopy in Materials Science)”
[10]Eugene A. Irene,“Electronic Materials Science”
Semiconductor Materials Crystal Lattice
and
Crystallographic Notation (Miller Indices
of Planes Direction)
 Silicon

A silicon ingot is a single crystal of Si. Within the bulk of the crystal, the atoms are
arranged on a well-defined periodical lattice. The crystal structure is that of
diamond.
|Courtesy of MEMC, Electronic Materials Inc.
 Silicon is the most common semiconductor,
but Silicon cannot be used for:
➢ Light emitting diodes Direct bandgap is important for
➢ Laser diodes optoelectronic devices
➢ Mid- and far-infrared detectors (l≥ 1.1 μm)
▪ Fiber communication wavelengths
▪ Infrared imaging arrays
➢ Ultraviolet detectors (l ≤ 0.5 μm)
➢ Optical modulators (Amplitude modulation of light) for fiber
telecomm
➢ High temperature electronics (Operable at temperatures
above 200˚C) for process monitoring
➢ Cryogenic electronics (Operating at 4.2 K and below) for
space instrumentation
 Semiconductor Materials other than Si
• Elemental semiconductors
– Column IV: C (diamond, Eg = ~5.5eV), Si (Eg = 1.12eV), Ge (Eg = 0.67eV), Sn (grey,
Eg = ~0.08eV)
– All have the diamond structure
– All are indirect band gap
• Binary compounds
– Column III with column V (the three-fives, III-V's)
• GaAs, GaN, InP,
– Column II with column VI (the two-sixes, II-VI's)
• ZnS, CdS, CdSe, CdTe
– Column IV with Column VI (the four-sixes, IV-VI's)
• PbS, PbSe, PbTe
– Column IV with Column IV (the four-four, IV-IV's)
• SiC, SixGe1-x
– They cover a wide range of bandgaps, but only at discrete points.
 Semiconductor Materials other than Si
Ternary alloys
– Not compounds themselves, but For Example:
alloys of two binary compounds Ga and Al of group (III)
with one common element. and As from group (V)
– Ternary alloys have two forms AlGaAs
elements from one column, one
from another
– Give us access to continuous
ranges of bandgaps, but as Eg
varies so in general does lattice
constant, a.
– To grow heterostructures we
need different Eg layers, all with
the same a, and thus ternaries
don't do the full job except for
AlGaAs.
 Semiconductor Materials other than Si
Quaternary alloys
▪ Mix of 4 elements - there are 2 types: (III-V examples)
▪ 1. ➔ 2 elements from one column, 2 from the other: (mixes of 4
binaries) ➔ GayIn1-yAsxSb1-x
▪ 2. ➔ 3 elements from one column, 1 from the other: (3 binary
mixes) ➔ GaInAlN
▪ With quaternary alloys we have access to ranges of materials
that are all lattice-matched to a binary substrate
 Lattice Constant of Compound
Semiconductor
• Vegard’s law says the lattice constant of an alloy is a weighted sum of the
lattice constants of each of its constituents, and the weight aligned to
each constituent is equal to its fraction is the alloy.

• Example: For binary alloys like SixGe1-x

– a[SixGe1-x ] = x a[Si] + (1- x) a [Ge]

• Example: For a ternary alloy like AlxGa1-xAs

– a[AlxGa1-xAs] = x a[AlAs] + (1- x) a[GaAs]

 7
Energy gap at RT (eV) AlN
6

5
AlGaN
4 InAlN
3 GaN
2 InGaN
1
InN
0
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
Lattice constant, at RT (Å)
 Structure of Solids
➢ Semiconductor
materials in
crystalline form, in
general, has
improved optical
and electrical
properties.
➢ Crystal lattice
consists of a
periodic array of
atoms.
➢ Unit cells is the smallest unit
(“building block”) that repeats
itself to reproduce the crystal
lattice.
➢ Smallest distance between
periodically arranged atoms is
known as Lattice Constant
2D 3D
 Structure of Solids

Amorphous -atoms are placed at random

Polycrystalline – atoms are placed with a

localized short-range order but without a
total long-range order.

Crystalline – atoms
are placed with a long-
range order
 Crystal Structures
• most important property of a crystal is periodicity
• periodicity gives the long-range order
• local bonding geometry is repeated many times
at regular interval – results in a periodic array of
atoms in space
• location of each atom is therefore predictable
anywhere in the crystal
• nearly all metals, semiconductors and ceramics
are crystalline
 Crystal Structures

Cubic FeS2, iron sulfide, or pyrite,

crystals. The crystals look brass-
like yellow (“fool’s gold”).
|SOURCE: Photo by SOK
Galena is lead sulfide, PbS, and
has a cubic crystal structure
|SOURCE: Photo by SOK
 Lattice and Basis

• Lattice- a regular array of

points in space with a
distinguishable periodicity
Space Lattice (2-D)

• Basis- an identical group of atoms (or

molecules) that is placed at each lattice point
identical with respect to composition, arrangement and orientation

Basis- 2-D
Contain two different atoms
 Crystal= Lattice + Basis
• A crystal is obtained from lattice by
placing basis at each lattice point.

• It does not matter where the basis

is placed in relation to a lattice point

Same crystal results

A lattice is only a mathematical abstraction
 Unit cell
• most convenient small cell in a crystal structure that carries
the characteristics of the crystal
• repetition of the unit cell in
three dimensions generates
the whole crystal structure
 Representation of a Unit cell

• by a parallelepiped

• align the x, y, and z axes with

the edges of the unit cell taking
the lower-left rear corner as
origin

sides a, b, and c and angles α, β, and γ

are referred to as the lattice parameters
 Cubic Lattices

a
a a
a: lattice constant
Simple Cubic (SC) Body-centered cubic (BCC) Face-centered cubic (FCC)

In addition to corner atoms In addition to corner atoms like

An atom is located at each
like SC, there is an atom at SC, there is an atom at the center
corner of the unit cell
the center of the cube of each faces (total six faces)
No. of Atoms per Unit
Cell: Atoms per Unit Cell:
Atoms per Unit Cell:
Corner atoms = Corner + face atoms =
Corner + center atoms =
1/8 x 8 = 1 (1/8 x 8) + (1/2 x 6)
(1/8 x 8) + 1 = 2
= 1+3 = 4
 Bravais Lattice
• 14 distinct lattices possible in three-dimensional space
• grouped into 7 crystal systems
- Cubic system
- Tetragonal system
- Orthorhombic system
- Hexagonal system
- Rhombohedral system
- Monoclinic system
- Triclinic system
Face Centered Cubic (FCC) Crystal

The FCC unit cell. The atomic radius is R and the lattice parameter is a
 Diamond Lattice (Si, Ge)
➢ Diamond lattice has FCC lattice plus four extra atoms inside the lattice.
2r=1/4d

lattice constant, a Distant between two

of Si = 5.431Å nearest atoms = 1/4d

In diamond lattice, the distance

between two nearest neighboring
atoms is:
These atoms are located at ¼d distance 1 1 2 1
d= a +a +a =
2 2
3a
from the nearest corner atom. 4 4 4
Diamond Lattice (Si) vs. Zinc Blende Lattice (GaAs, InP)

y
x

➢ Zinc blend structure has two types

of polarity along <111> axes :
➢ If the top surface is (111)A then
bottom surface must be (111)B

Diamond Lattice ➢ for InP, (111)A ➔ (111)In

Zinc Blende Lattice
(111)B ➔ (111)P
All atoms are same ▪ In GaAs the four atoms ➢ for GaAs, (111)A ➔ (111)Ga
Atoms per Unit Cell: inside the lattice are Ga- (111)B ➔ (111)As
Corner + face + inside= atoms and the rest are
As-atoms. ➢ Etching behavior of (111)A and
(1/8 x 8) + (1/2 x 6) +4
(111)B planes is different.
= 1+3 +4 = 8
Oxidizing agents attack more
readily (111)B planes.
 Wurtzite Lattice Structure (CdS, SiC, GaN)

(0001) plane

• Unit cells have hexagonal symmetry, known as hexagonal close packed (HCP)
• Has tetrahedrally coordinated structure like Zinc Blend lattice
• WZ lattice has two lattice constants: a and c ➔ c/a = (8/3) = 1.633
• The c-axis direction is defined normal to layer plane.
• The electrostatic interactions between cation and anion atoms (shown in dashed
lines) make WZ a more stable structure for ZnO, AlN, GaN, and InN.
• Similar to ZB, The Wz group III nitrides have polarized surfaces. The top surface
(0001)A has group III element (Al, Ga, or In) - referred to as Ga-polarity. The bottom
surface (0001)B has N-polarity.
 Wurtzite Lattice Structures

Carbon
Atom

B
Silicon
Atom

A
 Cubic Lattices

a a
a
Atoms per Unit Cell:
Simple Cubic (SC) Body-centered cubic Face-centered cubic
Corner + face atoms =
(BCC) (FCC)
a: lattice constant (1/8 x 8) + (1/2 x 6) = 1+3 = 4

Wurtzite Lattice

Diamond Lattice Zinc Blende Lattice

All atoms are same
Atoms per Unit Cell:
Corner + face + inside=
(1/8 x 8) + (1/2 x 6) +4
= 1+3 +4 = 8
Binary semiconductors
Atoms per Unit Cell:
A(Corner + face) + B(diagonal) = hexagonal symmetry
➔ 4 A atoms and Lattice constants: a and c
➔ 4 B atoms (diagonal) ➔ c/a = (8/3) = 1.633
 Rock Salt Structure (PbS, PbSe, PbTe)

Sodium ions
are purple
Chloride ions
are red

NaCl Crystal

• Similar lattice structure to NaCl crystal

• Rock salt unit cells are one of the simplest practical unit cells.
• Most of the IV–VI semiconductors (e.g. PbS, PbSe, PbTe ) called “lead
salts” have the “rock salt” structure.
 Different Atomic Structures of GaN

Zinc Blende Rock Salt

Wurtzite
The zinc blende Under ambient The rock salt form is
structure for GaN and conditions, the possible only under
InN has been thermodynamically high pressures.
stabilized by epitaxial stable structure is
growth of thin films on wurtzite for bulk
substrates such as Si, AlN, GaN, and InN. Ga
SiC, MgO , and GaAs.
N
How atoms are packed in the crystal lattice?
➢ How to calculate the distance between neighboring atoms
➢ How to calculate the volume density of atoms (no. of atoms in unit
cell volume) in a crystal lattice

Let’s find out the distance between two nearest neighboring atoms in
FCC Lattice.
➔ the smallest distance is between corner and face-center atom

AC 2 = AB 2 + BC 2

= ( a / 2) + ( a / 2) =
2 2 2a 2 Therefore, in fcc lattice the
4 distance between two
1 nearest neighboring atoms
 AC = a 2
2
A or points is: 1
a 2
1 2
a/2 a 2 = 2r
B C 2 1
Radius of each sphere = a 2
a a/2 4
No. of Atoms per Unit Cell and Packing fraction in the fcc lattice
Atoms per unit cell in FCC lattice = 1/8 x 8 (corners) + ½ x 6 (faces) = 4
1
Nearest neighbor distance = a 2
2
1
Radius of each sphere, r = a 2
4
3
 r 3 =   a 2 
4 4 1
Volume of each sphere =
3 3 4 
4
Volume Density: =
a3
3
4 1 
4   a 2
Total volume of all atoms in the unit cell 3 4 
Packing Fraction = =
Volume of the unit cell a3
 2
= = 74%
6
 Example 1
Calculate the volume density of Si atoms (number of atoms/cm3),
given that the lattice constant of Si is 5.43 Å.

Solution:
For Si, 8 corner atoms each shared by 8 neighbors, 6 face centered
atoms each shared by 2 neighbors, and 4 atoms inside of the lattice:

1 1
Number of atoms per unit cell: 8  + 6 + 4 = 8
8 2
Volume of the unit cell = a 3 = (5.43 Å)3

Volume Density

8 −3
= 5  10 22
cm
(5.43 10 −8 )3
 Crystal Plane and Miller Indices
• Miller Indices (h, k, l) are a set of numbers used to designate planes
and directions within a crystalline lattice
• To find miller indices of a plane:
(1) Find the intercepts of the plane in each of the three axes in terms
of the lattice constants,
(2) Take reciprocals of these numbers,
(3) Convert them to the smallest integers having the same ratio;
multiply each reciprocal with appropriate integers, and
(4) Notations: (hkl) → plane,
where h, k, l are Miller indices z

(214)
1. The intercepts are 2, 4, 1
2. The reciprocals are ½, ¼, 1 b
3. Multiply each reciprocals by 4 to
y
get the miller indices: 2, 1 and 4
4. Represent the plane as (214)
x
 More examples of planes
z z
z

y
y y

x
x x
x y z x y z
x y z Intercepts 1 ∞ ∞ Intercepts 1 1 ∞
Intercepts 1 1 1 Reciprocals 1 1∞ 1∞ Reciprocals 1 1 ∞
1
Reciprocals 1 1 1 1 ∞1 ∞1
1 1 1
1 1 ∞
1
Smallest integers 1 0 0 Smallest integers 1 1 0
Smallest integers 1 1 1 Miller indices = 100 Miller indices = 110
Miller indices = 111
The surface is parallel to the The plane intercepts the x
Modern VLSI y- and z-axes. and y axes at one unit
technology uses Therefore there is no length, but never intersects
intercept on these two axes, the z axis. In other words, it
the (100)
but we shall consider the can be said that the intercept
surface of Si. to the c axis is infinity (∞).
intercept to be at infinity (∞).
 Miller Indices for Direction
[001]
To find miller indices of a direction,
z
join a specific point in that direction y
with the origin, and then find the
minimum integer intercepts of the x
line on the three axes.
[010]
Crystallographic Notation
If an intercept Notation Interpretation Examples
occurs on the (hkl) crystal plane (100)
negative branch of
an axis, the minus {hkl} equivalent {100} = (100), (010), (001),
_ _ _
sign is placed planes
(1 00), (0 1 0), (00 1)
above the miller
index such as: [hkl] crystal direction [100]

(hk l ) <hkl> equivalent

directions
<100>
_
= [100]_, [010], [001],
_
[1 00], [0 1 0], [00 1]
 Equivalent planes
z
y
{001}
x

(002)

{101}
(001)
z
y

x {111}
Labeling of crystal planes and typical examples in the cubic lattice
Three allotropes of carbon
 Typical planes in hexagonal structure
How to find Miller indices in a
hexagonal lattice?
➢ For hexagonal structures four
principal axes are commonly
used: a1, a2, a3 and c.
➢ The three a- vectors (with 120o
angles between each other) are
all in the close-packed plane
called a-plane, whereas the c-
axis is perpendicular to this
plane.
➢ Miller index for hexagonal
structure has 4 numbers (h k i ℓ)
➢ Here h, k and ℓ are identical to
the Miller index, and i = −(h + k).
 Miller indices for Wurtzite lattice
c

a3

a2

a1
Miller indices: Blue Plane
Miller index h k i l
axis a1 a2 a3 c Miller indices for Green Plane = 1320
Intercept 1 1/2 -1/3  Miller indices for Pink Plane = 1010
Reciprocal 1/1 2/1 -3/1 /1
Smallest integer 1 2 -3 0 Note that Blue and Green planes are
Miller indices for 1230 equivalent planes and i = −(h + k)
the plane
 Example 2
Consider a FCC structure with the lattice constant of a0. Calculate the surface
density (atoms/cm2) of atoms on the (110) plane,.

Solution:
Number of atoms on the (110) plane:
1
The atom at each corner is shared by 4 equivalent lattice planes: 4  = 1
4
1
The atom at each face center is shared 2 equivalent lattice planes: 2  = 1
2
Area of the plane = CD x BC
= a0  2a0 z 1 corner is
A shared by 4
Surface density = equivalent
planes
Number of atoms in the plane D
y
Area of the plane B
B
2 2 a0 BC2 = 2a02
= =
a0  2a0 2a02 C E C a0 E
x
 Example 3
What is the surface density of Ga atoms and As atoms in (110) and (111) GaAs?
Solution:

Ga
(110) Surface As
(110)
Density of Ga (2 atoms) = 2/2 a2 = 2 a2
Note: Each corner atom is shared by 4
Density of As (2 atoms)= 2/2 a2 = 2 a2 equivalent lattice planes and each face
center is shared 2 equivalent lattice planes
(360/90) = 4 equivalent planes

Note: All atoms in

(360/60) = 6 equivalent planes (111) this planes are As.
Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) Crystal Structure
Calculate the volume of the zinc crystal structure unit cell by using the
following data: pure zinc has the HCP crystal structure with lattice
constants a = 0.2665 nm and c = 0.4947 nm.
Fig c

Fig b

Fig a
Crystalline Defects and their Significance
 (A) (B) (C)

A. Yamamoto et al. , Appl. Phys. Express 7, 035502 (2014)

A. Yamamoto et al. , Appl. Phys. Express 7, 035502 (2014)
 Surface Morphology of Devices
G G

S D S D

Active area Active area

S G D S G D

3 mm 3 mm

without surface defects with surface defects

Hasegawa et al. SSDM 2011, Sept. 30, 2011, Nagoya, Japan
 Reverse Ig-Vg Characteristics
10-1 10-1
Gate Current (A/mm)

Gate Current (A/mm)

10-3 10-3

10-5 10-5

10-7 10-7

10-9 10-9

10-11 10-11
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 -20 -15 -10 -5 0
Vgs (V) Vgs (V)

without surface defects with surface defects

Hasegawa et al. SSDM 2011, Sept. 30, 2011, Nagoya, Japan

 Defect Location and Gate Leakage
G 10-1

S D

Gate Current (A/mm)

10-3 Ig-Vgd

10-5 Ig-Vgs
S G D
10-7

10-9

10-11
-20 -15 -10 -5 0
3mm Vgs ,Vgd (V)

Hasegawa et al. SSDM 2011, Sept. 30, 2011, Nagoya, Japan

 Edge dislocations
A line defect is formed in a crystal when an atomic plane
terminates within the crystal instead of passing all the way to
the end of the crystal.

The planes neighboring (say, above the line) this short plane
are dislocated (w.r.t., say, below the line). – Edge dislocation
 Screw dislocation
shearing of one portion of the crystal w.r.t. another, by
one atomic distance.
 Mixed dislocation
both edge and screw dislocation may be present
➢Energy required for dislocations are higher than the energy
required for vacancies.
➢Dislocations are not equilibrium defects.
➢Dislocations arise when crystal is deformed by stress, or
during crystal growth.
 Planar Defects
When a liquid is cooled to below its freezing temperature, solidification
does not occur at every point, instead it occurs at certain sites called
nuclei, which are small crystal-like
structures containing 50 to 100 atoms.

Liquid atoms adjacent to a nucleus diffuses into it – making it bigger.

Nucleus thus grows into a small crystal or a crystallite (or grain).

Nuclei are randomly oriented – therefore – grains also exhibit random

crystallographic orientations during growth.
Detail of gain boundary