MATE1000

Physics and Engineering of Materials

Semester 2 2007
Tutorial 21 - Solutions
(Band Structure)
1. (a) Figure 1 shows the two different types of band structures which can exist for
conductors. Figure 1 (a) shows a conductor with only a partially filled valence
band, such as copper. Figure 1 (b) shows a conductor with a filled valence
band, but an overlapping conduction band, such as magnesium.

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(a) (b)

Figure 1: Band structures for conductors.

(b) Figure 2 shows the band structure for (a) an insulator and (b) an intrinsic
semiconductor. Both have filled valence bands, for an insulator there is a large
gap between the valence band and the conduction band, for a semiconductor
there is a small gap. A example of an insulator is salt crystals, and an example
of a semiconductor is silicon.

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(a) (b)

Figure 2: Band structures for (a) an insulator and (b) an intrinsic semiconductor.

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 2. (a) An extrinsic semiconductor is a semiconductor whose electrical behavior is
determined by impurities.
(b) In an n-type semiconductor the impurity atoms provide filled energy levels
that are just below the conduction band. These levels donate electrons to
the conduction band. In a p-type semiconductor the impurity atoms provide
empty energy levels just above the filled valence band. These levels accept
electrons from the valence band.

Empty Conduction Band Empty Conduction Band

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Filled Valence Band
Filled Valence Band
(a) (b)

Figure 3: Band structures for both (a) an n-type semiconductor and (b) a p-type semi-
conductor.

(c) For an intrinsic semiconductor, every electron released from the valence band
leaves behind a net positive charge (or hole) which is able to move about the
solid. In an n-type semiconductor, the electron which is released from each
impurity site is not replaced because the valence shell remains full, hence no
corresponding hole is produced. In a p-type semiconductor an electron from
the bulk will fill the valence space created by each impurity, this will create a
hole, but there are no electrons free to move through the solid.
3. At a pn-junction, the free electrons from the n-type semiconductor move across to
fill the holes in the p-type semiconductor, thus reducing the energy of the system,
as shown in Figure 4. This creates a potential difference across the junction.

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Figure 4: Band structures for an n-type and p-type semiconductor at a junction.

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4. (a) In order to determine the number of free electrons and holes in intrinsic ger-
manium at room temperature, we use the data shown in the table with the
equation
σ
n = p =
|e|(µe + µh )
2.2
=
(1.602 × 10−19 )(0.38 + 0.18)
= 2.45 × 1019 m−3

(b) The number of atoms per cubic metre for Ge is

ρNA
N =
A
(5.32)(6.023 × 1023 )
=
72.59
= 4.41 × 1022 cm−3
= 4.41 × 1028 m−3

Finally, the number of free electrons per atom is calculated by dividing n by

N,
n 2.45 × 1019
= 28
= 5.6 × 10−10 electron per atom
N 4.41 × 10