EE  

232  Lightwave  Devices

Lecture  3:  Basic  Semiconductor  Physics  
and  Optical  Processes

Instructor:  Ming  C.  Wu

University  of  California,  Berkeley
Electrical  Engineering  and  Computer  Sciences  Dept.

EE232 Lecture 3-1 Prof. Ming Wu

 Optical  Properties  of  Semiconductors

Intraband  Transition
(Free-­Carrier  Absorption)
EC

Absorption Emission
EA
EV
Interband Impurity-­to-­Band
Transition Transition

• Optical  transitions
– Absorption:  exciting  an  electron  to  a  higher  energy  level  
by  absorbing  a  photon
– Emission:    electron  relaxing  to  a  lower  energy  state  by  
emitting  a  photon

EE232 Lecture 3-2 Prof. Ming Wu

 Band-­to-­Band  Transition

• Since  most  electrons  and  holes  are  near  the  band-­

edges,  the  photon  energy  of  band-­to-­band  (or  
interband)  transition  is  approximately  equal  to  the  
bandgap energy:
hv = Eg
• The  optical  wavelength  of  band-­to-­band  transition  
can  be  approximated  by
c hc 1.24
λ= = ≈
ν Eg Eg
λ : wavelength in µ m
Eg : energy bandgap in eV
EE232 Lecture 3-3 Prof. Ming Wu
 Energy  Band  Diagram  in  Real  Space  and  
k-­Space

Effective  Mass  
Approximation
E
1 * 2
E Ee = EC + me v
2 CB !2k 2
Ee = EC +
2me*
EC
Momentum:
!k = me*ve
EV k
1 VB
Eh = EV - mh*v 2 !2k 2
2 Eh = EV −
x 2mh*

Real  Space K-­Space

EE232 Lecture 3-4 Prof. Ming Wu

 Band-­to-­Band  Transition

CB CB CB

hn hn hn hn

VB VB VB

Absorption Spontaneous Stimulated

Emission Emission

Photodetectors;; Optical  Amplifiers;;

Solar  Cells LED
Semiconductor  Lasers

EE232 Lecture 3-5 Prof. Ming Wu

 Conservation  of  Energy  and  Momentum

• Conditions  for  optical  

E absorption  and  emission:
CB E – Conservation  of  energy
2

E2 − E1 = hν
hn
– Conservation  of  
E momentum
VB 1
k2 - k1 = khn
2p
k k2 , k1 ~
k k a
1 2 2p
khn ~
l
Optical  transitions  are  
“vertical”  lines
( a ~ 0.5nm ) << ( l ~ 1µ m )
Lattice
Constant Þ k2 = k1
EE232 Lecture 3-6 Prof. Ming Wu
 Direct  vs Indirect  Bandgaps

CB CB

Phonon
hn hn
X

VB VB

• Direct  bandgap materials • Indirect  bandgap materials

– CB  minimum  and  VB   – CB  minimum  and  VB  
maximum  occur  at  the   maximum  occur  at  
same  k different  k
– Examples – Example
• GaAs,  InP,  InGaAsP • Si,  Ge
• (AlxGa1-­x)As,  x  <  0.45 • (AlxGa1-­x)As,  x  >  0.45
– Not  “optically  active”
EE232 Lecture 3-7 Prof. Ming Wu
 Absorption  Coefficient

• Light  intensity  decays  

exponentially  in  semiconductor:
I ( x ) = I 0 e -ax
• Direct  bandgap semiconductor  
has  a  sharp  absorption  edge
• Si  absorbs  photons  with  
hv >  Eg =  1.1  eV,  but  the  
absorption  coefficient  is  small
– Sufficient  for  CCD
• At  higher  energy  (~  3  eV),  
absorption  coefficient  of  Si  
becomes  large  again,  due  to  
direct  bandgap transition  to  
higher  CB

EE232 Lecture 3-8 Prof. Ming Wu

 Review  of  Semiconductor  Physics

Electron and hole concentrations:

¥
n= ò
EC
f n ( E ) re ( E )dE

EV

p= ò
-¥
f p ( E ) r h ( E )dE

Fermi-Dirac distributions:
1
fn (E) =
æ E - Fn ö
1 + exp ç ÷
k
è B øT
1
f p (E) =
æ F - E ö
1 + exp ç p ÷
k T
è B ø
Fn : electron quasi-Fermi level
Fp : hole quasi-Fermi level

EE232 Lecture 3-9 Prof. Ming Wu

 Electron/Hole  Density  of  States  (1)

• Electron  wave  with  wavevector k

!!
i k ⋅r
e
Lz • Periodic  boundary  conditions
!! ! ! ! ! ! !" ! ! !

Ly e i k ⋅r
=e
(
i k ⋅ r+Lx x ) = e i k⋅(r+L y) = e (
y i k ⋅ r+Lz z )
Lx • An  electron  state  is  defined  by
kz # 2 π 2 π 2π &
k + Dk ( )
k x ,k y ,k z ↑↓= %% m ,n ,l ( ↑↓
(
$ Lx
L y
Lz '
k • Number  of  electron  states  between  k  and  
k y k  +  Dk  in  k-­space  per  unit  volume
2 4p k 2 dk k2
× = 2 dk = r k (k )dk
Spin Up   V 2p 2p 2p p
kx and   Lx Ly Lz
Down
EE232 Lecture 3-10 Prof. Ming Wu
 Electron/Hole  Density  of  States  (2)

• Number  of  electron  states  between  E  and  E  +  DE  

per  unit  volume
!2k 2 !2k
E = EC + *
⇒ dE = * dk
2me me

k2
m*
dk = 2 2
e
(
2me* E − EC )
dE = ρe (E)dE
2
π !π !
3/2
!
1 2me
*$
ρe (E) = 2 ## 2 && E − EC
2π " ! %
• Likewise,  hole  density  of  states
3/2
!
1 2mh
*$
ρh (E) = 2 ## 2 && EV − E
2π " ! %
EE232 Lecture 3-11 Prof. Ming Wu
 Electron  and  Hole  Concentrations
� �
1 1 2𝑚𝑚�∗
𝑛𝑛 = � 𝑓𝑓� 𝐸𝐸 𝜌𝜌� 𝐸𝐸 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 = � 𝐸𝐸 − 𝐸𝐸�  𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐸𝐸 − 𝐹𝐹� 2𝜋𝜋 � ℎ �
1 + 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
�� �� 𝑘𝑘� 𝑇𝑇 2𝜋𝜋

𝐹𝐹� − 𝐸𝐸�
𝑛𝑛 = 𝑁𝑁� � 𝐹𝐹�/�
𝑘𝑘� 𝑇𝑇
2𝜋𝜋𝑚𝑚�∗ 𝑘𝑘� 𝑇𝑇 �/� Fermi-Dirac Integral
𝑁𝑁� = 2
ℎ� 1
¥
xj
Fj (h ) = ò x -h
dx
�� ��� G( j + 1) 0 1 + e
𝑝𝑝 = 𝑁𝑁� � 𝐹𝐹�/� ��� Gamma Function
�/�
2𝜋𝜋𝑚𝑚�∗ 𝑘𝑘� 𝑇𝑇
𝑁𝑁� = 2 3 p
ℎ� G( ) =
2 2

EE232 Lecture 3-12 Prof. Ming Wu

 Typical  Values  of  Density  of  States

Gallium  
Name Symbol Germanium Silicon
Arsenide
Energy  bandgap  at  300  K Eg (eV) 0.66 1.12 1.424
Effective  mass  for   Electrons me*,dos/m0 0.56 1.08 0.067
density  of  states  
calculations Holes mh*,dos/m0 0.29 0.81 0.47
Effective  density  of  states  in  the  
NC (cm-­3) 1.05  x  1019 2.82  x  1019 4.37  x  1017
conduction  band  at  300  K
Effective  density  of  states  in  the  
NV (cm-­3) 3.92  x  1018 1.83  x  1019 8.68  x  1018
valence  band  at  300  K
Intrinsic  carrier  density  at  300  K ni (cm-­3) 1.83  x  1013 8.81  x  109 2.03  x  106
Effective  density  of  states  in  the  
NC (cm-­3) 1.46  x  1019 3.91  x  1019 6.04  x  1017
conduction  band  at  100°C  (373.15  K)
Effective  density  of  states  in  the  
NV (cm-­3) 5.44  x  1018 2.54  x  1019 1.12  x  1019
valence  band  at  100°C
Intrinsic  carrier  density  at  100°C ni (cm-­3) 3.1  x  1014 8.55  x  1011 6.24  x  108

EE232 Lecture 3-13 Prof. Ming Wu

 Approximation  of  Electron/Hole  
Concentration
,
.. eη
when η << 1
j
1 ∞
x
()
Fj η = ∫
Γ( j +1) 0 1+ e x−η
dx ≈ - &
4 η 3)
1/2

. ( + when η >> 1
./ 3 ' π *

When Fn << EC (Boltzmann approximation)

EC −Fn
−
k BT
n ≈ NC ⋅ e

Boltzmann   Degenerate
n
When Fn >> EC (Degenerate) Approx
3/2
NC
&F −E )
4( n C
+ Quasi-­Fermi
' k BT * Level  Cross  
n ≈ NC ⋅
3 π Band  Edge

Fn − EC
EE232 Lecture 3-14 k BT Prof. Ming Wu