Modern Physics

Semiconductor Chapter

April 23, 2022

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Outline

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 Title

Semiconductor

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 Energy Band
Energy Band
Let us consider large number of identical atoms N = 1024 . If the
atoms are isolated and there is no interaction with each other then
the energy levels of atoms will be discrete and identical as shown
in fig(a).

Figure: Fig(a) shows energy levels of an isolated atom, fig(b) shows the
splitting of energy levels of atoms due to interaction of atoms and fi(c)
shows the energy band of the crystal.

Now we begin to push the atoms closer and closer uniformally,

due to interaction between the electrons and Pauli exclusion
principle, the wave function of electrons especially valence
electrons gets disturbed and it is less localized. The energy levels
of atom will vary some upward and some downward by varying
amounts and a new valence state that formally gave the system a
state with sharp energy that could accommodate 1024 electrons
known as energy band.
In a simple language the energy band is defined as "the range of
energy levels possessed by an electron".
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 Types of Band

Valence Band (VB):-

The range of energy levels possessed by
a valance electron is known as valence
band. The electrons of this band are not
free electrons and they don’t take part in
conduction of electricity and the
electrons of the valence band are not
free electrons.
Conduction band (C.B):-
The higher permitted band than valence
band is called conduction band and the
electrons of this band are called free
electrons and they take part in
conduction of electricity.
Forbidden band (FB):- Figure: Types of energy bands
The energy gap between C.B and V.B is
called forbidden band. Electrons can’t
lie in this band.

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 Insulator, Semiconductor and Conductor on the Basis of
Energy Band:-

Insulators
Insulators are those solids which have
completely filled V.B., completely empty
C.B. and large value of F.B. For good
insulators value of forbidden band is 5 – 10
eV. Even at high temperatures valence
electron cannot overcome the forbidden band
and there will be no free electrons. So, they
cannot conduct electricity even at high
temperatures. Fig (a) shows the relevant
energy level diagram of the insulator.

Semiconductor
Semiconductors are those solids which has
small value of forbidden band and its value is
about 1.0 eV. At absolute zero temperature
the valence electrons cannot overcome the
forbidden band and there are no any free
electrons. So, semiconductors behave as
insulators at absolute zero temperature. Fig
(b) shows the relevant energy level diagram
of the semiconductor at absolute zero
temperature.

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Insulator, Semiconductor and Conductor on the Basis of
Energy Band

At ambient temperature, due to thermal

agitation, some covalent bonds are
broken and valence electrons overcome
the forbidden band . There are some free
electrons in C.B. and some holes in V.B.
Both holes and free electrons are charge
carrier in the semiconductor. So, at
ambient temperature the semiconductor
behaves as a poor conductor. Fig (c)
shows relevant energy level diagram of
the semi-conductor at ambient
temperature.
Conductors
Conductors are those solid which have
overlapped C.B. and V.B. Because of
overlapping of bands, some valence
electrons lie in C.B. and they are the free
electrons and they can conduct
electricity even at absolute zero
temperature. Fig(c) shows relevant
every level diagram of conductors.

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 Doping and extrinsic semiconductor

Doping and extrinsic semiconductor:-

The process of addition of suitable impurity elements in an intrinsic
semiconductor in order to increase charge carries is doping and so
formed material is known as extrinsic or doped semiconductor

N-Type Semiconductor
When a pentavalent impurity element is doped on an intrinsic
semiconductor, N-type semiconductor is formed.
If a small amount of pentavalent impurity element like P or As or Sb
is added in the intrinsic semiconductor crystal, large number of free
electrons are obtained in the crystal.
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 N-type semiconductor

When a pentavalent impurity atom like ’As’ is dropped in an intrinsic

semi-conductor crystal like silicon, it shares its four valence electrons
with four neighboring ’Si’ atoms through covalent bonds and obtains
eight electrons in its outermost orbit as shown in fig ’a’ but its fifth
electron becomes free and goes to the conduction band. By adding
one pentavalent impurity atom, we obtain one free electron. The
number of free electrons can be controlled by controlling the number
of impurity atoms.
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 N-type semiconductor

Some electron-hole pairs are formed at ambient temperature due to

thermal energy, so there are large number of free electrons in C.B and
some holes in the V.B crystal as shown in fig ’b’. There are large
number of free electrons in C.B and few holes in V.B as shown in
fig(b). The majority charge carrier is free electrons and minority
charge carrier is holes. This type of semi-conductors is known as
N-type semiconductor where ’N’ stands for negative of electrons- the
majority charge carriers.
P-type semiconductor
When trivalent elements are doped in intainic semiconductors, P type
semiconductor is obtained.
If a small amount of trivalent element like B, Ga or Al is added to an
intrinsic semiconductor crystal, large numbers of holes are obtained in
the crystal.
When a trivalent impurity element like ’Al’ is dropped in an intrinsic
semiconductor like silicon crystal, it shares its three valence electrons
with three neighboring atoms through the covalent bonds. In the
fourth covalent bond, a hole is created due to the deficiency of
electron as shown in figure ’a’. By adding one trivalent impurity
atoms, we obtain one hole in valence bond (V.B). The number of holes
can be controlled by controlling the number of impurity atoms.

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 P-type semiconductor

Some electron-hole pairs are formed due to ambient temperature, so

there are large number of holes and some free electrons in the crystal
as shown in fig ’a’ and the majority charge carriers of it are holes and
minority charge carriers are free electrons. This type of conductor is
known is P-type semi-conductor where P stands for positive of the
majority charge carriers i.e. holes.

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