Electrical Materials and Technology.

UNIT IV

UNIT IV BEHAVIOUR OF SEMICONDUCTORS

In years before the Second World War, vacuum tubes were used in the process of electrical signal
generation, amplification and transmission. After the invention of transistor in 1944 and subsequent
improvement of the transistor and other solid state electronic devices, vacuum tubes were replaced by these
solid state devices in many fields of applications. A solid state electronic device mainly consists of a
semiconducting material.
Semiconductors:
It has been observed that certain materials like germanium, silicon etc. have resistivity between
good conductors like copper and insulators like glass. These materials are known as
semiconductors.
A material which has resistivity between conductors and insulators is known as semiconductor.
The resistivity of a semiconductor lies approximately between 10 -2 and 104 Ω m at room
temperature.
The resistance of a semiconductor decreases with increase in temperature over a particular
temperature range. This behavior is contrary to that of a metallic conductor for which the
resistance increases with increase in temperature.
The elements that are classified as semiconductors are Si, Ge, In, etc. Germanium and silicon are
most widely used as semiconductors.
Intrinsic semiconductor:
A semiconductor which is pure and contains no impurity is known as an intrinsic semiconductor.
In an intrinsic semiconductor, the number of free electrons and holes are equal. Common
examples of intrinsic semiconductors are pure germanium and silicon.
The forbidden energy gap is so small that even at ordinary room temperature, there are many
electrons which possess sufficient energy to cross the forbidden energy gap and enter into the
conduction band.
Doping a semiconductor:
Electrons and holes can be generated in a semiconductor crystal with heat energy or light energy.
But in these cases, the conductivity remains very low. The efficient and convenient method of
generating free electrons and holes is to add very small amount of selected impurity inside the
crystal. The impurity to be added is of the order of 100 ppm (parts per million).
The process of addition of a very small amount of impurity into an intrinsic semiconductor is
called doping. The impurity atoms are called dopants.

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The semiconductor containing impurity atoms is known as impure or doped or extrinsic

semiconductor.
There are three different methods of doping a semiconductor.
(i) The impurity atoms are added to the semiconductor in its molten state.
(ii) The pure semiconductor is bombarded by ions of impurity atoms.
(iii) When the semiconductor crystal containing the impurity atoms is
heated, the impurity atoms diffuse into the hot crystal.
Usually, the doping material is either pentavalent atoms (bismuth, antimony, phosphorous,
arsenic which has five valence electrons) or trivalent atoms (aluminium, gallium, indium, boron
which have three valence electrons).
The pentavalent doping atom is known as donor atom, since it donates one electron to the
conduction band of pure semiconductor. The trivalent atom is called an acceptor atom, because it
accepts one electron from the pure semiconductor atom.
Extrinsic semiconductor:
An extrinsic semiconductor is one in which an impurity with a valency higher or lower than the
valency of the pure semiconductor is added, so as to increase the electrical conductivity of the
semiconductor.
Depending upon the type of impurity atoms added, an extrinsic semiconductor can be classified
as N-type or P-type.
(a) N-type semiconductor
When a small amount of pentavalent impurity such as arsenic is added to a pure germanium
semiconductor crystal, the resulting crystal is called N-type semiconductor.
Fig 1 shows the crystal structure obtained when pentavalent arsenic impurity is added with pure
germanium crystal. The four valence electrons of arsenic atom form covalent bonds with electrons of
neighboring four germanium atoms. The fifth electron of arsenic atom is loosely bound. This electron can move
about almost as freely as an electron in a conductor and hence it will be the carrier of current.
When the fifth valence electron is transferred to the conduction band, the arsenic atom becomes
positively charged immobile ion. Each impurity atom donates one free electron to the semiconductor. These
impurity atoms are called donors.
In N-type semiconductor material, the number of electrons increases, compared to the available number
of charge carriers in the intrinsic semiconductor. This is because, the available larger number of electrons
increases the rate of recombination of electrons with holes. Hence, in N-type semiconductor, free electrons are
the majority charge carriers and holes are the minority charge carriers.
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(b) P-type semiconductor:

When a small amount of trivalent impurity (such as indium, boron or gallium) is added to a pure
semiconductor crystal, the resulting semiconductor crystal is called P-type semiconductor.
Fig 2 shows the crystal structure obtained, when trivalent boron impurity is added with pure germanium
crystal. The three valence electrons of the boron atom form covalent bonds with valence electrons of three
neighborhood germanium atoms.

In the fourth covalent bond, only one valence electron is available from germanium atom and there is
deficiency of one electron which is called as a hole. Hence for each boron atom added, one hole is created.
Since the holes can accept electrons from neighborhood, the impurity is called acceptor.
The hole may be filled by the electron from a neighboring atom, creating a hole in that position from
where the electron moves. This process continues and the hole moves about in a random manner due to thermal
effects. Since the hole is associated with a positive charge moving from one position to another, this is called as
P-type semiconductor.
In P-type semiconductors, holes are the majority charge carriers and free electrons are the minority
charge carriers.
Conduction in semiconductors:
The two reasons for conduction in semiconductors are
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 Charges drift under an applied electric field.

 Diffusion of charge from higher concentration to lower concentration.
When an electric field is applied the holes try to move along the field direction and electrons in opposite
direction.
If the electron density is „n‟ and „Ve‟ is the velocity of electrons, then
Drift current density Jn , due to free electrons is given by
Je = e n Ve.
Drift current density Jh, due to holes is given by
Jh = e p Vh.
Total current density J = e (nVe+pVh).
Charge mobility μn = Ve/E and μp = Vh/E
J= e (n μnE + p μpE)
J= eE (n μn + p μp)
σ= J/E
σ= e (n μn + p μp)
Drift current:
When an electric field is applied across the semiconductor material, the charge carriers attain a certain
drift velocity Vd, which is equal to the product of the mobility of the charge carriers and the applied
Holes move towards the negative terminal of the battery and electrons move towards the positive
terminal of the battery. This combined effect of movement of the charge carriers constitutes a current known as
“the drift current “.
Jn = en μnE
Jp = ep μpE
Diffusion current:
It is possible for an electric current to flow in a semiconductor even in the absence of the applied
voltage provided a concentration gradient exists in the material. In a semiconductor material the change carriers
have the tendency to move from the region of higher concentration to that of lower concentration of the same
type of charge carriers. Thus the movement of charge carriers takes place resulting in a current called diffusion
current.

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Einstein’s relation:

Law of mass action:

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Carrier concentration for extrinsic semiconductors:

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Law of electrical neutrality:

Hall Effect:
When a semiconducting material carrying current I is subjected to a magnetic field in a direction
perpendicular to the direction of current, an electric field E is developed across the material in a direction
perpendicular to both the direction of the magnetic field and the current direction. This phenomenon is called
Hall Effect.

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In the Figure Current I is in the positive X-direction and magnetic field B is in the positive Z-direction.
So a force will be exerted in the negative Y-direction. If the semiconductor is n-type, so that current is carried
by electrons, these electrons will be forced downward toward side 1. So side 1 becomes negatively charged with
respect to side 2. Hence a potential VH called the Hall Voltage appears between the surface 1 and 2.
In the equilibrium condition, the force due to electric field intensity 'E', because of Hall effect should be
just balanced by the magnetic force.
eE=Bev or E=Bv ----------- (1)
Where v is the drift velocity of carriers and B is the magnetic field intensity.
If d is the thickness of the semiconductor then E=VH/d ----------- (2)
where VH is the Hall voltage.
If W is width of the semiconductor then wd is the cross sectional area, then the current density
J = I/wd ----------- (3)
VH= Ed ----------- (4)
Substitute (1) in (4) VH=Bvd ----------- (5)
But J= nev then v= J/ρ Where ρ is the charge density. ----------- (6)
Substitute (6) in (5) VH = BJd/ ρ But J= I/wd then

If the semiconductor is n-type, then the majority carrier electrons under the influence of electric field will move
towards side 1 and side 2 becomes positive.
On the other hand if side 1 becomes positive, then the semiconductor is P type

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Electrical Materials and Technology. UNIT IV

The Hall coefficient RH is defined as RH = 1/ρ. Unit of RH is m3/Coulomb

RH = VHw /BI
If the conductivity is primarily due to majority carriers then the conductivity σ = ne μ in N type.

So with the help of Hall Effect, we can experimentally determine

1. The mobility of Electrons or Holes.
2. Whether a given semiconductor is p-type or n-type (from the polarity of Hall voltage V H)
Manufacturing process of Silicon Waffers:
Silicon is a gray, brittle, tetravalent, nonmetallic element occurring abundantly in nature. This element is
almost always found in various compounds both in nature and in industry, in nature you find it in quartz, jasper,
agate, flint, common beach sand, sandstone and many other common rocks and materials.
Silicon as a Semiconductor:
Perhaps one of the most important features of Silicon is its ability to conduct electricity in a very
controlled manner. Relative to how many impurities or dopants (Boron, Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, etc.)
are placed into its crystal structure. Simply put the more dopants in the crystal lattice of Silicon the more it will
conduct electricity. The pure Silicon will not conduct electricity very well at all.
Making of a Silicon wafer:
Raw Material:
Polysilicon is the raw material. These Polysilicon have
been made from sand by means of a complex reduction and
purification process using Trichlorosilane and Hydrogen. Then
the Polysilicon is further distilled and reduced and finally
deposited on heated Titanium or Tantalum tubes. After further
processing it may be in a granular form.
Crystal Pulling:
The next step in the Manufacturing of a Silicon wafer is
crystal pulling. In this process the Polysilicon chunks or granules
are loaded into the Quartz crucible of the Crystal pulling furnace
along with a small amount of either Boron, Phosphorus, Arsenic
or Antimony dopants. The Polysilicon is then melted at a process
temperature of 1400° C in a high purity Argon gas ambient. Once
the proper "melt” is achieved a "seed" of single crystal Silicon is
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Electrical Materials and Technology. UNIT IV

lowered into the melt. Then the temperature is adjusted and the seed is rotated as it is slowly pulled out of the
molten Silicon. The surface tension between the seed and the molten Silicon causes a small amount to rise with
the seed, as it is pulled and cooled into a perfect monocystalline ingot with the same crystal orientation as
the seed. The furnace that is used for this process is shown in figure. These furnaces also must be very stable
and vibration free since the process takes hours and the slightest jarring of the furnace can break the Ingot from
the seed.
Slicing:
In the next step the Ingots are sliced into wafers using a diamond saw or other type of saw. Deionized
water is used to cool the blade on this saw.
Lapping:
In this step the Ingots have now become rough cut Silicon wafers with saw marks and other defects on
both sides of the wafer. Also at this point the wafer is much thicker than it will be when it is finished. Lapping
the wafers accomplishes several things, it removes saw marks and surface defects from the front and backside
of the wafers and it thins the wafer and relieves a lot of the stress accumulated in the wafer from the sawing
process. Both before and after the lapping process many in-process
checks will be done on the Silicon wafers and more fall-out will occur In
figure you can see a typical lapping machine.
After lapping the wafers go through several cleaning /etching
steps using sodium hydroxide or acetic and nitric acids to remove
microscopic cracks and surface damage caused by the lapping process,
this is followed by followed by deionized water rinses.
Edge grinding or rounding:
It is an important part of the wafer manufacturing process, it is normally done before or after lapping,
this rounding of the edge of the wafer is very important. If it is not done the wafers will be more susceptible to
breakage in the remaining steps of the wafer manufacturing process and the device manufacturing processes to
come.
Polishing:
Polishing is the next step in the wafer manufacturing process. Most Prime wafers go through 2-3
polishing steps using progressively fine slurry (slurry is the polishing compound). The polishing is normally
done on the front side of the wafer, but sometimes it is done on both sides. Polishing is done on huge precision
machines that are capable of extraordinary tolerances. The wafers may also receive a backside coating
of Polysilicon, all these treatments are done to the backsides of the wafer for the purpose
of Gettering defects (later in the device manufacturing process these backside treatments will draw defects in
the Silicon towards the backside of the wafer and away from the front side where the devices are being built,
this is called Gettering). After polishing the wafers are rinsed in water and scrubbed to remove any residual
slurry compounds from the wafer.
Final Cleaning:
The next step in the process after polishing is a rather intense regimen of cleans and scrubs to remove
trace metals, residues and particles from the surface(s) of the finished Silicon wafers. Normally this step
consists of two steps. The first part of this clean is done with Ammonium Hydroxide followed by a dilute
Hydrofluoric acid clean followed by a water Rinse. Next step clean consists of Hydrochloric acid and Hydrogen
peroxide followed by a water rinse. After all this cleaning and rinsing the finished wafers will now go through a
front and backside scrub to remove even the smallest particles. Thus the Silicon Waffers are prepared.
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