Group 5

Semiconductors
History of Semiconductors
History of semiconductors
General Properties of
Semiconductors
General Properties of Semiconductors
• Varying Conductivity – Electrical Conductivity largely depends on the
materials used for the semiconductors
• Heat Emitters
• Light Emitters
Classifications of Semiconductors
• 1. Intrinsic Semiconductor
• 2. Extrinsic Semiconductor
• a. N-type Semiconductor
• b. P-type Semiconductor
Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Also called as natural semiconductors. An intrinsic type of
semiconductor material made to be very pure chemically.
Extrinsic Semiconductors
• Also called as manufactured semiconductor. They are manufactured to
behave in the manner in which we require. Extrinsic types of
semiconductor are those where a small amount of impurity has been
added to the basic intrinsic material.
• Types:
• N-type semiconductor
• P-type semiconductor
N-type semiconductors
• It has an excess of electrons. In this way, free electrons are available
within the lattices and their overall movement in one direction under
the influence of a potential difference results in an electric current
flow.
P-type semiconductors
• In a P-type semiconductor material there is a shortage of electrons, i.e.
there are 'holes' in the crystal lattice. Electrons may move from one
empty position to another and in this case it can be considered that the
holes are moving.
Doping
• the process of adding impurity to the semiconductor. The purpose of
adding impurity is to increase either the number of free electrons or
holes in the semiconductor crystal.
Doping
• Doping Agents:
• Pentavalent Dopants:Pentavalent dopants like Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb),
Phosphorous (P) and etc. having five valence electrons. Also known as donor
impurity.
• Trivalent Dopants: Trivalent dopants like Indium (In), Boron (B), Aluminum
(Al) and etc. having three valence electrons. Also known as acceptor impurity
Classifications by end-use
• Data Processing
• Communications
• Consumer Electronics
• Industrial
• Automotive
• Military and Civil Aerospace
Uses of semiconductors per Material
• Indirect Bandgap Semiconductors
• Direct Bandgap Semiconductors
• Wide Bandgap Semiconductors
• Narrow Bandgap Semiconductors
How semiconductors work
Components of semiconductors
• Most semiconductors are composed of silicon.
• Silicon, having four valence electrons, create a crystal.
• Silicon crystals have perfect covalent bonds, making pure silicon an insulator.
Mechanics of semiconductors
• Doping a semiconductor changes it behavior, into either a P-type or N-
types semiconductor

• Little amount of doping makes silicon a viable conductor from being a

good insulator, thus the name semiconductor.
Mechanics of semiconductors
• Combining N and P-type semiconductors create a diode.
• Diode: the simples possible semiconductor device.
Diodes
• Diode: a device that current in one direction and lets it flow in another.
• Reversed-biased diode: needs a certain amount of voltage in order to
let current through
• Front-biased diode: needs little voltage to get the hole-electron cycle
going.
Transistors
• Has 3 layers of wafers instead of 2.
• Sandwiches either have a NPN or PNP combination.
• Applying current to the center layer can result to a larger current
through the sandwich.
Production of semiconductors

Wafer Production Doping Dielectric Deposition and

Metallization

Wafer Fabrication Etching

Passivation

Thermal Oxidation or
Masking Electrical Test Assembly
Deposition
Production of semiconductors
Wafer Production
• Purified polycrystalline silicon is melted and a small piece of solid silicon is
placed in the molten liquid. As the seed is pulled from the molten liquid, the
liquid cools and forms a single crystal ingot.
• The ingot is then ground to the desired diameter and a diamond cutter cuts it
into thin wafers.
Production of semiconductors
• Wafer Fabrication
• Series of steps in order to create the product
Production of semiconductors
• Masking
• Covering a part of the wafer in order to protect it while working on another
part of the wafer.
• The process is called photo-masking or photolithography
Production of semiconductors
• Etching
• The process of ‘developing’ the wafer.
• Wet etching: Dipping a batch of wafers into a pool of acid.
• Dry etching: Uses gas at an etchant. Used when there are critical geometries that are very
small
Production of semiconductors
• Doping
• Elements that have less than or more than 1 valence electron than silicon are
introduced to the silicon wafer.
• P-types: P-type silicon wafer are wafers that as ‘positive’. Adding an element with less
valence electrons than silicon leave an electron ‘hole’ that attracts electrons.
• N-types: N-types silicon wafers are wafers that as ‘negative’. Adding an element with
more than 1 valence electron than silicon has an extra electron that will be transferred,
creating current.
Production of semiconductors
• Dielectric deposition and metallizing
• The wafers are connected using a series of metal depositions and patterning
steps of dielectric films.
Production of semiconductors
• Passivation
• Addition of a last metal layer to protect the circuit from damage. There are
openings on this film to allow access to the top layer.
Production of semiconductors
• Electrical test
• A computer checks the functionality of each chip in the wafer. The chips that
fail this test are marked with ink.
Production of semiconductors
• Assembly
• A diamond saw cuts the individual chips from the wafer. It is then assembled
into a package that provides the contact leads for the chip. It is either
encapsulated with plastic or ceramic depending on the customer.