INTRINSIC

SEMICONDUCTOR
A pure semiconductor.

Its conductivity is low.

It has thermally generated current carries.

Examples of pure or intrinsic semiconductor used

frequently
are germanium and silicon.
 At 0 K, all the covalent bonds is complete . Therefore, no free
electron is available in the crystal for the conduction of current .
Hence, silicon crystal behaves as an insulator at 0 K.

 At room temperature, a covalent bond breaks, an electron becomes

free. The electron which leave the bonds is called free electron and the
vacancy created in the covalent bond due to the release of electron is
called a hole.

 If the potential difference is applied across an intrinsic

semiconductor, electrons will moves towards the positive terminal,
while the holes will drift toward the negative terminal.
 2000

D rift M o b ility(cm 2 V -1 s -1 ) 1000

H o le s E le c tro n s

100

50
1 0 15 1 0 16 1 0 17 1 0 18 1 0 19 1 0 20
D o p an t C o n cen tratio n , cm -3
The variation of the drift mobility with dopant concentration in Si for
electrons and holes
From Principles of Electronic Materials and
Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.19 Hill, 2005)
 Ne = N h = N i
Ne- Number of free electrons per unit volume
Nh- Number of holes per unit volume
Ni – Number density of intrinsic carries

 Total current inside the semiconductor = currents due to

free electron + currents due to holes

 The process of adding suitable impurities in the intrinsic is

called doping. The impurities added in the intrinsic
semiconductor to increased its conductivity are known as
dopant.

 A semiconductor obtained after adding impurities atoms in

the intrinsic semiconductor is called extrinsic or doped
semiconductor.
 600oC 400oC 200oC 2 7 oC 0 oC
L L L L
1018

2 .4 1 0 1 3 c m -3

Intrinsic Concentration (cm-3)

1015

Ge
1012

109 1 .4 5 1 0 1 0 cm -3
Si

106
2 .1 1 0 6 cm -3
G aA s
103
2 .5 3 1
3 .5 4 1 .5 2
1 0 0 0 /T (1 /K )
The temperature dependence of the intrinsic concentration.
From Principles of Electronic Materials and
Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.16 Hill, 2005)
 lo g ( )
S em ic o n d u cto r

R e sistiv ity
LOGARITHMIC SCALE
IN T R IN S IC
M e ta l
lo g(n ) T

E X T R IN S IC

L a ttic e IO N IZ AT IO N
sca tterin g
-3 /2 3 /2
T T
lo g ( ) Im p u rity
sca tte rin g

1 /T
H ig h T em p e ra tu re L o w T e m p e ra tu re

Temperature dependence of electrical conductivity for a doped (n-

type) semiconductor.
From Principles of Electronic Materials and
Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.20 Hill, 2005)
 EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

• Pentavalent Impurities - The elements whose each atom has five

valence electrons. For example Arsenic, Antimony, Phosphorus etc.

• Trivalent Impurities – The elements whose each atom has three

valence electorns. For example , Indium, Gallium , Aluminium etc.

 When Trivalent Impurity is added to pure germanium or silicon

crystal , we get extrinsic semiconductor known as p-type semiconductor.
Majority charge carries in p-type semiconductor are holes and minority
charge carries are electrons which are thermally generated.

 Since each trivalent impurities atom accepts one electron from the
neighboring silicon atom, so it is known as acceptor impurities.
 E
CB
Im p u ritie s
fo rm in g CB
E Fn
a band Ec Ec
g (E )

Ev Ev
E Fp
VB

(a ) (b )

(a) Degenerate n-type semiconductor. Large number of donors form a

band that overlaps the CB. (b) Degenerate p-type semiconductor.

From Principles of Electronic Materials and

Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.21 Hill, 2005)
o When pentavalent impurities is added to the pure
germanium or silicon crystal, we get an extrinsic
semiconductor known as n-type semiconductor.

o Majority charge carries in n-type semiconductor are

electrons and minority charge carries are holes which are
thermally generated. Since each pentavalent impurity atom
dontes one electron to the crystal, so it is known as donor
impurities.

 Ne = N h = N i
 Nh > Ne . In p-type semiconductor
 Ne > Nh . In n-type semiconductor
THE DIFFERENCE OF
INTRINSIC EXTRINSIC
SEMICONDUCTOR SEMICONDUCTOR
It is pure elements like It is impure elements.
Ge and Silicon. Ne ≠ N h
Ne = N h High conductivity
Low conductivity Conductivity depends
Conductivity mainly on the temperature as
depend on their well as the amount of
temperature. impurity added in
them.
 L igh t

L W
V Iph

A semiconductor slab of length L, width W and depth D is illuminated

with light of wavelength . Iph is the steady state photocurrent.

From Principles of Electronic Materials and

Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.28 Hill, 2005)
 S em itran sp aren t electro d e
n-T yp e S em ico n d u cto r

E le c tro n D iffu sio n

E le c tro n D rift
L igh t x
H o le D iffu sio n

H o le D rift

Ex

When there is an electric field and also a concentration gradient, charge

carriers move both by diffusion and drift. (Ex is the electric field.)

From Principles of Electronic Materials and

Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.31 Hill, 2005)
 E x p o sed n2 Vo n1
A s+ D onor Ex

D iffu sio n F lu x
D rift
N et cu rren t = 0
Non-uniform doping profile results in electron diffusion towards the less
concentrated regions. This exposes positively charged donors and sets up a
built-in field Ex . In the steady state, the diffusion of electrons towards the
right is balanced by their drift towards the left.
From Principles of Electronic Materials and
Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.32 Hill, 2005)
 h >Eg V o+ V r
E >> Eo

i p h o to

M etal n -S i
W S am p lin g
Vr
R esisto r, R

Reverse biased Schottky photodiodes are frequently used as fast

photodetectors.
From Principles of Electronic Materials and
Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-
Fig 5.42 Hill, 2005)