Electronics Devices (KEC-301)

L8:Charge Carriers In Semiconductors continue

 Semiconductor Material
Semiconductor Material
(According to doping)

Intrinsic Sem. Extrinsic Sem.

Material Material

n-Type p-Type
 Intrinsic Semiconductor Material
A perfect semiconductor crystal with no impurities or lattice
defects is called an intrinsic semiconductor.
 In a pure (intrinsic) semiconductor the number of holes is equal to
the number of free electrons.
 Thermal agitation continues to produce new hole-electron pairs,
where as other hole-electron pairs disappear as a result of
recombination.
 The hole concentration p must equal to the electron concentration
n, so that
n = p = ni
 where ni called the intrinsic concentration.
 Extrinsic Semiconductor Material
 In addition to the intrinsic carriers generated thermally, it is
possible to create carrier in semiconductors by purposely
introducing impurities into the crystal.
 This process, called doping, is the most common technique for
varying the conductivity of semiconductors.
 By doping, a crystal can be altered so that it has a predominance
of either electrons or holes.
 Thus there are two types of doped semiconductors, n-type (mostly
electrons) and p-type (mostly holes).
 When a crystal is doped such that the equilibrium carrier
concentrations n0 and p0 are different from the intrinsic carrier
concentration ni, the material is said to be extrinsic.
 Cont…
 If, to intrinsic silicon or germanium, there is added a small
percentage of trivalent or pentavalent atoms, a doped, impure,
or extrinsic, semiconductor is formed.
 Donor Impurities:-
 Ifthe dopant has five valence electrons, the crystal structure of
Fig. is obtained.
 The impurity atoms will displace some
of the germanium atoms in the crystal
lattice.

Fig.:Crystal lattice with a germanium atom

displaced by a pentavalent impurity atom.
 Cont…
 Four of the five valence electrons will occupy covalent bonds,
and the fifth will be nominally unbound and will be available as a
carrier of current.
 The energy required to detach this fifth electron from the atom
is of the order of only 0.01 eV for Ge or 0.05 eV for Si.
 Suitable pentavalent impurities are antimony, phosphorus, and
arsenic.
 Such impurities donate excess (negative) electron carriers, and
are therefore referred to as donor, or n-type, impurities.
 The doner atom without the donor electron is positively charged.
 Cont…
 When donor impurities are added to a semiconductor, allowable
energy levels are introduced a very small distance below the
conduction band, as is shown in Fig.

Fig.: The energy-band diagram showing (a) the discrete donor energy state
and (b) the effect of a donor state being ionized.
 These new allowable levels are essentially a discrete level
because the added impurity atoms are far apart in the crystal
structure, and hence their interaction is small.
 Cont…
 In the case of germanium, the distance of the new discrete
allowable energy level is only 0.01 eV (0.05 eV in silicon) below
the conduction band, and therefore at room temperature almost
all the “fifth” electrons of the donor material are raised into
the conduction band.
 If intrinsic semiconductor material is “doped” with n-type
impurities, not only does the number of electrons increase, but
the number of holes decreases below that which would be
available in the intrinsic semiconductor.
 The reason for the decrease in the number of holes is that the
larger number of electrons present increases the rate of
recombination of electrons with holes.
 Cont…
 Acceptors Impurity:-
 If a trivalent impurity (boron, gallium, or indium) is added to an
intrinsic semiconductor, only three of the covalent bonds can be
filled, and the vacancy that exists in the fourth bond constitutes
a hole.
 This situation is illustrated in Fig.
 Such impurities make available positive
carriers because they create holes which
can accept electrons.
Fig.: Crystal lattice with a germanium atom
displaced by an atom of a trivalent impurity.
 Cont…
 These impurities are consequently known as acceptor, or p-type,
impurities.
 The amount of impurity which must be added to have an
appreciable effect on the conductivity is very small.
 For example, if a donor-type impurity is added to the extent of 1
part in 108, the conductivity of germanium at 30°C is multiplied
by a factor of 12.
 When acceptor, or p-type, impurities are added to the intrinsic
semiconductor, they produce an allowable discrete energy level
which is just above the valence band, as shown in Fig.
 Cont…

Fig.: The energy-band diagram showing (a) the discrete acceptor energy state
and (b) the effect of an acceptor state being ionized.

 Since a very small amount of energy is required for an electron to

leave the valence band and occupy the acceptor energy level, it
follows that the holes generated in the valence band by these
electrons constitute the largest number of carriers in the
semiconductor material.
Equilibrium Distribution of Electrons & Holes in the Extrinsic Semiconductor
 Adding donor or acceptor impurity atoms to a semiconductor
will change the distribution of electrons and holes in the
material.
 Since the Fermi energy is related to the distribution function,
the Fermi energy will change as dopant atoms are added.
 Ifthe Fermi energy changes from near the midgap value, the
density of electrons in the conduction band and the density of
holes in the valence band will change.
 These effects are shown in Figures 1 and 2.
 Cont…

Fig.1:- Density of states functions, Fermi–Dirac Fig. 2:- Density of states functions, Fermi–Dirac
probability function, and areas representing electron probability function, and areas representing electron &
and hole concentrations for the case when EF is above hole concentrations for the case when EF is below the
the intrinsic Fermi energy. intrinsic Fermi energy.
 Cont…
 Figure 1 shows the case for EF > EFi and Figure 2 shows the case
for EF < EFi.
 When EF > EFi, the electron concentration is larger than the hole
concentration, and when EF < EFi, the hole concentration is
larger than the electron concentration.
 When the density of electrons is greater than the density of
holes, the semiconductor is n-type; donor impurity atoms have
been added.
 When the density of holes is greater than the density of
electrons, the semiconductor is p-type; acceptor impurity atoms
have been added.
 Cont…
 The Fermi energy level in a semiconductor changes as the
electron and hole concentrations change and, again, the Fermi
energy changes as donor or acceptor impurities are added.
 The expressions previously derived for the thermal-equilibrium
concentration of electrons and holes are general equations for n0
and p0 in terms of the Fermi energy.
 These equations are again given as

and
 Cont…
 We may derive another form of the equations for the thermal-
equilibrium concentrations of electrons and holes.

or

 We know that the intrinsic carrier concentration is given by

 sothat the thermal-equilibrium electron concentration can be

written as (1)
 Similarly
(2)
 Cont…
 The Fermi level changes when donors and acceptors are added,
but Equations (1) and (2) show that, as the Fermi level changes
from the intrinsic Fermi level, n0 and p0 change from the ni
value.
 If EF > EFi, then we will have n0 > ni and p0 < ni.
 One characteristic of an n-type semiconductor is that EF > EFi so
that n0 > p0.
 Similarly, in a p-type semiconductor, EF < EFi so that p0 > ni and
n0 < ni; thus, p0 > n0.
 The Mass-action Law
 The n0 p0 Product: -

 which may be written as

 As above Equation was derived for a general value of Fermi

energy, the values of n0 and p0 are not necessarily equal.
 However, This Equation is exactly the same as Equation, which
we derived for the case of an intrinsic semiconductor.
 For the semiconductor in thermal equilibrium
Cont…
 This Equation states that the product of n0 and p0 is always a
constant for a given semiconductor material at a given
temperature.
 This equation is also known as Mass Action Law.
 An extrinsic semiconductor in thermal equilibrium does not,
strictly speaking, contain an intrinsic carrier concentration,
although some thermally generated carriers are present.
 The intrinsic electron and hole carrier concentrations are
modified by the donor or acceptor impurities.
 Non-degenerate Semiconductors
 The small number of impurity atoms are spread far enough
apart so that there is no interaction between donor electrons,
for example, in an n-type material.
 The impurities introduce discrete, non-interacting donor energy
states in the n-type semiconductor and discrete, non-
interacting acceptor states in the p-type semiconductor.
 These types of semiconductors are referred to as non-
degenerate semiconductors.
 Degenerate Semiconductors
 Ifthe impurity concentration increases, the distance between
the impurity atoms decreases and a point will be reached when
donor electrons, for example, will begin to interact with each
other.
 When this occurs, the single discrete donor energy will split into
a band of energies.
 As the donor concentration further increases, the band of donor
states widens and may overlap the bottom of the conduction
band.
 Thisoverlap occurs when the donor concentration becomes
comparable with the effective density of states.
 Cont…
 When the concentration of electrons in the conduction band exceeds
the density of states Nc, the Fermi energy lies within the conduction
band.
 This type of semiconductor is called a degenerate n-type
semiconductor.
 In a similar way, as the acceptor doping concentration increases in a
p-type semiconductor, the discrete acceptor energy states will split
into a band of energies and may overlap the top of the valence band.
 The Fermi energy will lie in the valence band when the
concentration of holes exceeds the density of states Nv.
 This type of semiconductor is called a degenerate p-type
semiconductor.
 Cont…
 Schematic
models of the energy-band diagrams for a degenerate
n-type and degenerate p-type semiconductor are shown in
Figure.

Figure : Simplified energy-band diagrams for degenerately doped (a) n-type and
(b) p-type semiconductors.
 Charge Densities in a Semiconductor
 Equation, np = ni2, gives one relationship between the electron n and
the hole p concentrations.
 These densities are further interrelated by the law of electrical
neutrality.
 Let ND equal the concentration of donor atoms.
 Assume, these are practically all ionized, ND positive charges per cubic
meter are contributed by the donor ions.
 Hence the total positive-charge density is ND + p.
 Similarly, if NA is the concentration of acceptor ions, these contribute
NA negative charges per cubic meter.
 The total negative-charge density is NA + n.
 Cont…
 Sincethe semiconductor is electrically neutral, the magnitude of
the positive-charge density must equal that of the negative
concentration, or
ND + p = NA + n
 Consider an n-type material having NA = 0. Since the number of
electrons is much greater than the number of holes in an n-type
semiconductor (n >> p), then above Eq. reduces to
n ≈ nn=ND
 In an n-type material the free-electron concentration is
approximately equal to the density of donor atoms.
 Cont…
 The concentration pn of holes in the n-type semiconductor is
obtained from Eq. (np=ni2), which is now written nn pn = ni2.
 Thus
 Similarly, for a p-type semiconductor (assume p>>n),
pp ≈ NA
 Cont…
 If
semiconductor is lightly doped with donor atoms (n is not so
much larger than p)
ND + p = NA + n

NA = 0

and
 Compensated Semiconductors
 Itis possible to add donors to a p-type crystal or, conversely, to
add acceptors to n-type material.
A compensated semiconductor is one that contains both donor
and acceptor impurity atoms in the same region.
 Ifequal concentrations of donors and acceptors permeate the
semiconductor, it remains intrinsic.
 The hole of the acceptor combines with the conduction electron
of the donor to give no additional free carriers.
 Thus,from charge neutrality Eq. with ND = NA, we observe that p
= n, and from Eq. (np=ni2), n2 = ni2, or n = ni = the intrinsic
concentration.
 Cont…
 An extension of the above argument indicates that if the
concentration of donor atoms added to a p-type semiconductor
exceeds the acceptor concentration (ND > NA), the specimen is
changed from a p-type to an n-type semiconductor.
 In equation (nn = ND), ND should be replaced by (ND – NA).
 Similarly if NA>ND , pp= NA-ND
Carrier Concentration variation with Temperature

Figure: Electron concentration versus temperature showing

the three regions: partial ionization, extrinsic, and intrinsic.
 POSITION OF FERMI ENERGY LEVEL
 The position of the Fermi energy level within the band-gap can
be determined by using the equations already developed for the
thermal-equilibrium electron and hole concentrations.

 If we consider an n-type semiconductor in which Nd >> ni, then

n0 = Nd, so that
 The distance between the bottom of the conduction band and
the Fermi energy is a logarithmic function of the donor
concentration.
 As the donor concentration increases, the Fermi level moves
closer to the conduction band.
 Cont…

 Above Equation can be used specifically for an n-type

semiconductor to find the difference between the Fermi level
and the intrinsic Fermi level as a function of the donor
concentration.
 Ifthe net effective donor concentration is zero, that is, Nd-Na=0,
then n0=ni and EF = EFi.
 Similarly for p-type Semiconductor
 Cont…
 If we assume that Na >> ni, then above Equation can be written
as
 The distance between the Fermi level and the top of the
valence-band energy for a p-type semiconductor is a logarithmic
function of the acceptor concentration: as the acceptor
concentration increases, the Fermi level moves closer to the
valence band.
 Above Equation can be used to find the difference between the
intrinsic Fermi level and the Fermi energy in terms of the
acceptor concentration.
 Cont…

Figure: Position of Fermi level for an (a) n-type (Nd > Na) and (b) p-type (Nd < Na)
semiconductor.