UNIT II
SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS
Department of Physics (Science &Humanities),
J.N.N Institute of Engineering, Chennai-
Periyapalayam Highway, Thiruvallur, Tamil
Nadu, India.
Introduction
What are Semiconductors Intrinsic Semiconductors
A semiconductor is a material whose electrical Semiconductors that are chemically pure and free from
conductivity falls between that of a conductor and an impurities are termed as intrinsic semiconductors.
insulator.
Types of Semiconductors
Semiconductors are classified into intrinsic and
extrinsic semiconductors.
Energy band diagram
energy of the
conduction band
-fermi energy
- energy of the
valence band
Direct and Indirect band gap semiconductors
Direct band gap semiconductor Indirect band gap semiconductor
In Direct band gap semiconductor the energy In indirect band gap semiconductor, the maximum
maximum of valence band and the energy minimum of energy of valence band and minimum energy of
the conduction band are having same momentum value conduction band are having different values of
momentum
Carrier concentration in intrinsic semiconductors
In general, intrinsic carrier concentration ni is equal to electrons concentration in conduction band (n) or
holes concentration in valence band (p)
Carrier concentration in n-type semiconductors
In n-type semiconductor, the donor level is just below conduction
band.
Density of electrons per unit volume in conduction band is given
by
Where F(Ed) is the probability for finding
electron in donor energy level (unionised
donor), therefore 1 - F(Ed) is the probability
for finding ionised donors.
Carrier concentration in n-type semiconductors
is very small in eqn (3) when
compared to '1'. Hence, it is
neglected.
Equating (1) and (4), we get
Taking log on both sides, we have
Carrier concentration in n-type semiconductors
Substituting the expression of EF from (7) in (1),
we get
Carrier concentration in n-type semiconductors
where ∆E = EC - Ed is the ionisation energy of the
donor. i.e., ∆E denotes the amount of energy required
to transfer an electron from donor energy level Ed to
conduction band EC
Carrier concentration in p-type semiconductors
In p-type semiconductor, acceptor energy level is just above valence band
Density of holes per unit volume in valence band is given by
E → Energy corresponding to top most level of valence band.
v
Density of ionised acceptors = N F(E )
a a
N-the number of acceptor atoms per unit volume.
is a large quantity and thus '1' from the
(a) e denominator of R.H.S. of eqn (2) is
Ea- acceptor energy level neglected.
Here, F(Ea) is probability for finding electron in Now, the eqn (2) is modified as,
acceptor energy level ie., ionised acceptor.
The eqn (1) becomes, density of ionised acceptors
Carrier concentration in p-type semiconductors
Density of ionised
acceptors
At equilibrium,
Taking log on both sides in eqn (5), we have
Carrier concentration in p-type semiconductors
Rearranging,
Substituting eqn of EF from (7) in (1), we get
Carrier concentration in p-type semiconductors
where ∆E = Ea – Ev is the ionization energy of
acceptors.
Hall effect and devices
Hall effect
When a conductor (metal or semiconductor) carrying a current is placed in a transverse magnetic field, an
electric field is produced inside the conductor in a direction normal to both the current and the magnetic field.
This phenomenon is known as Hall effect and the generated voltage is called "Hall voltage".
Hall devices
The device which uses the hall effect for its application is known as Hall device.
There are three types of Hall devices.
They are
(a) Gauss Meter (b) Electronic Multiplier (c) Electronic Wattmeter
Gauss Meter Electronic Multiplier Electronic Wattmeter
