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Explain Why Semiconductor Acts As An Insulator at 0 Degree Kelvin and Why Its Conductivity Increases With Increasing Temperature

Semiconductors act as insulators at 0 K as electrons do not have enough energy to jump between bands. Conductivity increases with temperature as electrons gain energy to move between bands, increasing the number that can conduct. An intrinsic semiconductor has equal numbers of electrons and holes, while an extrinsic semiconductor is doped with impurities to create an excess of one carrier type. The depletion region of a junction will penetrate more into the lightly doped semiconductor side.

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565 views

Explain Why Semiconductor Acts As An Insulator at 0 Degree Kelvin and Why Its Conductivity Increases With Increasing Temperature

Semiconductors act as insulators at 0 K as electrons do not have enough energy to jump between bands. Conductivity increases with temperature as electrons gain energy to move between bands, increasing the number that can conduct. An intrinsic semiconductor has equal numbers of electrons and holes, while an extrinsic semiconductor is doped with impurities to create an excess of one carrier type. The depletion region of a junction will penetrate more into the lightly doped semiconductor side.

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kumarguptav
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

Explain why semiconductor acts as an insulator at 0 degree Kelvin and why its
conductivity increases with increasing temperature.
At 0k,electrons do not have sufficient energy to jump from valance band to conduction band and
therefore it acts as an insulator.
As the temperature increases, electrons get energy to pass from valance band to conduction band
making it to conduct.
As the temperature increases further more and more electrons get energy and crosses the
forbidden energy gap increasing the conductivity.

3 . What is the distinguish between an intrinsic and an extrinsic semiconductor.


INTRINSIC
SEMICONDUCTORS

EXTRINSIC
SEMICONDUCTORS

It is pure semi-conducting It is prepared by doping a


material and no impurity small quantity of impurity
atoms are added to it.
atoms to the pure semiconducting material.
Examples: crystalline
forms of pure silicon and
germanium.

Examples: silicon Si and


germanium Ge crystals
with impurity atoms of As,
Sb, P etc. or In B, A etc.

The number of free


electrons and holes is
The number of free
never equal. There is
electrons in the
conduction band and the excess of electrons in ntype semi-conductors and
no. of holes in valence
band is exactly equal and excess of holes in p-type
semi-conductors.
very small indeed.
Its electrical conductivity
is low.

Its electrical conductivity


is high.

Its electrical conductivity


is a function of
temperature alone.

Its electrical conductivity


depends upon the
temperature as well as on
the quantity of impurity
atoms doped the

structure.

4. diff b/w drift and diffusion currents


In a pn junction , the current due to concentration difference or gradient is called Diffusion
Current. Here charge carriers move from a region of high concentration of carriers to a region of
low concentration.
Drift Current on the other hand is due to the external potential applied to pn junction. The
electric field due to this potential results in a force on charge carriers , thereby making them
move, which results in a current. This current is called Drift Current.

7 . Fermi Level in n-type Semiconductor


We assume that all donor atoms of an n-type semiconductor get ionized at a given
temperature to get estimation of Fermi level. Now the firstND states in conduction band will
be filled. It becomes difficult for the valence band electrons to bridge the energy gap by
thermal agitation due to these filled states. We can say that the number of electron holepairs thermally generated at that temperature is reduced. We know that Fermi level is a
measure of the probability of occupancy of the allowed energy states. Hence, the Fermi level
must move closer to the conduction band to indicate that many energy states in that band
are filled by the donor electrons and fewer holes exist in valence band. This situation is
shown in Fig. 1.36.
The n-type semiconductor is almost entirely due to extrinsically supplied electrons from the
donors. Hence, n = ND is the concentration of donor atoms. Substituting n = ND in Eqn.
1.12.11 we get

Figure 1.36. Band diagram and Fermi level in n-type semiconductor

1.13.2. Fermi Level in p-type Semiconductor


Following assumptions must hold good for calculating the Fermi level in p-type
semiconductor:

The density of acceptor atoms far exceeds the density of donor atoms.

Every acceptor atom has accepted one electron from the valence band.

The density of electrons in the conduction band is much smaller than that of the
holes in the valence band.

Similar arguments as in n-type semiconductor leads to the conclusion that the Fermi level
must move from the centre of the forbidden gap closer to the valence band for a p-type
material. The situation is shown in Fig. 1.37.
Figure 1.37. Band diagram and Fermi function in p-type semiconductor

9.What are the examples of unipolar and Bipolar devices


The NPN and PNP transistors are bipolar junction transistors, They are made with both P and N doped
semiconductor material (usually silicon). In the NPN transistor the majority carriers are electrons in the
collector and emitter N doped silicon and holes in the P doped base. Conventional current flows into the
base supplying it with holes, some of these holes cross the base emitter junction. where they combine
with the emitter majority carriers, electrons. However most of the holes meet their demise in the base itself
combining with electrons that have crossed from the emitter. The emitter current is larger than the base
current, and the majority of the emitter electrons that enter into the base end up drifting across the
collector base junction. PNP transistors have electrons injected into the N base and holes injected into the
P emitter. Base current controls collector current.
The FET has either a P or N channel, thus they are unipolar. The gate voltage either creates the channel
(enhancement mode MOSFET;'s) or pinches off the channel ( depletion mode MOSFET's and JFET's).
The enhancement mode MOSFET doesn't conduct till the channel is created. JFET's and depletion mode
MOSFET's conduct until the channel is pinched off.
The FET is voltage controlled and the BJT is current controlled.

10 . Is the temperature coefficient of resistance of a semiconductor positive or negative


or
Why do conductors have positive temperature coefficient and semi conductors have
negative temp coefficient?
As a metal gets hotter, the atoms vibrate more. This increases the probability of collisions between the
moving conduction electrons (the current) and the vibrating atoms - which increases the resistance.

In semiconductors, this also happens BUT is more than compensated by the increased number of holes
and conduction electrons released from the valance band as temperature rise.
If you need a bit more detailed explanation (including what a semiconductor is and what a 'hole' is) see
video-lesson in link.
Source:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjDciVtQD...

11. How can u say the conductivity of a metal decreases with increasing of temperature.
In metal, electron is responsible as the charge carrier. A systematic flow of electrons in one direction will
cause the metal to conduct electricity efficiently. An increase in temperature will cause the electrons to get
excited and this causes them to move in a not so orderly manner. Hence, they become less efficient as
the charge carrier and conductivity decreases.
In electrolyte, it is the ions (both positive and negative) that is responsible as the charge carrier. An
increase in temperature will increase the energy of the ions and they will move faster. Hence its efficiency
as charge carrier increases and this will cause the conductivity to increase.

12. Suppose if we combine lightly doped semiconductor and heavily doped semiconductor
the width of depletion region is more penetrate into which semiconductor.

Dc
19. In natural sampling signal trace out the whole wave but in flat top sampling ,the top of samples
remains flat due to which it is less affected by noise,so flat top sampling is better than natural
sampling.

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