3 Light Semiconductor

Interaction

3.1 TYPES OF ELECTRONIC MATERIAL: METALS, SECONDUCTOR,

INSULATORS
We can classify the metals, semiconductors and insulators based on resistivity,
fermi surface movement and band gap.
i) Resistivity
Sl.No. Material Resistivity at room temperature

1. Conductor 10 -9 to 10 -4 ohm - m

2. Semiconductor 10 -4 to 10 3 ohm - m

3. Insulator 10 3 to 10 17 ohm - m

Further if we increase the temperature of the metal, the resistivity increases

gradually due to decrease of the mean free path ‘’. But for insulator, the resistivity
slowly decreases with increases of temperature. Similarly for semiconductors the
resistivity decreases with increase of temperature since the charge carrier concentration
increases with increase of temperature and so the semiconductors are largely temperature
dependent on their electrical conductivity.
ii) Fermi surface movement
In metals, there is sufficient space in the zone for the fermi sphere to move about
and so there is large electrical conduction. In the case of monovalent metals, there is
only one electron per atom for conduction and so the first zone is only half filled. This
means that the fermi surface is approximately spherical and there is large space for
fermi sphere movement.
3.2 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

But it divalent metals fermi surface is partly in one zone and partly in another
zone due to overlapping bands and there is some freedom of movement for the fermi
surfaces. So these are fairly good conductors though not as good as silver.
In semi conductors, the fermi surface near the zone boundary will have the
shape of the constant energy contours and so the fermi surface is distorted and at many
places, the fermi surface touches the zone boundary.
In these directions, the fermi surface cannot shift. So only fewer electrons can
take part in electrical conduction. This means that the material is not a good conductor.
In insulators the fermi surface touches the zone boundary fully and the fermi surface
cannot shift at any direction. So there is no electrical conduction in the insulators.
iii) Band gap
Band gap is the net gap considering all directions along which the electrons cannot
take those values of energy that lie in that gap regardless of their direction of motion.
But this band gap disappears when there is sufficient overlap in the energy bands for
different directions.
In a solid, outermost band that is fully or partially filled is called the valence band.
The band that is above the valence band and that is empty at 0 K is called the conduction
band. Solids can be classified on the basis of their band structure as conductors,
semiconductors and insulators.

Conduction band
Valence band

b a nd
n ce EV
le
Va
EC

a. Partially filled valence b. Overlapping bands in conductors

band in conductors

Figure 3.1: Schematic band structure of conductors

Conductors are those solids which have vacant electron energy states immediately
above the highest filled level of the valence band. This can happen in two ways. In the
first case, the valance band is only partially filled as in figure 3.1(a).
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.3

The electrons here can respond to an externally applied field by acquiring extra
velocity and moving into higher energy states. In the second case, a full valance band
overlaps the conduction band as shown in figure 3.1(b) so that the forbidden gap is
zero.
Monovalent metals such as the alkali metals have one electron per atom in the
outer most shell and the outer most energy bands are half filled in these metals. Divalent
metals such as magnisium have overlapping conduction and valence bands. Therefore
they can also conduct even if the valence band is full. The band structure of trivalent
metals such as Aluminium is similar to that of monovalent metals.

Conduction band
EC
Conduction band
EC Eg = 5.4 eV
Eg = 1.1 eV
EV EV
a nd
c eb Valence band
a len
V
a. Energy band of silicon b. Energy band of diamond
(semi - conductor) (insulator)

Figure 3.2: Band structures of semiconductor and insulator

Semiconductors are those materials which have an energy gap of about 2 to 3 eV
or less. When the energy gap is 2eV or less an appreciable number of electrons can be
excited across the gap at room temperature. So semiconductors conduct much better
than insulators at room temperature but still orders of magnitude poorer than metals
which have no forbidden gap. By adding impurities or by thermal excitation we can
increase the electrical conductivity in semiconductors.
Insulators are those materials which have an energy gap more than 3eV. It has
been estimated that millions of volt/m of electrical potential would be necessary to
accelerate an electron sufficiently to jump the forbidden gap. The other possibility for a
transition is that electrons cross the gap by thermal excitation. At room temperature the
number of electrons that can be thermally excited across the gap in insulators such as
Diamond turns out to be extremely small.
So the conductors are the materials having enormous electrical conduction; the
insulators are the materials in which practically there is no electrical conduction and the
semiconductors are the materials in which the electrical conduction is in between the
electrical conduction of conductor and insulator.
3.4 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

3.2 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR

A material whose charge carriers originate from impurity atoms is called an
impurity semiconductor or extrinsic semiconductor In these the conduction is mainly
due to addition of impurities which increases the conductivity of a semiconductor. The
phosphorus atom is said to donate electron to the semiconductor and this energy level
of the fifth electron is called the donor level. Since the elements such as P, As or Sb
donate negative charges (electrons), these are called N type impurities and the
semiconductors doped with them are called N type semiconductors (Figure 3.3(a)).

Conduction Band
EC
EF Conduction Band
ED EC
Donor Level
Eg Acceptor Level
EA
EF
EV EV
nd
an
d
e Ba
c eB len
c
a len Va
V

Figure 3.3: (a) N type semiconductor Figure 3.3:(b) P type semiconductor

Excitation of electron from the donor level into the conduction band takes place
much more readily than across the energy gap from the valence band. The donor level
is so close to the bottom of the conduction band and most of the donor level electrons
are excited into the conduction band at room temperature and become the majority
charge carriers. So in N type semiconductors electrons are majority charge carriers
and holes are minority charge carriers.
Consider the impurities like Al, Ga or In in semiconductors. Aluminium has three
electrons in outer shell and to complete its bond it requires one more electron, that is
supplied by a semiconductor atom like Silicon, thereby creating a vacant electron site or
hole in the valence band of semiconductor.
Since aluminium accepts one extra electron, the energy level of this is called
acceptor level which is just above the valance band. So Al, Ga and In are called acceptor
impurities and the semiconductors doped with acceptor impurities are called P-type
semiconductors (Figure 3.3(b)).
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.5

The majority charge carriers in P type semiconductors are holes since most of
the holes are free for conduction purposes at room temperature in P-type semiconductor.
The minority charge carriers are electrons in the P-type semiconductors. Unlike intrinsic
semiconductors, the concentration of holes and electrons are unequal in extrinsic
semiconductors.
Applications of Semiconductor
Semiconductor material is used in the manufacturing of electrical components
and used in electronic devices such as transistors and diodes. The following are some
of semiconductor devices used for different kind of application.
List of common semiconductor devices
 DIAC - Mainly used in dimmer applications and also in starter circuits for
florescent lamps.
 Diode (rectifier diode) - A vital component in power supplies where they
are used to convert AC voltage to DC voltage.
 Gum Diode - Used to build oscillators for generating microwaves with
frequencies ranging from 10GHz to THz.
 IMPATT Diode - Used for generating microwave radio frequency signals.
 Laser Diode - High power laser diodes are used in industrial applications
such as heat treating, cladding, seam welding and for pumping other lasers,
such as diode-pumped solid-state lasers.
 Light-emitting diode (LED) - widely used as digital display devices.
 Photocell - Act as light sensors, used in automatic night lights and in street
lamps that turn themselves on at night.
 Phototransistor - acts as an amplifier.

3.3 OPTICAL TRANSITION IN BULK SEMICONDUCTOR

(SPONTANEOUS EMISSION AND STIMULATED EMISSION)
Stimulated absorption
In order to understand the working principle of laser, let us study the quantum
processes that take place in a material matter when it is exposed to light radiation. Let
us consider an assembly of atoms exposed to light radiation. According to quantum
theory, light radiation consists of photons with energy hν. Let us assume two energy
levels E1 and E2 for the atom.
3.6 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

An atom residing in the lower energy state E 1 can absorb a photon and go to the
higher energy level E 2 (excited state) provided the photon energy hν equals to energy
difference (E 2– E 1). This process is known as stimulated absorption or simply
absorption (Fig. 3.4(a)).

E2 E2 Excited state
hv

Photon
E1 E1 Ground state

Before absorption After absorption

Figure 3.4: (a) Stimulated absorption

Spontaneous emission
After absorption of photon the atom return to ground state by emitting a photon of
energy hν. The emission process can take one of the following forms.
i) Spontaneous emission
ii) Stimulated emission
In the case of spontaneous emission, the atom passes from higher energy
state E2 (excited state) to lower energy state E1 (ground state) spontaneously by emission
of a photon of energy hν (Fig. 3.4 (b)).

E2 Excited state
hv

E1 Ground state

Figure 3.4: (b) Spontaneous emission

The spontaneous emission is random in character. The radiation emitted
spontaneously by each atom has a random direction and a random phase. Thus radiation
in this case is a random mixture of quanta having various wavelengths.
Moreover, they are not in phase. Thus the radiation is incoherent and has a broad
spectrum. It is the process of spontaneous emission that dominates in conventional light
sources.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.7

Stimulated emission
The transition from a higher to a lower energy state with the emission of radiation
depends upon the presence of incidence radiation of the same frequency in the
surrounding.
According to Einstein, an interaction between the excited atom and a photon can
trigger the excited atom to make a transition to the ground state. The transition produces
a second photon which would be identical to the triggering photon in respect of frequency,
phase and propagation direction. This process of induced emission of photons caused
by the incident photon is called stimulated emission (Fig. 3.5).

E2 Excited state

hv
hv
hv

E1 Ground state

Figure 3.5: Stimulated emission

Now the emission contains both incident photon and photon due to stimulated
emission. Both the photons are in same phase. The remarkable feature of the stimulated
emission of radiation is that it is coherent with the incident radiation.
The photon emitted due to stimulated emission has the same frequency and phase
as the photon in the incident radiation. This is the basic concept of laser. It is the
process of stimulated emission that dominates in the laser light source.

3.4 EXCITONS
When photons of energy less than the energy gap (E) is made to fall on some
cyrstals the electrons from valance band will not go to conduction band exactly, instead
they will go to a level below the conduction band level called exciton bands as shown
in Figure 3.6.
Therefore we can say that eventhough an electron is released from valence band
it does not become freee electron, it is still bound to the hole (created) in the valence
band by the coulomb force of attraction. Thus, this bound electron-hole pair is known
as Exciton.
3.8 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

Conduction band

Excision bands

Valence band

Figure 3.6
The bound electron-hole pair which occurs due to the combination of electron
in exciton energy level and the associated hole in valence band is known as
Exciton.
This bound electron hole pair as a whole is neutral and will not contribute to any
electrical conduction to the crystal, but will transfer its energy from one ion to the next
ion.
Explanation
In the case of halides we have positive and negative ions. During the production
of an exciton the electron belonging to negative ion is transferred to the neighbouring
positive ion and as a whole both ions become neutral as shown in Figure 3.7.

Neutral Neutral

Figure 3.7
Therefore even after the removal of electron from the negative ion, it will not
move freely to become conduction electrons, instead it is bound to the next ion by
passing through the lattice. Thus the electron does not contribute for electrical
conduction.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.9

Types
There are two types of excitons.
i) Weakly bound excitons
The weakly bound excitons are the excitons in which the electron hole interparticle
distance is large compared to the lattice constants (a, b, c) (i.e.) [r > a] as shown in
Figure 3.8.

e–

Lattice points Hole

Figure 3.8
Example: Cu2O (Cuprous oxide) has weakly bound excitons.
ii) Tightly bound excitons
The tightly bound excitons are the excitons in which the electron hole interparticle
distance is less than the lattice radius [r < a] as shown in Figure 3.9.

e–
a

Hole

Atom

Figure 3.9
This type of exciton, is localized on (or) near a single atom, i.e. the hole will also exist
in the same atom as that of an electron, although the pair may be anywhere in the crystal.
Example: Alkali halide crystals such as NaCl, KBr etc. has tightly bound excitons.
3.10 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

3.5 TRAPS
Trap is an intermediate energy level present in between the valence band and
conduction band, which arises due to the presence of inpurity atoms (or) imperfections
in the crystal.
Let us consider a crystal with donar and acceptor impurity atoms. If the light is
made to incident on the crystal, it may cause ionisation of donar and acceptor impurities,
thereby producing electron and hole pairs. The ionisation depends on the nature of the
impurity in the crystal.
The electrons and holes thus created will move freely, until they are captured at
an imperfection. There are two types of capturing centres.
i) Trapping centre
Here the captured charges carrier may re-excite to free state and again contribute
for electrical conductivity (i.e.) temporary removal of charge carriers.
ii) Recombination centre
In this case, the captured charge carriers will recombine with the opposite charge
carriers in the recombination centre itself (i.e.) permanent removal of charge carriers.
It has to be noted that the trap (energy level) can capture either electrons (or)
holes easily but not both of them. The captured electrons will be released after some
time and moves freely until they are captured by another trap.
Types
There are two types of traps.
Type - I
This kind of traps will capture the electrons from conduction band and subsequently
transfer the electrons to the valence band. Thus the recombination of electrons and the
hole which appear near the valence bands take a place via traps.
Explanation
Step 1: Initially an electron from the conduction band is captured by the empty
trap of energy level E as shown in Figure 3.10.
Step 2: The captured electron recombines with the hole which appears nearby
to the trap as shown in Figure 3.11.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.11

Conduction band Conduction band Conduction band

Eg Et Empty trap Empty trap

Valence band Valence band Valence band

Figure 3.10 Figure 3.11 Figure 3.12

Step 3: The recombination of electron and hole occurs via trap and a little amount
of energy is emitted and the trap becomes empty again as shown in
Figure 3.12.
Since the trap centre is tightly bounded to the lattice points and the energy gap is
not exactly equal to Eg, the energy will be released in the form of heat and thus heats
up the material by non-radiative transition. Therefore this type of traps (defect centres)
helps in restoring the thermal equilibrium.
Type II
This kind of traps will not produce heat transition but they restrict the freedom of
motion of electrons (or) holes. Since the electron motion is restricted the conductivity
of the material is reduced.
Note:
It is not so that electron should come to the trap and then recombines with the
hole nearby the trap, rather, the hole can also come to the trap first and then it can
recombine with the electron (in CB) nearby the trap.

3.6 COLOUR CENTRES

Pure ionic crystals like NaCl, KCl etc. are transparent when visible light is passed
through them. However, these cyrstals may be made to upper coloured by any one of
the following ways:
i) Adding impurities
ii) Adding metal ions
iii) By bombarding the cyrstals like X-ray, -ray, neuton (or) electrons.
iv) Electrolysis
3.12 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

In all these methods, vacancies will be created in the crystal. These vacancies,
so called defect centres will capture the electrons (or) holes which are capable of
absorbing the visible light. Thus the crystal will be coloured.
Colour centres are the lattice defects (or) crystal imperfections which absorb
the visible light, so that the crystal is coloured.
Types of colour centres and their importance
There are different types of colour centres viz., F-centre, F-centre, R 1-centre,
R2-centre, M-centre, V-centre, etc.
F-centre: Trapping of an electron at a negative ion vacancy is called F-centre.
Explanation: When a NaCl crystal is heated in an atmosphere of sodium vapour,
then the NaCl crystal will absorb the sodium atoms from the sodium vapour.
Each of this excess sodium atoms absorbed from the sodium vapour may then
ionise into a positive sodium ion and an electron.

i.e. Na  Na +  e 

Thus a number of Na+ ions are created and hence an equal number of negative
ion vacancies will also be created to keep the crystal neutral as a whole. Since the
negative ion vacancies represent a net positive charge within the crystal, they attract
the electrons (produced due to ionisation) and captures it.

F Centre

Figure 3.13
This trapped electron will be shared by all the positive (Na +) ions nearby the
vacant site as shown in Figure 3.13.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.13

Properties of F-Centre
i) Due to excess metals added to the crystal, equal number of positive ions and
negative ion vacancies are created. Therefore, the density of the crystal will
decrease (due to creation of vacancies). i.e., coloured crystals are less denser
than uncoloured crystals.
ii) Width of F-band (Energy levels of electrons below the conduction band energy
levels) increases with the increase in temperature.
iii) F-absorption band is independent of the metal ion added to it.
iv) In STOICHIOMETRIC crystals the bands are formed due to irradiation of
ultraviolet radiations, X-rays, etc.
F’-Centre
An F-centre with two electrons trapped in it is called F’-centre.
Explanation
When the temperature of the F-centre is decreased, then the F-centre will be
destroyed and the electron from one F centre will be captured by another F-centre to
from a new colour centre called F centre (Figure 3.14).

F Centre F Centre F' Centre

Figure 3.14

R1, R2 and M Centres

When the crystals containing F-centres are irradiated with light, under a suitable
temperature range, coagulation will occur. Due to coagulation, various colour centres
viz., R1, R2 and M centres are produced as shown in Figure 3.15.
R 1 Centre
It is the colour centre formed due to the combination of an F-centre and a negative
vacant site as shown in Figure 3.15.
R 2 Centre
It is the colour centre formed due to the combination of two F centres as shown
in Figure 3.15.
3.14 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

R1 Centre

R2 Centre

M Centre

Figure 3.15
M Centre
It is the colour centre formed due to the combination of an F-centre with positive
and negative vacant sites as shown in Figure 3.15.

V-CENTRES
Trapping of a hole at a positive ion vacancy is called V-centre.
Explanation
When alkali halides such as KBr, is heated in Br 2 vapour, then the excess of
bromine atoms produce positive holes. These holes are trapped by the positive ion
vacancies to produce different colour centres viz., V-centre, V 1-centre, V2-centre etc.
as shown in Figure 3.16.

V Centre

V2 Centre
V1 Centre

Figure 3.16
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.15

V1 Centre
The combination of two V-centres give rise to a colour centre called V 1 centre as
shown in Figure 3.16.
V2 Centre
The combination of a V-centre and a positive vacant site is called V 2 centre and
is as shown in Figure 3.16.

3.7 LUMINESCENCE, CLASSIFICATION OF LUMINESCENCE

BASED ON ECITATION
Fluorescence and phosphorescence
Luminescence means the emission of light form a solid when it is supplied with some
form of energy
Luminescence

Photoluminescence Cathode luminescence Electro luminescence

(Fluorescence and Excitation by electrons Excitation by a.c. or d.c. fields

Phosphorescence) excitation Eg.: CRTs, picture tubes Eg.: LEDs
by incident light or lower
wavelength radiation
Eg.: fluorescent lamps
Fluorescence is an optical phenomenon in which lower wavelength radiation
(i.e., electron beam or ultra violet) is converted into high wavelength visible, radiation.
In fluorescence, the luminescence persists for a very small time than the
phosphorescence. Phosphorescence is also called delayed fluorescence. Phosphorescence
is due to the presence of metastable states having high life times. Materials exhibiting
phosphorescence are called Phosphors.
To increase the length of time of emission of light, activator and coactivator are
doped in phosphors. In zinc sulphide phosphor, copper is doped as activator which produces
vacant energy sites near valance band; chlorine is doped as coactivator which acts as a
trap.
In the figure 3.17(a) the electron is excited from valence band to conduction
band by absorption of input energy. In figure 3.17(b) the electron is trapped by the
coactivator. In figure 3.17(c) the electron recombines with a hole or vacant site in the
activator. By this process the length of time of emission is increased.
3.16 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

C.B.
Ec

– Coactivator – Traps –

Activator
+ + +
Ev
V.B
(a) Excitation (b) Metastable state (c) Emission

Figure 3.17: Phosphorescence

In the case of CRT displays, the incident electrons on the phosphor screen will
produce excitation of electrons in the phosphor material (Zn S). Then the emission of
coloured light comes from it. The light radiations exactly form the image as that of
incident electron beam.
Zinc sulphide doped with silver for blue light emission, Zinc cadmium sulphide
doped with copper for green light emission and yttrium oxysulphide doped with europium
and terbium for red light emission are the popular phosphors used in the television picture
tube screens and CRT phosphor screens.

3.8 OPTICAL LOSS AND GAIN

Optical Gain
Optical Gain is the most important requirement for the realization of a
semiconductor laser because it describes the optical amplification in the semiconductor
material. This optical gain is due to stimulated emission associated with light emission
created by recombination of electrons and holes.
Optical Loss
Optical losses chiefly effect the power from a solar cell by lowering the short-
circuit current. Optical losses consist of light which could have generated an electron-
hole pair, but does not, because the light is reflected from the front surface or because
it is not absorbed in the solar cell. For the most common semiconductor solar cells, the
entire visible spectrum (350 - 780 mm) has enough energy to create electron-hole pairs
and therefore all visible light would ideally be absorbed.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.17

Surface reflection

Shading by top
contact coverage
N

P
Reflection from
the rear surface
of the cell

Figure 3.18
Sources of optical loss in a solar cell:
There are a number of ways to reduce the optical losses:
 Top contact coverage of the cell surface can be minimized (although this may
result in increased series resistance).
 Anti-reflection coatings can be used on the top surface of the cell.
 Reflection can be reduced by surface texturing.
 The solar cell can be made thicker to increase absorption (although light that
is absorbed more than a diffusion length from the junction has a low collection
probability and will not contribute to the short circuit current).
 The optical path length in the solar cell may be increased by a combination of
surface texturing and light trapping.

3.9 PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT

Photovoltaic cells
Semiconductors like silicon and selenium crystals are used as photo sensitive
materials which generate voltage in proportion to the radiant energy incident on it.

3.10 PHOTOVOLTAIC POTENTIAL

Photovoltaic (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar
radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductor that exhibit the photovoltaic
effect. The technical Photovoltaic potential is the actual usable solar energy or power
once it has been transformed into electricity by Photovoltaic systems.
3.18 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

3.11 SPECTRAL RESPONSE

The spectral response describes the sensitivity of the photo sensor to optical
radiation of different wavelengths. This is important because only a small part of the
optical radiation spectrum is visible.
The photocells used in photo sensors are sensitive to a wider range of wavelengths
than what the human eye sees. In other words, photocells respond to portions of the
ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) spectrum as well as the visible spectrum. Filters
limit the sensitivity to UV and IR radiation. These filters are typically incorporated into
the photocell element, although filtering can be done anywhere in the optical path of the
photo sensor.

3.12 SOLAR ENERGY CONVERTORS, SOLAR CELLS

Solar cells (photovoltaic cells)
Principle
Solar cells (or) Photovoltaic cells are working on the photovoltaic effect which
refers to the creation of an e.m.f. across the junction during irradiation of light. So the
basic function of a solar cell is the conversion of electromagnetic energy into electrical
energy. Eventhough the efficiency of a solar cell is less than 25%, now-a-days we are
so much interested on the solar cells since the input energy for the solar cell is freely
available from the sun’s radiation.
Working
Consider a p-n junction of a semiconductor.

Conduction band
P N

Eg e–

EF (Fermi level)
Light
Radiation
hole

Valence band
Figure 3.19: p-n junction of a semiconductor
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.19

Due to diffusion of charge carriers, a permanent small electric field is present at

a p-n junction in equilibrium without the aid of an external electric field. So there is a
accumulation of charges in the two sides of the junction (positive charges on n-side and
negative charges on p-side) and hence there is an electric field from n-region to the
p-region. So the electron energy levels at the bottom of the conduction band in the n-
region are lower than those in the p-region by an amount equal to the contact potential
or barrier potential.
Since all physical systems are to be in a state of lowest energy in general, electrons
would move to the right and holes to the left. So the potential energy of an electron
increases in the upward direction while that of a hole increases in the downward direction.
The action of the light (shower of photons) falling on the junction is to create electron-
hole pairs which move under the influence of this built in field such that the electrons
migrate to n-region and the holes migrate to p-region.
This charge separation will create an electric field opposite to the electric field
created by the diffusion. If the number of absorbed photons is enough, these two fields
will cancel each other, leading to an open circuit voltage between the n and p regions. If
these created electrons and holes are made to flow through an external load, electrical
energy will be obtained from the absorbed photons.
A good photovoltaic material should have a large absorption coefficient at a low
temperature and an optimum value of energy gap.
The forbidden bandgap energy ‘E g’ is the maximum energy required to create a
free electron-hole pair (or) the energy required to break a covalent bond in the
semiconductor lattice. If the photon energy is equal to (or) greater than the bandgap
leads to a large intrinsic carrier concentration and the possibility of photon absorption is
less. If the energy gap value is so high, the short circuit current decreases rapidly when
we use sun as the excitation source but the open circuit voltage increases. Thus the
variation of maximum efficiency of a photovoltaic cell is a function of the energy gap
and the temperature.
The construction of a solar cell is difficult because of the fact that one of the
crystals (usually p-type) has to be in the form of a single crystal with a controlled
impurity. The thickness of p layer is very small when we compare with n layer to avoid
recombination of charge carriers.
3.20 ENGINEERING PHYSICS - II

N
VL R
P
IL

Light radiations
Figure 3.20: Pictorial description of photovoltaic effect

Voc

VL

0
Isc
IL
Voc = open circuit voltage
Isc = short circuit current
Figure 3.21: V-I Characteristics of a photovoltaic cell
Figure 3.20 shows the electrical characteristics of a solar cell. The efficiency of
a solar cell can be written as
output power k Voc I sc
η  
input power input power
where k is a constant whose value depends upon the mechanism by which the power is
generated. So the value of k lies between 0.25 to 1. The maximum efficiency of a
silicon solar cell is about 14 percent eventhough the theoretical efficiency is about 25%,
using sun light as the light source.
When we use silicon as the solar cell material whose bandgap energy is about 1.1
eV, one can get excellent stability and high conversion efficiency. That is, silicon absorbs
maximum number of photons from solar radiation and generates enourmous number of
charge carriers by converting each photon into electron-hole pair.
Silicon is the most favourable solar cell material since its bandgap energy matches
with energy of the maximum number of photons in the solar radiation. The next favourable
material is Ga As. The other materials are Cu 2 S and Cd S.
LIGHT SEMICONDUCTOR INTERACTION 3.21

Design of a solar cell

We can make a solar cell based on the following points :
1. Power output per unit cost
2. Power output per unit weight
3. Power output per unit surface area
4. Reliability
For large scale uses, the polycrystalline silicon solar cells are preferred since
they are available at the lower cost and are correctly matches with the above points.
Let us see the preparation of a solar cell. First pure silicon is obtained by dissolving it in
the fluoric acid. It dissolves all the iron and other impurities. Then by zone melting one
can get n type silicon in the pellet form. During zone melting process, n type impurity
like phosphorous is added. By micro cutting, wafers are made.
A drop of Boron is put at the centre of each n type silicon wafer. Keeping the
wafer with drop of Boron at high temperature and by rotating the wafer slowly, a thin
film of Boron is formed over the n type silicon. So one can get the p-n junction of
silicon. After this, antireflection coating is made on the top of surface of the solar cell.
Since copper is not good ohmic contact for semiconductors, metal contacts are made
by titanium silver chloride.
The thickness of p layer is very small when we compare with n layer to avoid
recombination of charge carriers. Over the p layer, the metal contact is in the form of a
grid. This grid structure is used to collect more charges. The efficiency of this silicon
solar cell is 10%. The voltage developed is 0.6 volt for a cell having diameter of 1 cm. But
from single crystal silicon wafers, we can get more efficiency and hence more voltage.
Uses
These cells are used in exposurements of automatic cameras and as energy source
in space satellites. They are also used as transducers in electro-optic instruments. Further
these are used in pyrometers as optical detectors to measure the temperature of the
furnaces and molten metals.