Micro and Nanoelectronics

ELL732
Lecture 7

Dhiman Mallick
Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi

1
Semester I – 2024 - 2025
Direct and Indirect Semiconductors

Energy-band structures of (a) GaAs and (b) Si.

Density of States
❖ The number of carriers that can contribute to the conduction process is a function of the number of
available energy or quantum states by the Pauli exclusion principle.

❖ Density of allowable energy states - the number of available energy or quantum states per unit crystal
volume.

❖ We must determine the density of these allowed energy states as a function of energy in order to
calculate the electron and hole concentrations.

The density of quantum states is a function of energy E .

As the energy of this free electron becomes small, the number of available quantum states decreases.
Density of States
The density of allowed electronic energy states in the
conduction band

for E≥Ec. As the energy of the electron in the conduction

band decreases, the number of available quantum states
also decreases.

The density of allowed electronic energy states in the

conduction band

for E≤Ev.
Fermi-Dirac Distribution
In dealing with large numbers of particles, we are interested only in the statistical behavior of the group as
a whole rather than in the behavior of each individual particle.

The number density N(E) is the number of particles per unit volume per unit energy.

The function g(E) is the number of quantum states per unit volume per unit energy.

The function fF(E) is called the Fermi–Dirac distribution or probability function - gives the probability that a
quantum state at the energy E will be occupied by an electron. The energy EF is called the Fermi energy .

fF(E) is the ratio of filled to total quantum states at any energy E.

Fermi-Dirac Distribution

The Fermi probability function versus energy for different

The Fermi probability function versus energy for T= 0K.
temperatures.
Fermi-Dirac Distribution

The probability of a state being occupied, fF(E), and the probability of a state being empty,
1 - fF(E).
Equilibrium Distribution of Electrons and Holes Intrinsic Semiconductor at T>0K

Assuming the electron and hole

effective masses are equal, gc(E)
and gv(E) are symmetrical
functions about the midgap
energy (the energy midway
between Ec and Ev).

If the effective masses of the

electron and hole are not exactly
equal, gc(E) and gv(E) will not be
exactly symmetrical about the
midgap energy.

The Fermi level then shift slightly

from the midgap energy in order
to obtain equal electron and hole
concentrations.
Thermal equilibrium concentration of electrons
The thermal equilibrium concentration of electrons may be found by integrating n(E) over the conduction
band energy.

The lower limit of integration is Ec and the upper limit of integration should be the top of the allowed
conduction band energy.

As the Fermi probability function rapidly approaches zero with increasing energy, we can take the upper
limit of integration to be infinity.

The parameter Nc is called the effective density of states function in the conduction band.
The Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
❖ For an intrinsic semiconductor, the concentration of electrons
in the conduction band is equal to the concentration of holes in
the valence band.

❖ Intrinsic electron concentration and intrinsic hole

concentration are denoted as ni and pi.

❖ ni=pi

where Eg is the bandgap energy.

❖ For a given semiconductor material at a constant temperature,

the value of ni is a constant, and independent of the Fermi
energy.
The intrinsic carrier concentration
as a function of temperature.
Thermal equilibrium concentration of holes
The thermal equilibrium concentration of electrons in the conduction band:

The parameter Nc is called the effective density of states function in the conduction band.

The thermal-equilibrium concentration of holes in the valence band:

The parameter Nv is called the effective density of states function in the valence band.
Extrinsic Semiconductor
Donor impurity atom - n-type semiconductor

(a) the discrete donor energy state and (b) the effect of a donor state being ionized.

Acceptor impurity atom - p-type semiconductor

(a) the discrete acceptor energy state and (b) the effect of an acceptor state being ionized.
n-type semiconductor
Extrinsic Semiconductor

p-type semiconductor
Extrinsic Semiconductor
Thermal-equilibrium electron concentration is given as:

Thermal-equilibrium hole concentration is given as:

If EF>EFi, then n0>ni and p0<ni - n-type semiconductor (EF>EFi and n0>p0).

If EF<EFi, then p0>ni and n0<ni - p-type semiconductor (EF<EFi and p0>n0).

The product of n0 and p0 is always a constant for a given semiconductor material at a given temperature
Degenerate and Nondegenerate Semiconductors
If the concentration of dopant atoms added is small when compared to the density of host or semiconductor
atoms:

Impurities introduce discrete, noninteracting donor energy states in the n-type semiconductor and discrete,
noninteracting acceptor states in the p-type semiconductor - Non-degenerate Semiconductor.

If the impurity concentration increases, the discrete donor/acceptor energy states will split into a band of
energies and may overlap the bottom/top of the conduction/valence band – Degenerate Semiconductor.

Energy-band diagrams for degenerately doped (a) n-type and (b) p-type semiconductors.
Electron concentration versus temperature
Variation of EF with Doping Concentration
Variation of EF with Temperature
 In thermal equilibrium, the Fermi energy level is a constant throughout a system.
Material A in thermal equilibrium

Material B in thermal equilibrium

Materials A and B in contact

at thermal equilibrium

Materials A and B at the instant

they are placed in contact
References

• Semiconductor Physics and Devices- Basic Principles by

Donald A. Neamen

• Solid State Electronic Devices by Ben G. Streetman and

Sanjay Kumar Banerjee

• Physics of Semiconductor Devices by S.M. Sze and Kwok K.

Ng

• State-of-the-art Research Papers

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