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CHAP 1 Part 1

This document discusses semiconductor materials and devices. It begins with an overview of atomic structure, including electron shells and orbits. It then describes the differences between insulators, conductors, and semiconductors based on their atomic properties and electron bonding. Semiconductors have fewer free electrons/holes than conductors but more than insulators. The document discusses how doping semiconductors with impurities creates an excess or deficiency of charge carriers, resulting in n-type or p-type materials. It also covers how electron-hole pairs are generated in semiconductors and how currents flow.

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40 views27 pages

CHAP 1 Part 1

This document discusses semiconductor materials and devices. It begins with an overview of atomic structure, including electron shells and orbits. It then describes the differences between insulators, conductors, and semiconductors based on their atomic properties and electron bonding. Semiconductors have fewer free electrons/holes than conductors but more than insulators. The document discusses how doping semiconductors with impurities creates an excess or deficiency of charge carriers, resulting in n-type or p-type materials. It also covers how electron-hole pairs are generated in semiconductors and how currents flow.

Uploaded by

ksreddy2002
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CVR COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Chapter 1

SEMICONDUCTOR
MATERIALS

ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS - I 64201 ECE DEPARTMENT


CONTENT

1.1 Atomic structure


1.2 Semiconductor, conductors and insulators
1.3 Covalent bonding
1.4 Conduction in semiconductors
1.5 N-type and P-type semiconductors
1.6 The diode
1.7 Biasing the diode
1.8 Voltage-current characteristic of a diode
1.9 Diode models
1.10 Testing a diode
WHAT IS ELECTRONIC
DEVICES??

 Such as diodes, transistors, and


integrated circuits (ICs).
 Made of a semi-conductive material.
To understand how these devices work, we should have a basic
knowledge of the atomic structure and the interaction of atomic
particles !!
History Of Semiconductor Devices
1.1 ATOMIC STRUCTURE

 Atom is the smallest particle of an element which


contains 3 basic particles:
ATOM
Electrons
Protons (negative charge)
(positive charge)

Nucleus
(core of atom)

Neutrons
(uncharged)
This model was
Proposed by Niels
Bohr in 1915
Electrons circle
the
nucleus which
consists of
protons and
neutrons.

Figure 1.1 : Bohr model of an atom

ATOMIC STRUCTURE (cont..)


Atomic
number

Electron shells
Valence electron
ATOM & orbit

Ionization

ATOMIC STRUCTURE (cont..)


Atomic Number
 Atomic no. = No. of protons in nucleus
 Element in periodic table are arranged according to atomic no.
Electron Shells and Orbits
 Electrons near the nucleus have less energy than those in more
distant orbits.
 Each distance (orbits) from the nucleus corresponding to a
certain energy level.
 In an atom, the orbits are group into energy bands – shells
 Diff. in energy level within a shell << diff. in energy between
shells.
 The maximum number of electrons (Ne) in each shell is
N e  2n 2
calculated using formula below:
 2 n = number of shell
N
 Example for 2nd shell: e
 2 n  2( 2 ) 2
 8

ATOMIC STRUCTURE (cont..)


INSULATORS, CONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)
Valence Electrons
 Electrons with the highest energy levels exist in the outermost
shell and loosely bound to the atom. The outermost shell –
valence shell.
 Electron in the valence shell called valence electrons.

Ionization
 When atoms absorb energy (e.g heat source), the energies of
electron are raised .
 Valence electron can easily jump to higher orbits.
 If acquires a sufficient energy, it can escape from outer shell and
atom’s influence.
 Losing valence electrons called ionization – positive ion.
 Escaped electron called free electron or conduction electron.

ATOMIC STRUCTURE (cont..)


1.2 INSULATORS, CONDUCTORS
& SEMICONDUCTORS

 Atom can be represented by the valence shell and a core.


 A core consists of all the inner shell and the nucleus.

Carbon atom:
valence shell – 4 e
inner shell – 2 e
+6 for the nucleus
and -2 for the two
Nucleus: inner-shell electrons
6 protons (net charge +4)

6 neutrons
Comparison between a Semiconductor Atom &
Conductor Atom
A Silicon atom: A Copper atom:
• 4 valence electrons • Only 1 valence
• A semiconductor electron
• A good conductor
• Electron conf.: 2:8:4
• Electron
conf.:2:8:18:1

14 protons 29 protons
14 nucleus 29 nucleus
10 electrons 28 electrons
in inner shell in inner shell

INSULATORS, CONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)


Insulators
 material does not conduct electrical current
 valence electron are tightly bound to the atom – very few free
electron
Conductors
 material that easily conducts electrical current.
 The best conductors are single-element material (e.g copper, silver,
gold, aluminum)
 Only one valence electron very loosely bound to the atom- free
electron
Semiconductors
 material between conductors and insulators in its ability to conduct
electric current
 in its pure (intrinsic) state is neither a good conductor nor a good
insulator
 most common semiconductor- silicon(Si), germanium(Ge), and
carbon(C) which contains CONDUCTORS
INSULATORS, four valence electrons.
& SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)
Energy increases as the distance
from the nucleus increases
1.3 COVALENT BONDING

Covalent bonding – holding atoms together by sharing


valence electrons
Sharing of valence To form Si crystal
electron produce the
covalent bond
Result of the bonding:
 The atom are held together forming a solid substrate.
 The atoms are all electrically stable, because their valence
shells are complete.

• Covalent bonding in an
intrinsic or pure silicon
crystal.
An intrinsic crystal has no
impurities.

Covalent bonds in a 3-D silicon crystal

COVALENT BONDING (cont..)


Energy Bands

INSULATORS, CONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)


Energy Bands

 Energy gap-diff. in energy between the valence band and


conduction band.
 Band-another name for an orbital shell (valence shell=valence
band)
 Conduction band –the band outside the valence shell where it has
free INSULATORS, CONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)
1.4 CONDUCTION IN
SEMICONDUCTOR

Figure 1-10 Energy band diagram for a pure (intrinsic) silicon


crystal with unexcited (no external energy such as heat) atoms.
There are no electrons in the conduction band. This condition
occurs only at a temperature of absolute 0 Kelvin.
Conduction Electrons and Holes

Absorbs enough energy


(thermal energy)
to jumps

a free electron and


its matching valence Recombination-when a conduction electron
band hole – loses energy and fall back into hole in
electron-hole pair valence band
Figure 1-11 Creation of electron-hole pairs in a silicon crystal.
Electrons in the conduction band are free (also called conduction
electrons) CONDUCTION IN SEMICONDUCTOR (cont..)
Conduction Electrons and Holes

Figure 1-12 Electron-hole pairs in a silicon crystal. Free electrons are


being generated continuously while some recombine with holes.

CONDUCTION IN SEMICONDUCTOR (cont..)


Electrons and Holes current
Electron current
free
electrons

Apply voltage
When a voltage is applied, free electrons are free to move randomly
and attracted toward +ve end. The movement of electrons is one type of
current in semiconductor and is called electron current.
Figure 1-13 Electron current in intrinsic silicon is produced by the
movement of thermally generated free electrons.
CONDUCTION IN SEMICONDUCTOR (cont..)
Electrons and Holes Current

movement
of holes

Figure 1-14 Hole current in intrinsic silicon.

CONDUCTION IN SEMICONDUCTOR (cont..)


1.5 N-TYPE & P-TYPE
SEMICONDUCTORS
Doping
 The process of creating N and P type materials
 By adding impurity atoms to intrinsic Si or Ge to improve
the conductivity of the semiconductor
 Two types of doping – trivalent (3 valence e-) & pentavalent
(5 valence e-)
p-type material – a semiconductor that has added
trivalent impurities
n-type material – a semiconductor that has added
pentavalent impurities
Trivalent Impurities:
 Aluminum (Al)
 Gallium (Ga)
 Boron (B)
 Indium (In)

Pentavalent Impurites:
 Phosphorus (P)
 Arsenic (As)
 Antimony (Sb)
 Bismuth (Bi)

N-TYPE & P-TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)


N-type semiconductor
 Pentavalent impurities are added to Si or Ge, the result is an
increase of
free electrons
 1 extra electrons becomes a conduction electrons because it is not
attached to any atom
 No. of conduction electrons can be controlled by the no. of
impurity atoms
 Pentavalent atom gives up an electron - call a donor atom
 Current carries in n-type are electrons – majority carriers
 Holes – minority carriers (holes created in Si when electron- hole
pairs are thermally generated.
Sb
impurity Pentavalent
atom impurity atom
in a Si crystal

N-TYPE & P-TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)


P-type semiconductor
 Trivalent impurities are added to Si or Ge to increase number of
holes.
 Boron, indium and gallium have 3 valence e- form covalent
bond with 4
adjacent silicon atom. A hole created when each trivalent atom is
added.
 The no. of holes can be controlled by the no. of trivalent
impurity atoms
 The trivalent atom can take an electron- acceptor atom
B Current carries in p-type are holes – majority carries
impurity
atom
electrons – minority carries (created during electron-holes pairs
generation).

Trivalent impurity
atom in a Si
crystal
N-TYPE & P-TYPE SEMICONDUCTORS (cont..)

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