Semiconductor
The atomic structure of Si, Ge, Ga,
Ar are indicates how the atoms are
bound together to form a crystalline
structure.
The fundamental components of an
atom are the electron, proton, and
neutron.
In the lattice structure, neutrons
and protons form the nucleus
(center) and electrons appear in
fixed orbits around the nucleus.
The Bohr model for the three
materials is provided in Fig. 1.3.
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Semiconductor
An atom's nth electron shell can accommodate 2n2 electrons (n=1, 2, 3, . . ), e.g. the first
shell can accommodate 2 electrons, the second shell 8 electrons, the third shell
18 electrons and so on.
The electron configuration of atom is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d10 5p6 6s2 4f14
5d10 6p6 7s2 5f14 6d10 7p6
Valence bonding: In Fig. 1.3, Si, Ge, Ga and Ar have 14, 32, 31 and 33 orbiting
electrons respectively. For Ge and Si there are four electrons in the outermost shell,
which are referred to as valence electrons and their bonding is called valence
bonding. Ga has three and Ar has five valence electrons.
[The term valence indicates that the potential required to remove any one of these electrons from
the structure is significantly lower than any other electron in the structure.]
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Semiconductor
Covalent bonding: In a pure Si or Ge crystal the four valence electrons of one atom
form a bonding arrangement with four connecting atoms (Fig. 1.4).
This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of electrons, is called covalent
bonding.
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Semiconductor
Energy levels:
Within the atomic structure
there are specific energy levels
for each shell and orbiting
electron (Fig. 1.6). The energy
levels of each shell will be
different for every element.
Fig. 1.6a shows only specific
energy levels can exist for the
electrons in the atomic
structure of an atom. The result
is a series of gaps between
allowed energy levels where
carriers are not permitted.
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Semiconductor
Semiconductor: Semiconductors are a special class of elements having conductivity
between that of a good conductor and that of an insulator. The three semiconductors
are used most frequently in the construction of electronic devices are Ge , Si, and
GaAs (gallium arsenide).
Intrinsic Semiconductor: The term intrinsic is applied to any semiconductor
material that has been carefully refined to reduce the number of impurities to a very
low level as pure as can be made.
Extrinsic Semiconductor: A semiconductor material that has been subjected to the
doping process is called an extrinsic semiconductor material.
There are two extrinsic semiconductor materials of immeasurable importance to
semiconductor device fabrication: n-type and p-type semiconductor materials.
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Semiconductor
n-type Semiconductor: An n-type material is created by introducing impurity atoms
to a silicon base that have five valence electrons (pentavalent), such as antimony (Sb),
arsenic (Ar), and phosphorus (P) (Fig. 1.7). These impurities can alter the band structure
sufficiently to totally change the electrical properties of the material.
Diffused impurities with
five valence electrons are
called donor atoms.
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Semiconductor
p-type Semiconductor: The p-type material is formed by doping a pure silicon crystal
with impurity atoms having three valence electrons. The elements most frequently used
for this purpose are boron (B), gallium (Ga), and indium (In) (Fig. 1.9).
There is an insufficient number of
electrons to complete the covalent. The
resulting vacancy is called a hole and is
represented by a small circle or a plus sign,
indicating the absence of a negative
charge. Since the resulting vacancy will
readily accept a free electron.
The diffused impurities with three valence
electrons are called acceptor atoms. 7
Semiconductor
Majority and Minority Carriers:
In an n-type material the electron is called the majority carrier and the
hole the minority carrier (Fig. 1.11(a)).
In a p-type material the hole is the majority carrier and the electron is the minority
carrier (Fig. 1.11(b)).
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Semiconductor Diode
The semiconductor diode, is
created by simply joining an n-
type and a p-type material
together, nothing more.
No Applied Bias (VD =0 V):
The two materials (p-type and n-
type) are “joined” the electrons
and the holes in the region of the
junction will combine (Fig. 1.12a) .
This region of uncovered positive
and negative ions is called the
depletion (resistive) region.
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Semiconductor Diode
Reverse-Bias Condition (VD < 0 V):
If an external volts is applied across the p–n junction such that the positive terminal is
connected to the n-type material and the negative terminal is connected to the p-type
material (Fig. 1.13), the positive ions in the depletion region of the n-type material will
increase. For similar reasons, the negative ions will increase in the p-type material. The net
effect, therefore, is a widening of the depletion region.
This widening of the depletion
region will establish too great a
barrier for the majority carriers to
overcome, effectively reducing
the majority carrier flow to zero,
as shown in Fig. 1.13a.
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Semiconductor Diode
Forward-Bias Condition (VD > 0 V):
A forward-bias or “on” condition is established by applying the positive potential to the p-
type material and the negative potential to the n-type material. The application of a
forward-bias potential VD will “pressure” electrons in the n-type material and holes in the p-
type material to recombine with the ions near the boundary and reduce the width of the
depletion region (Fig. 1.14a).
The resulting, the minority-
carrier of electrons flow from
the p-type material to the n-
type material (and of holes
from the n-type material to
the p-type material).
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