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Semiconductor Materials for ICs

The document discusses semiconductor materials for integrated circuits. It begins by introducing silicon and germanium as the original semiconductor materials discovered in the late 19th century. Currently, silicon dominates semiconductor technology for high-speed internet of things applications. However, alternatives are being explored as silicon transistors face physical limitations. The document then discusses properties of common semiconductor materials like silicon and gallium arsenide, noting tradeoffs between properties. It explains how alloying compounds allows tuning bandgap and lattice constants, with implications for properties like light emission efficiency. The conclusion reiterates that a wide variety of materials from the periodic table could potentially be used in future integrated circuits.

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Swapna Sarker
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52 views9 pages

Semiconductor Materials for ICs

The document discusses semiconductor materials for integrated circuits. It begins by introducing silicon and germanium as the original semiconductor materials discovered in the late 19th century. Currently, silicon dominates semiconductor technology for high-speed internet of things applications. However, alternatives are being explored as silicon transistors face physical limitations. The document then discusses properties of common semiconductor materials like silicon and gallium arsenide, noting tradeoffs between properties. It explains how alloying compounds allows tuning bandgap and lattice constants, with implications for properties like light emission efficiency. The conclusion reiterates that a wide variety of materials from the periodic table could potentially be used in future integrated circuits.

Uploaded by

Swapna Sarker
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

National Institute of Technology Warangal

Fundamentals of Nano electronics


Assignment-01

Prepared By:
Swapna Sarker
ECE M.Tech 1st Semister
Branch: VLSI
Roll No:194571

Submitted To:
Dr. Atul Kumar Nishad
Assistant Professor
Assignment Topic:
Opinion about all the materials available in the periodic
table based on current & future IC application.

Introduction: The search for new semiconductor materials began


with new technology requirements in the early nineteenth century. One of
the pivotal discoveries was silicon(Si) and Germanium(Ge),by Clemens
Winkler in 1886.The current Semiconductor technology is mostly based
on Si material to fabricate integrated circuits(ICs) in the era of high-speed
Internet-of-Things(IoT).Since Si transistors of ICs have faced physical
limitations due to their fundamental properties, a number of researchers
are actively searching for alternatives.

Periodic Table:
About Semiconductor:
Semiconductor materials are nominally small band gap insulators. The
defining property of a semiconductor material is that it can be doped with
impurities that alter its electronic properties in a controllable way. Because
of their application in the computer and photovoltaic industry—in devices
such as transistors, lasers, and solar cells—the search for new
semiconductor materials and the improvement of existing materials is an
important field of study in materials science.
Most commonly used semiconductor materials are crystalline inorganic
solids. These materials are classified according to the periodic table groups
of their constituent atoms.
Different semiconductor materials differ in their properties. Thus, in
comparison with silicon, compound semiconductors have both advantages
and disadvantages. For example, gallium arsenide (GaAs) has six times
higher electron mobility than silicon, which allows faster operation; wider
band gap, which allows operation of power devices at higher temperatures,
and gives lower thermal noise to low power devices at room temperature;
its direct band gap gives it more favourable optoelectronic properties than
the indirect band gap of silicon; it can be alloyed to ternary and quaternary
compositions, with adjustable band gap width, allowing light emission at
chosen wavelengths, and allowing e.g. matching to wavelengths with
lowest losses in optical fibers. GaAs can be also grown in a semi-
insulating form, which is suitable as a lattice-matching insulating substrate
for GaAs devices. Conversely, silicon is robust, cheap, and easy to
process, whereas GaAs is brittle and expensive, and insulation layers can
not be created by just growing an oxide layer; GaAs is therefore used only
where silicon is not sufficient.
By alloying multiple compounds, some semiconductor materials are
tunable, e.g., in band gap or lattice constant. The result is ternary,
quaternary, or even quinary compositions. Ternary compositions allow
adjusting the band gap within the range of the involved binary compounds;
however, in case of combination of direct and indirect band gap materials
there is a ratio where indirect band gap prevails, limiting the range usable
for optoelectronics; e.g. AlGaAs LEDs are limited to 660 nm by this.
Lattice constants of the compounds also tend to be different, and the lattice
mismatch against the substrate, dependent on the mixing ratio, causes
defects in amounts dependent on the mismatch magnitude; this influences
the ratio of achievable radiative/nonradiative recombinations and
determines the luminous efficiency of the device. Quaternary and higher
compositions allow adjusting simultaneously the band gap and the lattice
constant, allowing increasing radiant efficiency at wider range of
wavelengths; for example AlGaInP is used for LEDs. Materials
transparent to the generated wavelength of light are advantageous, as this
allows more efficient extraction of photons from the bulk of the material.
That is, in such transparent materials, light production is not limited to just
the surface. Index of refraction is also composition-dependent and
influences the extraction efficiency of photons from the material.

About all the materials available in the periodic table


based on current & future IC application
Conclusion: Materials behavior has been discussed above which are
available in periodic table.

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