What is a Semiconductor?

• Semiconductor is the generic term for materials that have electrical conductivity
between conductors (like copper and aluminum), and insulators (like rubber and
glass).

• Of the 92 elements, only a few can be used as semiconductor materials.

• Silicon, germanium, and selenium are examples of materials that are

semiconductors.

• Among them, silicon has been and still is the most common semiconductor.

• It has widespread commercial applications and is readily available.

 Holes and Electrons in Semiconductors

• Holes and electrons are the types of charge carriers accountable

for the flow of current in semiconductors.

• Holes (valence electrons) are the positively charged electric

charge carrier, whereas
• electrons are the negatively charged particles.

• Both electrons and holes are equal in magnitude but opposite in

polarity.
 Mobility of Electrons and Holes
• In a semiconductor, the mobility of electrons is higher than that of the holes.

• It is mainly because of their different band structures and scattering mechanisms.

• Electrons travel in the conduction band, whereas holes travel in the valence band.

• When an electric field is applied, holes cannot move as freely as electrons due to their
restricted movement.

• The elevation of electrons from their inner shells to higher shells results in the creation
of holes in semiconductors.

• Since the holes experience stronger atomic force by the nucleus than electrons, holes
have lower mobility.
• The mobility of a particle in a semiconductor is more, if
• The effective mass of particles is lesser
• The time between scattering events is more
• For intrinsic silicon at 300 K, the mobility of electrons is 1500 cm2 (V∙s)-1,
and the mobility of holes is 475 cm2 (V∙s)-1.
• The bond model of electrons in silicon of valency 4 is shown below. Here,
when one of the free electrons (blue dots) leaves the lattice position, it
creates a hole (grey dots). This hole thus created takes the opposite charge
of the electron and can be imagined as positive charge carriers moving in
the lattice.
 Conduction Band and Valence Band in Semiconductors
Valence Band
• The energy band involving the energy levels of valence electrons is known as the
valence band. It is the highest occupied energy band.
• When compared with insulators, the band gap in semiconductors is smaller.
• It allows the electrons in the valence band to jump into the conduction band on
receiving any external energy.
Conduction Band
• It is the lowest, unoccupied band that includes the energy levels of positive
(holes) or negative (free electrons) charge carriers.
• It has conducting electrons resulting in the flow of current. The conduction band
possess a high energy level and is generally empty.
• The conduction band in semiconductors accepts the electrons from the valence
band.
 Properties of Semiconductors
• Semiconductors act like insulators at zero Kelvin. On increasing the
temperature, they work as conductors.

• Due to their exceptional electrical properties, semiconductors can be

modified by doping to make semiconductor devices suitable for
energy conversion, switches and amplifiers.

• Lesser power losses.

• Semiconductors are smaller in size and possess less weight.
• Their resistivity is higher than conductors but lesser than insulators.

• The resistance of semiconductor materials decreases with an

increase in temperature and vice-versa.
On the basis of conductivity On the basis of the relative values of
electrical conductivity (𝜎) or resistivity (𝜎 = 1/𝜌), the solids are broadly
classified as:
• (i) Metals: They possess very low resistivity (or high conductivity).
𝜌 ~ 10–2 – 10–8 Ω m
𝜎 ~ 102 – 108 S m–1

• (ii) Semiconductors: They have resistivity or conductivity intermediate to metals

and insulators.
𝜌 ~ 10–5 – 106 Ω m
𝜎 ~ 105 – 10–6 S m–1

• (iii)Insulators: They have high resistivity (or low conductivity).

𝜌 ~ 1011 – 1019 Ω m
𝜎 ~ 10–11 – 10–19 S m–1
 SEMICONDUCTORS
Properties
• These are inorganic materials made from
elements in the fourth column (Group IV) of material Lattice Lattice Energy
the periodic table. Semiconductors in Group structure constant gap (eV)
IV are called elemental semiconductors. Ge diamond 5.66 0.66
Si diamond 5.43 1.12
• Compound semiconductors are made up of
Group III and Group V elements or Group II GaAs zinc-blende 5.64 1.44
and Group VI elements.
InP zinc-blende 5.86 1.25

• The name semiconductors is because at PbSe zinc-blende 6.14 0.27

certain temperatures they are good PbTe zinc-blende 6.34 0.30
electrical conductors, and they are
insulators in other temperature ranges.
 Characteristics of Compound Semiconductors

• High speed operation(high electron mobility)

• The ability to generate high frequency (microwave) signal

• Low voltage operation (for lighter & longer lasting, low voltage batteries used for
portable devices)

• Light emission (both visible and infrared light, for lasers and LEDs)

• Sensitivity to light (for photodetectors)

• Sensitivity to magnetism (useful in sensor applications)

• Resistance to heat and radiation (useful in space applications, such as solar cells for
satellites)
 Examples of Semiconductors:

• Gallium arsenide, germanium, and silicon are some of the most

commonly used semiconductors.

• Silicon is used in electronic circuit fabrication and gallium arsenide is

used in solar cells, laser diodes, etc
Applications of Semiconductors
Their reliability, compactness, low cost and controlled conduction of electricity make them ideal
to be used for various purposes in a wide range of components and devices.
Transistors, diodes, photosensors, microcontrollers, integrated chips and much more are made up
of semiconductors.
Uses of Semiconductors in Everyday Life
•Temperature sensors are made with semiconductor devices.
•They are used in 3D printing machines
•Used in microchips and self-driving cars
•Used in calculators, solar plates, computers and other electronic devices.
•Transistors and MOSFET used as a switch in electrical circuits are manufactured using
semiconductors.
 Intrinsic Semiconductor
• An intrinsic type of semiconductor
material is made to be very pure
chemically and possess poor conductivity
• A semiconductor which does not have any
kind of doping impurity
• It is made up of only a
single type of element.
• Germanium
(Ge) and Silicon (Si) are the most
common type of intrinsic
semiconductor elements.
• They have four valence electrons
(tetravalent).
• They are bound to the atom by covalent
bond at absolute zero temperature
The silicon doped with extra electrons is called an “N type” semiconductor.

“N” is for negative, which is the charge of an electron.

Silicon doped with material missing electrons that produce locations called holes is called “P type” semiconductor.

“P” is for positive, which is the charge of a hole.

Three-dimensional quantum heterostructures
- quantum wells, wires, and dots
The quantities of interest to us are

1. The wave function

2. The energy levels

3. The density of states:

As a point for comparison we recall the expressions for these quantities for carriers moving in bulk material:

Wave function: (x,y,z) = A exp [±i(kxx + kyy + kzz)]

E - Ec = (ћ2/2m*)(kx2+ky2+kz2)
Energy:

Density of states: (E) = (1/2π2) (2m*/ћ)3/2 (E - Ec)1/2

Three-dimensional quantum heterostructures
- quantum wells, wires, and dots

The 3-d quantum well:

InGaAs
InP InP
dx

In an infinitely deep well, i.e. ∆Ec = ∞, dx wide:

Wave function: (x,y,z) = An sin (nπx/dx) exp [±i(kyy+ kzz)]
for 0 ≤ x ≤ dx
= 0 outside well
Energy:
E - Ec = En + (ћ2/2m*)(ky2+kz2)
with En = π2h2n2/2m*dx2
Density of states:
(E) = (m*/π2ћ) for E ≥ En for each n
Three-dimensional quantum heterostructures
- quantum wells, wires, and dots

The 3-d quantum wire: dx

dy
InGaAs
InP

In an infinitely deep wire, i.e. ∆Ec = ∞, dx by dy:

Wave function: (x,y,z) = Anm sin (nπx/dx) sin (mπx/dy) exp [±i kzz)] for 0
≤ x ≤ dx, 0 ≤ y ≤ dy
= 0 outside wire
E - Ec = En,m + (ћ2/2m*) kz2
Energy:
with En,m = (π2ћ2 /2m*) (n2/dx 2 + m /dy2 )

(E) = {m*/[2ћ2 π2(E - Ec - En,m)]}1/2 for each n,m

Density of states:
Note: some combinations of n and m may give the same
energies
Three-dimensional quantum heterostructures
- quantum wells, wires, and dots

The 3-d quantum box: dx

dy
InGaAs
InP
dz

In an infinitely deep box, i.e. ∆Ec = ∞, dx by dy by dz:

Wave function: (x, y, z) = Anm sin (nπx/dx) sin (mπx/dy) sin

(pπx/dz) for 0 ≤ x ≤ dx, 0 ≤ y ≤ dy , 0
≤ z ≤ dz
= 0 outside box
Energy: E - E = E
c n, m, p

with En, m, p = (π2ћ2 /2m*)(n2/dx2 + m2/dy 2 + p2/dz2)

Density of states:
(E) = one per box for each combination of n, m, and p
Note: some combinations of n and m may give the same energies
Metals are conductors and so the Fermi level and
the energy level of conductors are the same.
 Energy band diagram after metal semiconductor contact

• When the metal and the semiconductor come in contact, the Fermi level of both metal and
semiconductor tend to become equal.
• The energy level of conduction band of the semiconductor is higher than the Fermi level
in metals. So the electrons from higher energy level tend to flow to lower energy level.
• So the electrons in the conduction band decreases and the distance between the Fermi
level and the energy level of conduction band decreases.
• The electrons which had moved from higher energy level to lower energy level leaves
holes behind which are positive ions.
• And thus the depletion zone is formed and the width of the depletion zone depends on the
amount of impurity added.