Lecture 2
OUTLINE
• Basic Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)
– Carrier drift and diffusion
Reading: Chapter 2.1‐2.2
Dopant Compensation
• An N‐type semiconductor can be converted into P‐
type material by counter‐doping it with acceptors
such that NA > ND.
• A compensated semiconductor material has both
acceptors and donors.
N‐type material P‐type material
(ND > NA) (NA > ND)
n ≈ ND − N A p ≈ N A − ND
2 2
ni ni
p≈ n≈
ND − N A N A − ND
Types of Charge in a Semiconductor
• Negative charges:
– Conduction electrons (density = n)
– Ionized acceptor atoms (density = NA)
• Positive charges:
– Holes (density = p)
– Ionized donor atoms (density = ND)
• The net charge density (C/cm3) in a semiconductor is
ρ = q ( p − n + ND − N A )
Carrier Drift
• The process in which charged particles move because
of an electric field is called drift.
• Charged particles within a semiconductor move with
an average velocity proportional to the electric field.
– The proportionality constant is the carrier mobility.
Velocity Saturation
• In reality, carrier velocities saturate at an upper limit,
called the saturation velocity (vsat).
Esat ≈ 104 V/cm
Drift Current
• Drift current is proportional to the carrier velocity
and carrier concentration:
vh t A = volume from which all holes cross plane in time t
p vh t A = # of holes crossing plane in time t
q p vh t A = charge crossing plane in time t
q p vh A = charge crossing plane per unit time = hole current
Conductivity and Resistivity
• In a semiconductor, both electrons and holes
conduct current:
Resistivity Example
• Estimate the resistivity of a Si sample doped with phosphorus
to a concentration of 1015 cm‐3 and boron to a concentration
of 1017 cm‐3. The electron mobility and hole mobility are 800
cm2/Vs and 300 cm2/Vs, respectively.
Electrical Resistance
Carrier Diffusion
• Due to thermally induced random motion, mobile
particles tend to move from a region of high
concentration to a region of low concentration.
– Analogy: ink droplet in water
• Current flow due to mobile charge diffusion is
proportional to the carrier concentration gradient.
– The proportionality constant is the diffusion constant.
Diffusion Examples
Diffusion Current
• Diffusion current within a semiconductor consists of
hole and electron components:
