Physics of VLSI Devices –

MVLD501L (Module 1)
Dr. Rajan Pandey
Associate Professor, SENSE
 Fermi function–the probability of an energy
state being occupied by an electron
• In n-type material, there is a high concentration Increased probability of
of electrons in the conduction band compared occupation of states in
to the hole concentration in the valence band. the CB by electrons.
• Thus, in n-type material the distribution function
f(E) must lie above its intrinsic position on the
energy scale.
• The larger concentration of electrons at Ec in n-type
material implies a correspondingly smaller hole
concentration at Ev .
• The energy difference (Ec - EF) gives a measure of how
strongly n-type the material is. Strong n-type 
smaller (Ec - EF).
• For p-type material the Fermi level lies near the
valence band such that the [1 - f(E)] tail below Ev is
larger than the f(E) tail above Ec. Increased probability
• The value of (EF - Ev) indicates how strongly p-type the of occupation of states
material is. Strong p-type  smaller (EF - Ev). in the VB by holes.
 Fermi function–the probability of an energy
state being occupied by an electron
1
f (E)  ( E  E F ) / kT
EF is the Fermi energy
1 e
Boltzmann approximation:
At large E (E – EF >> kT),

Maxwell-Boltzmann
1 in the denominator can f ( E )  e   E  E F  kT E  E F  kT
be ignored…
The probability of a state being occupied decreases exponentially
Fermi-Dirac with increasing E. This is the Boltzmann statistics.
For lower E (E – EF << –kT
f ( E )  1  e   E F  E  kT E  EF   kT
or E << EF – kT),
The occupation probability approaches 1. In other words, the low
energy states tend to be fully occupied.

There is only one Fermi level in a system at equilibrium!

Example: Let T = 300 K. Determine the probability that an energy level 3kT above the Fermi energy is
occupied by an electron.

The probability that a state is occupied is

1 1 1 1
f (E)  ( E  E F ) / kT
    0.047  4.7%
1 e 1  e ( 3kT ) / kT 1  e 1  20.09
3

At energies above EF , the probability of a state being occupied by an electron can become significantly
less than unity, or the ratio of electrons to available quantum states (ni /gi) can be quite small.

Example: Assume that the Fermi energy level for a particular material is 6.25 eV and that the electrons in
this material follow the Fermi–Dirac distribution function. Calculate the temperature at which there is a 1
percent probability that a state 0.30 eV below the Fermi energy level will not contain an electron.

1
The probability that a state 1  f (E)  1 
is empty is 1  e ( E  EF ) / kT
1
0.01  1 
1  e (5.956.25) / kT
Solving for kT, we get kT = 0.0653 eV, so the temperature is T = 756 K.
 Electron and Hole Concentrations
The Fermi distribution function can be used to calculate the concentrations of electrons and holes in
a semiconductor, if the densities of available states in the valence and conduction bands are known.

n and p can be given in terms of D(E) and f(E)

Number of electrons top of conduction band From Boltzmann approximation
per cm3 in the entire n f ( E ) Dc ( E )dE
conduction band Ec

8mn 2mn 
  E  E F  kT We can choose the integration
n
h3 Ec
E  Ec e dE limit from 0 to ꝏ.

We can write  8mn 2mn  Ec  EF  kT    E  Ec  kT

(E – EF) = (EC – EF + E – EC) 
h 3
e 0
E  E c e d ( E  Ec )

Introducing a new variable 𝑥 = (𝐸 − 𝐸 )/𝑘𝑇 The above integral becomes Gamma function

𝑥𝑒 𝑑𝑥 = 𝜋/2
 Electron and Hole Concentrations
32 Nc is called the effective
n  Nce  ( Ec  E F ) / kT  2mn kT  density of states (of the
where N c  2  2 
 h  conduction band).

A larger n implies smaller (EC – EF). What happens when (EC – EF) is negative?

Similarly, we can have the number of holes per cm3 in the entire valence band

32 Nv is called the effective

 ( E F  Ev ) / kT  2m p kT 
p  Nve where N v  2  2  density of states of the
 h  valence band.

For Si, NC = 2.8 X 1019 cm-3 and NV = 1.04 X 1019 cm-3.

The closer EF moves up to EC , the larger n is; the closer EF moves down to EV, the
larger p is. This shows how strong n or p type the semiconductor is!
 What do we mean by these?
n  N c e  ( Ec  EF ) / kT p  N v e  ( E F  Ev ) / kT

• If we know the position of the Fermi level, we can find out electron and hole concentration.

• Conversely, if we know the electron/hole concentration, we can estimate the position of the
Fermi level with respect to the band edges (Ec or Ev).

• (Ec – EF ) negative means that Fermi level will lie above Ec. This implies a degenerately n-doped
semiconductor: Instead of the impurity level, there will be impurity band.

• This heavily doped semiconductor, will behave like metal, and even at 0 K, electrons will be
available in the conduction band.

• Likewise (EF - Ev) negative means that Fermi level will lie below Ev. This implies a degenerately p-
doped semiconductor: Instead of the impurity level, there will be impurity band, and even at 0 K,
holes will be available in the valence band.
 Electron and Hole Pictorially
Conduction band
Concentrations
• DC (E) is proportional to E1/2, so
𝑫𝑪 𝑬 𝒇 𝑬 = 𝒏(𝑬)
the density of states in the DC(E)
𝒇 𝑬
conduction band increases with DC(E)
n
electron energy. On the other
hand, the Fermi function becomes
extremely small for large energies. 𝒇 𝑬
• The result is that the product Undoped semiconductor
f(E) DC (E) decreases rapidly above
EC , and most electrons occupy
𝑫𝑽 𝑬 [𝟏 − 𝒇 𝑬 ] = 𝒑(𝑬)
energy states near the conduction
[𝟏 − 𝒇 𝑬 ]
band edge. DV(E)
• Similarly, the probability of DV(E)

finding an empty state (hole) p

in the valence band [1 - f(E)]
decreases rapidly below EV ,
and most holes occupy states Valence band
near the top of valence band. 𝒇 𝑬 = 𝟎 𝒇 𝑬 =1
 n-type p-type
Electron and Hole
Concentrations:
After doping
DC(E) DC(E)

n
n
EFi – Fermi level of intrinsic
or undoped semiconductor 𝒇 𝑬

𝒇 𝑬
EF – Fermi level of either
n-type or p-type doped
semiconductor
DV(E) DV(E)
p
p

𝒇 𝑬 =𝟎 𝒇 𝑬 =𝟏 𝒇 𝑬 =𝟎 𝒇 𝑬 =𝟏
What decides the Fermi level position?
 The Fermi Level and Carrier Concentrations
Where will be EF for (a) n =1017 cm-3? And for (b) p = 1014 cm-3?
For Si (at room temperature), NC = 2.8 x 1019 cm-3 and NV = 1.04 x 1019 cm-3

(a) n  N c e  ( Ec  EF ) / kT At room temperature, kT = 26 meV

Ec  EF  kT ln N c n   0.026 ln 2.8 1019 / 1017   0.146 eV

(b) For p = 1014cm-3, p  N v e  ( EF  Ev ) / kT

EF  Ev  kT ln N v p   0.026 ln 1.04 1019 / 1014   0.310 eV
0.146 eV
Ec Ec
EF

EF
0.310 eV
Ev Ev
(a) (b)
What else decides the Fermi level position?
 Electron and Hole Concentrations (T = 0K to T = 300 K)

(a) (b) (a) (b)

Energy band diagram at T = 0K for (a) n-type and The energy-band diagram showing (a) the discrete donor
(b) p-type semiconductors energy state and (b) the effect of a donor state being ionized.

(a) (b)
(a) (b)
Energy band diagram showing complete ionization of The energy-band diagram showing (a) the discrete acceptor
(a) donor states and (b) acceptor states. What about EF? energy state and (b) the effect of an acceptor state being ionized.
The Fermi Level: Effects of Carrier Concentrations & Temperature
Low Moderate Heavy doping

n  N c e  ( Ec  EF ) / kT
E F  Ec  kT ln  N c n 
EC  E F  kT ln  N c n 

As n increases, NC /n decreases  ln(NC /n) decreases  EC - EF is smaller

 EF increases (as EC is fixed for a semiconductor). Similarly for a p-type
semiconductor.

For higher temperatures, thermally generated electron-hole pair will move the Fermi
level slightly down for n-type and will move slightly up for p-type semiconductor.
 The np Product and the Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
 ( E  E ) / kT
Multiply n  N c e c F and p  N v e  ( EF  Ev ) / kT
 E g / kT
np  N c N v e  ( Ec  Ev ) / kT  N c N v e
2
np  ni What does it mean?

Doping a semiconductor with equal amount of n and p type dopants is equivalent to intrinsic semiconductor.

 E g / 2 kT Intrinsic concentration of a semiconductor is

ni  N c N v e strongly dependent on the band gap and the
temperature.
In an intrinsic (undoped) semiconductor, n = p = ni .
ni is the intrinsic carrier concentration = 1.5 x 1010 cm-3 for Si (300 K).
• ni for GaAs = 2 × 106/cm3(300 K)! Why? Because the band gap is 1.46 eV (larger than Si (1.12 eV).
• ni for Ge = 2 × 1013/cm3(300 K)! Why? Because the band gap is 0.67 eV (smaller than Si (1.12 eV).
 The Intrinsic Fermi Level
• In an intrinsic semiconductor, n = p. Therefore Ec – EF ≈ EF – Ev and the Fermi level is nearly at the
middle of the band gap, i.e., EF ≈ Ec – Eg/2. We know that this level is called the intrinsic Fermi level,
Ei or EFi.
 E g / 2 kT
ni  N c N v e

n  N c e  ( Ec  EF ) / kT
• For intrinsic semiconductor  ( Ec  E Fi ) / kT
ni  N c e

• EFi would be at the mid-gap, Ec – Eg/2, if Nc = Nv. For silicon, EFi is very close to the mid-gap.
 Additional learning on carrier concentration
N 
 ( Ec  E F ) / kT Ec  E F  kT ln C 
n  Nce  n 
Given the donor concentration, we can find out how far away the EC
Fermi level is from Ec EF
EFi
The above principle can be extended for intrinsic semiconductor
EV
 ( Ec  E Fi ) / kT
ni  N c e
n  ni e ( EF  EFi ) / kT
Given the donor concentration,
we can find out how far away the
EC
Fermi level is from the intrinsic Ed
Fermi level (assuming Nd = n) EF
EFi
Given the acceptor concentration,
we can also find out how far away EV
the Fermi level is from the intrinsic
 ( E F  E Fi ) / kT
Fermi level (assuming Na = p) p  ni e