Semiconductor Device Physics
Lecture 3
Dr.-Ing. Erwin Sitompul
President University
http://zitompul.wordpress.com
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Semiconductor Device Physics
Chapter 3
Carrier Action
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Carrier Action
Three primary types of carrier action occur inside a
semiconductor:
Drift: charged particle motion in response to an applied
electric field.
Diffusion: charged particle motion due to concentration
gradient or temperature gradient.
Recombination-Generation: a process where charge
carriers (electrons and holes) are annihilated (destroyed)
and created.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Carrier Scattering
Mobile electrons and atoms in the Si lattice are always in
random thermal motion.
Electrons make frequent collisions with the vibrating atoms.
“Lattice scattering” or “phonon scattering” increases with increasing
temperature.
Average velocity of thermal motion for electrons: ~1/1000 x speed of
light at 300 K (even under equilibrium conditions).
Other scattering mechanisms:
Deflection by ionized impurity atoms.
Deflection due to Coulombic force between carriers or “carrier-carrier
scattering.”
Only significant at high carrier concentrations.
The net current in any direction is zero, if no electric field is
applied.
3 2
1
4 electron
5
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Carrier Drift
When an electric field (e.g. due to an externally applied
voltage) is applied to a semiconductor, mobile charge-carriers
will be accelerated by the electrostatic force.
This force superimposes on the random motion of electrons.
2
3 1
4 electron
F = –qE 5
E
Electrons drift in the direction opposite to the electric field
è Current flows.
• Due to scattering, electrons in a semiconductor do
not achieve constant velocity nor acceleration.
• However, they can be viewed as particles moving at a
constant average drift velocity vd.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Drift Current
vd t All holes this distance back from the normal plane will
cross the plane in a time t
vd t A All holes in this volume will cross the plane in a time t
p vd t A Holes crossing the plane in a time t
q p vd t A Charge crossing the plane in a time t
q p vd A Charge crossing the plane per unit time,
Þ Hole drift current IP|drift (Ampere)
q p vd Current density associated with hole drift current,
J P|drift
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Drift Velocity vs. Electric Field
• Linear relation holds in low field
intensity, ~5103 V/cm
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Hole and Electron Mobility
has the dimensions of v/E :
Electron and hole mobility of selected
intrinsic semiconductors (T = 300 K)
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Hole and Electron Mobility
For holes,
• Hole current due to drift
• Hole current density due to drift
In low-field limit,
• μp : hole mobility
Similarly for electrons,
• Electron current density due to drift
• μn : electron mobility
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Temperature Effect on Mobility
RL RI
Impedance to motion due
to lattice scattering:
• No doping dependence
• Decreases with
decreasing temperature
Impedance to motion due to
ionized impurity scattering:
• Increases with NA or ND
• Increases with
decreasing temperature
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Temperature Effect on Mobility
Carrier mobility varies with doping:
Decreases with increasing total
concentration of ionized dopants.
Carrier mobility varies with
temperature:
Decreases with increasing T if
lattice scattering is dominant.
Decreases with decreasing T if
impurity scattering is dominant.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Conductivity and Resistivity
JN|drift = –qnvd = qnnE
JP|drift = qpvd = qppE
Jdrift = JN|drift + JP|drift =q(nn+pp)E = E
Conductivity of a semiconductor: = q(nn+pp)
Resistivity of a semiconductor: = 1/
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Resistivity Dependence on Doping
For n-type material:
For p-type material:
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Carrier Mobility as Function Doping Level
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Example
Consider a Si sample at 300 K doped with 1016/cm3 Boron.
What is its resistivity?
NA = 1016 cm–3 , ND = 0 (NA >> ND p-type)
p 1016 cm–3, n 104 cm–3
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Example
Consider the same Si sample, doped additionally with 1017/cm3
Arsenic. What is its resistivity now?
NA = 1016 cm–3 , ND = 1017 cm–3 (ND > NA n-type)
n ND – NA = 9 ×1016 cm–3, p ni2/n = 1.11×103 cm–3
• μn is to be taken for the value at N
= NA + ND = 1.1 × 1017 cm–3
• μn ≈ 790 cm2/V·s
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Example
Consider a Si sample doped with 1017cm–3 As. How will its
resistivity change when the temperature is increased from
T = 300 K to T = 400 K?
The temperature dependent factor
in (and therefore ) is n.
From the mobility vs. temperature
curve for 1017cm–3, we find that n
decreases from 770 at 300 K to
400 at 400 K.
As a result, increases by a
factor of:
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Increasing electron energy Potential vs. Kinetic Energy
Electron kinetic energy
Increasing hole energy
Ec
Ev
Hole kinetic energy
Ec represents the electron
potential energy:
• Eref is arbitrary
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Band Bending
Until now, Ec and Ev have always been drawn to be
independent of the position.
When an electric field E exists inside a material, the band
energies become a function of position.
E
Ec
Ev
x
• Variation of Ec with position is
called “band bending”
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Band Bending
The potential energy of a particle
with charge –q is related to the
electrostatic potential V(x):
• Since Ec, Ev, and Ei differ only
by an additive constant
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Diffusion
Particles diffuse from regions of higher concentration to
regions of lower concentration region, due to random thermal
motion (Brownian Motion).
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
1-D Diffusion Example
Thermal motion causes particles to
move into an adjacent compartment
every τ seconds.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Diffusion Currents
n e- p h+
x x
Electron flow Hole flow
Current flow Current flow
• D is the diffusion coefficient,
in [cm2/sec]
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Total Currents
Drift current flows when an electric field is applied.
Diffusion current flows when a gradient of carrier
concentration exist.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Current Flow Under Equilibrium Conditions
In equilibrium, there is no net flow of electrons or :
The drift and diffusion current components must balance each
other exactly.
A built-in electric field of ionized atoms exists, such that the
drift current exactly cancels out the diffusion current due to the
concentration gradient.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Current Flow Under Equilibrium Conditions
Consider a piece of non-uniformly doped semiconductor:
n-type semiconductor
Decreasing donor
concentration
Ec(x)
EF
Ev(x)
• Under equilibrium, EF inside
a material or a group of
materials in intimate contact
is not a function of position
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Einstein Relationship between D and m
But, under equilibrium conditions, JN = 0 and JP = 0
Similarly,
• Einstein Relationship
Further proof can show that the Einstein Relationship is valid
for a non-degenerate semiconductor, both in equilibrium and
non-equilibrium conditions.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Example: Diffusion Coefficient
What is the hole diffusion coefficient in a sample of silicon at
300 K with p = 410 cm2 / V.s ?
• Remark: kT/q = 25.86 mV
at room temperature
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Recombination–Generation
Recombination: a process by which conduction electrons and
holes are annihilated in pairs.
Generation: a process by which conduction electrons and
holes are created in pairs.
Generation and recombination processes act to change the
carrier concentrations, and thereby indirectly affect current
flow.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Generation Processes
Band-to-Band R–G Center Impact Ionization
Release of
energy
ET: trap energy level
• Due to lattice defects or
unintentional impurities
EG
• Also called indirect
generation
• Only occurs in the
presence of large E
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Recombination Processes
Band-to-Band R–G Center Auger
Collision
• Rate is limited by • Occurs in heavily
minority carrier trapping doped material
• Primary recombination
way for Si
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Homework 3
1.
(4.17)
Problem
2. 3.6, Pierret’s “Semiconductor Device Fundamentals”.
(4.27)
Problem 3.12, from (a) until (f), only for Figure P3.12(a) and Figure
P3.12(f), Pierret’s “Semiconductor Device Fundamentals”.
3.
Next slide.
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Chapter 3 Carrier Action
Homework 3
3.
(5.28)
The electron concentration in silicon at T = 300 K is given by
where x is measured in μm and is limited to 0 ≤ x ≤ 25 μm. The electron
diffusion coefficient is DN = 25 cm2/s and the electron mobility is μn = 960
cm2/(Vs). The total electron current density through the semiconductor is
constant and equal to JN = –40 A/cm2. The electron current has both
diffusion and drift current components.
Determine the electric field as a function of x which must exist in the
semiconductor. Sketch the function.
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