A report submitted to the

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

College of Engineering
University of Duhok
 Table of contents

Topics Page
1 Abstract 2
2 Semiconductor 3
3 Semiconductor materials 4
4 List of Common Semiconductor Devices 5
5 Advantages of Semiconductor Devices 7
6 Disadvantages of Semiconductor Devices 7
7 Doping 8
8 Electronic band structure in doped semiconductors 10
9 Conclusions 13
10 References 14

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Abstract
Recently, geometry-induced quantum effects in periodic Si nanostructures were introduced and
observed. Nanograting has been shown to originate geometry induced doping or G-doping. G-
doping is based on reduction of density of quantum states and is n-type. Here, fabrication and
characterization of G-doping based compensated p-p(v) junctions is reported. The p-p(v)
abbreviation is introduced to emphasize voltage dependence of G-doping level. The p-type Si
wafer is used for sample fabrication. First, two square islands are shaped at the surface of the
wafer. Next, entire Si surface is oxidized to grow thin SiO2 insulating layer. Two windows are
opened in SiO2 and nanograting is fabricated inside one of the windows using laser interference
lithography followed by reactive ion etching. Gdoping p-p(v) junction between p-type substrate
and the nanograting layer is formed. Next, metal contacts are deposited on both islands to
measure electrical characteristics of p-p(v) junction. To exclude contact resistance input Van der
Pauw method is used. Obtained I-V curves are diode type with extremely low voltage drop in
forward direction and reduced reverse current. Experimental I-V curves are fitted to the Shockley
equation and ideality factor is found to be in the range of 0.2-0.14. Such a low values confirm
that p-p(v) junction is fundamentally different from the conventional p-n junction. This
difference is ascribed to G-doping which, unlike conventional doping, is external voltage
dependent.

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Semiconductor

Essence of a semiconductor
A semiconductor can be considered a material having a conductivity ranging between that of an
insulator and a metal. A crucial property of semiconductors is the band gap; a range of forbidden
energies within the electronic structure of the material. Semiconductors typically have bandgaps
ranging between 1 and 4 eV, whilst insulators have larger bandgaps, often greater than 5 eV. The
thermal energy available at room temperature, 300 K, is approximately 25 meV and is thus
considerably smaller than the energy required to promote an electron across the bandgap. This
means that there are a small number of carriers present at room temperature, due to the high
energy tail of the Boltzmann-like thermal energy distribution. It is the ability to control the
number of charge carriers that makes semiconductors of great technological importance.
Semiconducting materials are very sensitive to impurities in the crystal lattice as these can have a
dramatic effect on the number of mobile charge carriers present. The controlled addition of these
impurities is known as doping and allows the tuning of the electronic properties, an important
requirement for technological applications. The properties of a pure semiconductor are called
'intrinsic', whilst those resulting from the introduction of dopants are called 'extrinsic'. This
introduction of dopants results in the creation of new, intra-band, energy levels and the
generation of either negative (electrons) or positive (holes) charge carriers. More detail on
doping can be found on the electronic band structure webpage.

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Semiconductor materials
Crystal structure
Clicking on a title will reveal the relevant images for that crystal structure. More information on
crystallography can be found on.

Cubic Structures
Cubic structures have the simple property that their unit cells take the shape of a cube. There are
three main variants of the cubic crystal system: the simple cubic, the body centered cubic (BCC)
and the face-centered cubic (FCC) structures. Of greatest interest is the face-centered cubic, as
several derivatives of this structure are found amongst semiconducting materials.
FCC structure
The FCC lattice features an atom at the corners of the unit cell, in addition to one at the center of
each face. This structure is often adopted by metals as it maximizes their co-ordination number.

Diamond structure
The strong covalent bonds that carbon forms with itself result in the tetrahedrally-bonded
diamond structure. Each diamond atom is bonded to four neighbors and has a co-ordination
number of 8. Diamond is the prototype material, however, other Group IV elements (Si, Ge and
Sn) also have this structure.
Zincblende structure
As with silicon and germanium, the III-V compound semiconductors form bonds with covalent
characteristics. This results in a structure very similar to that of diamond, however, in diamond
each carbon atom is bonded to another carbon atom. In the zincblende structure each atom is
bonded to a different species of atom and results in a mixed lattice. The zincblende structure
consists of two interpenetrating FCC lattices, where one lattice is offset by 1/4 of the unit cell.
One type of atom occupies one set of lattice positions and the other species the second lettuce.
A large number of III-V compound semiconductors adopt this structure, including AlAs, GaAs,
GaP, InP and ZnSe.

Hexagonal Structures
Hexagonal structures have the property that they have hexagonal symmetry, with the unit cell
assuming the shape of a rhombus.
Wurtzite structure
Many III-V compound semiconductors can also be grown in a strucural phase known as wurtzite
and is the hexagonal analogue to the zincblende structure.

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List of Common Semiconductor Devices
The list of common semiconductor devices mainly includes two terminals, three terminals and
four terminal devices.

The two-terminal devices are:

 Diode (rectifier diode)

 Gunn diode
 IMPATT diode
 Laser diode
 Zener diode
 Schottky diode
 PIN diode
 Tunnel diode
 Light-emitting diode (LED)
 Photo transistor
 Photocell
 Solar cell
 Transient-voltage-suppression diode
 VCSEL

Three-terminal devices are:

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  Bipolar transistor
 Field-effect transistor
 Darlington transistor
 Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
 Unijunction transistor
 Silicon-controlled rectifier
 Thyristor
 TRIAC

Four-terminal devices are:

 Photo coupler (Optocoupler)

 Hall effect sensor (magnetic field sensor)

Semiconductor Device Applications

All types of transistor can be used as the building blocks of logic gates, which is useful to design
of digital circuits. In digital circuits like as microprocessors, transistors so which is acting as a
switch (on-off); in the MOSFET, for example, the voltage applied to the gate determines whether
the switch is on or off.
The transistors are used for analog circuits do not act as switches (on-off); relatively, they
respond to a continuous range of input with a continuous range of output. Common analog
circuits include oscillators and amplifiers. The circuits that interface or translate between analog
circuits and digital circuits are known as the mixed-signal circuits.

Advantages of Semiconductor Devices

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  As semiconductor devices have no filaments, hence no power is needed to heat them to
cause the emission of electrons.
 Since no heating is required, semiconductor devices are set into operation as soon as the
circuit is switched on.
 During operation, semiconductor devices do not produce any humming noise.
 Semiconductor devices require low voltage operation as compared to vacuum tubes.
 Owing to their small sizes, the circuits involving semiconductor devices are very
compact.
 Semiconductor devices are shock proof.
 Semiconductor devices are cheaper as compared to vacuum tubes.
 Semiconductor devices have an almost unlimited life.
 As no vacuum has to be created in semiconductor devices, they have no vacuum
deterioration trouble.

Disadvantages of Semiconductor Devices

 The noise level is higher in semiconductor devices as compared to that in the vacuum
tubes.
 Ordinary semiconductor devices cannot handle as more power as ordinary vacuum tubes
can do.
 In high frequency range, they have poor responder.

Thus, this is all about different types of semiconductor devices include two terminals, three
terminals and four terminal devices. We hope that you have got a better understanding of this
concept. Furthermore, any doubts regarding this concept or electrical and electronic
projects, please give your feedback by commenting in the comment section below. Here is a
question for you, what are the applications of semiconductor devices?

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Doping
Doping means the introduction of impurities into a semiconductor crystal to the defined
modification of conductivity. Two of the most important materials silicon can be doped with, are
boron (3 valence electrons = 3-valent) and phosphorus (5 valence electrons = 5-valent). Other
materials are aluminum, indium (3-valent) and arsenic, antimony (5-valent).
The dopant is integrated into the lattice structure of the semiconductor crystal, the number of
outer electrons define the type of doping. Elements with 3 valence electrons are used for p-type
doping, 5-valued elements for n-doping. The conductivity of a deliberately contaminated silicon
crystal can be increased by a factor of 106.

n-doping
The 5-valent dopant has an outer electron more than the silicon atoms. Four outer electrons
combine with ever one silicon atom, while the fifth electron is free to move and serves as charge
carrier. This free electron requires much less energy to be lifted from the valence band into the
conduction band, than the electrons which cause the intrinsic conductivity of silicon. The dopant,
which emits an electron, is known as an electron donor (donare, lat. = to give).
The dopants are positively charged by the loss of negative charge carriers and are built into the
lattice, only the negative electrons can move. Doped semimetals whose conductivity is based on
free (negative) electrons are n-type or n-doped. Due to the higher number of free electrons those
are also named as majority charge carriers, while free mobile holes are named as the minority
charge carriers.

n-doping with phosphorus

Arsenic is used as an alternative to phosphorus, because its diffusion coefficient is lower. This
means that the dopant diffusion during subsequent processes is less than that of phosphorus and
thus the arsenic remains at the position where it was introduced into the lattice originally.

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p-doping
In contrast to the free electron due to doping with phosphorus, the 3-valent dopant effect is
exactly the opposite. The 3-valent dopants can catch an additional outer electron, thus leaving a
hole in the valence band of silicon atoms. Therefore, the electrons in the valence band become
mobile. The holes move in the opposite direction to the movement of the electrons. The
necessary energy to lift an electron into the energy level of indium as a dopant, is only 1 % of the
energy which is needed to raise a valence electron of silicon into the conduction band.
With the inclusion of an electron, the dopant is negatively charged, such dopants are called
acceptors (acceptor, lat. = to add). Again, the dopant is fixed in the crystal lattice, only the
positive charges can move. Due to positive holes these semiconductors are called p-conductive
or p-doped. Analog to n-doped semiconductors, the holes are the majority charge carriers, free
electrons are the minority charge carriers.

p-doping with boron

Doped semiconductors are electrically neutral. The terms n- and p-type doped do only refer to
the majority charge carriers. Each positive or negative charge carrier belongs to a fixed negative
or positive charged dopant.

N- and p-doped semiconductors behave approximately equal in relation to the current flow. With
increasing number of dopants, the number of charge carriers increases in the semiconductor
crystal. Here it requires only a very small number of dopants. Weakly doped silicon crystals
contain only 1 impurity per 1,000,000,000 silicon atoms, high doped semiconductors for
example contain 1 foreign atom per 1,000 silicon atoms.

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Electronic band structure in doped semiconductors
By the introduction of a dopant with five outer electrons, in n-doped semiconductors there is an
electron in the crystal which is not bound and therefore can be moved with relatively little energy
into the conduction band. Thus, in n-doped semiconductors the donator energy level is close to
the conduction band edge, the band gap to overcome is very small.
Analog, through introduction of a 3-valent dopant in a semiconductor, a hole is available, which
may be already occupied at low-energy by an electron from the valence band of the silicon. For
p-doped semiconductors the acceptor energy level is close the valence band.

Band model of doped semiconductors

p-n junction at thermal equilibrium

The p-n junction is the transition area between two n- and p-doped semiconductor crystals. In
this area there are no free charge carriers, since the free electrons of the n-conductor, and the
holes of the p-doped crystal in the vicinity of the interface recombine with each other, which
means that the electrons fill the holes. This charge movement (diffusion) is obtained in
consequence of a concentration gradient: since there is only a few number of electrons in the p-
area and only a few number of holes in the n-region, the majority charge carriers (electrons in the
n-crystal, holes in the p-crystal ) move into the contrary doped semiconductor. The crystal lattice
at the interface must not be interrupted, a simple "pressing together" of a p-type and a n-doped
silicon crystal does not allow a functional p-n junction.
The regions near the interface are loaded due to the loss of free charge carriers (positive charge
in the n-crystal, negative charge in the p-crystal). The more charge carriers recombine, the
greater the depletion zone and thus the voltage difference of n- and p-crystal. With a certain
amount of this potential gap, the recombination of holes and electrons comes to a complete

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standstill, the charge carriers can no longer overcome the electric field. In silicon this limit is at
about 0.7 V.

p-n junction without an external applied voltage

A p-n junction represents an electrical component with the function to allow an electric current
in one direction (called the forward biased condition) and to block the current in the opposite
direction (the reverse biased condition): a diode.

p-n junction with external applied voltage

If the n-type crystal is applied to a positive and the p-crystal to a negative voltage, the electric
field inside the semiconductor and the field of the voltage source are in the same direction. Thus,
the electric field at the p-n junction is reinforced. The oppositely charged free carriers are
attracted by the poles of the voltage source, thus the barrier layer is increased and a current flow
is inhibited.
If the external voltage is applied in the reverse direction, the external and internal electric field
are in the opposite direction and the inner filed is weakened. If the inner field is completely
eliminated from the outer field, a constantly flow of free charge carriers from the power source
to the interface is possible and the carriers can recombine continuously: there is electric current.

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p-n junction with an external applied voltage

The diode can be used as a rectifier: to convert alternating current into direct current. Areas
where p- and n-doped semiconductor crystals are in contact, are found in many electrical devices
in the semiconductor technology.

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Conclusions
We fabricate and characterize G-doping based p-p(v) junctions. The p-type Si wafer (1-10 Ω x
cm) was used for sample fabrication. G-doped p-p(v) junction has been formed between the p-
type substrate and nanograting with line width of 80-150 nm and depth of 25-35 nm. Measured I-
V curves were diode type with extremely low voltage drop in forward direction and reduced
reverse currents. Experimental I-V curves were fitted to the Shockley equation and ideality factor
was found to be in the range of 0.2-0.14. Such a low values of ideality factor confirm that p-p(v)
junction is fundamentally different from the conventional p-n junction. We attribute this
difference to G-doping which, unlike conventional doping, is voltage dependent. Data collected
from 9 samples indicate that saturation currents are several magnitudes higher with respect to
silicon p-n junction. This is explained by key contribution of majority carriers (holes) is
saturation current. Reverse currents are 1-2 order of magnitude lower with respect to silicon p-n
junction which is explained by leading role of diffusion current. Forward voltage drops are 30-60
mV and are considerably lower with respect to Schottky diode. Normalized reverse currents are
much less with respect to p-n junction (at least for reverse bias up to 4V). The pp(v) diode has
certain advantages over p-n and Schottky diodes and can find wide applications in power
electronics and ultra-high frequency electronics as well as in conventional electronics and solar
cells.

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References:
1) Chang E-C, Mikolas D, Lin P-L, Schenk T, Wu C-L, Sung C-K and Fu C-C,
2013 Nanotechnology.
2) Zuppella P, Luciani D, Tucceri P, DeMarco P, Gaudieri A, Kaiser J,
Ottaviano L, Santucci S and Reale a Nanotechnology.
3) Tavkhelidze A 2014 Physica.
4) Tavkhelidze A. Jangidze L, Mebonia M. Piotrowski K, Więckowski J,
Taliashvili Z, Skhiladze G and Nadaraia L 2017 Physica Staus.
5) Tavkhelidze A 2009 Nanotechnology 20 405401
6) Mamedov N, Tavkhelidze A, Bayramov A, Akhmedova K, Aliyeva Y,
Eyyubov G, Jangidze L, and Skhiladze G 2017 Phys.
7) H. P. Myers, Introductory Solid-State Physics, Taylor & Francis, 1990
8) https://www.halbleiter.org/en/fundamentals/doping/
9) https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/current/postgraduate/regs/mpagswarwi
ck/ex5/intro/
10) https://www.elprocus.com/semiconductor-devices-types-and-applications/

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