Chapter 3:

Energy Bands and Charge

Carriers in Semiconductors

Intrinsic Material
A perfect semiconductor material with no impurities or
defects is called intrinsic
No charge carriers at 0K
At higher temperatures, EHPs are generated and are the
only charge carriers in the material
Energy to break a bond and create EHP:
Carrier concentrations:

ni :

Intrinsic Material
If a steady-state carrier concentration is maintained, there
must be recombination
Recombination:

At equilibrium: ri = gi
Recombination and generation are T dependent and are
proportional to the equilibrium concentration of holes and
electrons

Extrinsic Material
It is possible to generate carriers by introducing impurities
into the crystal, also known as doping
If a crystal is doped, it can be altered so it has a majority of
either electrons or holes
There are two types of doped semiconductors:
n-type: mostly electrons
p-type: mostly holes
When a crystal is doped such that n0 and p0 are different
from ni , the material is said to be extrinsic

Extrinsic Material
When impurities or defects are introduced into the crystal,
additional levels are created in the energy band structure
within the bandgap
Impurities from column V are donor
impurities because they donate
electrons to conduction band
Semiconductors doped with donors
are called:
Impurities from column III are
acceptor impurities because they
accept electrons from the valence band
Semiconductors doped with acceptors
are called:

Carrier Concentration
To calculate semiconductor electrical properties it is
necessary to know the number of charge carriers / cm 3
also known as the carrier concentration
Need to know the distribution of carriers over available
energy states
Electrons in solids obey the Fermi-Dirac statistics:
f(E) is called the Fermi-Dirac distribution function and gives
the probability that an available energy state at E will be
occupied by an electron at temperature T
k is Boltzmanns constant = 8.62 10-5 eV/K = 1.3810-23
J/K
EF is called the Fermi level

Fermi Dirac distribution

For E = EF , the occupation probability =
At 0K, every available energy state is filled with an electron
up to EF
At 0K, all states above EF are empty
As T increases, f(E) above EF increases
Probability that a state E above EF is filled =
Fermi level is reference point in
calculations of electron and hole
concentrations

Fermi Dirac distribution

If there is no available state at E, there is no possibility of
finding an electron there
For intrinsic material, EF must apply lie in the middle of the
bandgap
N-type material, EF close to EC

p-type material, EF close to Ev

Electron and Hole Distribution at

Equilibrium

Fermi distribution function can be used to calculate carrier

concentration if the densities of available states in valence
and conduction band are known.
In conduction band:
N(E) is the density of states (cm-3)
No. of electrons / unit volume in dE is product of density of
states and probability of occupancy
N(E) in conduction band increases with electron energy
But f(E) becomes extremely small for large energies
Very few electrons occupy energy states above the
conduction band edge
Same fore holes in the valence band

Electron and Hole Distribution at

Equilibrium

Represent all electron states in conduction band by

effective densities of states Nc :

Assuming EF lies several kT

below Ec :

n0 :
Nc :
mn* : density of states effective mass
for electrons

Electron and Hole Distribution at

Equilibrium

For Si, mn* = 0.067m0

Concentration of holes in valence band (p0):

Probability of finding an empty state at Ev :

Assuming EF larger than Ev by several kT:

po =

Nv =

Equations for n0 and po are valid for both intrinsic and

Electron and Hole Distribution at

Equilibrium

For intrinsic material, EF lies near the middle of the

bandgap at a level Ei
ni =

pi =

Product of n0 and p0 is a constant for particular material

and temperature:
nopo =
nipi =
ni =

Si at room T, ni = 1.5 1010

nopo =
Another way of writing no and po :

Electron and Hole Distribution at

Equilibrium

Example: A Si sample is doped with 1017 As atoms/cm3 .

What is the equilibrium hole concentration p0 at 300K?
Where is EF relative to Ei ?
Solution:

Temperature Dependence of Carrier

Concentrations

From no = nie(EF Ei)/kT we see that in addition to no , ni and EF

also depend on temperature
ni dependence on temperature:

The value of ni for a given T is a

given number for a given material

Temperature Dependence of Carrier

Concentrations

Example: n-type doped Si with Nd = 1015 cm-3

At low T, all donor electrons
are bound to donor atoms
As T increases,electrons
donate to conduction band
At 1000/T = 10, all atoms
are ionized, no =
no is constant until ni is
comparable to no
Usually want to operate within
extrinsic region

Compensation and Space Charge

Neutrality

We assumed semiconductor contains either Nd or Na

Semiconductor can contain both donors and acceptors
Example: Nd > Na
Since Nd > Na ,material is n-type
Compensation n0 = Nd Na
If we add acceptors until Nd = Na then:

Adding more acceptors Na > Nd p-type

Compensation and Space Charge

Neutrality

Space charge neutrality: if a material is to remain

electrostatically neutral, the sum of the positive charges
must equal the sum of the negative charges:

Approximation: if material is doped n-type no >> po then :

Example
Determine the electron and hole equilibrium concentrations
in silicon at T=300K for the following doping
concentrations. (a) Nd = 1016 cm-3 and Na = 0. (b) Nd = 5
1015 cm-3 and Na = 2 1015 cm-3. Recall that ni = 1.5 1010
cm-3 in silicon at T = 300K.

Drift of Carriers in Electric and Magnetic

Fields

Knowledge of carrier concentration is necessary for

calculating current flow in the presence of electric and
magnetic fields.

We must take into account the collisions of the carriers

with the lattice and with the impurities
Mobility: ease with which electrons and holes can flow
through the crystal
These collisions depend on:

Drift of Carriers in Electric and Magnetic

Fields

At room T, thermal motion of individual electrons may be

seen as random scattering from :
For random scattering there is no net motion for the group
of electrons n / cm3
If an electric field x is applied
in the x-direction. Each electron
will experience a force:
Net motion in x direction
The force on the n electrons is:

Drift of Carriers in Electric and Magnetic

Fields

Net rate of change of momentum is zero due to collisions:

Mean free time () :mean time between scattering events
Average momentum per electron:
Average velocity per electron:
Current density (Jx): no. of electrons crossing a unit area
per unit time, multiplied by the charge on the electron:

Current density is proportional to the electric field

Drift of Carriers in Electric and Magnetic

Fields

Conductivity:

Electron mobility n =
mn* = conductivity effective masses. Use for charge
transport problems
n can be also defined as :
Units of mobility:
Jx in terms of n =
Exact same idea for holes, just change n to p, -q to +q, n
to p ,
If there are both electrons and holes, then
Jx =

Drift and Resistance

There are two main parameters that determine mobility: m *
and mean free time
Lighter particles are more mobile than heavier particles
Resistance of the bar:
Holes move in the direction of E-field
Electrons move in opposite direction
of E-field
Drift current is constant throughout
the bar
Space charge neutrality is maintained

Effects of Temperature and Doping on

Mobility

Two types of scattering that influence electron and hole

mobility: lattice scattering and impurity scattering.
Lattice scattering: carrier is scattered by a vibration of the
lattice, (from temperature)
Lattice scattering increases as T increases
Impurity scattering is dominant at low T
A slow moving carrier is likely to be scattered more
strongly by interaction with a charged ion than a carrier
with higher mobility
Impurity scattering decreases mobility as T decreases
Mobilities due to different scattering mechanisms add:

Effects of Temperature and Doping on

Mobility
As concentration of impurities increases, the effect
of impurity scattering are felt at higher temperatures:
Example:

Effects of Temperature and Doping on

Mobility

Example I
A Si bar 0.1cm long and 100 m2 in cross-sectional area is
doped with 1017 cm-3 phosphorus. Find the current at 300K
with 10V applied.

Example II
Consider a compensated n-type silicon at T=300K, with a
conductivity of 16 (ohm-cm) and acceptor doping
concentration of 1017 cm-3 . Determine the donor
concentration and the electron mobility.

High Field Effects

We assumed current density is proportional to electric field
through conductivity:
At high electric fields, J actually depends on the electric
field
At high fields, the drift velocity is
saturated
Velocity saturates at a point
where any additional energy
goes to the lattice and not to the
carrier velocity.(Scattering limited
velocity)
Leads to constant current at high
electric fields

Invariance of Fermi level at Equilibrium

Until now we only mentioned homogenous materials with
uniform doping
Starting next week we will start talking about non-uniform
doping in a semiconductor, or junctions occurring between
semiconductors.
Main concept to follow: no discontinuity or gradient can
arise in the equilibrium Fermi level EF
Example: two materials in contact
Each material has different Fermi function
There is no current no net charge transport

Invariance of Fermi level at Equilibrium

At energy E, rate of transfer of electrons is proportional to
no. of filled states at E in material 1 times the no. of empty
states at E in material 2.

Conclusion: Fermi level must

be constant throughout
materials in intimate contact