Chapter 18: Electrical Properties

ISSUES TO ADDRESS...
• How are electrical conductance and resistance
characterized?
• What are the physical phenomena that distinguish
conductors, semiconductors, and insulators?
• For metals, how is conductivity affected by
imperfections, temperature, and deformation?
• For semiconductors, how is conductivity affected
by impurities (doping) and temperature?

1
 View of an Integrated Circuit
• Scanning electron micrographs of an IC:
Al (d) (a)
(d)

Si
(doped)
45 mm 0.5 mm
• A dot map showing location of Si (a semiconductor):
-- Si shows up as light regions. (b)

• A dot map showing location of Al (a conductor):

-- Al shows up as light regions. (c)

Fig. (d) from Fig. 12.27(a), Callister & Rethwisch 3e.

Figs. (a), (b), (c) from Fig. 18.27, Callister
(Fig. 12.27 is courtesy Nick Gonzales, National
& Rethwisch 8e.
Semiconductor Corp., West Jordan, UT.)
2
Scanning electron micrograph of an integrated circuit, which is composed of silicon
and metallic interconnects.
Integrated circuit components are used to store information in a digital format.

3
Wafers of the new 5 nm chips are tested in pods in a New York facility
(Credit: Connie Zhou)
4
 MoS2 transistors with 1-nanometer gate lengths

Ali Javey et al Science 2016

The gate length is considered a defining dimension of

the transistor. We demonstrated a 1-nanometer-gate
transistor, showing that with the choice of proper
materials, there is a lot more room to shrink our 5
6
7
 Clever Algorithms
• The Man vs. The Machine
• Deep Blue versus Garry
Kasparov
• 1996-1997
• 200 million positions per
second (12 GFLOPS)
• AlphaGo (Google Deepmind)
masters Go
• 150-move game:10170 (it can’t
be solved by algorithms that
search exhaustively for the best
move)
• 2017 defeated legendary world
champion
8
Silver, D. et al. Nature 529, 484–
489 (2016).
 Electrical Conduction
• Ohm's Law: V=IR
voltage drop (volts = J/C) resistance (Ohms)
C = Coulomb current (amps = C/s)

• Resistivity, r:
-- a material property that is independent of sample size and
geometry surface area
RA
r= of current flow
ℓ
current flow
path length
• Conductivity, s 1
s=
r

9
 Electrical Properties
• Which will have the greater resistance?
2ℓ 2rℓ 8rℓ
D R1 = =
æ D ö2 pD2
pç ÷
ℓ è 2ø

2D rℓ rℓ R1
R2 = = =
æ 2D ö2 pD2 8
pç ÷
è 2 ø

• Analogous to flow of water in a pipe

• Resistance depends on sample geometry and
size.

10
 Definitions
Further definitions

J=s <= another way to state Ohm’s law

current I
J  current density   like a flux
surface area A
  electric field potential = V/

J = s (V/ )

Electron flux conductivity voltage gradient

11
 Conductivity: Comparison
• Room temperature values (Ohm-m)-1 = ( - m)-1
METALS conductors CERAMICS
-10
Silver 6.8 x 10 7 Soda-lime glass 10 -10-11
Copper 6.0 x 10 7 Concrete 10 -9
Iron 1.0 x 10 7 Aluminum oxide <10-13

SEMICONDUCTORS POLYMERS
-14
Silicon 4 x 10 -4 Polystyrene <10
Germanium 2 x 10 0 Polyethylene 10 -15-10-17
GaAs 10 -6
semiconductors insulators
Selected values from Tables 18.1, 18.3, and 18.4, Callister & Rethwisch 8e.

12
 Example: Conductivity Problem
What is the minimum diameter (D) of the wire so that V < 1.5 V?

ℓ = 100 m
Cu wire - I = 2.5 A +

100 m
< 1.5 V
 V
R 
pD 2 As I 2.5 A

4 6.07 x 107 (Ohm-m)-1

Solve to get D > 1.87 mm

13
 Drude’s classical theory
• Theory by Paul Drude in 1900, only three
years after the electron was discovered.
• Drude treated the (free) electrons as a
classical ideal gas but the electrons should
collide with the stationary ions, not with each
other.
average rms speed

so at room temp.
14
 Drude’s classical theory
relaxation time

(average time between scattering events)

mean free path

15
 Missing points
• The electrons should strongly interact with each
other.
• The electrons should strongly interact with the
lattice ions.
• Using classical statistics for the electrons cannot be
right. This is easy to see:

condition for using classical statistics

is some Å
de Broglie wavelength of an electron:

for room T
16
 Drude theory: electrical conductivity
we apply an electric field. The equation of motion is

integration gives

and if is the average time between collisions then the

average drift speed is

for we get
17
remember:
 Drude theory: electrical conductivity

number of electrons passing in unit time

current of negatively charged electrons

current density

Ohm’s law

and with we get

18
 Drude theory: electrical conductivity
Ohm’s law

and we can define

the conductivity

and the
resistivity

and the
19 mobility
Electron Energy Band Structures

Adapted from Fig. 18.2, Callister & Rethwisch 8e.

20
 Atomic orbital
Electrons as waves

Evidence: DIFFRACTION PATTERNS

VISIBLE LIGHT ELECTRONS

Davis, Frey, Sarquis, Sarquis, Modern Chemistry 2006, page 105 Courtesy Christy Johannesson www.nisd.net/communicationsarts/pages/chem
 Quantum Mechanics
• Schrödinger Wave Equation (1926)
– an atomic orbital is a mathematical function that describes
the wave-like behavior of either one electron or a pair of
electrons in an atom
– finite # of solutions  quantized energy levels
– defines probability of finding an electron

Ψ 1s  1 Z

π a0
3/2 σ
e
 Quantum Mechanics
• Orbital (“electron cloud”)
– Region in space where there is 90%
probability of finding an electron
90% probability of Electron Probability vs. Distance
40
finding the electron

Electron Probability (%)

30

20

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Distance from the Nucleus (pm)

Orbital
 Atomic orbitals
Shapes of s, p, and d-Orbitals

s orbital

p orbitals

d orbitals
 Molecular Orbital Theory
• incorporates the wave like characteristics of
electrons in describing bonding behavior
• the bonding between atoms is described as a
combination of their atomic orbitals.
• Atoms form bonds by sharing electrons
• Although it is impossible to determine the exact
position of an electron, it is possible to calculate the
probability that one will find the electron at any point
around the nucleus using the Schrödinger Equation
• This equation can help predict and determine the
energy and spatial distribution of the electron, as
well as the shape of each orbital.

25
 Molecular Orbital Theory
• The figure below shows the first five solutions to
the equation in a three dimensional space.
• The colors show the phase of the function. In
this diagram, blue stands for negative and red
stands for positive. (however, that the 2s orbital
has 2 phases, one of which is not visible
because it is inside the other.)

26
• In molecules, atomic orbitals combine to form
molecular orbitals which surround the molecule
• Each molecular orbital can only have 2 electrons,
each with an opposite spin
• A bonding orbital can only be formed if the orbitals
of the constituent atoms have the same phase (here
represented by colors).
• The wave functions of electrons of the same phase
interfere constructively which leads to bonding.
• If the atomic orbitals have the different phases, they
interfere destructively and an antibonding molecular
orbital is formed

27
28
29
 He2 He2

Bond order
30
A Diatomic molecule
A real diatomic molecule
A real solid
34
Fermi-Dirac distribution
Indistinguishability of electrons
Wave nature of electrons
Pauli exclusion principle
35
Band Structure Representation

Adapted from Fig. 18.3,

Callister & Rethwisch 8e.

37
Electron band structures

38
 Conduction & Electron Transport
• Metals (Conductors):
-- for metals empty energy states are adjacent to filled states.
-- thermal energy Partially filled band Overlapping bands
excites electrons
Energy Energy
into empty higher
empty
energy states. band
-- two types of band GAP empty
structures for metals band
- partially filled band partly
- empty band that filled filled

filled states
band

filled states
overlaps filled band band

filled filled
band band

39
40
 Metals: Influence of Temperature and
Impurities on Resistivity
• Presence of imperfections increases resistivity
-- grain boundaries
These act to scatter
-- dislocations
electrons so that they
-- impurity atoms take a less direct path.
-- vacancies
6
• Resistivity
Resistivity, r
(10 -8 Ohm-m)

5
increases with:
4 -- temperature
3 rd -- wt% impurity
-- %deformation
2 ri
1
rt
r = rthermal
0 -200 -100 0 T (ºC) + rimpurity
+ rdeformation
41
42
 Energy Band Structures:
Insulators & Semiconductors
• Insulators: • Semiconductors:
-- wide band gap (> 2 eV) -- narrow band gap (< 2 eV)
-- few electrons excited -- more electrons excited
across band gap across band gap
Energy empty Energy empty
conduction conduction
band band
GAP ?
GAP

filled filled

filled states
filled states

valence valence
band band

filled filled
band band

43
Charge Carriers in Insulators and
Semiconductors
Two types of electronic charge
carriers:
Free Electron
– negative charge
– in conduction band

Hole
– positive charge
– vacant electron state in
the valence band

Move at different speeds - drift velocities

44
 Intrinsic Semiconductors
• Pure material semiconductors: e.g., silicon &
germanium
– Group IVA materials
• Compound semiconductors
– III-V compounds
• Ex: GaAs & InSb
– II-VI compounds
• Ex: CdS & ZnTe
– The wider the electronegativity difference between
the elements the wider the energy gap.

46
47
 Intrinsic Semiconduction in Terms of
Electron and Hole Migration

• Concept of electrons and holes:

valence electron hole electron hole
electron Si atom
pair creation pair migration

- + - +

no applied applied applied

electric field electric field electric field
• Electrical Conductivity given by:
Adapted from Fig. 18.11,
Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
# holes/m3
s = n e me + p e m h
hole mobility
# electrons/m3 electron mobility
48
 Number of Charge Carriers
Intrinsic Conductivity
s = n e me + p e m h

• for intrinsic semiconductor n = p = ni

 s = ni|e|(me + mh)

• Ex: GaAs
s 10 -6 (W × m) -1
ni = =
e (me + m h ) (1.6x10 -19 C)(0.85 + 0.45 m2 /V × s)

For GaAs ni = 4.8 x 1012 m-3

For Si ni = 1.3 x 1016 m-3
49
 Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Conduction
• Intrinsic:
-- case for pure Si
-- # electrons = # holes (n = p)
• Extrinsic:
-- electrical behavior is determined by presence of impurities
that introduce excess electrons or holes
-- n ≠ p
• n-type Extrinsic: (n >> p) • p-type Extrinsic: (p >> n)
Phosphorus atom Boron atom
hole
4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ conduction 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+
s » n e me 4+ 5+ 4+ 4+
electron
4+ 3+ 4+ 4+ s » p e mh
valence
4+ 4+ 4+ 4+ electron 4+ 4+ 4+ 4+

Adapted from Figs. 18.12(a)

no applied Si atom no applied
& 18.14(a), Callister & electric field electric field
Rethwisch 8e. 50
Extrinsic n-type

51
N-type

52
Extrinsic p-type

53
54
 Intrinsic Semiconductors:
Conductivity vs T
• Data for Pure Silicon:
-- s increases with T
s = ni e (me + mh )
-- opposite to metals

-E gap / kT
ni µ e

material band gap (eV)

Si 1.11
Ge 0.67
GaP 2.25
CdS 2.40
Selected values from Table 18.3,
Callister & Rethwisch 8e.

Adapted from Fig. 18.16,

Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
55
56
 Extrinsic Semiconductors: Conductivity
vs. Temperature
• Data for Doped Silicon:
-- s increases doping doped

-- reason: imperfection sites undoped

lower the activation energy to 3

concentration (1021/m3)
produce mobile electrons.

Conduction electron

freeze-out
2

extrinsic

intrinsic
• Comparison: intrinsic vs
extrinsic conduction... 1
-- extrinsic doping level:
1021/m3 of a n-type donor
impurity (such as P). 0
-- for T < 100 K: "freeze-out“, 0 200 400 600 T (K)
thermal energy insufficient to
excite electrons. Adapted from Fig. 18.17, Callister & Rethwisch
8e. (Fig. 18.17 from S.M. Sze, Semiconductor
-- for 150 K < T < 450 K: "extrinsic" Devices, Physics, and Technology, Bell
-- for T >> 450 K: "intrinsic" Telephone Laboratories, Inc., 1985.)

57
58
Carrier mobility :doping concentration

59
 Carrier mobility :Temperature

Scattering
60
Charge carriers in semiconductors
• Electrons and holes
– Electrons (e) we know about, but what is a
hole (h)?
• When an electron receives enough energy to
jump from the valence band to the conduction
band it leaves behind an empty state. This
creates an electron-hole pair (EHP)
• Hole current is really due to an electron moving
in the opposite direction in the valence band.
• Electron current is an electron moving from
state to state in the conduction band.

61
Charge carriers in semiconductors
• Effective mass
– Electrons in a crystal are not totally free.
– The periodic crystal affects how electrons
move through the lattice.
– We use and effective mass to modify the
mass of an electron in the crystal and then
use the E+M equations that describe free
electrons.

62
Charge carriers in semiconductors

• Effective mass

63
Charge carriers in semiconductors

• Effective mass
– The double derivative of E is a constant
– Not all semiconductors have a perfectly
parabolic band structure
– The different atomic spacing in each
direction gives rise to different effective
masses in different crystal directions. This
can be compensated by using an average
value of effective mass.

64
Charge carriers in semiconductors

• Effective mass (for density of states

calculation)

Ge Si GaAs
mn* 0.55 m0 1.1 m0 0.067 m0
mp* 0.37 m0 .56 m0 0.48 m0

65
 Carrier concentrations

• The Fermi level

– Indistinguishability of electrons
– Wave nature of electrons
– Pauli exclusion principle
1
f (E) 
1  e ( E  EF ) / kT
1 1
f ( EF )  
11 2

66
 Carrier concentrations

Intrinsic EF=.5

1.00

0.80

0.60 f(E)@T=77K
f(E)

f(E)@T=300K
0.40 f(E)@T=373K
0.20

0.00
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
E(eV)

67
 Carrier concentrations
• The Fermi distribution only shows the
probability of an available state being filled it
does not allow states to form.
• The probability of a state being filled with an
electron is f(E).
• The probability of a state being empty 1- f(E)
(probability of finding a hole).

68
 Carrier concentrations
To calculate the carrier concentrations in energy bands we
need to know the following parameters:
• The distribution of energy states or levels as a function of
energy within the energy band, D().
• The probability of each of these states being occupied by
an electron, f().

69
 Conduction band

Nc is the effective number density of accessible

states at the conduction band
70
• The hole distribution is related to the electron distribution,
since a hole is the absence of an electron.

71
 Carrier concentrations

p = NV (1- f (Ec ))
1
1- f (Ev ) = 1- » e-(EF -EV )/kT , EF > EV + 2kT
1+ e(EV -EF )/kT
p = NV e(- EF -Ev )/kT
N=NA (when all excited/occupied)
3
æ 2p m*pkT ö 2
NV = 2 çç ÷÷
è h
2
ø
Nv is the effective number density
of accessible states at the valence
band top
72
Carrier concentrations

no po  ni
2

ni  N C NV e  Eg / 2 kT
3
 2kT 
 e
3
2
 Eg / 2 kT
ni  2 2  mn m p
* * 4

 h 

73
74
Fermi level

75
 p-n Rectifying Junction
• Allows flow of electrons in one direction only (e.g., useful
to convert alternating current to direct current).
• Processing: diffuse P into one side of a B-doped crystal.
+ p-type n-type
-
-- No applied potential: + + - Adapted from
Fig. 18.21
no net current flow. + + - - - Callister &
Rethwisch
8e.
-- Forward bias: carriers
flow through p-type and p-type+ - n-type
+ + -
n-type regions; holes and ++- - -
electrons recombine at + -
p-n junction; current flows.

-- Reverse bias: carriers n-type -

+ p-type
flow away from p-n junction; - + + - - +
junction region depleted of + + - -
carriers; little current flow.

85
 Properties of Rectifying Junction

Fig. 18.22, Callister & Rethwisch 8e. Fig. 18.23, Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
86
 Doping

N-type P-type 87
 Device: pn junction

D Çakır, D Kecik, H Sahin, E Durgun, FM Peeters

Phys Chem Chem Phys 17 (19), 13013 (2015) 88
 I-V curves

D Çakır, D Kecik, H Sahin, E Durgun, FM Peeters

Phys Chem Chem Phys 17 (19), 13013 (2015) 89
Junction Transistor

Fig. 18.24, Callister & Rethwisch 8e.

90
 MOSFET Transistor
Integrated Circuit Device

Fig. 18.26, Callister &

Rethwisch 8e.

• MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor)

• Integrated circuits - state of the art ca. 50 nm line width
– ~ 1,000,000,000 components on chip
– chips formed one layer at a time

91
92
93
Dielectric Behavior

94
95
 Dielectrics
A dielectric is a non-conductor or insulator
Examples: rubber, glass, waxed paper

When placed in a charged capacitor, the

dielectric reduces the potential difference
between the two plates

HOW?
 Dipole
Dielectrics are the materials having electric dipole moment
permantly.

Dipole: A dipole is an entity in which equal positive and

negative charges are separated by a small distance..

DIPOLE moment (µele ):The product of magnitude of either of

the charges and separation distance b/w them is called
Dipole moment.
µe = q . x  coul – m
q -q
X
All dielectrics are electrical insulators and they are mainly
used to store electrical energy.

Ex: Mica, glass, plastic, water & polar molecules…

 dipole
+ _

+ Electric field _
+ _

+ _ _
+
+
_
+ _
+ _
+ _
Dielectric atom
 Molecular View of Dielectrics
Polar Dielectrics :
Dielectrics with permanent electric dipole moments
Example: Water
 Molecular View of Dielectrics
Non-Polar Dielectrics
Dielectrics with induced electric dipole moments
Example: CH4
 Dielectric in Capacitor

Potential difference decreases because

dielectric polarization decreases Electric Field!
 Dielectric Constant
Dielectric weakens original field by a factor k
E0
e = ke 0 E

Dielectric Constant
Dielectric constants
Vacuum 1.0
Paper 3.7
Pyrex Glass 5.6
102
Water 80
 Ferroelectric Ceramics
• Experience spontaneous polarization

BaTiO3 -- ferroelectric below

its Curie temperature (120ºC)

Fig. 18.35, Callister &

Rethwisch 8e.

103
 Ferroelectric Materials

• A group of dielectric P
materials that
display
spontaneous
polarization. In E
other words, they
possess
polarization in the
absence of an
electric field.
 Curie temperature

• Above a critical temperature

the spontaneous polarisation
will be lost due to one of two
effects:
– A change of structure such that
there is a single minimum in
the energy mid-way between
sites
– The rate that the small ions hop
is so high that on average there
is no net polarisation
 Nanoscale
GeTe

106
 Bistable (Switchable)?

 For RAM, G should be

switchable (1/0)
“CW” “CCW”

 Typical double-well
energy : Same energy but
rotating in reverse
direction

 Suitable for non-volatile

FRAMs (fast, easy to
write, high capacity, low
power consumption,
durable … )

E. Durgun et al. Phys. Rev. Lett 103, 247601 (2009)

107
 Piezoelectric Materials
Piezoelectricity
– application of stress induces voltage
– application of voltage induces dimensional change

stress-free with applied

stress
Adapted from Fig. 18.36, Callister & Rethwisch 8e. (Fig. 18.36 from Van Vlack, Lawrence H., Elements of
Materials Science and Engineering, 1989, p.482, Adapted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey.)
108
 Summary
• Electrical conductivity and resistivity are:
-- material parameters
-- geometry independent
• Conductors, semiconductors, and insulators...
-- differ in range of conductivity values
-- differ in availability of electron excitation states
• For metals, resistivity is increased by
-- increasing temperature
-- addition of imperfections
-- plastic deformation
• For pure semiconductors, conductivity is increased by
-- increasing temperature
-- doping [e.g., adding B to Si (p-type) or P to Si (n-type)]
• Other electrical characteristics
-- ferroelectricity
-- piezoelectricity
109