6.

012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-1

Lecture 2 - Semiconductor Physics (I)

February 6, 2003

Contents:

1. Silicon bond model: electrons and holes

2. Generation and recombination
3. Thermal equilibrium
4. Intrinsic semiconductor
5. Doping; extrinsic semiconductor

Reading assignment:

Howe and Sodini, Ch. 2, 2.1-2.3

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-2

Key questions

How do semiconductors conduct electricity?

What is a hole?
How many electrons and holes are there in a semicon-
ductor in thermal equilibrium at a certain tempera-
ture?
How can one engineer the conductivity of semicon-
ductors?
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-3

1. Silicon bond model: electrons and holes

Si is in Column IV of periodic table:

IIIA IVA VA VIA

5 6 7 8

B C N O
13 14 15 16

IIB Al Si P S
30 31 32 33 34

Zn Ga Ge As Se
48 49 50 51 52

Cd In Sn Sb Te

Electronic structure of Si atom:

10 core electrons (tightly bound)
4 valence electrons (loosely bound, responsible for most
chemical properties)

Other semiconductors:
Ge, C (diamond form), SiGe
GaAs, InP, InGaAs, InGaAsP, ZnSe, CdTe
(on average, 4 valence electrons per atom)
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-4

Silicon crystal structure:

5.43 A

2.35A

3sp tetrahedral bond

Diamond lattice: atoms tetrahedrally bonded by shar-

ing valence electrons (covalent bonding)
Each atom shares 8 electrons (low energy situation)
Si atomic density: 5 1022 cm3
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-5

Simple flattened model of Si crystal:

4 valence electrons ( 4 q),

contributed by each ion

silicon ion (+ 4 q)

two electrons in bond

At 0K:

all bonds satisfied all valence electrons engaged in

bonding
no free electrons
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-6

At finite temperature:

+ mobile electron

incomplete bond (mobile hole)

finite thermal energy

some bonds are broken
free electrons (mobile negative charge, 1.61019 C)
free holes (mobile positive charge, 1.6 1019 C)

Free electrons and holes are called carriers: mobile

charged particles.

Beware: picture is misleading!

Electrons and holes in semiconductors are fuzzier: they
span many atomic sites.
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-7

A few definitions:

in 6.012, electron means free electron

not concerned with bonding electrons or core electrons

define:

n (free) electron concentration [cm3]

p hole concentration [cm3]

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-8

2. Generation and Recombination

Generation = break up of covalent bond to form elec-

tron and hole

requires energy from thermal or optical sources (or

other external sources)
generation rate: G = Gth + Gopt + ... [cm3 s1]
in general, atomic density  n, p
G 6= f (n, p)
(supply of breakable bonds virtually inexhaustible)

Recombination = formation of bond by bringing to-

gether electron and hole

releases energy in thermal or optical form

recombination rate: R [cm3 s1]
a recombination event requires 1 electron + 1 hole
R np

Generation and recombination most likely at surfaces where

periodic crystalline structure is broken.
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-9

3. Thermal equilibrium

Thermal equilibrium =
steady state + absence of external energy sources
h

<>
=0
t

Generation rate in thermal equilibrium: Go = f (T )

Recombination rate in thermal equilibrium: Ro no po

In thermal equilibrium:

Go = Ro nopo = f (T ) n2i (T )

Important consequence:

In thermal equilibrium and for a given semiconduc-

tor, np product is a constant that depends only on
temperature!
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-10

Electron-hole formation can be seen as chemical reaction:

) e + h+
bond *

similar to water decomposition reaction:

) H + + OH
H2 O *

Law-of-mass action relates concentration of reactants

and reaction products. For water:

[H +][OH ]
K=
[H2O]

Since:

[H2O]  [H +], [OH ]

Then:

[H2O] ' constant

Hence:

[H +][OH ] ' constant

6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-11

4. Intrinsic semiconductor

Question: In a perfectly pure semiconductor in thermal

equilibrium at finite temperature, how many electrons
and holes are there?

Since when a bond breaks, an electron and a hole are

produced:

no = po

Also:
nopo = n2i

Then:
no = po = ni

ni intrinsic carrier concentration [cm3]

In Si at 300 K (room temperature): ni ' 11010 cm3

ni very strong function of temperature: T ni

Note: an intrinsic semiconductor need not be perfectly

pure [see next]
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-12

5. Doping: introduction of foreign atoms to engineer

semiconductor electrical properties

A. Donors: introduce electrons to the semiconductor

(but not holes)

For Si, group-V atoms with 5 valence electrons (As,

P, Sb)
IIIA IVA VA VIA
5 6 7 8

B C N O
13 14 15 16

IIB Al Si P S
30 31 32 33 34

Zn Ga Ge As Se
48 49 50 51 52

Cd In Sn Sb Te
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-13

4 electrons of donor atom participate in bonding

5th electron easy to release at room temperature,
each donor releases 1 electron that is available to con-
duction
donor site become positively charged (fixed charge)

As+

mobile electron

immobile ionized donor

Define:
Nd donor concentration [cm3]

If Nd  ni, doping irrelevant

(intrinsic semiconductor) no = po = ni
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-14

If Nd  ni, doping controls carrier concentrations

(extrinsic semiconductor)
n2i
no = Nd po =
Nd
Note: no  po: n-type semiconductor

Example:
Nd = 1017 cm3 no = 1017 cm3, po = 103 cm3.

In general: Nd 1015 1020 cm3

log no
log po

electrons=
no majority carriers

ni

po holes=
minority carriers

ni
log Nd
intrinsic extrinsic

Chemical reaction analogy:

dissolve a bit of KOH into water [OH ] , [H +]
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-15

B. Acceptors: introduce holes to the semiconductor

(but not electrons)

For Si, group-III atoms with 3 valence electrons (B)

IIIA IVA VA VIA
5 6 7 8

B C N O
13 14 15 16

IIB Al Si P S
30 31 32 33 34

Zn Ga Ge As Se
48 49 50 51 52

Cd In Sn Sb Te
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-16

3 electrons used up to bond to neighboring Si atoms

1 bonding site unsatisfied: easy to accept neigh-
boring bonding electron to complete all bonds at
room temperature, each acceptor releases 1 hole that
is available to conduction
acceptor site become negatively charged (fixed charge)

mobile hole and later trajectory immobile negatively ionized acceptor

Define:
Na acceptor concentration [cm3]

If Na  ni, doping irrelevant

(intrinsic semiconductor) no = po = ni
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-17

If Na  ni, doping controls carrier concentrations

(extrinsic semiconductor)
n2i
po = Na no =
Na
Note: po  no: p-type semiconductor

Example:
Na = 1016 cm3 po = 1016 cm3, no = 104 cm3.

In general: Na 1015 1020 cm3

log no
log po

holes=
po majority carriers

ni

no electrons=
minority carriers

ni
log Na
intrinsic extrinsic

Chemical reaction analogy:

dissolve a bit of H2SO4 into water [H +] , [OH ]
6.012 - Microelectronic Devices and Circuits - Spring 2003 Lecture 2-18

Summary

In a semiconductor, there are two types of carriers:

electrons and holes
In thermal equilibrium and for a given semiconductor
nopo is a constant that only depends on temperature:

nopo = n2i
For Si at room temperature:

ni ' 1010 cm3

Intrinsic semiconductor: pure semiconductor.

no = po = ni
Carrier concentrations can be engineered by addition
of dopants (selected foreign atoms):
n-type semiconductor:
n2i
no = Nd, po =
Nd
p-type semiconductor:
n2i
po = Na, no =
Na