2. Course Outline
To understand the semiconductor materials that are
suitable for electronic devices
To study the properties of materials for electronic
devices
Semiconductor devices are fabricated using
specific materials has the desired physical
properties
4. Metals
Materials with zero bandgap are metals
A metal has a partially filled conduction band, so there is
no energy gap between filled and unfilled regions.
A significant number of electrons can be excited by heat
into empty energy levels and move easily throughout the
material, allowing the material to conduct electricity
5. Insulators
Materials with an energy gap larger than 3 eV
An insulator possesses a considerable energy gap
between the valence band and the conduction band
It is difficult to excite electrons from the valence band to
the conduction band. As a result an insulator does not
conduct electricity
6. Semiconductor
Special class of materials having conductivity b/w that of
a good conductor and that of an insulator
A material with electrical resistivity lying in the range of
10-2 – 109 Ω.cm
Material whose energy gap for electronic excitations lies
between zero and about 4 electron volts (eV).
a small number of electrons from the valence band can be
promoted to the conduction band by an energy input (e.g.
thermal energy from heat)
8. Semiconductor
Elemental semiconductor
Silicon (Si)
Germanium (Ge)
o These are important group IV elemental
semiconductors
o All of them have diamond crystal structure
Boron (B)
o It belongs to group III
o It has rhombohedral crystal structure
Phosphorus (P)
o It belongs to group V
Sulphur (S)
Selenium (Se)
Tellurium (Te)
o These belong to group VI
9.
10. Semiconductor
Elemental semiconductor
Currently silicon is the most important semiconductor material
used in electronic devices
Advantages of Si over other semiconductors are:
A relative ease of passivating the surface by oxidizing in a
controlled manner forming a layer of stable native oxide that
substantially reduces the surface recombination velocity
Its hardness that large wafers to be handled safely without
damaging it
It is thermally stable up to 11000C that allows high-
temperature processes like diffusion, oxidation, and annealing
It is relatively low cost due to established processes
11. Semiconductor
Elemental semiconductor
limitations of silicon
Its energy band-gap is 1.12eV
It is a direct semiconductor that limits the application in
optoelectronics
It has relatively low carrier mobility as compared to other
semiconductor such as gallium arsenide GaAs
12. Semiconductor
Compound Semiconductors
They are usually formed from
o III-V group
o II-VI
o IV-VI
III-V group semiconductors are GaAs, GaP, GaN, A1As, InSb,
InAs, InP etc
In general, these crystallized materials
13. Semiconductor
Compound Semiconductors
GaAs, InAs, InP, InSb have direct energy band-gaps and high
carrier mobilities
Common applications of these semiconductors:
used to design a variety of optoelectronic devices for
1. detection and generation of electromagnetic radiation
2. in high-speed electronic devices
The energy band-gaps of these compounds are useful for
optoelectronic applications
The energy bandgap ranges from 0.17eV for InSb to 3.44eV for
GaN
14. Semiconductor
Compound Semiconductors
II-VI compound semiconductor
II-VI compound semiconductor such as Zn and compounds with
oxygen O, S, Se
These cover a wide range of electronic and optical properties
due to the wide variations in their energy bandgap
These are typically n-type as grown, except ZnTe, which is p-
type
All the II-VI compound semiconductors have direct energy
bandgaps
15. Semiconductor
Compound Semiconductors
IV-VI compound semiconductor
PbS, PbSe, and PbTe
characterized by narrow energy gaps, high carrier mobilities, and
high dielectric constants
The unique feature of the direct energy gap in these compounds
is that its energy band-gap increases with increasing
temperature, which means the energy gap has a positive
temperature coefficient
Main applications of these compounds are in light emitting
devices and detectors in the infrared spectral region
16. Semiconductor
Narrow Band-gap Semiconductor
InSb
InAs
PbSe
PbTe
PbS
They have the energy band-gap below about 0.5eV
they are direct semiconductor materials
extensively employed in:
infrared optoelectronic device applications as detectors and
diode lasers
17. Semiconductor
Wide Band-gap Semiconductor
SiC
II-V nitrides
high thermal conductivity
high saturation electron drift velocity
high breakdown electric field
superior chemical stability
physical stability
It has wide band-gap that enables detection and emission of light
in short-wavelength region likes blue and ultraviolet
19. Semiconductor
Magnetic Semiconductor
Semiconductor compound that contains magnetic ions such as
Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, may exhibit magnetic properties
Some oxides such as FeO and NiO exhibit antiferromagnetic
properties and oxide such as europium oxide EuO is
ferromagnetic properties
The semiconductor exhibits large magneto-optical effect that can
be used to design optical modulators
20. Semiconductor
Organic Semiconductor
Anthracene CH14H10
Polyacetylene (CH)n
advantages of organic semiconductors
1. Diversity
2. relative ease of changing their properties to specific
application
21. Semiconductor
Organic Semiconductor
One of the promising applications of organi semiconductors is in
less iexpensive light emitting diode, covering whole the
spectrum of colors
The main advantages of organic materials in such applications
include
I. low operating voltages
II. color tunability
III. relative simplicity of device fabrication