EEE 1231

ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CIRCUITS

LECTURE - 1

Prepared by
Ipshita Tasnim Raha
Lecturer
Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering
Varendra University
Contact: [email protected]

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Introduction to
Semiconductors

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 Semiconductor
• Semiconductors are a special class of elements having a conductivity between that of a good
conductor and that of an insulator

• The three semiconductors used most frequently in the construction of electronic devices are Ge,
Si, and GaAs

• In general, semiconductor materials fall into one of two classes:

i. Single-crystal Semiconductors: It have a repetitive crystal structure. Such as, Germanium

(Ge) and Silicon (Si) have a repetitive crystal structure.

ii. Compound Semiconductors: It is constructed of two or more semiconductor materials of

different atomic structures. Such as, Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Cadmium Sulfide (CdS),
Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP) are compound
semiconductors.

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 Semiconductor
• The three semiconductors used most frequently in the construction of electronic devices are Ge,
Si, and GaAs.

Sl Substance Nature Resistivity

1 Copper Good conductor 1.7X10-8 Ωm
2 Germanium Semiconductor 0.6 Ωm
3 Glass Insulator 9X1011 Ωm

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 Properties of Semiconductor

i. The resistivity of a semiconductor is less than an insulator but more than a conductor

ii. Semiconductor has negative temperature co-efficient of resistance i.e. the resistance of a
semiconductor decreases with the increase in temperature and vice versa.

iii. When a suitable metallic impurity is added to a semiconductor its current conducting
properties change appreciably.

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 Covalent Bonding
• The fundamental components of an atom are the electron, proton, and neutron. In the lattice
structure, neutrons and protons form the nucleus and electrons appear in fixed orbits around the
nucleus.

• The electron configuration of the most used three semiconductors are given below-

Fig: Atomic structure of (a) silicon; (b) germanium; and (c) gallium and arsenic.

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 Covalent Bonding

• Here, silicon has 14 orbiting electrons, germanium has 32 electrons, gallium has 31 electrons
and arsenic has 33 orbiting electrons.

• For germanium and silicon there are four electrons in the outermost shell, which are referred to
as valence electrons. Gallium has three valence electrons and arsenic has five valence electrons.

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 Covalent Bonding
• In a pure silicon or germanium crystal the four valence electrons of one atom form a bonding
arrangement with four adjoining atoms. This bonding of atoms, strengthened by the sharing of
electrons, is called covalent bonding.

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 Energy Levels
• Within the atomic structure of each and every isolated atom there are specific energy levels
associated with each shell and orbiting electron.

Fig: Energy levels: (a) discrete levels in isolated atomic structures

(b) conduction and valence bands of an insulator, a semiconductor and a conductor.

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Valence Band, Conduction Band and Forbidden Energy Gap

Let’s watch a video

Valence Band, Conduction Band and Forbidden Energy Gap

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Energy Levels

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 Energy Bands Of Semiconductor
• Energy gap is different for Ge, Si and GaAs. Ge has the smallest gap and GaAs the largest gap.
In total, this simply means that, An electron in the valence band of silicon must absorb more
energy than one in the valence band of germanium to become a free carrier. Similarly, an
electron in the valence band of gallium arsenide must gain more energy than one in silicon or
germanium to enter the conduction band.

• Therefore, relatively small energy is needed by their valence electrons to cross over to the
conduction band. Even at room temperature, some of the valence electrons may acquire
sufficient energy to enter into the conduction band and thus become free electrons. However, at
this temperature, the number of free electrons available is very small. Therefore, at room
temperature, a piece of germanium or silicon is neither a good conductor nor an insulator. For
this reason, such substances are called semiconductors.

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Effects Of Temperature On Semiconductor

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 Effects Of Temperature On Semiconductor
(ii) Above zero temperature some of the covalent bonds in semiconductor break due to the
thermal energy supplied. For this reason some of the electrons become free. The result is that a few
free electrons exist in semiconductor. These free electrons can constitute a tiny electric current if
potential difference is applied across the semiconductor crystal. This shows that the resistance of a
semiconductor decreases with the rise in temperature.

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors

Let’s watch video

Link: Intrinsic And Extrinsic Semi Conductors

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 Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Any semiconductor material in its extremely pure form is termed as intrinsic semiconductor.

• In an intrinsic semiconductor valence electron may absorb the sufficient kinetic energy from
external natural causes to break the covalent bond and assume the free state.

• The external causes include effects such as light energy in the form of photons and thermal
energy (heat) from the surrounding medium.

• At room temperature there are approximately 1.5x1010 free carriers in 1cm3 of intrinsic silicon
material, that is 15 billion electrons in a space smaller than a small sugar cube, which is
enormous.

• Hole-electron pairs are created when electric field is applied across an intrinsic semiconductor

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Intrinsic Semiconductor

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 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors
• The conductive characteristic of an intrinsic semiconductor can be altered significantly by
adding a small amount of suitable impurity atoms into it.

• The process of adding impurities to intrinsic semiconductor is known as doping. And an

intrinsic semiconductor material that has been subjected to the doping process is called an
extrinsic semiconductor material.

• Depending upon the type of impurity added, extrinsic semiconductors are classified into two
types. They are,

i. n-type semiconductor
ii. p-type semiconductor

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Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductors

Impurities

Donor Acceptor
Impurity Impurity
• Excess Electrons • (+)ve carrier (holes)
• Pentavalent elements • Trivalent elements
• n-type impurity • p-type impurity

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 A brief assessment
1. What is semiconductor?

2. Name any three most frequently used semiconductors.

3. What are the fundamental components of an atom?

4. What is covalent bonding?

5. At absolute zero temperature semiconductor behaves as a perfect __________

6. the resistance of a semiconductor _________ with the rise in temperature.

7. Why do we add suitable impurity atoms into an intrinsic semiconductor?

8. What is doping?

9. What is Valence Band, Conduction Band and Forbidden Energy Gap?

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The purpose of
life is
a life of purpose
--“Robert Byrne”--

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