3

Electrical Properties of Semiconductors

A. Barr

1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides a basis for a general understanding of some of the basic
electrical properties of semiconductors such as conductivity and mobility. It is not
intended to be a comprehensive survey.

2. INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS

The electrical properties of semiconductors are determined mainly by those of

electrons and holes in the conduction and valence bands, respectively. If conduction
holes and electrons are created almost entirely by thermal excitation of electrons
across the energy gap (i.e., by thermal excitation from the valence to the conduction
band), then the semiconductor is termed intrinsic, and in this case the number of
electrons equals the number of holes.
To calculate the electron density (i.e., the number of electrons per unit volume)
and the hole density for an intrinsic semiconductor it is necessary to calculate the
density of states functions in the conduction and valence bands [gc(E) and gv(E),
respectively] and multiply by the appropriate probability of occupancy. The proba-
bility of occupancy for electrons is the Fermi function, F(E), and F(E) is given by

F(E) = 1 (1)
exp[(E - E F )/ kT] +1
where E is the energy of the state considered, EF is the Fermi energy and is the
value of E when F(E) =!. k is Boltzmann's constant, and T is the absolute
temperature.
A plot of F(E) vs. E at temperature T has the form shown in Fig. 1. The rate
of change of F(E) in the region of EF is dependent on the temperature T: the
lower the value of T the sharper the change of F(E) from one to zero.

A. 8aff • Department of Applied Physical Sciences, Coventry Polytechnic, Priory Street, Coventry
CVl SFB, U.K.

19
L. S. Miller et al. (eds.), Electronic Materials
© Plenum Press, New York 1991
20 A. BARR

F(t)
1.0 t--- - -- -_

0.5
FIGURE 1. The Fermi function F(E} plotted against
the energy E, for an absolute temperature T, where T
0.0 '--_ __ _ _ _ _!...-..::.....---+ is greater than zero. The value of the Fermi energy,
E EF , is that energy when F( E) = 0.5.

Further analysis of the Fermi function shows that values of E greater than EF
by approximately 4kT give a Maxwellian form (Le., the + 1 term in the denominator
can be ignored). This approximation (often termed the Maxwell-Boltzmann approxi-
mation) simplifies much of the mathematics.
To find the total number of electrons, n, in the conduction band, the product
F(E)ge(E) dE is integrated over all available energies in the band. For electrons
with energies near the bottom of the conduction band (for E > Ee) we have

(2)

where m: is the effective mass of electrons, E e is the energy of the bottom of the
conduction band, and C is a constant. The result obtained for n is

(3)

In the case of holes in the valence band, the probability of occupancy for holes is
[1 - F(E)] with g v(E) dE being given (for E < Ev) by

(4)

The result obtained for p, the total number of holes in the valence band, is

(5)

It is seen that the density of states functions depend on and m: m'j; .

For an intrinsic semiconductor, n equals p; it is thus possible, by equating the
respective expressions for nand p, to obtain an expression for E F " the Fermi energy
for an intrinsic semiconductor; EFi is found to be given by

E =
E e + Ev
+3kT
-In- (m'j;)
F, 24m:

It is seen that E F , depends on T, andm: , m'j; ,

and since m'j; is usually greater than
m:, E F , increases with temperature. For the case where m: = mt, E lies midway
F,
between E e and Ev'
 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTORS 21

Ea
Ev
FIGURE 2. The energy diagram for an extrinsic semi-
conductor showing the donor and acceptor energy levels
Ed and Ea , respectively. Distance

3. EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
The introduction of very small amounts of V-valent or III-valent material into
silicon (say) produces n-type and p-type silicon, respectively, with associated donor
sites and acceptor sites. The donor sites are situated just below the bottom of the
conduction band while the acceptor sites are just above the top of the valence band.
The energy band diagram for such a semiconductor with both donor and acceptor
levels is shown in Fig. 2, with the corresponding densities of states in Fig. 3.

Ea
By

FIGURE 3. The density of states curves for electrons and

holes in the conduction and valence bands, respectively,
together with the associated curves for the donor and
acceptor atoms . Density of States
22 A.BARR

The probabilities of occupancy of the donor and acceptor sites are governed
by the modified Fermi function

F*(E) = {I + f3 exp[(E - EF)/kTJ}-1

where f3 is less than unity. Thus F*(E) is less than! when E = E F. Although donor
and acceptor atoms have been added to the system and many of these atoms are
ionized, overall there will be charge neutrality. That is, we have

Here p and n are the hole and electron densities in the valence and conduction
bands, respectively, Nd and Na are the densities of impurity donor and acceptor
atoms, respectively, and (Nd - nd) and (Na - na) give the densities of ionized
donors and acceptors, respectively. It is then possible to calculate EF exactly but
often graphical methods or use of approximations suffice.
Also, the charge carrier populations can be obtained from the product of the
distribution functions and appropriate Fermi functions. It is found that the charge
carriers are all within a few kT of their respective band edges, kT being around
0.025 eV at room temperature.

4. SCATTERING AND MOBILITY OF CHARGE CARRIERS

Once the charge carrier density in the conduction and valence bands has been
established, it is then possible, in principle, to calculate the conductivity of the
material under consideration since the conductivity, (T, is related to charge carrier
density. Assuming an n-type material, for example, with carrier (electron) density
n, we have

Here m: is the effective mass and T is the mean free time or, more properly, the
relaxation time.
The relaxation time T is the time constant for the decay of current after the
electric field is removed, and is a measure of the resistance to electron motion
resulting from the scattering of the electrons. For a perfectly periodic lattice, T is
infinite; if the periodicity of the lattice of the sample is altered in any way, then the
value of T is reduced. The two most important effects are (i) the thermal motion of
the atoms and (ii) the presence of impurities. Thus there is a relaxation time Tlattice
associated with lattice vibrations and Tionic associated with ionic impurities in the
lattice. The increased lattice vibration with increasing temperature, T, means that
Tlattice is proportional to T- 3 / 2 while the effect of ionic impurities gives Tionic
proportional to T+ 3 / 2 (both these being approximations).
With both types of scattering present, the resultant relaxation time, T, is given
approximately by

111
-=--+--
T Tionic Tlattice
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF SEMICONDUCTORS 23

TABLE 1. Mobilities and Bandgaps for Some Commonly Used Materials

Material Electron mobility Hole mobility Bandgap

at 300 K at 300 K at 300 K
(1L1m 2 y-I S-I) (1L1m 2 V-I S-I) (EgleY)

Ge 0.39 0.19 0.66

Si 0.15 0.045 1.12
GaAs 0.85 0.040 1.40
CdTe 0.11 0.010 1.56

The application of an electric field '(; to the sample in conjunction with the scattering
processes produces a drift velocity, Vd, and the constant of proportionality between
these two is the mobility, /oL, of the carriers. So we have

Thus there are different mobilities associated with different scattering processes.
The resultant overall mobility, /oL, is given approximately by

1 1 1
-=--+--
/oL /oLlattice /oLionic

The conductivity, (T, of the sample is given by

The above equation applies to the situation when one type of carrier (electrons) is
present. With both holes and electrons present, (T is given by

where /oLe and /oLh are the mobilities of electrons and holes, respectively. An analysis
of the drift velocity of a "bunch" of one type of carrier (say electrons) in a "sea"
of the other type (holes) is quite complex, the resultant "ambipolar" mobility being
a function of the individual mobilities.
A number of techniques are available for measuring concentrations and
mobilities of charge carriers in samples; some are briefly indicated in Chapter 16
by Wright and Williams. Table 1 lists values for some of the parameters for a number
of different materials to show the range of values expected. Values for other materials
can be found in various texts (see the Bibliography, for example).

5. HIGH-FIELD EFFECTS

If the electric field applied exceeds a certain value (say, around 100 V/mm)
then the electrons and holes in wide-band semiconductors such as silicon and
24 A. BARR

gallium arsenide are heated by the electric field above the temperature of the lattice
(which is normally around room temperature). This leads to "hot carrier" effects,
and results from the fact that the carriers cannot lose energy as fast as they gain it
from the field; as they "heat up" their frequency of scattering increases (basically
because they are moving faster): T reduces and the rate of energy loss becomes
equal to the rate of energy gain. Clearly, a reduced T corresponds to a reduced
mobility. In the case of silicon, this leads, at fields of around 104 V mm -I to a
saturation of the drift velocity at around 108 mm S-I for electrons, and for gallium
arsenide this figure is around 6 x 107 mm S-I. Thus the saturation velocity for
electrons in gallium arsenide is less than that in silicon, despite the much higher
low-field mobility (Table O. At intermediate fields, however (about 300Vmm- I ),
the velocity in gallium arsenide peaks at about 2 x 108 mm S-I and is about four
times that of silicon at the same field. The actual drop in drift velocity in gallium
arsenide results from the presence of the indirect band gap (see Chapter 2 by Miller)
at only about 0.3 e V above the direct gap; electrons excited into this 'sub-band' at
high fields have a reduced mobility.
These phenomena must be carefully considered in relation to the relative
"speed" advantages of the two materials. The picture is further complicated by the
fact that for very small devices the voltages involved can be insufficient to provide
the energy involved in heating the carriers, although the field is very high (note the
need for 0.3 eV in exciting to the gallium arsenide sub-bands). In this case, the
carriers are not reaching equilibrium within the length of the device, and this can
occur at low fields also; clearly care must be exercised in predicting the relative
"speed" advantages of different materials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The following general text books are some of many that extend the ideas introduced in this section:

H. M. Rosenburg, The Solid State, Oxford U.P., London (1983).

S. M. Sze, Physics of Semiconductor Devices, Wiley, New York (1981).
S. M. Sze, Semiconductor Devices, Physics and Technology, Wiley, New York (1985).
H. E. Hall, Solid State Physics, Wiley, New York (1974).
L. Solymar and D. Walsh, Lectures on the Electrical Properties of Materials, Oxford U.P., London (1984).