Charge Carriers in Semiconductors

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The difference between the two is most important in optical devices. As has been mentioned in
the section charge carriers in semiconductors, a photon can provide the energy to produce an
electron-hole pair.
Each photon of energy E has momentum p = E / c, where c is the velocity of light. An optical
photon has an energy of the order of 10–19 J, and, since c = 3 × 108 ms–1, a typical photon has a
very small amount of momentum.
A photon of energy Eg, where Eg is the band gap energy, can produce an electron-hole pair in a
direct band gap semiconductor quite easily, because the electron does not need to be given very
much momentum. However, an electron must also undergo a significant change in its momentum
for a photon of energy Eg to produce an electron-hole pair in an indirect band gap semiconductor.
This is possible, but it requires such an electron to interact not only with the photon to gain
energy, but also with a lattice vibration called a phonon in order to either gain or lose
momentum.
The indirect process proceeds at a much slower rate, as it requires three entities to intersect in
order to proceed: an electron, a photon and a phonon. This is analogous to chemical reactions,
where, in a particular reaction step, a reaction between two molecules will proceed at a much
greater rate than a process which involves three molecules.
The same principle applies to recombination of electrons and holes to produce photons. The
recombination process is much more efficient for a direct band gap semiconductor than for an
indirect band gap semiconductor, where the process must be mediated by a phonon.
As a result of such considerations, gallium arsenide and other direct band gap semiconductors
are used to make optical devices such as LEDs and semiconductor lasers, whereas silicon, which
is an indirect band gap semiconductor, is not. The table in the next section lists a number of
different semiconducting compounds and their band gaps, and it also specifies whether their
band gaps are direct or indirect.
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Band Gap
Overview
1. The band gap is the minimum amount of energy required for an electron to break free of its
bound state.
2. When the band gap energy is met, the electron is excited into a free state, and can therefore
participate in conduction.
3. The band gap determines how much energy is needed from the sun for conduction, as well as
how much energy is generated.
4. A hole is created where the electron was formerly bound. This hole also participates in
conduction.
The band gap of a semiconductor is the minimum energy required to excite an electron that is
stuck in its bound state into a free state where it can participate in conduction. The band structure
of a semiconductor gives the energy of the electrons on the y-axis and is called a "band
diagram". The lower energy level of a semiconductor is called the "valence band" (EV) and the
energy level at which an electron can be considered free is called the "conduction band" (EC).
The band gap (EG) is the gap in energy between the bound state and the free state, between the
valence band and conduction band. Therefore, the band gap is the minimum change in energy
required to excite the electron so that it can participate in conduction.
Once the electron becomes excited into the conduction band, it is free to move about the
semiconductor and participate in conduction. However, the excitation of an electron to the
conduction band will also allow an additional conduction process to take place. The excitation of
an electron to the conduction band leaves behind an empty space for an electron. An electron
from a neighboring atom can move into this empty space. When this electron moves, it leaves
behind another space. The continual movement of the space for an electron, called a "hole", can
be illustrated as the movement of a positively charged particle through the crystal structure.
Consequently, the excitation of an electron into the conduction band results in not only an
electron in the conduction band but also a hole in the valence band. Thus, both the electron and
hole can participate in conduction and are called "carriers".
The concept of a moving "hole" is analogous to that of a bubble in a liquid. Although it is

actually the liquid that moves, it is easier to describe the motion of the bubble going in the
opposite direction.
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14 a i

The concept of a moving "hole" is analogous to that of a bubble in a liquid. Although it is

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