Lecture notes for:

Solid State Electronic Devices

by S. Banerjee
with modifications by M. Nadeem Akram and Per Ohlckers
The most important topics in the
syllabus:
Crystal structure of semiconductors
Quantum physics
Bandstructure, carrier drift
Optical Generation-Recombination,
Diffusion
Bipolar (PN) junctions
Field Effect Transistors: MOS ICs
Bipolar Junction Transistors
Optoelectronics
Chapter 1 and 2 slides in this file
Moores Law:
Exponential increase of
transistor count, and
decrease of sizes with time
Chapter 1
2
Slide 3
Semiconductors
Periodic Table
l = 1 (p)
l = 0 (s)
l = 2 (d)
l = 3 (f)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
N
o
b
l
e

G
a
s

H
a
l
o
g
e
n

G
r
o
u
p

V
I

G
r
o
u
p

I
V

G
r
o
u
p

V

G
r
o
u
p

I
I
I

n
4
5
6
In addtion; Ternary and quartenary
semiconductors are used in specific applications

Examples of ternary semiconductors: AlxGa1-xAs, GaAsyP1-y

Example of quartenary semiconductors: AlxGa1-xAsyP1-y

Silicon (Si) (Elementary semiconductor) is by far the most
used material for integrated circuits combining excellent
technical perforance with low cost.

Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) (Binary semiconductor) is important
in optoelectronics, favourably combining electronic and
optical features.
A LATTICE is an infinite, periodic arrangement of points. The symmetry
determines the lattice, not the magnitudes of the distances.

At each lattice point if we put a physical entity or BASIS which is one atom (or
a group of atoms in the same arrangement), we get a CRYSTAL.

A crystal has long range order, polycrystalline material only short range order
and an amorphous material no order.
7
Crystal Lattice
PRIMITIVE cell ODEF is the smallest cell that can be translated by integer
number of primitive vectors a and b to replicate the lattice. It has lattice
points ONLY at corners of cell. It is not unique but convention is to choose
smallest and most orthogonal primitive vectors.

UNIT cell (rectangle) allows lattice points at corners, face center and body
center in 3-D. It is sometimes used instead of the primitive cell if it can
represent the symmetry of the lattice better. (in this example centered
rectangular 2-D lattice). It replicates the lattice by integer translations of
basis vectors.
8
Primitive Cell/Unit Cell
3-D lattices are called SPACE lattices or Bravais lattices.

These are examples of cubic UNIT cells because they obey
POINT symmetry operations (reflection, rotation, inversion) of a
cube.

The PRIMITIVE cells are different: It is cubic for the SC case,
but non-cubic for FCC and BCC. The primitive cell has only ONE
lattice point per cell, and a volume of 1/n if n is the number
density of points.
9
Space lattices or Bravais lattices
1. Choose coordinate system with origin at any lattice point and orient axes
along edges of cube.
2. Determine intercepts of planes with axes in multiples of unit cell edges.
3. Take reciprocals of intercepts and reduce to lowest set of integers, unless
intercept is fraction of unit cell edge
4. Equivalent sets of (100) planes: ({100} planes) by rotation of the unit cell
within the cubic lattice.
Miller Indices for Planes
10
1. Fix coordinate system and choose vector along direction in the lattice.
2. Determine components of vector along axes.
3. Reduce to lowest set of integers.
4. Equivalent [100] directions indicated as <100>.
Miller Indices for Directions
11
If all the atoms are the same as in Si or Ge, it is a diamond structure. If the
nearest neighbor atoms are different as in GaAs,it is zinc blende. The 4
nearest neighbors are shown in a symmetric, tetrahedral arrangement.
Diamond lattice
structure:
(a) a unit cell of the
diamond lattice
constructed by placing
atoms from each atom in
an fcc; (b) top view
(along any 100 direction)
of an extended diamond
lattice. The colored
circles indicate one fcc
sublattice and the black
circles indicate the
interpenetrating fcc.


12
13
Packing fraction:
Si Unit Cell shown
14
Number density:
Si Unit Cell shown
15
--->
The 3 most important
Silicon Crystal Planes
Pull crystal SLOWLY (~ mm/minute) while rotating (for uniformity). Diameter
increases as pull rate reduced. Industry grows large 300 mm diameter boules
or ingots. Few stress-related defects because crystal unconstrained.
Molten Si at 1412 C. Add dopants to melt, but incorporation governed by
distribution coefficient or segregation coefficient, k
d
= C
S
/C
L
. Common
impurities are C and O from crucible.

Czochralski Bulk Crystal Growth
Steps in (100) Si wafer fabrication:
1. Grind boule into cylinder and put
notch on {110}orientation.
2. Saw into wafers, and grinding/
polishing of damage.
3. Chamfer edges and chemical-
mechanical polish front.

Ref: Plummer
16
Atmospheric pressure CVD systems. The Si wafers are held in slots cut on the
sides of a SiC-coated graphite susceptor that flares out near the base to
promote gas flow patterns conducive to uniform epitaxy. Typical precursors and
deposition temperatures are SiCl
4
(1200 C) and SiH
2
Cl
2
(1000 C).
Metal Organic CVD (MOCVD) for III-V semiconductors.
Barrel-type reactor for Si Vapor Phase Epitaxy
17
Crystal growth by
molecular beam epitaxy
(MBE):
(a) evaporation cells inside a
high -vacuum chamber
(10
-11
Torr) directing
beams of Al, Ga, As, and
dopants onto a GaAs
substrate at ~600C;

(b) (b) scanning electron
micrograph of the cross
section of superlattice of
GaAs (dark lines) and
AlGaAs (light lines).
Each layer is four
monolayers thick.
18
1-D: Heteroepitaxy and misfit
dislocations due to lattice mismatch
between SiGe and Si leading to
compressive strain in the SiGe layer.
(a) For less than critical layer
thickness, t
c
, pseudomorphic growth
occurs; (b) above t
c
, misfit
dislocations form at the interface.
Crystal Defects
Ref: Plummer
0-D: Vacancy (missing atom);
Interstitial (extra atom in void);
Impurity- substitutional/interstitial
1-D Dislocation
2-D: Surface, stacking fault
3-D: Precipitate or cluster
19
Chapter 2: Quantum Physics

Diffraction can only be explained by
treating light as a wave instead of a
particle, supporting Huygens over Newton.
()(v) = c = 3 x 10
8
m/s
= speed of light (constant)
Characterized by: Wavelength or Frequency;
Amplitude (A) or Intensity (=A
2
), and Phase
Planck/Einstein- Light Quanta Photons
Planck found that in order to
model black body radiation,
one has to envision that
energy (in the form of light)
is lost (or gained) in integer
values according to:
AE = nhv
Energy Change
n = 1, 2, 3 (integers)
frequency
h = Plancks constant = 6.626 x 10
-34
J.s
E
photon
= hv
21 Slide
Photoelectric Effect- Einstein
2
1
2
e photon
m h q v v = u
Energy needed to release electron =
workfunction of metal (measured in eV or J)
Light apparently behaves both as a particle and a wave: wave-particle duality.
Perhaps so does matter?? Leads to quantum mechanics
0
v
0
Frequency ( v)
metal
One needs a minimum amount of photon
energy to see electrons.
Also for v v
o
, number of electrons increases
linearly with light intensity.
As frequency of incident light is increased,
kinetic energy of emitted e
-
increases linearly.
Continuous spectrum from solids
Quantized spectrum from atoms
A
E

A
E

23
Only certain AE are allowed
Any AE is possible
Slide
Rydbergs Model
Rydberg extends the Balmer model (n
1
=2) for visible spectra to other
spectral series.
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
2
2
2
1
1 1
n n
R
y
v
n
1
= 1, 2, 3, ..
n
2
= n
1
+1, n
1
+2,
R
y
= 3.29 x 10
15
1/s
This suggests that the energy levels of the H atom are
proportional to 1/n
2
Ritz discovers the combinatorial principle between
photon frequencies.

Hydrogen Atom Models
Rutherford proposed a planetary model
where the light, negative electrons orbit
around a heavy nucleus made up of
positive protons and neutral neutrons.

He placed no restrictions on electron
orbits, which was a problem because
according to Maxwell such orbiting
electrons should lose energy and
combine with nucleus.

1. Bohr proposed that electrons can
only have certain allowed orbits.
2. In these orbits, the angular
momentum is quantized as:
p = mvr = nh/2
3. Electrons can lose or gain energy
only during transitions between these
orbits.
AE = E
i
-E
f
= hv
25
26
Hydrogen Atom
Models
De Broglie Waves
Based on wave-particle duality of matter, de Broglie suggested that particles have a
wavelength given by:
mv
h
p
h
= =
not allowed
k
h h
p = = =

t
t
2
2 mv
h
p
h
= =
The Bohr orbits satisfied the standing wave condition
t n
mv
h
n r = = 2
p = mvr = nh/2
27 Slide
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Another limitation of classical physics was that it assumed we could know both
the position and momentum of an electron exactly.
Heisenberg development of quantum mechanics led him to the observation that
there is a fundamental limit to how well one can know both the position and
momentum of a particle simultaneously.
t 4
h
t E > A - A
t 4
h
p x x > A - A
Uncertainty in position
Uncertainty in momentum
Similar uncertainties in y,z.
4
th
uncertainty relation
What is the uncertainty in momentum for an electron in a 1 radius
orbital in which the positional uncertainty is 1% of the radius.?



Ap =
h
4tAx
=
6.626x10
34
J.s
( )
4t 1x10
12
m
( )
= 5.27x10
23
kg.m/ s
28 Slide
Quantum Mechanics: Schrodinger equation
Schrodinger developed a mathematical formalism
that incorporated the wave nature of matter:
( - greek letter Psi pronounced (p)sigh)
( H - greek letter Eta pronounced ay-tay)


H = E


H
The Hamiltonian:

=

p
2
2m
+ (PE)
Kinetic Energy

operating on
the Wavefunction:

gives us the

total energy
x
E = energy
What is an
operator?
e.g. derivatives
d/dt or d
2
/dx
2

Schrodinger equation:
Wavefunction
What is a wavefunction?

= a probability amplitude (complex)

Consider a wave:
( ) ( ) tv +
=
t kx j
Ae y
2
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
2 2 2 *
2
A Ae e A y
t kx j t kx j
= =
+ + tv tv
Intensity =
Probability of finding a particle in space:

Probability =
With the normalized wavefunction, we can
describe spatial distributions.
31

( )
) (

kx j
Ae x
+
=
( )
t j
E t x V
x m
H
c
c
= =
(

+
c
c
=



,
2
2
2 2
Time evolution of wavefunction in 1-D given by Schrodinger equation, where
Hamiltonian is H = KE+ PE=T +V
t j
Et
j
e e t f
t Ef
t
t f
j
e

= =
=
c
c

) (
) (
) (
Use separation of variables, for static potential V(x):
) ( ) (
) ( ) (
) ( ) ( ) V(
2
2
2 2
t f x E
t
t f x
j
t f x x
x m
=
c
c
=
(

+
c
c

Get time-independent Schrodinger
eigenvalue equation for spatial part:
For free particle, V=0 putting:
m
k
E
2
2 2

=
32

k =

h
=
( )
) (
,
t kx j
Ae t x
e

+
=
e
c
c


= = =

=
m
p
m
k
t j
E
2 2
2 2 2
For a free particle, multiplying the spatial and temporal parts of the
solution we get a plane wave function of position, x, and time, t,
with normalization constant A, wavevector k and frequency :
(Planck)
(de Broglie)
= p
Expectation values of quantum mechanical
operators correspond to physical quantities.

c
c

x j

33
Particle in a potential well and Quantization
( ) |
.
|

\
|
=
L
x n
L
x
t
sin
2
( )
|
.
|

\
|
=
L
x n
L
x
t
sin
2
( ) ( ) kx A x sin =
Energy is quantized
in terms of quantum
number n due to
confinement of particle.
-
E
2
2 2
8mL
h n
E =
n = 1, 2,
x
0
inf.
0 L
34 Slide
(a) Potential barrier of height V
0
and thickness
W;
(b) (b) probability density for an electron with
energy E < V
0
, indicating a non-zero value of
the wave function beyond the barrier.
Quantum mechanical tunneling
35
Quantization in Spherically Symmetric Potentials
In the case of the hydrogen atom, energy
becomes quantized due to the presence of a
constraining potential.
r
0
Schrodinger
Equation
r
Ze
r V
2
) (

=
0
Recovers the Bohr model
36 Slide
H-atom wavefunctions
If we solve the Schrodinger equation using this
potential, we find that the energy levels are
quantized:

E
n
=
Z
2
n
2
me
4
8c
0
2
h
2
|
\

|
.
|
= 2.178x10
18
J
Z
2
n
2
|
\

|
.
|
n is the principal quantum number, and ranges
from 1 to infinity.
These correspond to the Bohr orbits,
and is due to constraining Coulomb potential.
2
18 18
2
2.178 10 2.178 10 13.6 1( )
n
Z
E x J x J eV for n Rydberg
n

| |
= = = =
|
\ .
H-atom wavefunctions- orbitals
In solving the Schrodinger equation, other quantum numbers become evident:
l, the orbital angular momentum quantum number. Gives ellipticity of orbit.
m, the z component of orbital angular momentum.
Ranges in value from -l to 0 to l. Lines up along external magnetic field.
We can then characterize the wavefunctions based on
the quantum numbers (n, l, m, s).
Also have a spin quantum number s of
l (0 to (n-1)) is given a letter value as follows:
0 = s (sharp)
1 = p (principal)
2 = d (diffuse)
3 = f (fundamental)
n l Orbital m
l
# of Orb.

1 0 1s 0 1
2 0 2s 0 1
1 2p -1, 0, 1 3
3 0 3s 0 1
1 3p -1, 0, 1 3
2 3d -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 5
For each of these, have spin s = .
The total number of electrons in the shells are 2, 8, 18,..
Orbital energies increase as 1/n
2

Orbitals of same n, but different
l are considered to be of (almost)
equal energy (degenerate).
39 Slide
S (l=0) Orbital Shapes
r dependence only
as n increases, orbitals
demonstrate n-1 nodes.

1s
=
1
t
Z
a
o
|
\

|
.
|
3
2
e

Z
a
0
r
=
1
t
Z
a
o
|
\

|
.
|
3
2
e
o
a
0
is the Bohr radius = 0.53

2p (l = 1) orbital shapes
not spherical, but lobed.
labeled with respect to orientation along x, y, and z.

2p
z
=
1
4 2t
Z
a
o
|
\

|
.
|
3
2
oe
o
2
cosu
Electronic Structure of Elements and Periodic Table

1A 2A 3A 4A 5A 6A 7A 8A
1
H
1s
1


2
He
1s
2

3
Li
1s
2

2s
1

4
Be
1s
2

2s
2

5
B
1s
2

2s
2
2p
1

6
C
1s
2

2s
2
2p
2

7
N
1s
2

2s
2
2p
3

8
O
1s
2

2s
2
2p
4

9
F
1s
2

2s
2
2p
5

10
Ne
1s
2

2s
2
2p
6

11
Na
[Ne]
3s
1

12
Mg
[Ne]
3s
2

13
Al
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
1

14
Si
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
2

15
P
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
3

16
S
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
4

17
Cl
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
5

18
Ar
[Ne]
3s
2
3p
6

Lowest energy orbitals occupied first: also Pauli exclusion principle
42 Slide
Electronic structure and energy levels in a Si atom: (a) The orbital model of a Si atom
showing the 10 core electrons (n = 1 and 2), and the 4 valence electrons (n = 3); (b)
energy levels in the coulombic potential of the nucleus are also shown schematically.
Atomic number, Z= 14= number of protons or electrons; atomic weight, A= number of
protons plus neutrons.e.g. one isotope of Si is
14
Si
28
43
The spherically symmetric s type wave functions or orbitals are
positive everywhere, while the three mutually perpendicular p
type orbitals ( p
x
, p
y
, p
z
) are dumbbell shaped and have a
positive lobe and a negative lobe. The four sp
3
hybridized
orbitals, only one of which is shown here, point symmetrically in
space and lead to the diamond lattice in Si.
Hybridized Orbitals in a Si Atom
44
End of Chapter 1 and 2 slides

Most important topics:
To be included later