Solid State Electronics (EN 125)

Course Outline

By Dr. Yaseer A. Durrani

UET, Taxila

Course Outline
 Crystal Properties & Growth of
Semiconductors
 Atoms & Electrons
 Energy Bands & Charge Carrier
in Semiconductors
 Junctions
 Field-Effect Transistors
 Bipolar Junction Transistors
 Optoelectronic Devices
 Integrated Circuits

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 Books
 Course Book
 Solid State Electronic Devices, Ben G. Streetman, Sanjay K. Banerjee, 6th
Ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, NJ 07458, 2000ISBN # 013149726-X
 Reference Books
– Fundamental of Semiconductor Devices, Betty L. Anderson, Richard L. Anderson, Mc-
Graw Hill
– Introduction to Solid State Physics, Charles Kittel, Wiley Pub. (6th Ed.)
– Semiconductor Device Fundamentals, Robert Pierret, Addison-Wesley, 1996, ISBN
#0201543931
– Solid State Electronic Devices, D.K. Bhattacharya, R. Sharma
– Solid-State Physics for Electronics, Andre Moliton

Grading policy
 Assignments 08%
 Quizzes 12%
 Mid 30%
 Final 50%

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 Solid State Electronics (EN 125)

Crystal Properties & Growth of

Semiconductors

By Dr. Yaseer A. Durrani

UET, Taxila

Crystallography
 Basic Knowledge of Elementary Crystallography is Essential for Solid
State Physicists!!!

 Crystallography is the branch of science that deals with geometric

description of crystals & their internal arrangements. It is the science of
crystals & math used to describe them

 Crystal’s symmetry has a profound influence on many of its properties

 Crystal structure should be specified completely, concisely &
unambiguously
 Structures are classified into different types according to the symmetries
they possess
 In this course, we only consider solids with “simple” structures

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 States of Matter
 Matter: has mass, occupies space
 Mass: has weight, resistance to acceleration

 Solids: has volume, shape

 Liquids: has volume, no fixed shape, Flows
 Gases: No volume, no shape. Takes volume & shape of its container
 Plasma: No volume, no shape. Composed of electrically charged particles,
plasmas are electrically conductive, produce magnetic fields & electric
currents, & respond strongly to electromagnetic forces

Solids
 Particles (ions, atoms, molecules) are packed closely together. Forces
between particles are strong enough so that particles cannot move
freely but can only vibrate. As a result, a solid has a stable, definite
shape, & definite volume. Solids can only change their shape by force,
as when broken or cut

 Solids can be transformed into liquids by melting, & liquids can be

transformed into solids by freezing. Solids can also change directly into
gases through the process of sublimation
 Solids can be classified under criteria based on: atomic arrangements,
electrical properties, thermal properties, chemical bonds etc.
– Using electrical criterion: Conductors, Insulators, Semiconductors
– Using atomic arrangements: Crystalline, Amorphous, Polycrystalline
 Long term atomic arrangement determines the crystal type. Properties such as
electrical, mechanical & optical are intimately tied to crystal type

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 Types of Solids
 Ionic Crystals or Solids
– Lattice points occupied by cations and anions
– Held together by electrostatic attraction
– Hard, brittle, high melting point
– Poor conductor of heat and electricity CsCl ZnS CaF2

 Molecular Crystals or Solids

– Lattice points occupied by molecules
– Held together by intermolecular forces
– Soft, low melting point
– Poor conductor of heat and electricity
 Network or Covalent Crystals or Solids
– Lattice points occupied by atoms
– Held together by covalent bonds
– Hard, high melting point
diamond graphite
– Poor conductor of heat and electricity
 Metallic Crystals or Solids
– Lattice points occupied by metal atoms
– Held together by metallic bond
– Soft to hard, low to high melting point
– Good conductor of heat and electricity 9

Solid Resistivity Vs Conductivity Vs Temperature

 Electrical resistivity quantifies how strongly a given material opposes the flow
of electric current
– low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the movement of
electric charge. If 1m×1m×1m solid cube of material has sheet contacts
on two opposite faces & resistance b/w these contacts is 1Ω, then
resistivity of the material is 1 Ω⋅m
 Electrical conductivity is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity & measures a
material's ability to conduct an electric current

Resistivity vs Temperature
(a) Linear rise in resistivity with increasing temperature at all but
very low temperatures
(b) Curve flattens & approaches a nonzero resistance as T → 0
(c) Resistivity increases dramatically as T → 0

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 Materials

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Solid-State Electronic Materials

 Solid electronic materials based on their conducting properties fall into
three categories:
– Insulators Resistivity () > 105 -cm
– Semiconductors 10-3 <  < 105 -cm
– Conductors  < 10-3 -cm
 Elemental semiconductors are formed from a single type of atom,
typically Silicon
 Compound semiconductors are formed from combinations of column III
and V elements or columns II and VI
 Germanium was used in many early devices
 Silicon quickly replaced Germanium due to its higher bandgap energy,
lower cost, and is easily oxidized to form silicon-dioxide insulating
layers

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 Solid-State Electronic Devices
 Deals with circuits or devices built entirely from solid materials, in which
electrons, or other charge carriers, are confined entirely within solid material
 Deals with circuit or devices involving theory of flow of electrons confined
within solid material. This includes devices like Diodes, Transistors etc.

 Solid-state can include Crystalline, Polycrystalline, Amorphous solids refers to:

– Electrical conductors, insulators, semiconductors (building material is most
often crystalline semiconductor)
 Common solid-state devices include: Integrated circuit (IC), light-emitting diode
(LED), liquid-crystal display (LCD)

 In solid-state component, current is confined to solid elements & compounds

engineered specifically to switch & amplify it
– Current flow can be understood in two forms: as negatively charged
electrons, and as positively charged electron deficiencies called holes

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Semiconductor
 Semiconductor is a solid material that has electrical conductivity in between
conductor & insulator
 Semiconductor is very similar to insulators. Two categories of solids differ
primarily in that insulators have larger energy band gaps that electrons must
acquire to be free to move from atom to atom
 In Semiconductor production, doping is the process of intentionally introducing
impurities into extremely pure (referred as intrinsic) semiconductor in order to
change its electrical properties
– Number of dopant atoms needed to create a difference in ability of a
semiconductor to conduct is very small
– Small number of dopant atoms are added (order of 1 every 100,000,000
atoms) then doping is said to be low, or light
– More dopant atoms are added (order of 1 in 10,000) then doping is said to
be heavy, or high. This is often shown as n+ for n-type dopant or p+ for p-
type doping

B C N
Al Si P S
Zn Ga Ge As Se
Cd In Sb Te 14

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 Semiconductor Materials
 Several semiconductors used in electronic & optoelectronic functions
Fluorescent materials
Used in transistors, rectifiers, ICs Television screens
Infrared & nuclear radiation detectors

Used earlier days of

developments in Si SiC AlP ZnS
transistors/diodes, & currently
Ge SiGe AlAs ZnSe
Infrared & nuclear radiation
detectors AlSb ZnTe

Used in LEDs GaN CdSe

Light detectors GaP CdTe
GaAs
GaSb
InP
InAs
InSb

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Significance of Semiconductors
 Computers, palm pilots, laptops: Silicon (Si) MOSFETs, ICs, CMOS
 Cell phones, pagers: Si ICs, GaAs FETs, BJTs
 CD players: AlGaAs, InGaP laser diodes, Si photodiodes
 TV remotes, mobile terminals: Light emitting diodes
 Satellite dishes: InGaAs MMICs
 Fiber networks: InGaAsP laser diodes, pin photodiodes
 Traffic signals, car: GaN LEDs (green, blue)
 Taillights: InGaAsP LEDs (red, amber)

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 Why Silicon dominates?
 Abundant, cheap, wider band gap, wide operation temperature
 SiO2 is very stable, strong dielectric & it is easy to grow on thermal process
 Atomic number: 14, Atomic mass/weight: 28.0855
 Silicon group: IV elements (C, Ge)
 Crystal structure: diamond cubic
 Silicon forms: fcc structure with lattice spacing: 5.430710 A (0.5430710 nm)
 Band gap energy: 300 K 1.12eV Each Si atom has 4 nearest neighbors
 Density of solid: 2.33 gm/cm3
 Magnetic ordering: diamagnetic
 Electric resistivity : (20 °C) 103]Ωꞏm
 Thermal conductivity: (300 K) 149 Wꞏm−1ꞏK−1
 Thermal expansion: (25 °C) 2.6 µmꞏm−1ꞏK−1
 Speed of sound: (thin rod) (20 °C) 8433 m/s
 Young’s modulous: 185 Gpa Shear moduluos : 52 Gpa
 Bulk modulous: 100 GPa
 Melting point: 1414ºC, Boiling point: 2900ºC
 Molar Volume: 12.06 cm3
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How many Silicon atoms/cm-3?

 14 electrons occupying the 1st 3 energy levels: 1s, 1
# of Electrons
2 3
2s, 2p orbitals filled by 10 electrons 3s, 3p orbitals Z Name 1s 2s 2p 3s 3p 3d Notation
1H 1 1s 1
filled by 4 electrons 2 He 2 1s 2
 To minimize the overall energy, the 3s and 3p orbitals 3 Li 2 1 1s 2 2s 1
1s 2 2s 2
hybridize to form 4 tetrahedral 3sp orbitals 4 Be
5B
2
2
2
2 1 1s 2 2s 2 2p1
 Each has one electron and is capable of forming 6C 2 2 2 1s 2 2s 2 2p2
1s 2 2s 2 2p3
a bond with a neighboring atom 7N 2 2 3
1s 2 2s 2 2p4
8O 2 2 4
9F 2 2 5 1s 2 2s 2 2p5
10 Ne 2 2 6 1s 2 2s 2 2p6
11 Na 2 2 6 1 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 1
12 Mg 2 2 6 2 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2
13 Al 2 2 6 2 1 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p1
14 Si 2 2 6 2 2 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p2
15 P 2 2 6 2 3 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p3
16 S 2 2 6 2 4 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p4
17 Cl 2 2 6 2 5 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p5
18 Ar 2 2 6 2 6 1s 2 2s 2 2p6 3s 2 3p6

 How many Silicon atoms/cm-3?

 Number of atoms in a unit cell:
– 4 atoms completely inside cell
– Each of 8 atoms on corners are shared among cells count as 1 atom inside cell
– Each of 6 atoms on faces are shared among 2 cells  count as 3 atoms inside cell
• Total number inside the cell=4+1+3=8
 Cell volume:(0.543 nm)3 =1.6 x 10-22 cm3
 Density of silicon atoms=(8 atoms)/(cell volume)=5x1022 atoms/cm3
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 Crystalline Solids
 In crystalline solids, the particles (atoms, molecules, or ions) are packed in a
regularly ordered, repeating pattern

 To understand the distinction b/w solid material types, we must first understand
the concept of order. Order can be described as the repetition of identical
structures or identical placement of atoms

 For example, an atom has six nearby atoms, each 5 A° away, arranged in a
pattern:

 If one where to pick any other atom in material & find same arrangement, then
material would be described as having order. This order can be Short Range
Order (SRO) or Long Range Order (LRO)
 SRO is typically on the order of 100 inter atom distances or less, while long
range is over distance greater than 1000 inter atom distances, with a
transitional region in between

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Crystalline Solids
 Different crystal structures & same substance can have more than one structure
– Iron has body-centred cubic structure at temperatures below 912 °C, & face-
centred cubic structure b/w 912-1394°C
– Ice has 15 known crystal structures at various temperatures & pressures

 Perfect Crystal: is an idealization that does not exist in nature. In some ways,
even a crystal surface is an imperfection, because periodicity is interrupted there
– Each atom undergoes thermal vibrations around their equilibrium positions
for temperatures T > 0K. These can also be viewed as “imperfections”
 Real Crystal: always have foreign atoms (impurities), missing atoms
(vacancies), & atoms in b/w lattice sites (interstitials) where they should not be.
Each of these spoils the perfect crystal structure

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 Structure of Solids
 Crystalline Solids:
– Single/mono crystals have a periodic atomic structure across its whole
volume in 3-D long range
– Any good quality semiconductor have periodic arrangements of atoms in 3-D
– Atoms have both SRO & LRO
 Amorphous Solids:
– Continuous random network structure of atoms
– Amorphous Si do not have any ordering at all
– Atoms may have some local order, SRO, no LRO
– E.g. Polymers, cotton candy, common window glass, ceramic
 Polycrystalline Solids
– An aggregate of a large number of small crystals or grains in which structure
is regular, but crystals or grains are arranged in a random fashion
– Semiconductors deposited on non-lattice matched substrate have only short
range ordering of atoms

Grains
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Single Vs Polycrystals
 Single crystalline materials properties vary with direction, i.e. anisotropic

 Polycrystalline materials may or may not vary with direction

– If polycrystal grains are randomly oriented, properties will not vary with
direction i.e. isotropic
– If polycrystal grains are textured, properties will vary with direction i.e.
anisotropic

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 Lattice Structure
 Crystal structure is called Lattice or Lattice structure
 Lattice is an infinite array of points in space in which each point has identical
surroundings to all others. The points are arranged exactly in a periodic manner
 Lattice must be described in terms of 3-D coordinates related to translation
directions. Lattice points, Miller indices, Lattice planes (and the “d-spacings”
between them) are conventions that facilitate description of lattice
 Although it is an imaginary construct, lattice is used to describe the structure of
real materials

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Crystal Structure
 Crystal structure consists of: lattice type, lattice parameters, motif
– Lattice type: Location of lattice points within unit cell
– Lattice parameters: Size & shape of unit cell
– Motif/basis: List of atoms associated with each lattice point, along with their
fractional coordinates relative to lattice point. Since each lattice point is, by
definition, identical, if we add the motif to each lattice point, we will
generate the entire structure:
 Simplest structural unit for a given solid is called the basis
Crystal Structure = Lattice + Basis

motif

Atoms do not necessarily lie at lattice points!!

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 Crystal Lattice
 In crystallography, only geometrical properties of crystal are of interest,
therefore one replaces each atom by a geometrical point located at the
equilibrium position of that atom
 Crystalline structures are characterized by a repeating pattern in 3-D. Periodic
nature of structure can be represented using a lattice
– Infinite array of points in space
– Each point has identical surroundings to all others
– Arrays are arranged in a periodic manner

r=3a+2b

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Lattice Vectors
 Lattice vector is a vector joining any two lattice points
 Any lattice vector can be written as a linear combination of unit cell vectors
a,b,c:
– t = Ua+Vb+Wc or t = [UVW]
– Negative values are not prefixed with a minus sign. Instead a bar is placed
above the number to denote that the value is negative:
– t = −Ua+Vb−W c

a a

b t
t
b t
b
a
t=Ua+Vb t=3a+2b
t=2a+1b

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 Unit Cell
 Simplest repeating unit in a crystal is called a unit cell
 Simplest portion of structure which is repeated & shows its full symmetry
– Opposite faces of a unit cell are parallel
– Edge of unit cell connects equivalent points
– Not unique. There can be several unit cells of a crystal
– Each unit cell is defined in terms of lattice points
– Lattice point not necessarily at an atomic site
– For each crystal structure, a conventional unit cell, is chosen to make the
lattice as symmetric as possible. However, conventional unit cell is not
always the primitive unit cell
– By repeated duplication, a unit cell should reproduce the whole crystal

At lattice points:
Atoms, Molecules, Ions

lattice
point
Unit Cell Unit cells in 3-D 27

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Unit Cell Types

 Primitive unit cells
– Contains single lattice point/cell, which is made up from lattice points at
each of the corners
– Smallest area in 2-D, smallest volume in 3-D
– Primitive unit cell whose symmetry matches the lattice symmetry is called
Wigner-Seitz cell
 Non-primitive unit cells
– Contain additional lattice points, either on a face of unit cell or within unit cell
– Integral multiples of the area of primitive cell

Wigner-Seitz cell
2
(a) 2-D space lattice
1 3 (b) BCC space lattice
(c) FCC space lattice

1,2,3=Primitive translation vector

4=Non Primitive translation vectors

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 Lattices Geometry
 Unit cell: smallest repetitive volume which contains the complete lattice
pattern of a crystal
 Length of unit cell along x,y,z direction are defined as a,b,c. Angles b/w
crystallographic axes are defined by:
– α = angle between b & c
– β = angle between a & c
– γ = angle between a & b
– a, b, c, α, β, γ are collectively know as lattice parameters

a, b, and c are the lattice constant

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Crystal System
 Set of rotation & reflection symmetries
which leave a lattice point fixed
 Lattice systems are grouping of crystal
structures according to axial system used
to describe their lattice
 Each lattice system consists of a set of 3-
axes in particular geometrical arrangement
– Cubic (Isometric), Hexagonal,
Tetragonal, Rhombohedral (Trigonal),
Orthorhombic, Monoclinic & Triclinic

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 Cubic Crystal Lattice
 Large number of semiconductors are cubic
 Primitive(P) unit cell with one lattice point per unit cell
 Face-centred(F) unit cell with additional lattice points at centre of each face &
four lattice points per unit cell
 Body-centred(I) unit cell with a lattice point in middle of unit cell & two lattice
points per unit cell
 Other cell types are C-face-centred & rhombohedral unit cell
 All unit vectors identifying the traditional unit cell have same size
 Crystal structure is completely defined by single number. This number is the
lattice constant, a

8-corners

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Cubic Crystal Lattice

SC FCC
BCC
a,b,c are basis New atoms are at:
New atom is at:
vectors along edges (a/2+b/2),(b/2+c/2),(a/2+c/2),
a/2+b/2+c/2
(a+b/2+c/2),(a/2+b+c/2),(a/2+b/2+c)

Diamond Lattice
FCC & then add 4-additional internal atoms at locations
a/4+b/4+c/4 away from each of atoms

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 Crystalline Structure

Basic FCC Cell Merged FCC Cells

Omit atoms
Bonding of Atoms
outside Cell
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Crystalline Structure

8 atoms at each corner, 6 atoms

on each face, 4 atoms entirely
inside the cell

Wurtzite Rocksalt
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 Cubic Crystal Structures
Bravais or Number of Nearest
Crystal
Space Example atoms/unit Neighbour
Structure
Lattice cell Distance
Simple Simple
P 1 a
Cubic Cubic
B.C.C. B.C.C. Na, W 2 3 a/2
F.C.C. F.C.C. Al, Au 4 2 a/2
Diamond
F.C.C. Si, Ge 8 3 a/4
Cubic
H.C.P. Hexagonal Mg 7 a
3 a/4(A-B)
Zinc Blende F.C.C. GaAs 4A+4B 2 a/2(A-A,B-
B)
Wurtzite Hexagonal CdS 7A+7B
a/2(A-B)
Rock Salt F.C.C. NaCl 4A+4B 2 a/2(A-A,B-
B)

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Crystal Lattices

2-D Crystals

(a) Square (d) hexagonal

(b) Rectangular (e) oblique
(c) centered rectangular

3-D Crystals
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 Miller indices
 Miller indices describes the directions & planes in a crystal
 To find miller indices of plane:
1. Find the intercepts of plane in each of 3-axes in terms of lattice constants
2. Take reciprocals of these numbers
3. Converts them to the smallest 3-intergers having the same ratio, by
multiplying with appropriate integers
 Notations: (hkl) -> plane; [hkl]-> denotes a crystal direction

Notation Interpretation h: inverse x-intercept of plane

(hkl) crystal plane k: inverse y-intercept of plane
{hkl} equivalent planes
l: inverse z-intercept of plane
[hkl] crystal direction
(Intercept values are in multiples of the lattice constant;
h, k and l are reduced to 3 integers having the same ratio.)
<hkl> equivalent directions

[011]
[111]

[100] (100)
Direction Plane
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Crystallographic Planes & Si Wafers

 Silicon wafers are usually cut along a {100} plane with a flat or notch to
orient the wafer during IC fabrication:

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 Planes with Negative Indices
 Planes (100), (010), (001), (100), (010), (001) are (001) plane
z
equivalent planes. Denoted by {1 0 0}
 Atomic density and arrangement as well as electrical, (010)
optical, physical properties are also equivalent plane

(100)
plane

y
x

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Example

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 Example
 Plane has intercepts at 2a, 4b and 1c along three crystal axes
– Take the reciprocal: (1/2, ¼, 1)
– Multiplying by 4: (2,1,4) plane
– Exception: if the intercept is a fraction of lattice constant a, in this case we
do not reduce it to the lowest set of integers

(214)

y
c
b

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Example
 (100),(110),(111) surfaces considered above are the so-called low index
surfaces of cubic crystal system ("low" refers to Miller indices being small
numbers - 0 or 1 in this case)

Surface(110) Surface (111) Surface (210)

Intercepts : a , a ,  Intercepts : a , a , a Intercepts : ½ a , a , 
Fractional intercepts :1,1, Fractional intercepts :1,1,1 Fractional intercepts : ½ ,1,
Miller Indices : (110) Miller Indices : (111) Miller Indices : (210)

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 Crystal Directions


 100  [100 ], [ 010 ], [ 001 ], [ 1 00 ], [ 0 1 0 ], [ 00 1 ] 

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Examples
z
x y z
[1] Draw a vector and take components 0 2a 2a
[2] Reduce to simplest integers 0 1 1
[3] Enclose the number in square brackets [0 1 1] y
x z
x y z
[1] Draw a vector and take components 0 -a 2a
[2] Reduce to simplest integers 0 -1 2
[3] Enclose the number in square brackets 0 1 2 y
x
z

3
1: [100]
Equivalent directions due to crystal symmetry: 2: [010]
y
3: [001]
x 2
1 44

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 Example
 The intercepts of a crystal plane with the axis defined by a set of unit vectors
are at 2a, -3b and 4c. Find the corresponding Miller indices of this and all other
crystal planes parallel to this plane?

 The Miller indices are obtained in the following three steps:

1.. Identify the intersections with the axis, namely 2, -3 and 4
2. Calculate the inverse of each of those intercepts, resulting in 1/2, -1/3 and 1/4
3. Find the smallest integers proportional to the inverse of the intercepts.
Multiplying each fraction with the product of each of the intercepts (24=2x3x 4)
does result in integers, but not always the smallest integers
4. These are obtained in this case by multiplying each fraction by 12
5. Resulting Miller indices is 6 4 3 
6. Negative index indicated by a bar on top

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Examples
z
x y z z=
[1] Determine intercept of plane with each axis a ∞ ∞
[2] Invert the intercept values 1/a 1/∞ 1/∞ y
[3] Convert to the smallest integers 1 0 0 x=a
x y=
[4] Enclose the number in round brackets (1 0 0)
z
x y z
[1] Determine intercept of plane with each axis 2a 2a 2a
[2] Invert the intercept values 1/2a 1/2a 1/2a
[3] Convert to the smallest integers 1 1 1 y
[4] Enclose the number in round brackets (1 1 1) x
z
x y z
[1] Determine intercept of plane with each axis a -a a
[2] Invert the intercept values 1/a -1/a 1/a
[3] Convert to the smallest integers 1 -1 -1 y
[4] Enclose the number in round brackets 1 1 1  x
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 Diamond Lattice
 Basic crystal structure of many important semiconductors is fcc lattice
with basis of 2-atoms, giving rise to diamond structure, characteristic of
Si, Ge, C in diamond form
 Many compound semiconductors, atom are arranged in basic diamond
structure but are different on alternating sites. This is called zinc-blende
structure and typical of III-V compounds GaAs, InP, GaP, GaN, etc.
have crystal structure that is similar to diamond
 Each atom still has four covalent bonds, but these are bonds to atoms
of other type
 Important for optoelectronics & high-speed ICs

Unit cell of diamond lattice

constructed by placing ¼,1/4,1/4
Diamond lattice of Si & Ge from each atom in fcc 47

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Zinc-blend Crystal Structure

 III-V compounds has the ability to vary mixture of elements on each of two
interpenetrating fcc sublattices of sinc-blende crystal
 Ternary compound (AlGaAs):
– It is possible to vary composition of ternary alloy by choosing fraction of Al or
Ga atoms on column III sublattice
– AlxGa1-xAs contains a fraction of x of Al atoms and 1-x of Ga atoms
– Al0.3Ga0.7 has 30% Al & 70% Ga on column III sites, with interpenetrating
column V sublattice occpied entirely by As atoms
 It is extremely useful to grow ternary alloy crystal

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 Materials & Packing
 Crystalline materials:
– Atoms pack in periodic, 3-D arrays
– Typical of: Metals, Many Ceramics, Some Polymers

 NonCrystalline materials: Si
– Atoms have no periodic packing Oxygen
Crystalline SiO2
– Occurs for: Complex structures, Rapid Cooling

Noncrystalline SiO2

Non dense, random packing Dense, ordered packing

Dense, ordered packed structures tend to have lower energies

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Metallic Crystal Structures

 Atoms are packed into lattice in different arrangements
 Distance b/w neighboring determined by balance b/w forces that attract
them together and other forces for particular solids
 Tend to be densely packed
– Typically, only one element is present, so all atomic radii are same
– Metallic bonding is not directional
– Nearest neighbor distances tend to be small in order to lower bond energy
– Electron cloud shields cores from each other
 How can we stack metal atoms to minimize empty space?
– 2-dimensions

vs.

Now stack these 2-D layers to make 3-D structures 50

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 Cubic Cells

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Atomic Packing Factor (APF)

 Atomic packing factor (APF) or packing fraction is the fraction of volume in a
crystal structure that is occupied by atoms
 It is dimensionless & always less than unity
 For practical purposes, APF of crystal structure is determined by assuming
that atoms are rigid spheres
 Radius of spheres is maximal value such that atoms do not overlap

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 Cubic Cells
 Distance b/w neighboring determined by balance b/w forces
 Assuming 1- atom/lattice point in primitive cubic lattice with cube side length a

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Cubic Cells

Shared by 2 unit cells

Shared by 8 unit cells

1 atom/unit cell 2 atoms/unit cell 4 atoms/unit cell

(8 x 1/8 = 1) (8 x 1/8 + 1 = 2) (8 x 1/8 + 6 x 1/2 = 4)

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 Example
 What fraction of SC Lattice can be filled by atoms?
– Assume atoms are perfect hard sphere & touching their nearest neighbour,
called “Hard Pack approximation”
– Each sides of SC have length a, thus the volume of cube is a3

R=0.5a

close-packed directions

Atom at origin contains 8 x 1/8 =

SC Lattice
1 atom/unit cell

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Atomic Packing Factor (APF):BCC

 Atoms touch each other along cube diagonals
– All atoms are identical; center atom is shaded differently only for ease of
viewing
– ex: Cr, W, Fe (), Tantalum, Molybdenum

2 atoms/unit cell: 1 center + 8 corners x 1/8

Coordination # = 8
3a

a
= 0.68
2a
R a
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 Face Centered Cubic Structure: (FCC)
 Atoms touch each other along face diagonals
– All atoms are identical; the face-centered atom is shaded differently only for
ease of viewing
– ex: Al, Cu, Au, Pb, Ni, Pt, Ag

2
a

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Hexagonal Close-Packed Crystal Structure

 For Hexagonal Close-Packed (HCP) structure the derivation is similar. The unit
cell is a hexagonal prism containing six atoms. Let a be the side length of its
base and c be its height. Then:

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 Structure of Crystalline Solids
Mass of Atoms in Unit Cell
Density=  = =
nA
Total Volume of Unit Cell VC NA
n = number of atoms/unit cell
A = atomic weight
VC = Volume of unit cell = a3 for cubic
NA = Avogadro’s number= 6.022 x 1023 atoms/mol
a = 4R/ 3 = 0.2887 nm
Ex: Cr (BCC)
A = 52.00 g/mol atoms/unit cell 2 52.00 g/mol
R = 0.125 nm = 23
a3 6.022 x 10 atom/mol
n = 2 atoms/unit cell
volume/unit cell theoretical = 7.18 g/cm3
R
a actual = 7.19 g/cm3

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Examples

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 Which one has most packing ?

For that reason, FCC is also referred to as cubic closed packed (CCP)

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Growth of
Semiconductors

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 Si Starting material
 Silicon prepared by the reaction of high-purity silica with wood,
charcoal, & coal, in electric arc furnace using carbon electrodes
at more than 1900℃, carbon reduces silica to silicon
– SiO2 + C → Si + CO2
– SiO2 + 2C → Si + 2CO (~1800ºC)
 Form of metallurgical grade Si (MGS)
– Si has impurities like Al, Fe & heavy metal at 100s to 1000s parts/million
 MGS is further refined with electronic-grade Si (EGS): Levels of impurities are
reduced to parts pet billion or ppb 5x1013 cm-3
– Si +3HClSiHCl3 + H2
– 2SiHCl3+2H22Si+6HCl

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Growth of Single-Crystal Ingots

 Growth process of purifying silicon: It converts high purity but still
polysilicon EGS to single crystal Si ingots or boules
– Heating to produce 95% ~ 98% pure polycrystalline Si
 Czochralski (CZ) Growth: Main stream growth technology for large
diameter wafer
 Float Zone (FZ) Growth: For small & medium diameter wafer less
contaminations than CZ method

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 Seed Crystal
 A seed crystal is a small piece of single crystal/polycrystal material from
which a large crystal of same material typically is to be grown. The
large crystal can be grown by dipping the seed into a supersaturated
solution, into molten material that is then cooled, or by growth on the
seed face by passing vapor of the material to be grown over it

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Czochralski Si Growth
 To grow single-crystal material, it is necessary to have a seed which can
provide a template for growth
 To melt EGS in a quartz-lined graphite crucible by resistively heating it
to melting point of Si (1412ºC)
 Seed crystal is lowered into molten material and then is raised slowly,
allowing the crystal to grows to provide a slight stirring of melt and to
average out any temperature variations that would cause inhomogenous
solidification of compound semiconductors

•Critical Control: •Final Control:

•Seed Crystal •Pulling Speed
•First Pull •Growth Control: •Rotation Speed
•Pulling Speed •Pulling Speed
•Rotation Speed •Rotation Speed 66

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 Czochralski Si Growth
 A cylindrical ingot of high purity monocrystalline semiconductor, such
as Si or Ge, is formed by pulling a seed crystal from a 'melt‘
 Donor impurity atoms, such as boron or phosphorus in case of Si, can
be added to molten intrinsic material in precise amounts in order to
dope the crystal, thus changing it into n-type or p-type extrinsic
semiconductor

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Float Zone Si Growth

 Start with polysilicon rod inside chamber either in vacuum or an inert gas
 RF heating coil melts ≈2 cm zone in rod
 RF coil moves through the rod, moving the molten silicon region with it
 This melting purifies the silicon rod
 Oxygen can be diffused into silicon – called Diffusion Oxygenated Float Zone
(DOFZ) (done at the wafer level)

Poly silicon

RF Heating coil

Single crystal silicon

Float Zone Growth

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 Example

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Crystalline Wafer
 Wafers are formed of highly pure (99.9999999% purity) nearly defect-
free single crystalline material
 Ingot is sliced with a wafer saw (wire saw) & polished to form wafers
 Size of wafers for photovoltaics is 100–200mm square & thickness is
200–300 μm
 Electronics use wafer sizes from 100–300mm diameter

From Ignot to Wafer

•Shaping
•Grinding
•Sawing or Slicing
•Edge Rounding
•Lapping
•Etching
•Polishing
•Cleaning
•Inspection
•Packaging
•Shipping
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 Liquid-Encapsulated Czochralski GaAs Growth
 To prevent volatile elements (e.g. As) from vaporizing, it requires to
add a dense & viscous molten layer (B2O3) over the melt. Such
process is called liquid-encapsulated Czochralski growth technique
 To prevent the decomposition of GaAs under molten condition, a high
pressure is used over the GaAs melt

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Epitaxial Growth
 Growth of a thin crystal layer on a wafer of a compatible crystal
 Purpose: To achieve desired electrical, mechanical, or thermal
properties of thin film material grown. Epitaxial crystal layer usually
maintains the crystal structure & orientation of substrate
 Methods:
– Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
– Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
– Liquid-Phase Expitaxy (LPE)
 Advantage over bulk (wafer) growth techniques: Epitaxial technique can
make possible controlled growth of very thin films, with well controllable
doping & composition that are essential for modern day electronic
devices. Some devices such as quantum mechanical ones, would not
the possible without epitaxial growth

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 Epitaxial Growth with Lattice match
 Homo-epitaxy: Expitaxial layer grown is same as substrate (Same
substrate & film)
– Main advantage is to control thickness & doping of epitaxial layer
– E.g. Si on Si, GaAs GaAs
 Hetero-epitaxy: Expitaxial layer grown is different (and has different
lattice constant, which depends on composition) from substrate
Different substrate & film)
– Advantage is tunability of bandgap difference of adjacent layers (apart
from thickness and doping) which is a bid deal in device designs
– e.g. Si on Sapphire

 Some examples of lattice matched hetero-epitaxy:

– AlxGa1-xAs on GaAs
– In0.53Ga0.47As on InP
– In0.5Ga0.5P on GaAs
– InxGa1-xAsyP1-y on InP or GaAs

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Doping
 Intentional addition of impurities or dopants to crystal to change its
electronic properties (varying conductivity of semiconductors)
 Doping of 1014 to 1017 atom/cm3
 Typically hydrides of atoms are used as the source of dopants e.g.
PH3, AsH3 or B2H6 for controlled doping

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 Doping during growth of substrate
 Purpose: To change the electronic properties of the molten Electronic-grade Si
(EGS), we add impurities or dopants to Si melt
 Method: Dopant atoms usually have one (or in some cases more) electron
deficient or excess compared to atoms of semiconductor. Excess electrons
can contribute to conduction and dope material n-type. In case of electron
deficiency, “holes” are formed and they can also take part in conduction,
through not as efficiently as electrons (holes are more sluggish)

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Clean Environment
 A clean environment designed to reduce the contamination of
processes and materials. This is accomplished by removing or
reducing contamination sources
 Room with air containing more than (n) particles per cubic foot equal to
or larger than 0.5 micron (where“n” IS 100, 1,000, 10,000, etc.)
 Contaminants may consist of particles, organic films, photoresist,
heavy metals or alkali ions
– Due to particles, defects occurs between metal lines and on surface of a
wafer
– Surface defects can affect the growth of new layers while defects
between metal lines can cause electrical shorts
Particles
Na Cu

Photoresist
Fe Au

N, P
SiO2 or other thin films Interconnect Metal

Silicon Wafer 76

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 Contaminant Types
 Current device dimensions in semiconductor industry are in nm range.
 Devices are densely packed and spacing b/w adjacent lines are also in
the nm range
 Human hair is approximately 100 µm in diameter and typical dust
particles are 1 µm in size
 Some common particle sources in the fab are:
– People working in the fab
– Generated by fab equipment
– Processing chemicals

Human Hair on IC 77

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General Sources of Contaminations

 Some sources of contaminations are:
 Air, Fabrication facility, cleanroom personal, process water, chemicals
and gases

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 Common Airborne Contaminants
 Contaminaiton types
– Molecular: Out gassing, Oil vapours, Alcohols, paints, glues & expoxies,
Aromatics (if you can smell it, suspect it as a contaminant
– Surface: Finger prints, skin oil, hand cream, face cream, wax, polish
– Particulate: People (skin, scales, hair, clothing lint etc.), particle shedding
materials (cardboard, boxes, paper), Abrading action (drilling, sawing,
sanding etc.), bare wood products

Particle density (number/ml) for ULSI grade

chemicals
>0.2m >0.5m
NH4OH 130-240 15-30

H2O2 20-100 5-20

HF 0-1 0

HCl 2-7 1-2

H2SO4 180-1150 10-80

Human Hair on IC 79

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Cleanroom Design
 Air is the most common source of contaminants. To minimize contaminants, a
cleanroom is designed which is an area with a controlled level of contaminants
 There are different standards and classifications for cleanrooms

Principles of Clean Environment

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 Cleanroom Clothing

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