Excess Carriers and Junction Concepts: Unit III
Excess Carriers and Junction Concepts: Unit III
Excess Carriers and Junction Concepts: Unit III
Excess Carriers
and
Junction Concepts
Excess carriers and optical absorption
Most of the semiconductor devices operate by the
creation of charge carriers in excess of the thermal
equilibrium values.
These excess carriers can be created by optical excitation
or electron bombardment. However, excess carrier arise,
they dominate the conduction process in the
semiconductor material.
Optical Absorption
An important technique for measuring the band gap
energy of a semiconductor is the absorption of incident
photons by the material.
Photons of selected wavelength are directed at the
sample and relative transmission of the various photons
is observed.
Since, photons with energies greater than the band gap
energy are absorbed while photons with energies less
than the band gap are transmitted, this gives an
accurate measure of the band gap energy.
Fig: Optical absorption of a photon with 𝒉𝝑 ≥ 𝑬𝒈
a) An electron hole pair is created during photon absorption
b) The excited electron gives up energy to the lattice by
scattering events
c) The electron recombine with a hole in the valence band
A photon with energy ℎ𝜗 ≥ 𝐸𝑔 can be absorbed in a
semiconductor.
The probability of photon absorption is high, since valence
band contains many electrons and conduction band has
many empty states into which the electrons may be
excited.
As in figure, the electron excited to the conduction band
by optical absorption may initially have more energy.
Thus, the excited electron loses energy to the lattice in
scattering events until its velocity reaches the thermal
equilibrium velocity of other conduction band electrons.
The electron and hole created by this absorption process
are excess carriers. These excess carriers exist in their
respective bands, however they are free to contribute to
the conductivity of the material.
A photon with energy less than 𝐸𝑔 is unable to excite an
electron from the valence band to the conduction band.
In a pure semiconductor there is negligible absorption of
photons with ℎ𝜗 < 𝐸𝑔
If a beam of photons with ℎ𝜗 ≥ 𝐸𝑔 falls on a
semiconductor, there will be some predicted amount of
absorption determined by the properties of the material.
Let us assume that a photon beam of intensity
𝐼0 (photons/𝑐𝑚2 − 𝑠) is directed at a sample of thickness
𝑙. The beam contains only photons of wavelength 𝛾
As the beam passes through the sample, its intensity at a
distance x from the surface can be calculated by
considering the probability of absorption within any
increment dx.
The degradation of the intensity is proportional to the
intensity remaining at x
𝑑𝐼(𝑥)
− = 𝛼𝐼(𝑥)
𝑑𝑥
𝐼 𝑥 = 𝐼0 𝑒 −𝛼𝑥
Intensity of the light transmitted through the sample
thickness 𝑙 is given by
𝐼𝑡 = 𝐼0 𝑒 −𝛼𝑙
where 𝛼 is absorption coefficient(𝑐𝑚−1 )
Generation
&
Recombination mechanisms
Luminescence
The general property of light emission is called
luminescence.
When electron hole pairs are generated in a
semiconductor or when carriers are excited into higher
impurity levels from which they fall to their equilibrium
states, during which lights can be given off by the
material.
Many of the semiconductor are well suited for light
emission, particularly the compound semiconductors
with direct band gaps.
Types of luminescence
1. Photoluminescence
2. Cathodoluminescence
3. Electroluminescence
If the carriers are excited by photon absorption, the
radiation resulting from the recombination of the
excited carriers is called photoluminescence.
If the excited carriers are created by high energy
electron bombardment of the material, the mechanism
is called cathodoluminescence.
If the excitation occurs by the introduction of current
into the sample, the resulting luminescence is called
electroluminescence.
Photoluminescence
The light emission from a semiconductor occurs for
direct excitation and recombination of a electron-hole
pair.
For steady state excitation, the recombination of
electron hole pairs occurs at the same rate as the
generation.
One photon is emitted for each photon absorbed.
Direct recombination is a fast process, thus the mean
lifetime of the electron hole pair is usually on the order
of 10−8 𝑠𝑒𝑐 or less.
Thus, the emission of photons stops within
approximately 10−8 𝑠𝑒𝑐 after the excitation is turned off.
Such fast luminescent processes are called fluorescence.
However, in some materials emission continues for
periods up to few seconds or minutes after the excitation
is removed. This slow processes are called
phosphorescence and the materials are called
phosphors.
Fig: Excitation and recombination mechanism in
photoluminescence with a trapping level of electrons
a) An incoming photon with ℎ𝜗1 > 𝐸𝑔 is absorbed
creating an electron hole pair
b) The excited electron gives up energy to the lattice
by scattering until it nears the bottom of the
conduction band.
c) The electron is trapped by this impurity level
𝐸𝑡 and remains trapped until it can be thermally
re-excited to the conduction band (d)
e) Finally direct recombination occurs as the electron
falls to an empty state in the valence band, giving
off a photon ℎ𝜗2 of approximately the band energy
gap.
The delay time between excitation and recombination
can be relatively long if the probability of thermal re-
excitation from the trap (d) is small.
If the trapping probability is greater than the probability
of recombination, an electron may make several trips
between the trap and the conduction band before
recombination finally occurs.
In such material, the emission of phosphorescent light
persists relatively for long time after the excitation is
removed.
The color of light emitted depends primarily on the
impurities present, since many radiative transitions
involve impurities level within the band gap.
This selection of colors is particularly useful in the
fabrication of a color television screen.
Cathodoluminescence
Cathodoluminescence is the emission of photons of
characteristic wavelengths from a material that is under
high-energy electron bombardment.
Cathodoluminescence occurs because the impingement
of a high energy electron beam elevates the sample to an
excited state, which can then induce it to emit a
photon when the sample returns to the ground state.
In a semiconductor, this excitation process will result in
the promotion of electrons from the valence band into
the conduction band, which leaves behind a hole.
Therefore, when the electron and hole recombine, a
photon will emit from the semiconductor.
The photon energy (color) and the probability that a
photon will be emitted depends on the material, its
purity and the defects it contains.
Electroluminescence
There are many ways by which electrical energy can be
used to generate photon emission in a solid.
In LEDs, an electric current causes the injection of
minority carriers into the region of crystal, where they
can recombine with majority carriers resulting in the
emission of recombination radiation. This effect is called
as an electroluminescence or injection
electroluminescence.
The electroluminescent effect to be observed was the
emission of photons by certain phosphors in an
alternating electric field.
When an electric field is applied, light is given off by the
phosphor.
Such cells can be useful as lightening panels, although
their efficiency has too low for most applications and
their reliability is poor.
Carrier Lifetime
&
Photo-conductivity
When excess electrons and holes are created in a
semiconductor, there is a corresponding increase in the
conductivity of the sample.
The increase in conductivity due to the excess carriers
arise from optical luminescence is called
photoconductivity.
The electrons have a limited life time (𝜏𝑛 ) in the
conduction band and periodically fall back to the valence
band, so that a electron-hole pair disappears in the
recombination process with the excitation appearing as
heat energy.
Averagely, an electron will exist for 𝜏𝑛 sec and a hole for
𝜏𝑝 sec before recombination.
The mean life times 𝜏𝑛 and 𝜏𝑝 of electrons and holes are
very important parameters as they indicate the time
required for the excessive electron and hole
concentrations to return to their equilibrium values.
Carrier Life-time
Thus, the carrier life-time is defined as the time for
which a charge carrier will exist before recombination
with a carrier of opposite charge.
Its value varies from nanoseconds to hundreds of
microseconds and depends on temperature and impurity
concentration in the semiconductor material.
Let us consider a N type semiconductor having thermal
equilibrium concentration of holes 𝑝𝑜 and electrons 𝑛𝑜
respectively.
When this material is illuminated by light or injection of
carriers, additional electron-hole pairs are generated
uniformly throughout the medium.
This causes the concentration of holes and electrons to
increase from 𝑝𝑜 and 𝑛𝑜 to new values.
Direct recombination of electrons and holes
𝑑𝑃
Under steady state conditions, = 0 and with no
𝑑𝑡
radiation falling on the semiconductor, the hole
concentration 𝑝 reaches its equilibrium value 𝑝𝑜
𝑝𝑜
0=𝐺−
𝜏𝑝
𝑝𝑜
𝐺= ______________________________(3)
𝜏𝑝
Sub eqn(3) in eqn(2)
𝑑𝑃 𝑝𝑜 𝑝
= −
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝑝 𝜏𝑝
𝑑𝑃 𝑝0 −𝑝
=
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝑝
where A is constant
Condition II: Concentration independent of time with
zero electric field
For this condition, the continuity equation
can be changed into
p−p0 d2 p
0=− + Dp
τ𝑝 dx2
2
d p p − p0
2
=
dx τ𝑝 Dp
solving this equation,
𝑥 𝑥
−𝐿 −𝐿
𝑝 − 𝑝0 = 𝐴1 𝑒 𝑝 + 𝐴2 𝑒 𝑝