Excess Carriers and Junction Concepts: Unit III

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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

• In a semiconductor, electrons in the conduction band


may take transitions to the valence band either directly
or indirectly.
• In direct recombination, an excess population of
electrons and holes decays by electrons falling from the
conduction band to empty states in the valence band.
• Energy lost by an electron in making the transition is
given up as a photon.
• Direct recombination occurs spontaneously (i.e), the
probability that a electron and hole recombine is
constant in time.
• As in the case of carrier scattering, this constant
probability leads us to expect an exponential solution
for the decay of the excess carriers.
• In this case the rate of decay of electrons at any time t
is proportional to the number of electrons remaining at
t and the number of holes, with some constant of
proportionality for recombination 𝛼𝑟 .
 The rate of change of hole density is equal to their rate of
generation minus the rate at which they recombine with
electrons.
𝑑𝑃
Thus, =𝐺−𝑅 _______________________(1)
𝑑𝑡
where, P is minority hole concentration at any time t
𝐺 is generation rate for minority carriers
𝑅 is recombination rates for minority carriers
 The generation rate 𝐺, is a function of temperature since
charge carriers are produced only by thermal agitation in
the absence of current flow.
 Hence, at constant temperature 𝐺(𝑡) is constant.
 The mean life time of hole 𝜏𝑝 is independent of the
magnitude of the hole concentration.
𝐺 = increase in hole concentration per second due to
thermal generation
𝑝
𝑅= = decrease in hole concentration per second
𝜏𝑝
due to recombination
 Since charge can neither be created nor destroyed, the rate
𝑑𝑃
at every instant of time equals the algebric sum of the
𝑑𝑡
rates.
𝑑𝑃
=𝐺−𝑅
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑃 𝑝
=𝐺− ____________________________(2)
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝑝

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

 Similarly, for the change in excess electron density with


time t in the P type semiconductor is given by
𝑑𝑛 𝑛0 −𝑛
=
𝑑𝑡 𝜏𝑛
Fig: Decay of excess electron and hole by recombination
Indirect recombination/Trapping
• The majority of the recombination events in indirect
materials occur via recombination levels within the band
gap.
• The resulting energy loss by recombining electrons is
usually given up to the lattice as heat energy.
• Any impurity or lattice defect can serve as a
recombination center if it is capable of receiving a carrier
of one type and subsequently capturing the opposite type
of carrier, thereby annihilating the pair.
• The Fig illustrates a recombination level 𝐸𝑟 which is below
𝐸𝐹 at equilibrium and is substantially filled with
electrons.
• When excess electrons and holes are created in this
material, each EHP recombines at 𝐸𝑟 in two steps: (a)
hole capture and (b) electron capture.
Fig: Capture process at recombination level
a) hole captured at a filled recombination center
b) electron capture at an empty center
• Since the recombination centers are filled at
equilibrium, the first event in the recombination process
is hole capture.
• In hole capture, energy is given up as heat to the lattice.
• Similarly, energy is given up when a conduction band
electron subsequently falls to the empty state in 𝐸𝑟
• When both of these events have occurred, the
recombination center is back to its original state (filled
with an electron), but an EHP is missing. Thus one EHP
recombination has taken place
• The center is ready to participate in another
recombination event by capturing a hole.
• The carrier lifetime resulting from indirect
recombination is somewhat more complicated than in
the case for direct recombination, since it is necessary to
account for unequal times required for capturing each
type of carrier.
• If electron capture (b) does not follow immediately after hole
capture (a) as in Fig., the hole may be thermally re-excited to
the valence band.
• Energy is required for this process, which is equivalent to a
valence band electron being raised to the empty state in the
recombination level.
• This process delays the recombination, since the hole must be
captured again before recombination can be completed.
• When a carrier is trapped temporarily at a center and then is
re-excited without recombination taking place, the process is
often called temporary trapping.
• The recombination can be slow or fast, depending on the
average time the first carrier is held before the second carrier
is captured.
• In general, trapping levels located deep in the band gap are
slower in releasing trapped carriers than are the levels located
near one of the bands.
• This results from the fact that more energy is required to re-
excite a trapped electron from a center near the middle of the
gap to the conduction band than is required to re-excite an
electron from a level closer to the conduction band.
Photoconductive devices
 In general, semiconductors are more sensitive to photons
with energies equal to the band gap or slightly more
energetic than band gap.
 Less energetic photons are not absorbed, and photons
with ℎ𝜗 ≥ 𝐸𝑔 are absorbed at the surface and contribute
little to the bulk conductivity.
 For example, Cadmium sulphide (CdS, 𝐸𝑔 = 2.42 eV) is
commonly used as a photoconductor in the visible range
and narrow-gap materials such as Ge (0.67 eV) and
Indium Antimonide (InSb, 0.18 eV) are useful in the
infrared portion of the spectrum.
 Some photoconductors respond to excitations of carriers
from impurity levels within the band gap and therefore
are sensitive to photons of less than band gap energy.
 The optical sensitivity of a photoconductor can be
evaluated by examining the steady state excess carrier
concentrations generated by an optical generation rate
𝑔𝑜𝑝
 If the mean time each carrier spends in its respective
band before capture is 𝜏𝑛 and 𝜏𝑝 , then
𝛿𝑛 = 𝜏𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑝
𝛿𝑝 = 𝜏𝑝 𝑔𝑜𝑝
 The photoconductivity change is
∆𝜎 = 𝑞 𝑔𝑜𝑝 (𝜏𝑛 𝜇𝑛 + 𝜏𝑝 𝜇𝑝 )
 From the equation, it is observed that for maximum
photoconductive response, we want high mobility's and
long lifetimes.
 Some semiconductors are especially good candidates
for photoconductive devices because of their high
mobility.
 For example, Indium Antimonide has an electron
mobility of about 105 𝑐𝑚2 / V-s and therefore it is used
as a sensitive infrared detector in many applications.
 The time response of a photoconductive cell is limited
by the recombination times, the degree of carrier
trapping and the time required for carriers to drift
through the device in an electric field.
 Often these properties can be adjusted by proper
choice of material and device geometry.
Diffusion of
carriers
Diffusion Process
 The diffusion is the natural result of the random motion
of the individual molecules.
 All the molecules undergo random thermal motion and
collisions with other molecules.
 Thus each molecule moves in an arbitrary direction
until it collides with another molecule, after which it
moves in a new direction.
 If the motion is truly random, a molecule at the edge of
the volume has equal probabilities of moving into or out
of the volume on its next step.
 This process will continue until the molecules are
uniformly distributed in the room.
 In other words, net diffusion will continue as long as
gradients exist in the distribution of scented molecules.
 Carriers in a semiconductor diffuse in a carrier gradient
by random thermal motion and scattering from the
lattice and impurities.
 For example, a pulse of excess electrons injected at x =
0 at time t = 0 will spread out in time as shown in Fig.
 Initially, the excess electrons are concentrated at x = 0;
as time passes, however, electrons diffuse to regions of
low electron concentration until finally n(x) is constant.
Fig: Spreading of a pulse of electrons by diffusion
 Net diffusion occurs from regions of high particle
concentration to regions of low particle concentration.
 It shows that holes in a hole concentration gradient move
with a diffusion coefficient 𝐷𝑝 . Thus

 The diffusion current crossing a unit area (the current


density) is the particle flux density multiplied by the charge
of the carrier.

 It is noted that, electrons and holes move together in a


carrier gradient but the resulting currents are in opposite
directions because of the opposite charge of electrons and
holes.
Diffusion and Recombination: Continuity Equation
 The fundamental law governing the flow of charge is
called continuity equation.
 The continuity equation describes how the carrier
concentration in a given elemental volume of the
crystal varies with time and distance.
 The variation in density is due to two causes
i) the rate of generation and loss by
recombination of carriers within the element
ii) drift of carriers into or out of the element.
 The continuity equation enables us to calculate the
excess density of electrons or holes in time and
space.
Fig: Current entering and leaving a volume
∆𝑥𝐴
 Consider a N type semiconductor bar of volume of area A
and length dx.
 The average minority carrier hole concentration is p
which is very small compared with the density of majority
carriers.
 At time t, if minority carriers are injected, the minority
current entering the volume at 𝑥 is 𝐼𝑝 and leaving at 𝑥 +
𝑑𝑥 is 𝐼𝑝 + 𝑑𝐼𝑝 which is predominantly due to diffusion.
 The minority carrier concentration injected into one end
of the semiconductor bar decreases exponentially with
distance as a result of diffusion and recombination.
 Here, 𝑑𝐼𝑝 is the decrease in number of coulombs per
second within the volume.
 Decrease in hole concentration per second due to current
𝐼𝑝 is given by
1 𝑑𝐽𝑝 1 𝑑𝐼𝑝
=
𝑞 𝑑𝑥 𝑞𝐴 𝑑𝑥
𝐼𝑝
since, 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐽𝑝 =
𝐴
 Due to thermal generation, there is an increase of holes per
unit volume per second given by 𝐺
𝑝0
𝐺=
𝜏𝑝
 Further, there is a decrease of holes per unit volume per
second given by 𝑅 due to recombination
𝑝
𝑅=
𝜏𝑝
𝑑𝑝
 Hence, must equal the algebraic sum of all the increases
𝑑𝑡
in hole concentration. Thus
𝜕𝑝 p−p0 1 𝜕𝐽𝑝
=− −
𝜕𝑡 τ𝑝 q 𝜕𝑥
𝑑𝑝
where, 𝐽𝑝 = −𝑞𝐷𝑝 + 𝑞𝑝𝜇𝑝 𝐸
𝑑𝑥
therefore,
𝜕𝑝 p − p0 d2 p 𝑑 𝑝𝐸
=− + Dp − μ𝑝
𝜕𝑡 τ𝑝 dx 2 𝑑𝑥
 This is the continuity equation for holes states the condition
of dynamic equilibrium for the density of mobile carrier
holes.
 Similarly, the continuity equation for electrons states the
condition of dynamic equilibrium for the density of mobile
carrier electrons.
𝜕𝑛 n0 −n 1 𝜕𝐽𝑛
= −
𝜕𝑡 τ𝑛 q 𝜕𝑥
𝑑𝑛
where, 𝐽𝑛 = −𝑞𝐷𝑛 + 𝑞𝑛𝜇𝑛 𝐸
𝑑𝑥
therefore,
𝜕𝑛 n0 − 𝑛 d2 n 𝑑 𝑛𝐸
= + Dn 2
− μ𝑛
𝜕𝑡 τ𝑛 dx 𝑑𝑥
 Condition I:Concentration independent of distance with
zero electric field
For this condition, the continuity equation can be
changed into
𝜕𝑝 p−p0
=−
𝜕𝑡 τ𝑝
𝑡
−𝜏
solving this equation, 𝑝 − 𝑝0 = 𝐴 𝑒 𝑝

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

where 𝐷𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝐿𝑝 = 𝐷𝑝 𝜏𝑝


𝐴1 & 𝐴2 are constants
Haynes-Shockley
Experiment
Haynes-Shockley Experiment

 The Haynes–Shockley experiment was one of


the experiments to actually measure excess
carrier behavior.

 The Haynes–Shockley experiment is elegant in


the sense that the three basic processes of drift,
diffusion, and recombination are all observed in
a single experiment.
 The voltage source 𝑉1 establishes an applied electric
field 𝐸𝑜 in the +𝑥 direction in the n-type semiconductor
sample.
 Excess carriers are effectively injected into the
semiconductor at contact A.
 Contact B is a rectifying contact that is under reverse
bias by the voltage source 𝑉2 .
 The contact B will collect a fraction of the excess
carriers as they drift through the semiconductor.
 The collected carriers will generate an output voltage, 𝑉0
Quasi Fermi
Level
Quasi Fermi Level
 Any combination of drift and diffusion implies a
gradient in steady state quasi-fermi level.
 If an electric field is present in addition to the
carrier gradient, the current density will have a
drift component and a diffusion component.
𝑑𝑛 𝑥
𝐽𝑛 𝑥 = 𝑞𝜇𝑛 𝑛 𝑥 ℰ 𝑥 + 𝑞𝐷𝑛 ______(1)
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑝 𝑥
𝐽𝑝 𝑥 = 𝑞𝜇𝑝 𝑝 𝑥 ℰ 𝑥 − 𝑞𝐷𝑝 ______(2)
𝑑𝑥
1 𝑑𝐸𝑖
where ℰ 𝑥 =
𝑞 𝑑𝑥
In eqn(1) and (2), first and second term
represents drift and diffusion respectively.
• For equilibrium condition, eqn(2) equal to zero,
𝐷𝑝 1 𝑑𝑝 𝑥
ℰ 𝑥 =
𝜇𝑝 𝑝 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Fig: Thermal equilibrium energy band
diagrams for
a) N type semiconductor
b) P type semiconductor
• The thermal equilibrium electron and hole
concentrations are the functions of the fermi level.
𝐸𝐹 −𝐸𝐹𝑖
𝑛0 = 𝑛𝑖 exp
𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝐹𝑖 −𝐸𝐹
𝑝0 = 𝑛𝑖 exp
𝑘𝑇
where 𝐸𝐹 and 𝐸𝐹𝑖 are fermi energy and
intrinsic fermi energy.
𝑛𝑖 is intrinsic carrier concentration

• If excess carriers are created in a semiconductor,


they are no longer in thermal equilibrium and the
fermi energy is strictly no longer defined.

• However, we may define a quasi-fermi levels for


electrons and holes that apply for non-equilibrium.
• If 𝛿𝑛 an 𝛿𝑝 are the excess electron and hole
concentrations,
𝐸𝐹𝑛 − 𝐸𝐹𝑖
𝑛0 + 𝛿𝑛 = 𝑛𝑖 exp
𝑘𝑇
𝐸𝐹𝑖 − 𝐸𝐹𝑝
𝑝0 + 𝛿𝑝 = 𝑛𝑖 exp
𝑘𝑇
where, 𝐸𝐹𝑛 and 𝐸𝐹𝑝 are the quasi-fermi energy
levels for electrons and holes.

• Thus, the total electron concentration and total hole


concentration are functions of the quasi-fermi levels.
Queries???

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