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Chapter 10

Basics of Semiconductors

Energy Bands in Solids
Energy Bands in Solids
Solids are composed of atoms with distinct electronic configurations and energy levels. When two identical isolated atoms are brought close together, ...
Semiconductors
Semiconductors
Materials are broadly categorized into three types as metals, insulators, and semiconductors. Metals have no energy band gap due to the overlap of the ...
Types of Semiconductors
Types of Semiconductors
A pure silicon wafer used in integrated circuits is an intrinsic semiconductor that lacks impurities and exhibits low electrical conductivity. At zero ...
Carrier Generation and Recombination
Carrier Generation and Recombination
Carrier generation refers to the creation of electron-hole pairs. Band-to-band generation occurs in direct band gap semiconductors via thermal excitation ...
Carrier Transport
Carrier Transport
Carrier transport in semiconductors generates current, through drift and diffusion mechanisms. Drift current arises when an external electric field causes ...
P-N junction
P-N junction
Solar streetlights function independently without the requirement of an external power supply, as they contain p-n junctions within their solar cells. A ...
Biasing of P-N Junction
Biasing of P-N Junction
The p-n junction within an LED requires external biasing to produce light. Forward biasing involves applying a voltage across the p-n junction with the ...
Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Contact between a Metal and a semiconductor forms a junction with either Schottky or Ohmic behavior. If the metal's work function exceeds that of the ...
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
Biasing metal and n-type semiconductor junctions involves applying a voltage to metal while grounding the semiconductor. The resulting current is positive ...
Fermi Level
Fermi Level
The Fermi-Dirac function, represented by a sigmoid curve, indicates the probability of an energy state being occupied by an electron at a given ...
Fermi Level Dynamics
Fermi Level Dynamics
The vacuum level represents the energy threshold for an electron to escape a material's surface. It typically lies above a semiconductor's ...
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