35,7) gives ime renmuur: verween ine electrical condi ee . Ctivity, -ier mobility of a specimen, 'Y, carrier concentra- © fon and car Experiment 35.1: To study the variation of resistivity of a Ge crystal wi temperature by Four-Probe method and hence to determine the ee | forit. i Apparatus: A thin Ge crystal with smooth surface, a four-probe arrangement, : adigital electronic millivoltmeter, a constant current source (0-10 mA), an oven with "its power supply and a thermometer (0-200°C). Theory: A four-point collinear probe and the appropriate test equipment can | beused to determine both the resistivity and conductivity-type. Here we limit our "discussion to the Four-Point Probe method for the measurement of resistivity. _ The Four-Point Probe Method The four-point probe or Kelvin-Probe method is the most common method to _ Measure a semiconductor material’s resistivity. The four-point probe is preferable | eta two-point probe because the contact and spreading resistances associated a tWo point probe are large and the true resistivity can’t be accurately separated ‘om the measured resistivity. In a four-point probe, very little contact ad Soe ‘Msistance is associated with the voltage probes and hence one can outEty os ee curate calculation of the resistivity. Using four probes eliminates eee a os due to the probe resistance, the spreading resistance under each probe, @ “resistance between each metal probe and semiconductor ae . iced OU Probe arrangement is shown in Fig. 35.2. The four ee “42d collinear and are coated with a hard conducting mal Sah the sample and e or Osmium) at the tip. The probes make spring contacts a : other. Since HO Mounted in a teflon bush for good electrical insulation from ¢ re equally ift Physics nse. Practes i error in resistivity meag GU he contacts, any error in res y urements i required [01 cl and change of properties if arg ering. Hs surface, Fe i : soenation of tHe UFTIET with non-conducting bottom surface "4s ee in the form ne ure of the sample from room femperature to .. 2598 ‘a cen y change the used 1 Current ~\sourcy Ge sample Insulator Fig. 35.2 Re istivity Measurement for a Large Sample Current J from a constant current source is passed through the outer two prot and the voltage V is measured between the inner two probes. The resistivity 9 of sample is obtained in the following way:- The floating potential V, ata distance r from an electrode carrying current is material of resistivity p’ is given by Vel ae ae In the model shown in Fig. 35.2, there are two current-carrying electrodes. - bered 1 and 4, and the floating potential V; at any point in the semiconductor is * difference between the potential induced by each of the electrodes {as they co & current of equal magnitude but in opposite direction). Thus yo e(e. an (i ‘here 1 is the distance of the point from probe 1 and ry i i The floating from the above nce from probe! 2 potentials at probe 2, Vj>, and at probe 3, Vy,, can be calcula p Eqn. by substituting the proper distances as follows. lis) ‘The potential difference v between p robes 2 and 3 is then VeVi VaSemicondu, eh Clary ~ H(t 1) 495 mn (s73573,+4] 5 = fl 2s co the resistivity p’ is given as, Nommally, the samples used in laboratories a infinite and therefore Eqn. (35.9) is not Se \ eloped to give the resistivity of able. hod is given below, ‘arge enough to con Many method: 4 specimen of finite size. The m ost com rection for the Finite Size This method applies to the sample whose bottom surface is non-cond scorrected resistivity is given by p F(tis) ere the correction divisor F(#/s) is a function of the ratio of thickness ¢ of the aple to the probe-spacing s and is given by Ftlsy=1 445 This function F(1/s) is tabulated in Table 35.1 and plotted i Fig. 35.(a) and 3b), Use Graph in Fig. 35.3 (b) if (v/s) is between 0.1 and 1.0 as alue — in2 For an infinitely thin sample Fl/s) approaches 10 & i TABLE 35.1 us 0,100 otal 0,200 0.333 0.500 1,000 1414 2.000 3.333 <6 N00 1.0070 1 00045Practical Physics BSc: 496 us Fig. 35.3(a) 02 030405 07 10een" Conductors sus from Eqns. 35.9 and 35,19 » We have 497 AE roe Tesistivity, x 1 Fs) since fand sare known for the sample ang y (35.12) s and ated, a And Tate measured in Ne experi- erie formula for the variation of r tivity wi ; w of both the sides of Egn. 35°4 Teg erate “an be obtained t : . “ ¢ ha cena o= py etree S We have, at! (3: Inp=Inpo+ i: & logio P = logi9 Py + ———4_ 22.303 xkF (35.14) 1 a graph between — ; Thus, grap en 7 and logig P would be a straight line. From the slope wihis line, the band gap E, can be determined. Procedure 1. First take out the four probe arrangement from the oven and put it ona plane surface. Now put the sample on the base plate of the Four Probe arrangement such that the non-conducting surface of the crystal is on the plate side and the four probes are in the middle of the crystal. Apply pres- sure slightly so that the probes clearly make contact with the sample and then tighten the screw. Now check the continuity between the sample and four probes by a multimeter. If the contacts are lose, tighten the screws provided on top of the base stand till the four probes touch the crystal 2. Put the four probe arrangement in the oven and check the gontinuity be- tween each pair of leads provided for current and voltage a 3. Put the thermometer in the hole provided for it to measure the oven temperature. 4. Connect the probes 1 and 4 to the constant current ou : 5. Connect a digital millivoltmeter between the probes a ae 6. Switch on the current source and set the current (0 Say 7, Note dot tage V in the voltmeter. sratures while 8. Switch ee i eal note down V for different tempersir® | heating the sample. Take observations till the t 180°-200°C, 9. Switch off the oven and repeat the obse a Find 2 for each temperatures " i WR the mean voltage Anew Fer value of curtent SY OT ogection ~ Repeat the experiment for another = manufacturers FN? AAO * From the values of ¢ and s supplied by tr graphs in Figs: 3 pes aie divisor F (i/s) using the Table 35.! at graph bewvee? pan ‘aleulate p for each reading and Plot © Variation of resistivity with temperatl"™ emperature 18 g the sample vations while cooling th pl say 6 A R, , a j Plot a graph between bal and logo P 4Se. Practical Phys 498 Observations Least-count of the thermometer Distance between the probes: $ ‘Thickness of the crystal ( ds Correction divisor, /(/s) 2ns F(tls) Set! Current / = s.\Temp T\Temp. T| Voltage V IMean | Resistivity La ; I Nol (°C) | (K) (nV) Vv ia logiep| F while heating while cooling |(mV) | p= xp] (cy (Qm) 1 2 3 Set If Make a similar table for /= 6 mA. Calculations ° Inp=In p+ cere 2kT o : legig= Wee pg? ee : ‘The graph in Fi : 2x 2.303 XK i graph in Fig. 35.4 gives the va T between 103) pees oe : een 10°/T along x-axis and ioe arn of resistivity with temperature. AP Fig. 3: ee i : 35.5. As is evident from Eqn. (ii), roar Yana for one ofthe sss 8 . (ii), the si i i : ight line portion of this grap has? slope equalto ——_Fe 22303 x10 xk Resistivity 9 logo? —> Temperature —5— Fig. 35.4 109T Fig. 35.5Semiconductors E, = 2X 2.303 x 193 fan = 1.38 x 10°3 /K = 8.625 x E, = 0.3973 x slope + €V for Set J .. eV for Set II Mean E, =...eV XK X slope wring Y Fu 10> ev/K Note: AS is seen in Fig. 35.5, the graph between 1047 Bee > eae " B rnperatures( 2 100°C). This linear portion isto ban Tis evident that we need to heat the sample much above 100°C wosce aie to get the results. 19 #8 linear only Result @ Resistivity p for the given sample of the semicond creasing temperature. luctor decreases with in- (i) The band gap E, for the given semiconductor at room temperat ‘ure Actual value, % Errot eV. s and Sources of Error id be constant while performing the experiment. aken not only while heating the sample but also while ted while cooling since more stable con- " Precaution: 1. Current shoul 2, Readings should be t cooling it. Better results are expect ditions prevail. 3. The top of the sample should be cleaned very carefully with the finest qual- ity sand paper to remove any coating formed on it. 4, The pressure on the probes ‘should be just appropriate to Too much pressure can break the crystal. 5. The sample should be heated to a temperature near about 180-200°C. 6. The tip of the thermometer should be well inside the hole and temperature should be read carefully. bes rest should be flat 7. The surface on which the pro! u 8. The four probes should lie in a straight line. make a contact. with no surface leakage. Weak Points This The resistivity of the sa ae affect the result. p Re, fon the main disadvantage W!' Ee ee overcome by keeping applies only to samples with non-con mple may Although probes n th them is that they may be noisy: 7! Se the contacts clean and firm. Further, ducting bottom. Bic ~ tntermination of the