EE 121B Winter 2021

Prof. Emaminejad

Homework Assignment 1 solution

1. Energy band model

a) For silicon, if EG decreases by 0.078 eV, by what fraction does n i increase (assume T is
constant at 300K)?

T is constant, Nc and Nv are constant.

𝐸𝐺2
𝐸𝐺1−𝐸𝐺2 0.078
𝑛𝑖2 𝑒 2𝑘𝑇
= 𝐸𝐺1 = 𝑒 2𝑘𝑇 = 𝑒 2×0.026 = 4.48
𝑛𝑖1
𝑒 2𝑘𝑇

So n i increase by 348%

b) If the temperature rises from 300K to 600K, by what additional fraction does n i increase
(assume EG is constant = 1.068 eV, you do not need to worry about the decrease from problem
a)?

，
−𝐸𝐺
𝑛𝑖2 √𝑁𝑐2 𝑁𝑣2 𝑒 2𝑘𝑇2
= −𝐸𝐺
𝑛𝑖1
√𝑁𝑐1 𝑁𝑣1 𝑒 2𝑘𝑇1
600 3 −1.068 −1.068
= ( )2 𝑒 2𝑘600 − 2𝑘300
300

= 84846
So n i increase by 8500000%
c) If we further increase the temperature, Si starts exhibiting semi-metal properties. Think of a
physical reason for this phenomenon. (Assume you haven’t melted it).
When a semiconductor is heated, the lattice expands and the atomic distance increases. This
causes the bandgap to shrink. The semiconductor will begin to behave more like a semi-metal.

2. Fermi-Dirac distribution
a) Under equilibrium condition, what is the probability of an electron state being occupied if it
is located at the Fermi level?
Assume E = Ef, f(E) = 0.5.

b) If EF is positioned at EC, determine the probability of finding electrons in states at EC + kT. (A

numerical answer is required.)
Ef = Ec and E = Ec + kT
1 1
f (E) = = =0.27
1+𝑒 [(𝐸𝑐+kT)−𝐸𝑐]/𝑘𝑇 1+𝑒

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 c) The probability of a state being filled at EC + kT is equal to the probability of a state being
empty at EC + 3 kT. Where is the Fermi level located?

f(Ec + kT) = 1 – f(Ec + 3kT)

1 1
[ (𝐸𝑐+kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
= 1- [ (𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
1+𝑒 1+𝑒
[(𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇 [(𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓]/𝑘𝑇
1+𝑒 −1 𝑒 1
RHS = [( 𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
= [(𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓]/𝑘𝑇
= −[(𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
1+𝑒 1+𝑒 1+𝑒
1
LHS = [ (𝐸𝑐+kT) −𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
1+𝑒
1 1
RHS = LHS: [( 𝐸𝑐+kT)−𝐸𝑓]/𝑘𝑇
= −[( 𝐸𝑐+3kT)−𝐸𝑓 ]/𝑘𝑇
1+𝑒 1+𝑒
(𝐸𝑐 + kT) − 𝐸𝑓 = −[( 𝐸𝑐 + 3kT) − 𝐸𝑓 ]
𝐸𝑓 = 𝐸𝑐 + 2𝑘𝑇

3. Carrier Concentrations
Consider a Si sample under equilibrium conditions, doped with Boron to a concentration 10 17
cm-3 .
a) At T = 300K, is this material n-type or p-type? What are the majority and minority carrier
concentrations?
b) As the temperature of this sample is increased, n i will eventually increase to be higher than
the dopant concentration, and the sample will become intrinsic (n  p  n i ). Estimate the
temperature at which this occurs, by finding the temperature at which n i be much greater (at
least 10 higher) than the dopant concentration. (Use the plot of n i vs. T)

a) Boron (B) is a Group III element with three valence electrons, which is one less than Si.
When a B atom replaces a Si atom, an electron from a nearby covalent bond can easily
move to the B atom to fill its outmost electron shell, creating a hole. (The B atom becomes
negatively ionized, as a result.) Assuming that each B atom results in one hole, the hole
concentration (p) will be 1017 cm-3 . Since the np product is equal to n i 2 under equilibrium
conditions, the electron concentration will be n i2 /p = 10 20 /10 17 = 10 3 cm-3 . Since p > n,
this material is p-type. The majority carrier (hole) concentration is 10 17 cm-3 and the
minority carrier (electron) concentration is 10 3 cm-3 .
b) From the n i vs. T plot, n i = 10 18 cm-3 at T = 1000K (7270 C).

4. Mobility and Drift

a) For some resistor applications, it is important to maintain a fixed value of resistance over a
range of operating temperatures. Explain briefly how you could minimize variations (resulting
from changes in temperature) in the resistivity of Si at temperatures near 300K. Assume that
you are free to choose the value of resistivity.
b) A (non-compensated) p-type silicon sample is maintained at room temperature. When an
electric field with a strength of 1000 V/cm is applied to the sample, the hole drift velocity is
1.75×10 5 cm/sec.
i) What is the mean free path of a hole in this sample? (Note: 1 kg cm2 /V s/C = 10 -4 sec)

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 ii) Estimate the electron and hole concentrations in this sample.

a) Resistivity is dependent on carrier mobility and carrier concentration. Assuming that

carrier concentration is relatively insensitive to variations in temperature around 300K,
the temperature dependence of resistivity will be dictated by the temperature
dependence of carrier mobility. Therefore, in order to minimize variations in the
resistivity (cf. Lecture 2 Slide 18) with changes in temperature around 300K, we need to
minimize variations in carrier mobility with changes in temperature around 300K.
From Lecture 4 Slide 17 it can be seen that electron mobility is relatively insensitive to
variation in temperature around 300K, if the dopant concentration is in the range 10 18 -
10 19 cm-3 . Thus, doping Si n-type to a concentration close to 1019 cm-3 will
minimize variations in resistivity resulting from changes in temperature around
300K.
b) Since hole drift velocity vdp = p ∙E p = vdp / E = 1.75×10 5/1000 = 175 cm 2 /Vs.
i) Since p = q mp *, where  is the average time between scattering events and mp * is the hole
conductivity effective mass, the mean free path l can be calculated as
l =  ∙vth =( p mp * /q) ∙ vth = 175×0.39×9.1×10 -31×1.9×10 7/(1.6×10 -19 ) ×10 -4 cm = 0.007×10 -4 cm
= 7 nm
ii) From Lecture 4 Slide 16 the dopant concentration (NA ) is ~10 17 cm-3 for hole mobility =
350 cm 2 /Vs. Thus, p = 10 18 cm-3 and n = ni 2 /p = 10 2 cm-3 .

5. Resistivity
a) Consider a Si sample maintained at T = 300K under equilibrium conditions, doped with
Boron to a concentration 2×1016 cm-3 :
i) What are the electron and hole concentrations (n and p) in this sample? Is it n-type or
p-type?
ii) Suppose the sample is doped additionally with Phosphorus to a concentration 6×1016
cm-3 . Is the material now n-type or p-type? What is the resistivity of this sample?
b) Ultra-thin semiconductor materials are of interest for future nanometer-scale transistors, but
can present undesirably high resistance to current flow. How low must the resistivity of a
semiconductor material be, to ensure that the resistance of a 2nm-thick, 10nm-long, 100nm-
wide region does not exceed 100 ohms? If this material is n-type Si, estimate the dopant
concentration that would be needed to achieve this resistivity.

a) i) Boron is an acceptor in Si, so the material is p-type with p = NA = 2×1016 cm-3 and
electron concentration n = ni 2 /p = 5×103 cm-3 .
ii) Phosphorus is a donor in Si. Since ND > NA , the material is n-type.
The carrier concentrations are determined by the net dopant concentration, ND − NA = 4×1016
cm-3 , so that n = 4×10 16 cm-3 and p = ni 2 /n = 2500 cm-3 .
The carrier mobilities are determined by the total dopant concentration, ND + NA = 8×1016 cm-
. From the plot on Slide 35 of Lecture 3, electron mobility n  820 cm 2 /Vs and hole
3

mobility p  370 cm2 /Vs.

Since n >> p, resistivity   1/qnn = 1/[(1.6×10-19 )(4×10 16 )(820)] = 0.19 Ω-cm

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 b) In order for the resistance (R=L/Wt) of a semiconductor region to be no larger than 100
ohms, its resistivity must not exceed 100Wt/L = 100×100nm×2nm/10nm = 2000 -nm = 2
×1 0 -4 -cm.
From Slide 39 of Lecture 3, the dopant concentration that would be needed for n -type Si to have such a
low resistivity is ~6×10 20 cm-3 .

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