Lecture 5

Dr. M.M. Khan

Effective Mass
In solid state physics, a particle's effective mass , denoted m* is the mass that it seems to have when
responding to forces, or the mass that it seems to have when interacting with other identical particles in a
thermal distribution. One of the results from the band theory of solids is that the movement of particles in
a periodic potential, over long distances larger than the lattice spacing, can be very different from their
motion in a vacuum.
 To understand the concept of effective mass we must bear in mind that
 The electrons in a semiconductor crystal are not completely free.
 They interact with the periodic potential of the lattice.
 The periodic potential is arises due to the presence of electrons and nuclei in the vicinity
of the electron(charge carrier).
 Lattice vibrations also affect the motion of the electron
 The wave particle motion of this electron can not be expected to be the same as for
electrons in free space.

Due to these reasons,

 we use some altered values of masses of charge carriers while applying the usual equations
of electrodynamics to the charge carriers inside the semiconductor crystal.
 In this way we can account for most of the influences of the lattice and the electrons and
holes can be treated as almost free carries of charge in most calculations.
 To calculate the value of effective mass of electron and holes in CB and VB, we have to take
into account the shape of energy bands in 3-D k-space, taking appropriate averages over
various energy bands inside the material
Before taking appropriate averages over various energy bands, we will define the effective
mass for a single band,

Effective mass is
Constant but depends
On the curvature of the band
 EC

EV

𝑑𝑝 𝑑(𝑚𝑣) 𝑑 ∗ 𝑣=F
= 𝑑𝑡 =Force=Fext+Fint 𝑚 ext
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Effects of internal forces have been imbedded in effective mass

Effective mass is different in different materials because the crystal periodic forces are different and depends on the detail of the material
Harmonic mean of
Band curvature
effective masses

Geometric mean of
Band curvature
effective masses
Lecture-6
Dr. M. M. Khan
• Intrinsic material
• Perfect Semiconductor crystal with no
impurities or lattice defects is known
as intrinsic semiconductors
In an intrinsic semiconductor-
 No charge carriers at 0K
 VB is filled with e and CB is empty
 At higher temperatures electron-hole pairs(EHPs) are generated as valence band electrons excite
thermally across the band gap to the conduction band
 These EHPs are the only charge carriers in intrinsic material
 EHPs generation can be visualized by considering the breaking of covalent bonds in the
crystal lattice
 A conduction e is created and a broken bond(hole) is left behind
 The energy required to break the bond is the band gap energy (Eg)

This model helps visualizing the physical mechanism of EHPs

creation
A pictorial illustration of a hole in the
valence band (VB) wandering around
the crystal due to the tunneling of
electrons from neighboring bonds; and
its eventual recombination with a
wandering electron in the conduction
band. A missing electron in a bond
represents a hole as in (a). An electron
in a neighboring bond can tunnel into
this empty state and thereby cause the
hole to be displaced as in (a) to (d). The
hole is able to wander around in the
crystal as if it were free but with a
different effective mass than the
electron. A wandering electron in the
CB meets a hole in the VB in (e), which
results in the recombination and the
filling of the empty VB state as in (f)
 The e and h are created in pairs, the CB electrons concentration n (electron/cm3) is equal
to the concentration of holes in the VB p (holes/cm3 ).
 Each of these intrinsic carrier concentrations is commonly denoted by ni

n = p = ni ne = nh = ni
Extrinsic material
At T = 50----100K
In an n-type semiconductor holes in VB are minority charge carriers, at room
temperature their contribution can be neglected.
Lecture 7
Dr. M. M. Khan

Fermi Level
 For analyzing the behaviour of semiconductor devices and for calculating electrical
properties (conductivity, resistivity, mobility ) It’s necessary to know:

§ the carrier concentrations (No. of charge carries per unit volume n,p)
§ the density of available states that can be occupied by the charge carriers
§ the temperature dependence of the charge carrier

• To obtain mathematical expression for the carrier concentrations we must investigate the
distribution of carriers over the available energy states.

• These calculations requires some knowledge of statistical mechanics as the electrons in solids
obey Fermi-Dirac statistics .

• In the development of this type of statistics, one has to consider the indistingushability of the
electrons, their wave nature and the Pauli exclusion principle.
Temperature dependence of Fermi Level
 Lecture-8
Electron and Hole Concentrations at
Equilibrium

Dr. M. M. Khan
Department of Applied Physics, ZHCET, AMU., Aligarh
 The electron and hole concentrations in a semiconductor can can be calculated using the
Fermi distribution function if the densities of available states in the valence and conduction
bands are known.
 If N(E)dE is the density of states (no. of states per unit volume) in the energy range E->E+dE,
then the concentration of electrons in the conduction band calculated as
∞
𝑛0 = 𝐸𝑐
𝑓 𝐸 𝑁 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 −−−−−−−−−−−−− −(1) dE
Ec

Eg=Ec-Ev
Similarly, the hole concentration in valance band can be given by
Ev
dE
𝐸𝑉
𝑝0 = −∞
(1 − 𝑓 𝐸 )𝑁 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 −−−−−−−−−−−−− −(2)

• here n0 and p0 represents the e and h concentrations at equilibrium (at a given temperature)
• and the integration has to be carried out over the entire CB and VB. -∞ and ∞ may also be replaced by
Ebottom and Etop in these integration (the result will be the same)
• The function N(E) can be calculated using quantum mechanics and the implication of Pauli exclusion
principle. The result of this calculation implies that
1
𝑁(𝐸) ∝ 𝐸 2
It shows that the density of states at energy E is proportional to the square root of energy of that level, that is the density
of states in CB increases with electron energy. On the other hand, the Fermi function becomes extremely small for
large energies. The result is that the product f(E)N(E) decreases rapidly above Ec, and very few electrons
occupy energy states far above the conduction band edge.
Similarly, the probability of finding an empty state (hole) in the valence band [1 - f(E)] decreases
rapidly below Ev, and most holes occupy states near the top of the valence band.
The conduction band electron concentration is simply the effective density of states at Ec
times the probability of occupancy at Ec:
(3)
n0  N c f ( Ec )
In this expression we assume the Fermi level EF lies at least several kT below the
conduction band. Then the exponential term is large compared with unity, and the Fermi
function f(Ec) can be simplified as
 exp ( Ec  EF ) / kT 
1
f ( Ec )  (4)
1  exp( Ec  EF ) / kT 
Since kT at room temperature is only 0.026 eV, this is generally a good approximation.
For this condition the concentration of electrons in the conduction band is
n0  Nc exp ( Ec  EF ) / kT  (5)
It can be shown that the effective density of states Nc is
2mn* kT 3 / 2 (6)
N c  2( 2
)
h
Values of Nc can be tabulated as a function of temperature. As Eq. (5) indicates, the
electron concentration increases as EF moves closer to the conduction band.
By similar arguments, the concentration of holes in the valence band is
p0  N v [1  f ( Ev )] (7)
where Nv is the effective density of states in the valence band.
The probability of finding an empty state at Ev, is

 exp ( E F  Ev ) / kT 
1
1  f ( Ev )  1  (8)
1  exp( Ev  E F ) / kT 
for EF larger than Ev by several kT. From these equations, the concentration of holes
in the valence band is

p0  N v exp  ( EF  Ev ) / kT  (9)

The effective density of states in the valence band reduced to the band edge is
2m *p kT
N v  2( 2
)3/ 2 (10)
h
Eq. (9) predicts that the hole concentration increases as EF moves closer to the
valence band.
The electron and hole concentrations predicted by Eqs. (5) and (9) are valid whether
the material is intrinsic or doped, provided thermal equilibrium is maintained. Thus for
intrinsic material, EF lies at some intrinsic level Ei near the middle of the band gap, and
the intrinsic electron and hole concentrations are

ni  Nc exp ( Ec  Ei ) / kT  , pi  Nv exp ( Ei  Ev ) / kT  (11)

 The product of n0 and p0 at equilibrium is a constant for a particular material and
temperature, even if the doping is varied:

n0 p0  ( N c exp ( Ec  EF ) / kT )(N v exp ( EF  Ev ) / kT )  (12)


 N c N v exp ( Ec  Ev ) / kT   N c N v exp  E g / kT 
ni pi  ( N c exp ( Ec  Ei ) / kT )( N v exp ( Ei  Ev ) / kT )  (13)


 N c N v exp  Eg / kT 
In Eqns. (12) and (13) Eg = Ec – Ev. The intrinsic electron and hole concentrations are
equal (since the carriers are created in pairs), ni = pi ; thus the intrinsic concentration is

ni  N c N v exp(  Eg / 2kT ) (14)

The constant product of electron and hole concentrations in Eq. (12) can be written
conveniently as
n 0 p0  ni2 (15)
This is an important relation, and we shall use it extensively in later calculations. The
intrinsic concentration for Si at room temperature is approximately ni = 1.5 x 1010 cm-3.
 Comparing Eqs. (11) and (14), we note that the intrinsic level Ei is the middle of the band
gap (Ec - Ei= Eg/2), if the effective densities of states Nc and Nv are equal.
There is usually some difference in effective mass for electrons and holes (e.g. for Si –
mn*=0.26m0, mn*=0.39m0), however, and, therefore, Nc and Nν are slightly different as Eqs. (6)
and (10) indicate.
Another convenient and useful way of writing Eqs. (5) and (9) is

n0  ni exp( EF  Ei ) / kT  (15)

p0  ni exp( Ei  EF ) / kT  (16)

obtained by the application of Eq. (11). This form of the equations indicates directly
that the electron concentration is ni, when EF is at the intrinsic level Ei, and that n0
increases exponentially as the Fermi level moves away from Ei toward the
conduction band. Similarly, the hole concentration p0 varies from ni, to larger values
as EF moves from Ei toward the valence band. Since these equations reveal the
qualitative features of carrier concentration so directly, they are particularly
convenient to remember.
Problem