This textbook teaches the physics and technology of semiconductors, highlighting the strong interdependence between the engineering principles and underlying physical fundamentals. It focuses on conveying a basic understanding of the physics, materials, and processes involved in semiconductor technology without relying on detailed derivations. The book features separate comments on the key physical principles covered, allowing the reader to quickly grasp the take-home message. Chapter-end questions and answers round out this compact book, making it a helpful and dependable resource for physicists, electrical engineers, and materials scientists working with electronic materials. Aimed at upper-level undergraduate students and written by an author with extensive experience in both industry and academia, this textbook gives physicists the opportunity to learn about the materials and technology behind semiconductors, while providing engineers and materials scientists a deeper understanding of the physics behind the technology.
Author(s): Albrecht Winnacker
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 285
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
About the Author
Part I Semiconductor Materials: Structure, Processes, Fabrication
1 Crystal Structure and Energy Bands
1.1 The Lattice Structure
1.2 Energy Bands
1.3 Metals and Insulators
1.4 Electrons and Holes
1.5 The Origin of Energy Bands according to the Schroedinger Equation
1.6 Band Structure
1.7 Direct and Indirect Semiconductors
1.8 Basic Properties of a Semiconductor Material to Be Taken from the Band Structure
1.9 Questions and Answers
2 Transport of Charge Carriers
2.1 Ohm’s Law
2.2 Mobility and Hall Effect
2.3 Factors Determining the Mobility of Charge Carriers
2.4 Saturation Velocity
2.5 Mobility and Frequency Limit of Devices
References
3 Donors and Acceptors
3.1 Creation of Free Electrons and Holes by Thermal Excitation
3.2 Doping of Si
3.3 The Hydrogen Model of Donors and Acceptors
3.4 Shallow Donors and Acceptors in Compound Semiconductors
3.5 Isoelectronic Impurities
3.6 Questions and Answers
4 Carrier Statistics
4.1 Density of States
4.2 Free Carrier Concentration in Thermal Equilibrium
4.3 The Law of Mass Action
4.4 The Intrinsic Case
4.5 Semi-insulating Semiconductors
4.6 The Temperature Dependence of Carrier Concentration. Why Si-Electronics Does not Work at Elevated Temperatures
4.7 Questions and Answers
5 Fabrication of Electronic Silicon
5.1 Silicon Valley, Si-Technology, and Si-Age
5.2 The Siemens Process
5.3 Crystal Growth of Silicon
5.4 The Float Zone Process as a Purification Method
5.5 Wafering
5.6 Electronic Silicon, a Material of Extreme Purity and Crystalline Perfection
5.7 Questions and Answers
6 Lattice Defects
6.1 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Defects
6.2 Point Defects
6.3 Line Defects (Dislocations)
6.4 The Role of Dislocations in Electronic Materials
6.5 Two-Dimensional Defects
6.6 Three-Dimensional Defects
6.7 Questions and Answers
References
7 Compound Semiconductors
7.1 Introduction, Some History
7.2 The Potential of III-V-Compounds
7.3 Growth of GaAs and InP by the LEC and VGF Process
7.4 “New” Compound Semiconductors: SiC, AlN, and GaN
7.5 Epitaxy
7.6 Questions and Answers
References
8 Amorphous Semiconductors
8.1 Short-Range Order and Band Structure
8.2 On the Distinction Between Direct and Indirect Semiconductors in Amorphous Semiconductors
8.3 Variable Range Hopping Conduction
8.4 The Problem of Doping in a-Si
8.5 Applications of a-Si:H
8.6 Questions and Answers
References
Part II Devices
9 The pn-Junction
9.1 pn-Junction Without External Voltage
9.2 pn-Junction with External Voltage
9.3 Breakthrough Voltage
9.4 Thickness of Depletion Layers
9.5 Questions and Answers
10 Solar Cells
10.1 The Sun, a Gigantic Energy Source
10.2 The Solar Cell, a pn-Junction Device
10.3 Operating Principle of the Solar Cell in Detail
10.4 The Optimum Bandgap for a Solar Cell Material
10.5 Thin Film Solar Cells
10.6 Cheaper Silicon for Photovoltaics
10.7 Questions and Answers
References
11 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
11.1 The Light Emitting Process in Semiconductors
11.2 The Linewidth of LEDs
11.3 Radiative and Nonradiative Processes
11.4 External and Internal Quantum Efficiency
11.5 LEDs for All Colors
11.6 The Story of the Blue LED
11.7 White LEDs
11.8 UV LEDs
11.9 Brightness of LEDs
11.10 Questions and Answers
References
12 Semiconductor Lasers
12.1 The Laser Principle
12.2 Light Amplification and Lasing
12.3 Double Heterojunction Laser
12.4 Lasers for Optical Data Storage and Optical Data Transmission
12.5 Laser Materials for Optical Data Transmission, an Example of Bandgap Engineering
12.6 Questions and Answers
References
13 Transistors
13.1 The Bipolar Transistor
13.2 Field Effect Transistor
13.3 A MOSFET Problem Related to Miniaturization of Modern Electronics: High k-dielectrics
13.4 The Two-Dimensional Electron Gas, Realized in a MOSFET
13.5 Questions and Answers
Reference
14 Integrated Circuits
14.1 Moore’s Law
14.2 Photolithography: Components and Steps of Fabrication
14.3 Exposure in the Photolithography
14.4 Some Important Constituents of Integrated Circuits
14.5 Light Sources for Photolithography
14.6 Resolution Enhancement Techniques
14.7 Some Concluding Remarks on the Present Situation of Chip Technology
14.8 Questions and Answers
References
15 Organic Electronics
15.1 Organic Materials for Electronics, a Totally Different Approach
15.2 Conjugated Double Bonds
15.3 Band Structure and Conductivity in Polymers
15.4 Polymer Conductivity by “Doping”
15.5 Conductivity of Polymers by Charge Carrier Injection
15.6 Charge Carrier Transport
15.7 Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)
15.8 Organic Solar Cells
15.9 Questions and Answers
References
16 Towards Molecular Electronics
16.1 From “Top-Down” to “Bottom-Up”
16.2 Carbon Allotropes, Fullerenes
16.3 Carbon Nanotubes
16.4 Graphene
16.5 Single Molecule Interconnects and Anchor Groups
16.6 Molecular Switches
16.7 C-Based Electronics, Complementary to Si-Technology
16.8 Questions and Answers
References
List of Physics Comments
Name Index
Subject Index
