Essential Semiconductor Physics eBook

This book is the fourth volume in the New Era Electronics lecture notes series, a compilation of volumes defining the important concepts tied to the electronics transition happening in the 21st century.

The lectures in this volume are about the underlying physics that makes semiconductor devices possible. The treatment is physical and intuitive — the text is descriptive, not heavily mathematical. The lectures are designed to be broadly accessible to students in science or engineering and to working engineers. They present an electrical engineering perspective, but those in other fields may find them a useful introduction to the approach that has guided the development of semiconductor technology for more than 75 years.

For those who use semiconductor devices, these lectures provide an understanding of the physics that underlies their operation. For those developing semiconductor technologies these lectures provide a starting point for diving deeper into the physics, chemistry, and materials science relevant to semiconductors. Those who have taken advanced courses will see how specific topics fit into a broader framework.

Contents:

• Materials Properties and Doping:
  • Energy Levels to Energy Bands
  • Crystalline, Polycrystalline, and Amorphous Semiconductors
  • Miller Indices
  • Properties of Common Semiconductors
  • Free Carriers in Semiconductors
  • Doping
• Rudiments of Quantum Mechanics:
  • The Wave Equation
  • Quantum Confinement
  • Quantum Tunneling and Reflection
  • Electron Waves in Crystals
  • Density of States
• Equilibrium Carrier Concentrations:
  • The Fermi Function
  • Fermi-Dirac Integrals
  • Carrier Concentration vs Fermi Level
  • Carrier Concentration vs Doping Density
  • Carrier Concentration vs Temperature
• Carrier Transport, Recombination, and Generation:
  • Current Equation
  • Drift Current
  • Diffusion Current
  • Drift-Diffusion Equation
  • Carrier Recombination
  • Carrier Generation
• The Semiconductor Equations:
  • The Semiconductor Equations
  • Energy Band Diagrams
  • Quasi-Fermi Levels
  • Minority Carrier Diffusion Equation

Readership: Advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in engineering and the sciences, as well as professional engineers.