Direct and Indirect Semiconductors:

 In a typical quantitative calculation of band structures, the wave function of a single

electron traveling through a perfectly periodic lattice is assumed to be in the form of a
plane wave moving in the x-direction (say) with propagation constant k, also called
a wave vector.

 In quantum mechanics, the electron momentum can be given by

 The space dependent wave function for the electron is

where the function modulates the wave function according to the periodicity of
the lattice.

E-k Diagram

Allowed values of energy, while plotted as a function of k, gives the E-k diagram.

 E(k) diagram is the most important entity characterizing a semiconductor. E is

electron (hole) energy and k is the wave vector. No theoretical study,
experimentation, and technological application can take place unless the E(k)
diagram of the semiconductor is first obtained by solving Schroedinger's
equation.
 From the E(k) diagram, we find the band gap, i.e. the range of energy, where the
density of eigenstates (allowed energy) is zero.
 The effective mass is directly obtained from the curvature of the E(k) diagram,
and the mobility in turn from it.
 A band gap is direct if Ec (conduction band minimum) and E v (valence band
maximum) occur at the same value k; indirect if otherwise. Silicon is the purest
material obtained by man and it is the most studied among all materials;
unfortunately, however, it is an indirect band gap material, so, cannot find
optoelectronic applications; also, its hole mobility is very low, so, future
generations of CMOSFETS will have to be made on high mobility
semiconductors such as Ge, GaAlAs, etc.
 The E-k diagram of a direct bandgap semiconductor such as GaAs. The E-k
curve consists of many discrete points each point corresponding to a possible
state, wavefunction y k(x), that is allowed to exist in the crystal. The points
are so close that we normally draw the E-k relationship as a continuous curve.
In the energy range Ev to Ec there are no points

 Since the periodicity of most lattices is different in various directions, the E-k diagram is
a complex surface, which is to be visualized in three dimensions.

Direct and indirect transition of electrons from the conduction band to the valence band: (a) direct - with
accompanying photon emission, (b) indirect via defect level.

 Direct band gap semiconductor: the minima of the conduction band and the maxima of
the valence band occur at the same value of k an electron making the smallest energy
 transition from the conduction band to the valence band can do so without a change in k
(and, the momentum).

 Indirect band gap semiconductor: the minima of the conduction band and the maxima of
the valence band occur for different values of k, thus, the smallest energy transition for an
electron requires a change in momentum.

 Electron falling from conduction band to an empty state in valence band

recombination.

 Recombination probability for direct band gap semiconductors is much higher than that
for indirect band gap semiconductors.

 Direct band gap semiconductors give up the energy released during this transition (= Eg)
in the form of light used for optoelectronic applications (e.g., LEDs and LASERs).

 Recombination in indirect band gap semiconductors occurs through some defect states
within the band gap, and the energy is released in the form of heat given to the lattice.

Charge Carriers in Semiconductors

 In a metal, the atoms are imbedded in a "sea" of free electrons, and these electrons can
move as a group under the influence of an applied electric field.

 In semiconductors at 0 K, all states in the valence band are full, and all states in the
conduction band are empty.

 At T > 0 K, electrons get thermally excited from the valence band to the conduction band,
and contribute to the conduction process in the conduction band.

 The empty states left in the valence band can also contribute to current conduction.

 Also, introduction of impurities has an important effect on the availability of the charge
carriers.

 Considerable flexibility in controlling the electrical properties of semiconductors.

 Electrons and Holes

 For T> 0 K, there would be some electrons in the otherwise empty conduction band, and
some empty states in the otherwise filled valence band.

 The empty states in the valence band are referred to as holes.

 If the conduction band electron and the valence band hole are created by thermal
excitation of a valence band electron to the conduction band, then they are called
electron-hole pair (EHP).

 After excitation to the conduction band, an electron is surrounded by a large number of

empty states, e.g., the equilibrium number of EHPs at 300 K in Si is , whereas
the Si atom density is .

 Thus, the electrons in the conduction band are free to move about via the many available
empty states.

 Corresponding problem of charge transport in the valence band is slightly more complex.

 Current transport in the valence band can be accounted for by keeping track of the holes
themselves.

 In a filled band, all available energy states are occupied.

 For every electron moving with a given velocity, there is an equal and opposite electron
motion somewhere else in the band.

 Under an applied electric field, the net current is zero, since for every electron j moving
with a velocity , there is a corresponding electron moving with a velocity - .

 In a unit volume, the current density J can be given by

(filled band)
where N is the number of in the band, and q is the electronic charge.

 Now, if the electron is removed and a hole is created in the valence band, then the net
current density
 Thus, the current contribution of the empty state (hole), obtained by removing the jth
electron, is equivalent to that of a positively charged particle with velocity .

 Note that actually this transport is accounted for by the motion of the uncompensated
electron having a charge of q and moving with a velocity .

 Its current contribution (- q)(- ) is equivalent to that of a positively charged particle

with velocity + .

 For simplicity, therefore, the empty states in the valence band are called holes, and they
are assigned positive charge and positive mass.

 The electron energy increases as one moves up the conduction band, and electrons
gravitate downward towards the bottom of the conduction band.

 On the other hand, hole energy increases as one moves down the valence band (since
holes have positive charges), and holes gravitate upwards towards the top of the valence
band.

Effective Mass

 The "wave-particle" motion of electrons in a lattice is not the same as that for a free
electron, because of the interaction with the periodic potential of the lattice.

 To still be able to treat these particles as "free", the rest mass has to be altered to take into
account the influence of the lattice.
 (a) An external force Fext applied to an electron in vacuum results in an acceleration
avac = Fext / me .
(b) An external force Fext applied to an electron in a crystal results in an acceleration
acryst = Fext / me*. ( Ex is the electric field.)

 The effective mass of an electron in a band with a given (E,k) relation is given by

For a free electron, the rest mass and the effective mass are one and the same, which is due to the
parabolic band structure. Most materials have non-parabolic E-k relation, and, thus, they have
quite different rest mass and effective mass for electrons.
Thus, the effective mass is an inverse function of the curvature of the E-k diagram: weak
curvature gives large mass, and strong curvature gives small mass.

 Another interesting feature is that the curvature is positive at the conduction band
minima, however, it is negative at the valence band maxima.

 Thus, the electrons near the top of the valence band have negative effective mass.

 Valence band electrons with negative charge and negative mass move in an electric field
in the same direction as holes with positive charge and positive mass.

 Thus, the charge transport in the valence band can be fully accounted for by considering
hole motion alone.

 The electron and hole effective masses are denoted by and respectively.