INTRODUCTION

Electronic Devices:

Vacuum Tubes (Diode, Triode, Penthode a.s.o.)

1. Electron tubes
Gas Filled Tubes (Dinatrone, Thiratrone)

2. Solid State Devices

(Semiconductor Devices)

Bipolar conduction
(Diodes, Transistors with P-N Junction,
Multi P-N Junctions Devices, Photodiodes,
Phototransistors, LEDs, LDs)
Monopolar conduction
(Field Effect Transistors)

Key Words:
electron (negative charge carrier)
hole (positive charge carrier)
Macro - parameters:
Temperature (T)
Current (I)
Voltage (V)
Resistance (R)
mass density ( )
volume (V) (! dont confuse with Voltage!)
area (S)
Micro - parameters:
current density (j)
electrons density (ne)
holes density (np)
conductivity ()
drift velocity (v)
charge mobility ()
diffusion constant (D)
mean velocity =(mean free path)/(mean free time)
intrinsic
elementary semiconductors
extrinsic
Semiconductors
compounds.

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Alx Ga1-x As (730-1000nm)

Alx Ga1-x In P (625-700nm)
Cd Zn Se (480-495nm)

II

III

IV

VI

C6

Al13

Si14

P15

S16

Zn30

Ga31

Ge32

As33

Se34

Cd48

In49

Sn50

Sb51

Pb82
Fig.1
Red

Yellow

Green

Intense Green

0,63m;

0,59m;

0,56m;

0,54m;

0,48m;

2eV

2,1eV

2,2eV

2,3eV

2,6eV

( eV )

Blue

1, 243
( m )

K.J. Bardeen : Two Nobel Prizes for Physics

1956- discovery of trans-resistor effect
1972- BCS theory (First explanation of superconductivity)
Energy levels of free atom and the valence electrons.
In the case of a free atom (free of any influences), the quantum state of a bound electron to
the nucleus of the atom is characterised by four quantum numbers:
n - the principal quantum number which quantifies the total energy of the bounded electron.
This number can have only integer values (n= 1, 2, 3, ..)

l - the orbital quantum number which quantified the orbital momentum L r p of the

bounded electron.
This number has integer values between 0 and n -1 (l=0, 1, , n-1)

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m - the magnetic quantum number which quantifies the projection of the orbital momentum
on a preferential direction (the direction of a magnetic field).
This number has integer values among -l and +l (m= -l, -(l-1), 0, l-1, l)
s - the spin quantum number, which has only two values for the bounded electron
(s=-1/2,+1/2)
Paulis principle sais that can not be two electrons with the same four quantum
numbers. This means that in a quantum state can only exist two electrons with the same n,
l, and m quantum numbers. In this case one electron will have the spin number -1/2 and the
other will have the spin number +1/2.
Then, if we have a quantum state characterised by n=2, for this state there can exist two
states characterised by l=0 and l=1.
The quantum state characterised by n=2 and l=0 has only one value for magnetic
quantum number, m=0. In this state there can exist two electrons, one with spin number +1/2
and other with spin number -1/2.
The quantum state characterised by n=2 and l=1 has three values for magnetic
quantum number, m=-1, 0 and +1. Then, in this state there can exist six electrons ( two
electrons for every value of m). All these electrons have the same value of the quantum
energy, but they are moving on different orbits, all with the same orbital quantum number
(l=1), but having different positions in space, according with the associated value of
magnetic quantum number. This is the, so called, degeneracy of the quantum energy,
because there are more than two electrons with the same quantum energy. The quantum
states with different values for orbital quantum numbers, such as l=0 and l=1, have a slightly
different energy, they even have the same principal quantum number (n=2).
In atomic physics, is used an usual notation for the quantum states characterised by
an orbital quantum number. This notation is the next:
l=0 is noted with letter s ; l=1 is noted with letter p ; l=2 is noted with letter d ; l=3 is
noted with letter f ; l=4 is noted with letter g, a.s.o.
Using this notation, the first quantum state of energy, for a given atom, will be 1s.
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The coefficient 1 represents the value of the principal quantum number n=1, and the
letter s represents the value of the orbital quantum number l=0. This state can have two
electrons. The number of the electrons that can be in a given quantum state, with a given
orbital quantum number, is usually written like an exponent associated to the letter, which
marks the orbital quantum number. Then, we will write, using this convention, the first
quantum state of energy with 1s2 .
Then, an atom with 14 electrons, as Silicium (see figure 1) will have the next
configuration of quantum states of energy (distribution of the electrons):

1s22s22p63s23p2
(the total number of electrons is the sum of exponents, 2+2+6+2+2=14 )
As you can see, in the last electronic skill, 3s 23p2, there are 4 unoccupied states,
because in the state 3p we have only 2 electrons instead of 6 . The electrons of this
electronic skill are called valence electrons.
For Germanium (z=32) the distribution of the electrons in the electronic skills of the
atom is:

1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p2
(2+2+6+2+6+10+2+2=32)
For Stanium (z=50) the distribution of the electrons in the electronic skills of the atom
is:

1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p64d105s25p2 (the skill 4f is unoccupied)

As you can see, for all these atoms, the valence electrons have the configuration

ns2np2
then, all these atoms have four valence electrons, being in the fourth group of
Mendeleevs Table.
Now, if these atoms are in a crystal lattice with N atoms, the levels of energy
associated to these quantum states, will split in 8N quantum states. 4N of these states will
be occupied by the valence electrons and 4N quantum states will be empty.
The splitting of these levels is more powerful if the interaction between the atoms is
more powerful. Then the most powerful splitting will be for the atoms with the smallest z
number, because they are closer to each other in the crystalline lattice.
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This situation is drawing in Fig.2.

Fig.2
In fig.2, the abscissa is the distance between atoms. For free atoms the distance
between them is very high and for atoms in the crystalline lattice this distance is in the order
of angstroms. For that the abscissa is broken between free atoms and bound atoms in
the crystalline lattice.
As you can see, for a given atom there are two kinds of energy regions. A zone, which
is hatched, with possible energy states for the electrons and another zone with impossible
energy levels.
The zone with lower energy levels is filled with the valence electrons, for that being
named Valence Band and the zone unfilled with electrons, but having possible energy

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levels is named Conduction Band, both

being hatched. The zone

with impossible

energy states is named Forbiden Band.

For a given material, the model of energy bands can describe very simply the conduction
phenomena by the presence of electrons in the conduction band. Such electrons appear in
conduction band via an electronic jump of a bounded electron from valence band to a
possible state in conduction band. This jump will generate two kinds of charge carriers: an
electron in conduction band and a hole in valence band. The width of forbidden band for
semiconductors, respectively the distance between the upper energy level of valence band
and the lower energy level of conduction band, has a value of 1eV, or lower, what allows
such jumps via thermal excitation at room temperature.
Isolators have the width of forbidden band higher than 3eV what do not allow such jumps at
room temperature, then do not exist in such materials electrons in the conduction band.
Metals have not such forbidden band, conduction band and valence band been
intersected.

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