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In intrinsic semiconductors the number of excited electrons and the number of holes are equal: n = p. This may be the case even after doping the semiconductor, though only if it is doped with both donors and acceptors equally. In this case, n = p still holds, and the semiconductor remains intrinsic, though doped.
Doping of a pure silicon array. Silicon based intrinsic semiconductor becomes extrinsic when impurities such as boron and antimony are introduced.. In semiconductor production, doping is the intentional introduction of impurities into an intrinsic (undoped) semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical, optical and structural properties.
A compound semiconductor is a semiconductor compound composed of chemical elements of at least two different species. These semiconductors form for example in periodic table groups 13–15 (old groups III–V), for example of elements from the Boron group (old group III, boron, aluminium, gallium, indium) and from group 15 (old group V, nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, bismuth).
Some examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called "metalloid staircase" on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second-most common semiconductor and is used in laser diodes , solar cells , microwave-frequency integrated circuits , and others.
In an intrinsic or lightly doped semiconductor, μ is close enough to a band edge that there are a dilute number of thermally excited carriers residing near that band edge. In semiconductors and semimetals the position of μ relative to the band structure can usually be controlled to a significant degree by doping or gating.
Besides light excitation, carriers in semiconductors can also be generated by an external electric field, for example in light-emitting diodes and transistors. When light with sufficient energy hits a semiconductor, it can excite electrons across the band gap. This generates additional charge carriers, temporarily lowering the electrical ...
In semiconductors, the band gap of a semiconductor can be of two basic types, a direct band gap or an indirect band gap. The minimal-energy state in the conduction band and the maximal-energy state in the valence band are each characterized by a certain crystal momentum (k-vector) in the Brillouin zone. If the k-vectors are different, the ...
In an intrinsic semiconductor, which does not contain any impurity, the concentrations of both types of carriers are ideally equal. If an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with a donor impurity then the majority carriers are electrons. If the semiconductor is doped with an acceptor impurity then the majority carriers are holes. [16]