Lecture 1

Introduction to Semiconductor Devices

Reading: Notes and Anderson2 Chapters 1.1-1.3, 1.7-1.9

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ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Atoms to Operational Amplifiers
•The goal of this course is to teach the fundamentals of non-linear circuit elements including diodes, LEDs, LASER diodes, transistors (BJT and FET) , and advanced device concepts such as microwave compound semiconductors and state of the art devices. •Due to the diverse coverage from various professors for ECE3040, you will repeat (for some) some of the material from 3040. Specifically, you will learn about the fundamentals of electron movement in semiconductor materials and develop this basic knowledge of how we can construct devices from these materials that can control the flow of electrons and light in useful ways.
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Market Study
Silicon is and will for a very long time be the dominant material used for electronics. However, MANY up and coming materials are slowly eating into silicon’s dominance.

Compound semiconductors

Compound semiconductors Organic and compound semiconductors

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ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Devices we will study

Bold indicates devices covered in depth in ECE 3040 P-N diode, heterojunction diodes, ballistic diodes, Schottky barrier diodes, Metal-Semiconductor Contacts, LEDs, Lasers, Solar Cells, Photodetectors, BJT, HBT, MOSFET, MESFET, JFET, Polarization Based Devices (III-Nitrides HEMTs and Ferroelectric transistors), CCD, Microwave transistors, power transistors, organic semiconductors

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ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Modern amplifiers consist of extremely small devices

Transistors in the above image are only a few microns (µm or 1e-6 meters) on a side. Modern devices have lateral dimensions that are only fractions of a micron (~0.1 µm) and vertical dimensions that may be only a few atoms tall.
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Famous Last Words: “I only want to design computers. I do not need to know about ‘atoms and electrons’ ”. --- A Doomed Computer Engineer
Intel Develops World's Smallest, Fastest CMOS Transistor SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 11, 2000 - Intel Corporation researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough by building the world's smallest and fastest CMOS transistor. This breakthrough will allow Intel within the next five to 10 years to build microprocessors containing more than 400 million transistors, running at 10 gigahertz (10 billion cycles per second) and operating at less than one volt. The transistors feature structures just 30 nanometers in size and three atomic layers thick. (Note: A nanometer is onebillionth of a meter). Smaller transistors are faster, and fast transistors are the key building block for fast microprocessors, the brains of computers and countless other smart devices. These new transistors, which act like switches controlling the flow of electrons inside a microchip, could complete 400 million calculations in the blink an eye or finish two million calculations in the time it takes a speeding bullet to travel one inch. Scientists expect such powerful microprocessors to allow applications popular in science-fiction stories -- such as instantaneous, real-time voice translation -- to become an everyday reality. Researchers from Intel Labs are disclosing the details of this advance today in San Francisco at the International Electron Devices Meeting, the premier technical conference for semiconductor engineers and scientists. "This breakthrough will allow Intel to continue increasing the performance and reducing the cost of microprocessors well into the future," said Dr. Sunlin Chou, vice president and general manager of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group. "As our researchers venture into uncharted areas beyond the previously expected limits of silicon scaling, they find Moore's Law still intact." Intel researchers were able to build these ultra-small transistors by aggressively reducing all of their dimensions. The gate oxides used to build these transistors are just three atomic layers thick. More than 100,000 of these gates would need to be stacked to achieve the thickness of a sheet of paper. Also significant is that these experimental transistors, while featuring capabilities that are generations beyond the most advanced technologies used in manufacturing today, were built using the same physical structure as in today's computer chips. "Many experts thought it would be impossible to build CMOS transistors this small because of electrical leakage problems," noted Dr. Gerald Marcyk, director of Intel's Components Research Lab, Technology and Manufacturing Group. "Our research proves that these smaller transistors behave in the same way as today's devices and shows there are no fundamental barriers to producing these devices in high volume in the future. The most important thing about these 30 nanometer transistors is that they are simultaneously small and fast, and work at low voltage. Typically you can achieve two of the three, but delivering on all facets is a significant accomplishment." “It's discoveries like these that make me excited about the future," added Chou. "It's one thing to achieve a great technological breakthrough. It's another to have one that is practical and will change everyone's lives. With Intel's 30 nanometer transistor, we have both." For more information on Intel Silicon Technology Research, please reference Intel's new Silicon Showcase at www.intel.com/research/silicon. Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom. Source: Intel Web Page. Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Control of Conductivity is the Key to Modern Electronic Devices •Conductivity, σ, is the ease with which a given material conducts electricity. •Ohms Law: V=IR or J=σE where J is current density and E is electric field. •Metals: High conductivity •Insulators: Low Conductivity •Semiconductors: Conductivity can be varied by several orders of magnitude. •It is the ability to control conductivity that make semiconductors useful as “current/voltage control elements”. “Current/Voltage control” is the key to switches (digital logic including microprocessors etc…), amplifiers, LEDs, LASERs, photodetectors, etc...
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials

Electrical/Computer engineers like to classify materials based on electrical behavior (insulating, semi-insulating, and metals).

Materials Engineers/Scientists classify materials based on bond type (covalent, ionic, metallic, or van der Waals), or structure (crystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous, etc...).

In 20-50 years, EE’s may not be using semiconductors at all!! Polymers or bio-electronics may replace them! However the materials science will be the same!

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials

•For metals, the electrons can jump from the valence orbits (outermost core energy levels of the atom) to any position within the crystal (free to move throughout the crystal) with no “extra energy needed to be supplied” •For insulators, it is VERY DIFFICULT for the electrons to jump from the valence orbits and requires a huge amount of energy to “free the electron” from the atomic core. •For semiconductors, the electrons can jump from the valence orbits but does require a small amount of energy to “free the electron” from the atomic core.

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials

•Semiconductor materials are a sub-class of materials distinguished by the existence of a range of disallowed energies between the energies of the valence electrons (outermost core electrons) and the energies of electrons free to move throughout the material. •The energy difference (energy gap or bandgap) between the states in which the electron is bound to the atom and when it is free to conduct throughout the crystal is related to the bonding strength of the material, it’s density, the degree of ionicity of the bond, and the chemistry related to the valence of bonding. •High bond strength materials (diamond, SiC, AlN, GaN etc...) tend to have large energy bandgaps. •Lower bond strength materials (Si, Ge, etc...) tend to have smaller energy bandgaps.
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials
•More formally, the energy gap is derived from the Pauli exclusion principle, where no two electrons occupying the same space, can have the same energy. Thus, as atoms are brought closer towards one another and begin to bond together, their energy levels must split into bands of discrete levels so closely spaced in energy, they can be considered a continuum of allowed energy. •Strongly bonded materials tend to have small interatomic distances between atoms. Thus, the strongly bonded materials can have larger energy bandgaps than do weakly bonded materials.
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Material Classifications based on Bonding Method
Bonds can be classified as metallic, Ionic, Covalent, and van der Waals.

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ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Consider the case of the group 4 elements, all** covalently bonded
Element C Si Ge α-Sn Pb Atomic Radius/Lattice Constant Bandgap
(How closely spaced are the atoms?)

0.91/3.56 Angstroms 1.46/5.43 Angstroms 1.52/5.65 Angstroms 1.72/6.49 Angstroms 1.81/** Angstroms

5.47 eV 1.12 eV 0.66 eV ~0.08 eV* Metal

*Only has a measurable bandgap near 0K **Different bonding/Crystal Structure due to unfilled higher orbital states

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials
Types of Semiconductors: •Elemental: Silicon or Germanium (Si or Ge) •Compound: Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Indium Phosphide (InP), Silicon Carbide (SiC), CdS and many others •Note that the sum of the valence adds to 8, a complete outer shell. I.E. 4+4, 3+5, 2+6, etc...

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ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials
Compound Semiconductors: Offer high performance (optical characteristics, higher frequency, higher power) than elemental semiconductors and greater device design flexibility due to mixing of materials. Binary: GaAs, SiC, etc... Ternary: AlxGa1-xAs, InxGa1-xN where 0 Single crystal material mimicking the crystal structure of the layers below it.

*Instead of the word deposit, we use “grow” to describe the tendency of the deposited material to mimic the crystal structure of crystalline substrate material. Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Importance of lattice mismatch

Epitaxy

The lattice constant of the epitaxially grown layer needs to be close to the lattice constant of the substrate wafer. Otherwise the bonds can not stretch far enough and dislocations will result.
Strained (compressed) but unbroken bond Strained (elongated) but unbroken bond

Dislocation

Strained but unbroken bond

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Importance of lattice mismatch

Epitaxy

The lattice constant of the epitaxially grown layer needs to be close to the lattice constant of the substrate wafer. Otherwise the bonds can not stretch far enough and dislocations will result.

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

MOCVD
Primarily used for II-VI, and III-V semiconductors, special metallic oxides and metals.

Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) •Many materials that we wish to deposit have very low vapor pressures and thus are difficult to transport via gases. •One solution is to chemically attach the metal (Ga, Al, Cu, etc…) to an organic compound that has a very high vapor pressure. Organic compounds often have very high vapor pressure (for example, alcohol has a strong odor). •The organic-metal bond is very weak and can be broken via thermal means on wafer, depositing the metal with the high vapor pressure organic being pumped away. •Care must be taken to insure little of the organic byproducts are incorporated. Carbon contamination and unintentional Hydrogen incorporation are sometimes a problem.

Human Hazard: As the human body absorbs organic compounds very easily, the metal organics are very easily absorbed by humans. Once in the body, the weak metal-organic bond is easily broken, thus, poisoning the body with heavy metals that often can not be easily removed by normal bodily functions. In extreme cases, blood transfusion is the only solution (if caught in time). Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Commercial Thomas Swan® MOCVD

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

MBE
Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) Dominates III-V electronic market and strong competitor in upper end LASER market Offers the highest purity material (due to UHV conditions) and the best layer control (almost any fraction of an atomic layer can be deposited and layers can be sequenced one layer at a time (for example Ga then As then Ga etc…). •In an UHV chamber, ultra high purity materials are evaporated. •Because of the very low pressure, the mean free path is very long (can be hundreds of meters). Thus, the evaporated material travels in a straight line (a molecular beam) toward a hot substrate. •Once on the substrate, the atom or molecule moves around until it finds an atomic site to chemically bond to. •Shutters can be used to turn the beam flux on and off •The flux of atoms/molecules is controlled by the temperature of the “effusion cell” (evaporation source).

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

MBE
Partially disassembled MBE system for clarity
RHEED Gun

Effusion Furnaces

Gas Source (oxygen) Shutter mechanism

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Commercial Veeco® MBE

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Crystalline Order

Water Molecules, H2O, forming “Snowflakes”

Atoms forming a “Semiconductor”

Need two volunteers… repulsive electronic bonds) Georgia Tech

(demo on how a crystal forms naturally due to

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Crystal Growth: How do we get “Single Crystalline Material”?
The vast majority of crystalline silicon produced is grown by the Czochralski growth method. In this method, a single crystal seed wafer is brought into contact with a liquid Silicon charge held in a crucible (typically SiO2 but may have a lining of silicon-nitride or other material). The seed is pulled out of the melt, allowing Si to solidify. The solidified material bonds to the seed crystal in the same atomic pattern as the seed crystal.

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials
Compound Semiconductors allow us to perform “Bandgap Engineering” by changing the energy bandgap as a function of position. This allows the electrons to see “engineered potentials” that “guide” electrons/holes in specific directions or even “trap” them in specific regions of devices designed by the electrical engineer. Example: Consider the simplified band diagram of a GaN/ Ga0.75In0.25N/ GaN LED structure. Electrons and holes can be “localized” (trapped) in a very small region – enhancing the chance they will interact (recombine). This is great for light emitters!

Econduction

Light

Evalence
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Classifications of Electronic Materials
Compound Semiconductors allow us to perform “Bandgap Engineering” by changing the energy bandgap as a function of position. This allows the electrons to see “engineered potentials” that “guide” electrons/holes in specific directions or even “trap” them in specific regions of devices designed by the electrical engineer. Example: Consider the band Diagram of a GaAs MODFET. Electrons in the “transistor channel” can be confined in a very thin (50-100 Angstroms) sheet known as a 2 dimensional electron gas (2DEG). This thin layer is very quickly (easily) depleted (emptied of electrons) by application of a gate voltage (repelling electrons) making such transistors very fast. This technology enables high speed communications, modern RADAR and similar applications.

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we produce these Energy Engineered Structures and Devices? Epitaxial Semiconductor and Dielectric deposition Techniques:
•“Epitaxial” is derived from the Greek word for skin, more specifically “thin skin”. Thin layers of materials are deposited on a substrate •Temperature and substrate determines the physical structure of the deposited films: •Low Temperatures or non-crystalline substrate: •Materials end up with amorphous or polycrystalline materials •High Temperature AND Crystalline substrate •Need to have an existing crystalline wafer so as to “seed” the crystallization process. •Films that retain the substrates basic crystal structure are “Epitaxial”

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Epitaxy
Single Crystal Semiconductors (Epitaxy) We can grow* crystalline semiconductors by raising the temperature to allow more atom surface migration (movement of atoms due to thermal energy) and by using a crystalline substrate (Si, GaAs, InP wafer, etc…) to act as a “template” or crystalline pattern. This results in a single crystal material mimicking the crystal structure of the layers below it.

*Instead of the word deposit, we use “grow” to describe the tendency of the deposited material to mimic the crystal structure of crystalline substrate material. Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Advanced Semiconductor Technology Facility

Dr. W. Alan Doolittle

Contact Information: Phone and Fax: 404-894-9884 Email: alan.doolittle@ece.gatech.edu Mail: School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 777 Atlantic Dr. Atlanta, GA 30332-0250 Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) Dominates III-V electronic market and strong competitor in upper end LASER market Offers the highest purity material (due to UHV conditions) and the best layer control (almost any fraction of an atomic layer can be deposited and layers can be sequenced one layer at a time (for example Ga then As then Ga etc…).

•In an UHV chamber, ultra high purity materials are evaporated. •Because of the very low pressure, the mean free path is very long (can be hundreds of meters). Thus, the evaporated material travels in a straight line (a molecular beam) toward a hot substrate resulting in highly efficient raw materials usage. •Once on the substrate, the atom or molecule moves around until it finds an atomic site to chemically bond to. •Shutters can be used to turn the beam flux on and off •The flux of atoms/molecules is controlled by the temperature of the “effusion cell” (evaporation source).

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy •Repeating a crystalline structure by the atom by atom addition. •Chemistry controls the epitaxy to insure that, for example, Ga bonds only to N and not Ga-Ga or N-N bonds*.

*A small number of “antisite” defects (Ga-Ga or N-N bonds) actually do form but are typically in the parts per trillion concentration. Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

How do we create Bandgap Engineered Structures? Epitaxy Ec
GaN AlGaN AlGaN AlN GaN

Ev

GaN GaN GaN
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

MBE
Partially disassembled MBE system for clarity
RHEED Gun

Effusion Furnaces

Gas Source (oxygen) Shutter mechanism

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Commercial Veeco® MBE

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Alternative Methods: MOCVD
Primarily used for II-VI, and III-V semiconductors, special metallic oxides and metals.

Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) •Many materials that we wish to deposit have very low vapor pressures and thus are difficult to transport via gases. •One solution is to chemically attach the metal (Ga, Al, Cu, etc…) to an organic compound that has a very high vapor pressure. Organic compounds often have very high vapor pressure (for example, alcohol has a strong odor). •The organic-metal bond is very weak and can be broken via thermal means on wafer, depositing the metal with the high vapor pressure organic being pumped away. •Care must be taken to insure little of the organic byproducts are incorporated. Carbon contamination and unintentional Hydrogen incorporation are sometimes a problem.

Human Hazard: As the human body absorbs organic compounds very easily, the metal organics are very easily absorbed by humans. Once in the body, the weak metal-organic bond is easily broken, thus, poisoning the body with heavy metals that often can not be easily removed by normal bodily functions. In extreme cases, blood transfusion is the only solution (if caught in time). “Luckily”, such poisoning is rare as the pyrophoric (flammable in air) nature of most metal organic means the “victim” is burned severely before he/she can be contaminated. Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Commercial Thomas Swan® MOCVD

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

Engineered Energy Behavior in Compound Semiconductors
The potential distributions we will use in this class are all possible/common in device structures. Some may represent “grown in potentials” (quantum wells, etc...) or naturally occurring potentials (parabolic potentials often occur in nature – lattice vibrations for example) including periodic potentials such as lattice atoms.

Ec
Potential Energy

Kinetic Energy

Ev E=-qV
Arbitrary Reference Energy
Georgia Tech ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle

So much for the introduction. Now on to the meat of the course.

Georgia Tech

ECE 3080 - Dr. Alan Doolittle