Semiconductor: What is Intrinsic and Extrinsic Semiconductor ? P-Type and n-Type Semiconductor
ALL ABOUT ELECTRONICS
The semiconductor materials are mainly used for manufacturing electronic devices like transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits. The materials are classified into three categori...
The semiconductor materials are mainly used for manufacturing electronic devices
like transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits. The materials are classified into
three categories: conductor, insulator, and semiconductor. The conductivity defines
how easily this material allows the flow of charge. This conductivity is measured in
Siemens per meter. Each silicon atom has 4 valence electrons. At room temperature,
at room temperature you will find many such free electrons in this silicon structure.
At the temperature just above the 0degree Kelvin, due to the thermal energy, the
atoms in the silicon crystal starts vibrating. And due to this vibration, some of the
electrons may get enough energy to break this covalent bonds. And by breaking
this bonds, this electron will act as a free electron. This hole can attract the other
free electrons which are roaming in this vicinity. So, in semiconductor, we get a flow
of current due to two types of charges. The semiconductor can be classified into
two categories: one is an intrinsic semiconductor and the second is an extrinsic
semiconductor. The extrinsics semiconductors can be further classified as ptype or
ntype semiconductor materials. By doping the semiconductor, we can change the
conductivity of this semiconductor material. This is the reason that these
semiconductor materials are preferred in electronics industry.
In semiconductors, such as p-type and n-type, there are different numbers of
electrons compared to the number of holes. This is due to the addition of
pentavalent impurities (e.g. arsenic, antimony, and bismuth). P-type semiconductors
have more electrons than holes, while n-type semiconductors have more holes than
electrons. When two different types of semiconductors are combined, there is a net
change in number of electrons and holes in the crystal. In a p-type semiconductor,
for example, the number of electrons is excessive and in a n-type semiconductor
the number of holes is excessive. When these two types of semiconductors are
combined, the number of electrons and holes are equal but in an opposite direction
to what they were before. This is called "anomalous transport." Anomalous
transport can occur in electronic devices such as semicondcutors.
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