Semiconductor Physics : An Introduction

In the previous edition a small computer program for the reproduction of one of the first band structure calculations of diamond, published in 1935, was included. In accordance with requests by various colleagues, I have this time included a tight-binding calculation for the band structures of 16 semiconductors (including diamond), which, because it is of a semi-empirical nature, can still be done with a pocket calculator. It was published in 1983 by Professor P. Vogl (now at the Schottky Institute at Garching, Munich, F. R. Germany) and coworkers, and its is my pleasure to thank hirn for providing the computer pro gram. Hopefully it may be of use not only to students but also to engineers engaged in "band structure engineering".Furthermore, the calculation of the influence of a magnetic field on the carrier distribution function has been included, because this subject seems to provide a problem and, on the other hand, is offundamental importance to an understanding of the Hall effect, magnetoresistance, and other transport phenomena. The quantum Hall effect, still an unsolved problem, is presented in the light of new experiments and it is shown how it would co me out of a simple derivation if there were no broadening of the Landau levels.As with previous editions, the cooperation with Dr. H. K. Lotsch of Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, has been perfecL Vienna, November 1990 K. Seeger Note: A booklet of solutions to the problems is available for instructors who have adopted the text for classroom use. Requests (on departmentalletterhead) should be directed to the author. Preface to tbe Fourtb Edition When the first edition of this book came out in 1973 the field of semiconductor physics had reached a stage of "extensions and sophistications" (M. L. Cohen, 17th ICPS 1984). The many additions to the book reflect, I hope, at least to a major extent, the trends in the field since then. Recently, quantum well or barrier structures, where tunneling (resonant or otherwise) provides an interesting way of charge transport, in particular without scattering ("ballistic"), have aroused much interest, from both fundamental physics and device points ofview. The silicon homojunction structures, which still overwhelmingly dominate semiconductor applications, are being pushed aside in research more and more by the gallium arsenide/aluminum gallium arsenide heterojunction structures, mainly because of the higher mobilities and the very interesting band-edge off sets of the latter. Also, in these heterostructures, the integral quantum Hall effect and, in particular, its fractional cousin, which incidentally are both waiting for an "elementary" theory to be devised, are demonstrated most impressively.These additions had to be kept short, i. e., without mathematical treatment, in order not to increase the size of the present volume excessively. However, a few pages have now been devoted to a computer program (following a new trend in physics) for the band structure ca1culation of diamond along the cellular type of treatment. Although this treatment is half a century old it still serves a valuable didactical purpose. For example, A. H. Wilson refers to it in his book The Theory of Metals, which has served over many decades as a model textbook for semiconductor physicists.It is a pleasure to thank Dr. Peter Vogl (University of Graz) and Dr. Wemer Mayr (University of Vienna) for their invaluable help in providing the computer program. The cooperation with Dr. H. K. V. Lotsch of Springer-Verlag has been as good as ever. Televisions, telephones, watches, calculators, robots, airplanes and space vehicles all depend on silicon chips. Life as we know it would hardly be possible without semiconductor devices. An understanding of how these devices work requires a detailed knowledge of the physics of semiconductors, including charge transport and the emission and absorption of electromagnetic waves. This book may serve both as a university textbook and as a reference for research and microelectronics engineering. Each section of the book begins with a description of an experiment. The theory is then developed as far as necessary to understand the experimental results. Everyone with high-school mathematics should be able to follow the calculations. The band structure calculations for the diamond and zinc blende types of lattice are supplemented with a personal computer program. Semiconductor physics developed most rapidly in the two decades following the invention of the transistor, and naturally most of the references date from this time. But recent developments such as the Gunn effect, the acoustoelectric effect, superlattices, quantum well structures, and the quantum Hall effect are also discussed. The exercises provided (answers to which are available) will greatly assist the student in consolidating the material presented. From the reviews:"This book is a must for any theoretical and experimental physicist working in the area of semiconductor physics." #Physicalia#1. Front Matter....Pages I-XIV Elementary Properties of Semiconductors....Pages 1-9 Energy Band Structure....Pages 10-33 Semiconductor Statistics....Pages 34-45 Charge and Energy Transport in a Nondegenerate Electron Gas....Pages 46-115 Carrier Diffusion Processes....Pages 116-155 Scattering Processes in a Spherical One-Valley Model....Pages 156-216 Charge Transport and Scattering Processes in the Many-Valley Model....Pages 217-258 Carrier Transport in the Warped-Sphere Model....Pages 259-272 Quantum Effects in Transport Phenomena....Pages 273-294 Impact Ionization and Avalanche Breakdown....Pages 295-305 Optical Absorption and Reflection....Pages 306-389 Photoconductivity....Pages 390-405 Light Generation by Semiconductors....Pages 406-428 Properties of the Surface....Pages 429-445 Miscellaneous Semiconductors....Pages 446-454 Back Matter....Pages 455-504 Aimed at undergraduates or postgraduates in electrical engineering or physics courses, this textbook provides an account of charge transport, energy transport and optical process in semiconductors. Each section of the book begins with the description of an experiment and its underlying theory.