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Semiconductors01:22

Semiconductors

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There is variation in the electrical conductivity of materials - metals, semiconductors, and insulators that are showcased with the help of the energy band diagrams.
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
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When two or more atoms come together to form a molecule, their atomic orbitals combine and molecular orbitals of distinct energies result. In a solid, there are a large number of atoms, and therefore a large number of atomic orbitals that may be combined into molecular orbitals. These groups of molecular orbitals are so closely placed together to form continuous regions of energies, known as the bands.
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The vacuum level denotes the energy threshold required for an electron to escape from a material surface. It is usually positioned above the conduction band of a semiconductor and acts as a benchmark for comparing electron energies within various materials.
Electron affinity in semiconductors refers to the energy gap between the minimum of its conduction band and the vacuum level and it is a critical parameter in determining how easily a semiconductor can accept additional electrons.
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The contact of metal and semiconductor can lead to the formation of a junction with either Schottky or Ohmic behavior.
Schottky Barriers
Schottky barriers arise when a metal with a work function (Φm) contacts a semiconductor with a different work function (Φs). Initially, electrons transfer until the Fermi levels of the metal and semiconductor align at equilibrium. For instance, if Φm > Φs, the semiconductor Fermi level is higher than the metal's before contact. The...
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Carrier Transport01:21

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The generation of electrical current in semiconductors is fundamentally driven by two mechanisms: drift and diffusion. These processes are essential for the functionality and performance of semiconductor-based devices.
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Intrinsic semiconductors are highly pure materials with no impurities. At absolute zero, these semiconductors behave as perfect insulators because all the valence electrons are bound, and the conduction band is empty, disallowing electrical conduction. The Fermi level is a concept used to describe the probability of occupancy of energy levels by electrons at thermal equilibrium. In intrinsic semiconductors, the Fermi level is positioned at the midpoint of the energy gap at absolute zero. When...
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A Standard and Reliable Method to Fabricate Two-Dimensional Nanoelectronics
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Why Two-Dimensional Semiconductors Generally Have Low Electron Mobility.

Long Cheng1, Chenmu Zhang1, Yuanyue Liu1

  • 1Texas Materials Institute and Department of Mechanical Engineering and The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|November 6, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The universally low electron mobility in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors is due to a high "density of scatterings," an intrinsic property of these materials. This finding helps explain limitations in 2D semiconductor electronics.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Nanoscience

Background:

  • Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are promising for next-generation electronics.
  • Current 2D semiconductors exhibit lower room-temperature electron mobility than bulk silicon.
  • The reasons for this mobility limitation remain poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the underlying physics behind the low electron mobility in 2D semiconductors.
  • To identify intrinsic factors limiting electron mobility in these materials.
  • To develop a descriptor for assessing 2D semiconductor mobility.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized first-principles calculations.
  • Reformulated transport equations to quantify mobility-determining factors.
  • Analyzed electron and phonon band structures.

Main Results:

  • Identified a high "density of scatterings" as the primary cause of low electron mobility in 2D semiconductors.
  • Demonstrated that this high scattering density is intrinsic to 2D materials with parabolic electron bands.
  • Showed that scattering density can be determined solely from electron and phonon band structures.

Conclusions:

  • The universally low electron mobility in 2D semiconductors is fundamentally linked to their intrinsic scattering density.
  • This research provides a new understanding of mobility limitations in 2D electronic materials.
  • The proposed descriptor allows for rapid assessment of potential 2D semiconductor mobility.