重新审视 1D Pi 连接半导体中电荷分离中的作用

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...

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.
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...

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...

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.
Drift Current:
The drift of charge carriers is started by an external electric field (E). Charged particles, such as electrons and holes, experience an acceleration between collisions with lattice atoms. For electrons, this results in a drift velocity (vd) given by:

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.
The work...

Carrier generation is the process by which electron-hole pairs (EHPs) are created within the semiconductor. In direct-bandgap semiconductors, such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), this occurs efficiently when energy absorption prompts valence electrons to leap into the conduction band, leaving behind holes.
This process is given by the generation rate G and is efficient due to the conservation of momentum between the valence band maximum and conduction band minimum.
Indirect generation involves an...