Semiconductor electronic properties

Microstructural factors also play important roles in determining the electrochemical and physical properties of semiconductor-electrolyte systems. For example, semiconductor electronic properties are usually interpreted in terms of ideal band models for perfect crystals—i.e., for systems that exhibit absolute long-range order. For many systems, however, this is a gross oversimplification and, in the extreme of the amorphous state, it may be appropriate to abandon band models altogether... 

Semiconductors are poor conductors of electricity at low temperatures. Since the valence band is completely occupied, an applied electric field caimot change the total momentum of the valence electrons. This is a reflection of the Pauli principle. This would not be true for an electron that is excited into the conduction band. However, for a band gap of 1 eV or more, few electrons can be themially excited into the conduction band at ambient temperatures. Conversely, the electronic properties of semiconductors at ambient temperatures can be profoundly altered by the... 

Several factors detennine how efficient impurity atoms will be in altering the electronic properties of a semiconductor. For example, the size of the band gap, the shape of the energy bands near the gap and the ability of the valence electrons to screen the impurity atom are all important. The process of adding controlled impurity atoms to semiconductors is called doping. The ability to produce well defined doping levels in semiconductors is one reason for the revolutionary developments in the construction of solid-state electronic devices. 

Photoelectrochemistry may be used as an in situ teclmique for the characterization of surface films fonned on metal electrodes during corrosion. Analysis of the spectra allows the identification of semiconductor surface phases and the characterization of their thickness and electronic properties. 

As outlined above, electron transfer through the passive film can also be cmcial for passivation and thus for the corrosion behaviour of a metal. Therefore, interest has grown in studies of the electronic properties of passive films. Many passive films are of a semiconductive nature [92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102 and 1031 and therefore can be investigated with teclmiques borrowed from semiconductor electrochemistry—most typically photoelectrochemistry and capacitance measurements of the Mott-Schottky type [104]. Generally it is found that many passive films cannot be described as ideal but rather as amorjDhous or highly defective semiconductors which often exlribit doping levels close to degeneracy [105]. 

The main advantages that compound semiconductor electronic devices hold over their siUcon counterparts He in the properties of electron transport, excellent heterojunction capabiUties, and semi-insulating substrates, which can help minimise parasitic capacitances that can negatively impact device performance. The abiUty to integrate materials with different band gaps and electronic properties by epitaxy has made it possible to develop advanced devices in compound semiconductors. The hole transport in compound semiconductors is poorer and more similar to siUcon. Eor this reason the majority of products and research has been in n-ty e or electron-based devices. 

Diamond and Refractory Ceramic Semiconductors. Ceramic thin films of diamond, sihcon carbide, and other refractory semiconductors (qv), eg, cubic BN and BP and GaN and GaAlN, are of interest because of the special combination of thermal, mechanical, and electronic properties (see Refractories). The majority of the research effort has focused on SiC and diamond, because these materials have much greater figures of merit for transistor power and frequency performance than Si, GaAs, and InP (13). Compared to typical semiconductors such as Si and GaAs, these materials also offer the possibiUty of device operation at considerably higher temperatures. For example, operation of a siUcon carbide MOSFET at temperatures above 900 K has been demonstrated. These devices have not yet been commercialized, however. 

A photovoltaic cell (often called a solar cell) consists of layers of semiconductor materials with different electronic properties. In most of today s solar cells the semiconductor is silicon, an abundant element in the earth s crust. By doping (i.e., chemically introducing impurity elements) most of the silicon with boron to give it a positive or p-type electrical character, and doping a thin layer on the front of the cell with phosphorus to give it a negative or n-type character, a transition region between the two types... 

The electronic properties of silicon and other semiconductor materials are shown in Table 13.2. 

In this contribution it is shown that local density functional (LDF) theory accurately predicts structural and electronic properties of metallic systems (such as W and its (001) surface) and covalently bonded systems (such as graphite and the ethylene and fluorine molecules). Furthermore, electron density related quantities such as the spin density compare excellently with experiment as illustrated for the di-phenyl-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical. Finally, the capabilities of this approach are demonstrated for the bonding of Cu and Ag on a Si(lll) surface as related to their catalytic activities. Thus, LDF theory provides a unified approach to the electronic structures of metals, covalendy bonded molecules, as well as semiconductor surfaces. 

Chemical and electrochemical techniques have been applied for the dimensionally controlled fabrication of a wide variety of materials, such as metals, semiconductors, and conductive polymers, within glass, oxide, and polymer matrices (e.g., [135-137]). Topologically complex structures like zeolites have been used also as 3D matrices [138, 139]. Quantum dots/wires of metals and semiconductors can be grown electrochemically in matrices bound on an electrode surface or being modified electrodes themselves. In these processes, the chemical stability of the template in the working environment, its electronic properties, the uniformity and minimal diameter of the pores, and the pore density are critical factors. Typical templates used in electrochemical synthesis are as follows ... 

The change in the electronic properties of Ru particles upon modification with Se was investigated recently by electrochemical nuclear magnetic resonance (EC-NMR) and XPS [28]. In this work, it was established for the first time that Se, which is a p-type semiconductor in elemental form, becomes metallic when interacting with Ru, due to charge transfer from Ru to Se. On the basis of this and previous results, the authors emphasized that the combination of two or more elements to induce electronic alterations on a major catalytic component, as exemplified by Se addition on Ru, is quite a promising method to design stable and potent fuel cell electrocatalysts. 

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