Semiconductors electrical properties

The - electrode potential, with respect to a given reference is determined by the - electrochemical potentials of the redox couple in solution. In case of doped semiconductor electrodes, the introduced impurities determine the semiconductor electrical properties, but have no influence on the equilibrium electrode potential, despite influencing the semiconductor work function. 

Some aspects of adsorption on oxides and other semiconductors can be treated in terms of the electrical properties of the solid, and these are reviewed briefly here. More details can be found in Refs. 84 and 182. 

Physical Properties Electrical. Electrical properties have been the main focus of study of organic semiconductors, and conductivity studies on organic materials have led to the development of materials with extremely low resistivities and large anisotropies. A discussion of conductivity behaviors for various classes of compounds follows. 

Semiconductors (qv) are materials with resistivities between those of conductors and those of insulators (between 10 and 10 H-cm). The electrical properties of a semiconductor determine the hmctional performance of the device. Important electrical properties of semiconductors are resistivity and dielectric constant. The resistivity of a semiconductor can be varied by introducing small amounts of material impurities or dopants. Through proper material doping, electron movement can be precisely controlled, producing hmctions such as rectification, switching, detection, and modulation. 

This article focuses primarily on the properties of the most extensively studied III—V and II—VI compound semiconductors and is presented in five sections (/) a brief summary of the physical (mechanical and electrical) properties of the 2incblende cubic semiconductors (2) a description of the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process. MOCVD is the preferred technology for the commercial growth of most heteroepitaxial semiconductor material (J) the physics and (4) apphcations of electronic and photonic devices and (5) the fabrication process technology in use to create both electronic and photonic devices and circuits. 

Electrical Properties. Generally, deposited thin films have an electrical resistivity that is higher than that of the bulk material. This is often the result of the lower density and high surface-to-volume ratio in the film. In semiconductor films, the electron mobiHty and lifetime can be affected by the point defect concentration, which also affects electromigration. These effects are eliminated by depositing the film at low rates, high temperatures, and under very controUed conditions, such as are found in molecular beam epitaxy and vapor-phase epitaxy. 

Table 5.2 Electrical properties of elemental and compound semiconductors...

It is known that the electrical properties of CNTs insulator, semiconductor or metal, are caused by the structure in graphitic sheet [2,3]. It is difficult to observe the individual graphitic structure in a sheet of CNT by TEM, because... 

Elements dissolved in boron influence its crystal structure. Dissolved impurities also influenee the physical and chemical properties of boron, especially the electrical properties, because boron is a semiconductor. Preparation of solid solutions in jS-rh boron requires a careful choice of crucible material. To avoid contamination, boron nitride or a cold, coinage-metal crucible should be used or the levitation or floating-zone melting techniques applied. 

Basic physical properties of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium are indicated in Table 1.3. Downward the sulfur sub-group, the metallic character increases from sulfur to polonium, so that whereas there exist various non-metallic allotropic states of elementary sulfur, only one allotropic form of selenium is (semi)metallic, and the (semi)metallic form of tellurium is the most common for this element. Polonium is a typical metal. Physically, this trend is reflected in the electrical properties of the elements oxygen and sulfur are insulators, selenium and tellurium behave as semiconductors, and polonium is a typical metallic conductor. The temperature coefficient of resistivity for S, Se, and Te is negative, which is usually considered... 

Other types of carbon (amorphous or transitional forms with turbostratic structure) consist of fragments of graphitelike regions cross-linked to a three-dimensional polymer by carbon chains. Unlike graphite, the transitional forms are organic semiconductors with electrical properties determined by delocalized rr-electrons. 

The optical, semiconductor, and electrical properties of metallic nanoparticles including potential applications in a number of fields have been reviewed in Chapter 5 of Schmid s recent book [60]. 

Of all existing methods to monitor electrical properties while using semiconductor sensors, only two [5] have become widely implemented both in experimental practice and in industrial conditions. These are kinetic method, i.e. measurement of various electrical parameters under kinetic conditions, and stationary (equilibrium) method based on the measurement of steady-state parameters (conductivity, work function. Hall s electromotive force, etc.). 

To dissociate molecules in an adsorbed layer of oxide, a spillover (photospillover) phenomenon can be used with prior activation of the surface of zinc oxide by particles (clusters) of Pt, Pd, Ni, etc. In the course of adsorption of molecular gases (especially H2, O2) or more complex molecules these particles emit (generate) active particles on the surface of substrate [12], which are capable, as we have already noted, to affect considerably the impurity conductivity even at minor concentrations. Thus, the semiconductor oxide activated by cluster particles of transition metals plays a double role of both activator and analyzer (sensor). The latter conclusion is proved by a large number of papers discussed in detail in review [13]. The papers cited maintain that the particles formed during the process of activation are fairly active as to their influence on the electrical properties of sensors made of semiconductor oxides in the form of thin sintered films. 

If the above comparison of the properties of metal atoms with those of hydrogen deposited on the surface of a solid body (semiconductor) is correct, the effect of their adsorption on electric properties of semiconductor oxide films will be similar to features accompanying adsorption of hydrogen atoms. The atoms of hydrogen are very mobile and, in contrast to metal atoms, are capable of surface recombination resulting in formation of saturated molecules with strong covalent bond. 

Atoms of metals are more interesting tiian hydrogen atoms, because they can form not only dimers Ag2, but also particles with larger number of atoms. What are the electric properties of these particles on surfaces of solids The answer to this question can be most easily obtained by using a semiconductor sensor which plays simultaneously the role of a sorbent target and is used as a detector of silver adatoms. The initial concentration of silver adatoms must be sufficiently small, so that growth of multiatomic aggregates of silver particles (clusters) could be traced by variation of an electric conductivity in time (after atomic beam was terminated), provided the assumption of small electric activity of clusters on a semiconductor surface [42] compared to that of atomic particles is true. 

The above results on detection of trace concentrations of oxygen by sine oxide films (and titanium oxide films, to a lesser degree), as well as the results on detection of alkyl radicals, which are acceptors of semiconductor electrons, show that the behaviour and electric properties of... 

Preliminary measurements of electrical conductivity of the conjugated derivatives of PBTAB, PBTB and PTTB obtained by the above treatment with bromine vapor are poor semiconductors with a conductivity of the order 10 °S/cm which apparently is not due to doping. Subsequent electrochemical or chemical doping of these polymers lead to 4-6 orders of magnitude increase in conductivity. Ongoing studies of the electrical properties of these conjugated polymers with alternating aromatic/quinonoid units will be reported elsewhere. 

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