Physics: Static and Dynamic Electromagnetism

PHY002B2

Aim:
Was to investigate the variation of resistance of semiconductor due to applied temperature
Was to determine the energy gap of semiconductor
Theory:
Conductor is a substance or material where its outer electrons of the atoms are loosely bound and
free to move through the material enable flow of current. Insulators on the other hand are materials
that have their electrons held tightly by the atom and are not free to move thus preventing flow of
current. A semiconductor is a substance, usually a solid chemical element or compound that can
conduct electricity under some conditions but not others, making it a good medium for the control
of electrical current [1].
Semiconductors act as insulators at low temperatures i.e. zero degree Celsius as they have a small
energy gap. When the temperature is increased this breaks the semiconductors covalent bond,
freeing and providing electrons with energy to move around and eventually move to the conduction
band. This results in the material becoming more conductive. The energy that enables the breaking
of covalent bond is called the energy gap (E
g
). The energy gap determines what applications the
semiconductor will be used for. This is evident with intrinsic semiconductors as their conductivity is
dependent on the energy gap. Intrinsic semiconductors are semiconductors that are not doped i.e.
pure semiconductors with no doping material present, they have a low conductivity at room
temperature. But adding some impure atom to its structure can increase its conductivity, this
process is called doping and it becomes an extrinsic semiconductor [2]. The student will determine
the energy gap of semiconductor by experiment as it is important characteristic of material. For the
experiment the student will rely on the semiconductors conductivitys dependence on temperature
from the equation [3]:

(1)
This equation can be reduced to:

(2)
The equation can be rewritten using log rules:

(3)
Apparatus:
-Digital Multimeter
-Thermistor
-Silicon oil
-Ring stand and a clamp
-Hot plate
-Thermometer


Figure 1: Experimental Setup

Method:
- A Thermistor was placed in an oil bath(silicon bath) which was at 60C
- The oil bath will be heated using hot plate
- The resistance was measured and recorded at every 2C interval using a digital multimeter




Results:
Table 1: Experimental Results
Experimental Results
Temp(C) Temp(K) 1/T R(k) lnR
60 333 0,003003003 15,6 9,655026193
62 335 0,002985075 14,1 9,553930076
64 337 0,002967359 12,9 9,46498259
66 339 0,002949853 11,8 9,37585481
68 341 0,002932551 10,9 9,296518068
70 343 0,002915452 10 9,210340372
72 345 0,002898551 9,2 9,126958763
74 347 0,002881844 8,6 9,059517482
76 349 0,00286533 7,8 8,961879013
78 351 0,002849003 7,3 8,895629627
80 353 0,002832861 6,7 8,809862805
82 355 0,002816901 6,3 8,748304912
84 357 0,00280112 5,8 8,665613197
86 359 0,002785515 5,4 8,594154233
88 361 0,002770083 5 8,517193191
90 363 0,002754821 4,7 8,455317788
92 365 0,002739726 4,4 8,38935982
94 367 0,002724796 4 8,29404964
96 369 0,002710027 3,8 8,242756346
98 371 0,002695418 3,5 8,160518247
100 373 0,002680965 3,3 8,101677747
102 375 0,002666667 3 8,006367568
104 377 0,00265252 2,8 7,937374696
106 379 0,002638522 2,6 7,863266724
108 381 0,002624672 2,5 7,824046011
110 383 0,002610966 2,2 7,696212639

Discussion and Analysis:
From the graph that was plotted the student observed that it was a linear or straight line with could
be represented by a straight-line equation. Equating the components of straight-line equation and
equation (3) the student determined the Energy gap and found it using the slope (4850.85424.235)
of the graph, to be 0,8350,0049 eV. The uncertainty was obtained using the Least Squares Method.
The student observed that the Thermistor that was used had a negative temperature coefficient
which meant the as the temperature was increased the resistance decreased and this in line with the
theory, which says that semiconductors become more conductive as the temperature is increased.
From the energy gap found the semiconductor that could be used in the Thermistor is Silicon with a
1.1eV at 300K and decreasing as temperature is increased. The results from the experiment show
the presence of impurities as there is a sharp increase in conductivity as temperature is raised at
every interval.
As part of the overall questions related to the experiment, student was asked to find meaning of
certain terminology related to semiconductor energy gap, one concept that was not covered in the
Theory section is the Fermi level of electrons. The Fermi level is the total chemical potential for
electrons (or electrochemical potential for electrons) and is usually denoted by or EF. The Fermi
level of a body is a thermodynamic quantity, and its significance is the thermodynamic work
required to add one electron to the body (not counting the work required to remove the electron
from wherever it came from)[ [4]. The Fermi level does not necessarily correspond to an actual
energy level (in an insulator the Fermi level lies in the band gap), nor does it even require the
existence of a band structure.
Conclusion:
The student was able to successfully complete the experiment, the aim was to determine the energy
gap of semiconductor which was 0,8350,0049 eV. From this discovery the student was also able to
determine which material it was and the student found the Silicon. One observation made by
student is that one should monitor the thermometer closely as the temperature of the oil bath rises
quickly.





References:

[1] S. M. Sze, Physics of Semiconductor Devices (2nd ed), John Wiley and Sons, 1981.
[2] R. Sudhakar, V. D'Souza and C. Kamath, "Energy Gap Determination Using Semiconductor
Diodes," Mangalore, 2007.
[3] C. Sheppard, Physics 2A Practical Guide, 2014.
[4] C. Kittel, Introduction to Solid State Physics,7th Edition, Wiley.