Crystal structure of

semiconductors
 This requires growth of bulk crystals which are then sliced and polished to
allow epitaxial growth of thin semiconductor regions including heterostructures.

Above high performance semiconductor devices are based on crystalline materials.

crystals are periodic made up of identical building blocks. The lattice represents a set
of points in space forming a periodic structure.

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 Basic lattice types

There are 14 types of lattice in 3D.

simple cubic: the simple cubic lattice generated by

the primitive vectors

Body centered cubic: can be generated from the simple cubic structure by placing a
lattice point at the center of the cube

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Face centered cubic: To construct the face centered cubic bravais lattice add to
the simple cubic lattice an additional point in the center of each square face, is
called closed packed
 Basic crystal structures

Diamond and zinc blende structures: most

semiconductors for electronics and optoelectronics

have an underlying fcc lattice, with two atoms per basis

Basic crystal structures: is an important lattice structure and many semiconductors

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Surfaces

The bulk crystal structure is decided by the internal

chemical energy of the atoms forming the crystal.

Interfaces

Are an integral part of semiconductor devices.

The concept of heterostructures and superlattices

wich involve interfaces between two semiconductors.

are usually of high quality . Are formed between metals and semiconductors, are
hardest to characterized and are usually produced in presence of high
temperatures.

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 Atomic structure of semiconductors like Silicon and Germanium

Most semiconductor chips and transistors are created with silicon, its the main
element in sad and quartz.

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Dopant: Boron, Gallium, Phosphorus

Phosphorus Boron Galium 7

 uses
❏ Diodes: electronic component that only allows the flow of electricity in only one
direction,is made up of two different types of materials which are translated into two
terminals, an anode (+) and a cathode (-).

Transistors: electronic component formed by semiconductor materials, very commonly

used, as we find it present in any of the everyday devices such as radios, alarms, cars,
computers

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Thermistors: temperature sensor by resistance. Its operation is based on
the variation of the resistivity of a semiconductor with temperature

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 Applications

➔ Thermistors: are based on the property that the conductivity depends on

the temperature to measure this temperature. They are also used in other
devices, such as fire alarms.

➔ • Pressure transducers: when applying pressure to a semiconductor, the

atoms are forced to approach, you can know the pressure acting on that
material.

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• Bipolar junction transistors: a transistor can be used as a switch or as
an amplifier. The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is often used in central
computer processing units for its rapid response to switching.

• Field effect transistors: frequently used to store information in the

memory of computers.

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