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Semiconductor Basics

Release Date: 2020/09/01
ISBN: 9781119702306
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An accessible guide to how semiconductor electronics work and how they are manufactured, for professionals and interested readers with no electronics engineering background

Semiconductor Basics is an accessible guide to how semiconductors work. It is written for readers without an electronic engineering background. Semiconductors are the basis for almost all modern electronic devices. The author—an expert on the topic—explores the fundamental concepts of what a semiconductor is, the different types in use, and how they are different from conductors and insulators. The book has a large number of helpful and illustrative drawings, photos, and figures.

The author uses only simple arithmetic to help understand the device operation and applications. The book reviews the key devices that can be constructed using semiconductor materials such as diodes and transistors and all the large electronic systems based on these two component such as computers, memories, LCDs and related technology like Lasers LEDs and infrared detectors. The text also explores integrated circuits and explains how they are fabricated. The author concludes with some projections about what can be expected in the future. This important book: 

  • Offers an accessible guide to semiconductors using qualitative explanations and analogies, with minimal mathematics and equations
  • Presents the material in a well-structured and logical format
  • Explores topics from device physics fundamentals to transistor formation and fabrication and the operation of the circuits to build electronic devices and systems
  • Includes information on practical applications of p-n junctions, transistors, and integrated circuits to link theory and practice 

Written for anyone interested in the technology, working in semiconductor labs or in the semiconductor industry, Semiconductor Basics offers clear explanations about how semiconductors work and its manufacturing process.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Acknowledgements
  3. Introduction
  4. 1 The Bohr Atom
    1. 1.1 Sinusoidal Waves
    2. 1.2 The Case of the Missing Lines
    3. 1.3 The Strange Behavior of Spectra from Gases and Metals
    4. 1.4 The Classifications of Basic Elements
    5. 1.5 The Hydrogen Spectrum Lines
    6. 1.6 Light is a Particle
    7. 1.7 The Atom's Structure
    8. 1.8 The Bohr Atom
    9. 1.9 Summary and Conclusions
    10. Appendix 1.1 Some Details of the Bohr Model
    11. Appendix 1.2 Semiconductor Materials
    12. Appendix 1.3 Calculating the Rydberg Constant
  5. 2 Energy Bands
    1. 2.1 Bringing Atoms Together
    2. 2.2 The Insulator
    3. 2.3 The Conductor
    4. 2.4 The Semiconductor
    5. 2.5 Digression: Water Analogy
    6. 2.6 The Mobility of Charges
    7. 2.7 Summary and Conclusions
    8. Appendix 2.1 Energy Gap in Semiconductors
    9. Appendix 2.2 Number of Electrons and the Fermi Function
  6. 3 Types of Semiconductors
    1. 3.1 Semiconductor Materials
    2. 3.2 Short Summary of Semiconductor Materials
    3. 3.3 Intrinsic Semiconductors
    4. 3.4 Doped Semiconductors: n‐Type
    5. 3.5 Doped Semiconductors: p‐Type
    6. 3.6 Additional Considerations
    7. 3.7 Summary and Conclusions
    8. Appendix 3.1 The Fermi Levels in Doped Semiconductors
    9. Appendix 3.2 Why All Donor Electrons go to the Conduction Band
  7. 4 Infrared Detectors
    1. 4.1 What is Infrared Radiation?
    2. 4.2 What Our Eyes Can See
    3. 4.3 Infrared Applications
    4. 4.4 Types of Infrared Radiation
    5. 4.5 Extrinsic Silicon Infrared Detectors
    6. 4.6 Intrinsic Infrared Detectors
    7. 4.7 Summary and Conclusions
    8. Appendix 4.1 Light Diffraction
    9. Appendix 4.2 Blackbody Radiation
  8. 5 The pn‐Junction
    1. 5.1 The pn‐Junction
    2. 5.2 The Semiconductor Diode
    3. 5.3 The Schottky Diode
    4. 5.4 The Zener or Tunnel Diode
    5. 5.5 Summary and Conclusions
    6. Appendix 5.1 Fermi Levels of a pn‐Junction
    7. Appendix 5.2 Diffusion and Drift Currents
    8. Appendix 5.3 The Thickness of the Transition Region
    9. Appendix 5.4 Work Function and the Schottky Diode
  9. 6 Other Electrical Components
    1. 6.1 Voltage and Current
    2. 6.2 Resistance
    3. 6.3 The Capacitor
    4. 6.4 The Inductor
    5. 6.5 Sinusoidal Voltage
    6. 6.6 Inductor Applications
    7. 6.7 Summary and Conclusions
    8. Appendix 6.1 Impedance and Phase Changes
  10. 7 Diode Applications
    1. 7.1 Solar Cells
    2. 7.2 Rectifiers
    3. 7.3 Current Protection Circuit
    4. 7.4 Clamping Circuit
    5. 7.5 Voltage Clipper
    6. 7.6 Half‐wave Voltage Doubler
    7. 7.7 Solar Cells Bypass Diodes
    8. 7.8 Applications of Schottky Diodes
    9. 7.9 Applications of Zener Diodes
    10. 7.10 Summary and Conclusions
    11. Appendix 7.1 Calculation of the Current Through an RC Circuit
  11. 8 Transistors
    1. 8.1 The Concept of the Transistor
    2. 8.2 The Bipolar Junction Transistor
    3. 8.3 The Junction Field‐effect Transistor
    4. 8.4 The Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET
    5. 8.5 Summary and Conclusions
    6. Appendix 8.1 Punch Trough
  12. 9 Transistor Biasing Circuits
    1. 9.1 Introduction
    2. 9.2 Emitter Feedback Bias
    3. 9.3 Sinusoidal Operation of a Transistor with Emitter Bias
    4. 9.4 The Fixed Bias Circuit
    5. 9.5 The Collector Feedback Bias Circuit
    6. 9.6 Power Considerations
    7. 9.7 Multistage Transistor Amplifiers
    8. 9.8 Operational Amplifiers
    9. 9.9 The Ideal OpAmp
    10. 9.10 Summary and Conclusions
    11. Appendix 9.1 Derivation of the Stability of the Collector Feedback Circuit
  13. 10 Integrated Circuit Fabrication
    1. 10.1 The Basic Material
    2. 10.2 The Boule
    3. 10.3 Wafers and Epitaxial Growth
    4. 10.4 Photolithography
    5. 10.5 The Fabrication of a pnp Transistor on a Silicon Wafer
    6. 10.6 A Digression on Doping
    7. 10.7 Resume the Transistor Processing
    8. 10.8 Fabrication of Other Components
    9. 10.9 Testing and Packaging
    10. 10.10 Clean Rooms
    11. 10.11 Additional Thoughts About Processing
    12. 10.12 Summary and Conclusions
    13. Appendix 10.1 Miller Indices in the Diamond Structure
  14. 11 Logic Circuits
    1. 11.1 Boolean Algebra
    2. 11.2 Logic Symbols and Relay Circuits
    3. 11.3 The Electronics Inside the Symbols
    4. 11.4 The Inverter or NOT Circuit
    5. 11.5 The NOR Circuit
    6. 11.6 The NAND Circuit
    7. 11.7 The XNOR or Exclusive NOR
    8. 11.8 The Half Adder
    9. 11.9 The Full Adder
    10. 11.10 Adding More than Two Digital Numbers
    11. 11.11 The Subtractor
    12. 11.12 Digression: Flip‐flops, Latches, and Shifters
    13. 11.13 Multiplication and Division of Binary Numbers
    14. 11.14 Additional Comments: Speed and Power
    15. 11.15 Summary and Conclusions
    16. Appendix 11.1 Algebraic Formulation of Logic Modules
    17. Appendix 11.2 Detailed Analysis of the Full Adder
    18. Appendix 11.3 Complementary Numbers
    19. Appendix 11.4 Dividing Digital Numbers
    20. Appendix 11.5 The Author’s Symbolic Logic Machine Using Relays
  15. 12 VLSI Components
    1. 12.1 Multiplexers
    2. 12.2 Demultiplexers
    3. 12.3 Registers
    4. 12.4 Timing and Waveforms
    5. 12.5 Memories
    6. 12.6 Gate Arrays
    7. 12.7 Summary and Conclusions
    8. Appendix 12.1 A NAND implementation of a 2 to 1 MUX
  16. 13 Optoelectronics
    1. 13.1 Photoconductors
    2. 13.2 PIN Diodes
    3. 13.3 LASERs
    4. 13.4 Light‐emitting Diodes
    5. 13.5 Summary and Conclusions
    6. Appendix 13.1 The Detector Readout
  17. 14 Microprocessors and Modern Electronics
    1. 14.1 The Computer
    2. 14.2 Microcontrollers
    3. 14.3 Liquid Crystal Displays
    4. 14.4 Summary and Conclusions
    5. Appendix 14.1 Keyboard Codes
  18. 15 The Future
    1. 15.1 The Past
    2. 15.2 Problems with Silicon‐based Technology
    3. 15.3 New Technologies
    4. 15.4 Silicon Technology Innovations
    5. 15.5 Summary and Conclusions
  19. Epilogue
  20. Appendix A: Useful Constants
    1. A.1 Fundamental Physical Constants
    2. A.2 Basic Units
    3. A.3 Derived Units
  21. Appendix B: Properties of Silicon
  22. Appendix C: List of Acronyms
  23. Additional Reading and Sources
  24. Index
  25. End User License Agreement