Fermi Energy and Fermi Level in Semiconductors

Kholdstare

You're misunderstanding one thing. Fermi level is not an energy level, its just a reference line. There's no special electron orbital at Fermi level ready to hold two electrons. At 0K all electrons must occupy orbitals below this line. It does not mean they can occupy everywhere starting from Fermi level.

The actual occupation of electrons at a specific energy is determined by whether there is an electron orbital present in which electron assumes that energy. It is determined by solving Schrodinger's equation, not by looking at Fermi energy.

imroze99

Sir you have assisted his me a lot on this topic. I am thankful to you. Being an undergraduate electronics engineer I need to do a project related to semiconductor devices. As I am very much interested in semiconductor physics can you suggest me an UG Level research project on the same requiring theoretical and mathematical work rather than experimental work requiring some machinery.
I will be thankful to you.

Kholdstare

You're welcome. Researching on semiconductor physics in UG level can be little bit difficult, given that you're coming from electronics engineering background. I would suggest you to take something related to MOSFET/BJT devices. The advantage of picking project on them instead of nano-devices is that you have to learn less of quantum mechanics/photonics/chemistry etc. Although, what project you will be given depends on the decision of your guide/teacher, I'd suggest something like process variation due to ion implantation/doping, electrical characterization, model parameter extraction of various MOS structures, gate oxide breakdown/hot carrier effect etc.

You can work on computer using TCAD softwares like Sentaurus from Synopsys, Atlas from Silvaco etc for this kind of work. I guess your seniors will be able to help you out in this.

imroze99

Sir I have in searched about TCAD tools. They are a very useful resource in learning semiconductor devices. Can you list me some resources to learn TCAD or some online certification course on TCAD basics?
Thanking You

Kholdstare

You can learn about the formula used for semiconductor devices. That is the background of TCAD softwares and can be found in various semiconductor devices books in your library. I don't know about any particular online resource. The best resource is the accompanying software manual which lists all physical formulas involved. Again I'd say, the best way to get help is contacting the seniors.