Never heard of such rule. Germanium intrinsic concentration is 2*10^13 cm^-3, and nowadays even this value is considered too high for applications.ZeroFunGame said:Summary: Is there a rule of thumb that once a semiconductor's intrinsic carrier density reaches 10^15 cm^-3, that the semiconductor cannot effectively be used to perform useful operations?
Is there a rule of thumb that once a semiconductor's intrinsic carrier density reaches 10^15 cm^-3, that the semiconductor cannot effectively be used to perform useful operations?
trurle said:Never heard of such rule. Germanium intrinsic concentration is 2*10^13 cm^-3, and nowadays even this value is considered too high for applications.
Empirical.ZeroFunGame said:is the 2*10^13 cm^-3 number empirical? or is there a theoretical proof that could be stepped through to determine this value?
http://www.ioffe.ru/SVA/NSM/Semicond/Ge/bandstr.htmlZeroFunGame said:link?
Intrinsic carrier density refers to the number of charge carriers (electrons or holes) that are present in a material at thermal equilibrium, without the presence of any external electric field or doping impurities.
Intrinsic carrier density can be calculated using the formula: ni = sqrt(Nc * Nv * exp(-Eg/kT)), where ni is the intrinsic carrier density, Nc is the effective density of states in the conduction band, Nv is the effective density of states in the valence band, Eg is the band gap energy, k is the Boltzmann constant, and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
The intrinsic carrier density of a material is affected by the band gap energy, temperature, and the effective density of states in the conduction and valence bands. Additionally, the type of material (e.g. semiconductor, insulator, etc.) can also impact the intrinsic carrier density.
Intrinsic carrier density is directly related to the conductivity of a material. As the intrinsic carrier density increases, so does the conductivity. This is because a higher number of charge carriers are available to contribute to the flow of electric current.
Yes, intrinsic carrier density can be altered by changing the temperature or by introducing doping impurities into the material. Doping can either increase or decrease the intrinsic carrier density, depending on the type of impurities and their concentration.