熊日新B.docVIP

Figure 3.l9 | I position of Fend level as a function of temperature for various n-type and p-type doping concentrations.（From Sze[17].） intrinsic semiconductor. At the very low temperature, freeze-out occurs; the Boltzmann approximation is no longer valid and the equations we derived for the Fermi--level position no longer apply. At the low temperature where freeze-out occurs, the Fermi level goes above Ed for the n-type material and below Ea for the p-type material. At absolute zero degrees, all energy states below EF are full and all energy states above EF are empty. 3.6.3 Relevance of the Fermi Energy We have been calculating the position of the Fermi energy level as a function of doping concentrations and temperature. This analysis may seem somewhat arbitrary and fictitious. However, these relations do become significant later in our discussion 0f PN junctions and the other semiconductor devices we consider. An important point is that, in thermal equilibrium, the Fermi energy level is a constant throughout a system. We will not prove this statement, but we can intuitively see its validity by considering the following example. Figure 3.20| The Fermi energy of (a) material A in thermal equilibrium, (b) material B in therma1 equilibrium, (c) materials A and B at the instant they are placed in contact, and ( d) materials A and B in contact at thermal equilibrium. Suppose we have a particular material, A, whose electrons are distributed in the energy states of an allowed band as shown in Figure 3.20a. Most of the energy states below EFA contain electrons and most of the energy states above EFA are empty of electrons. Consider another material, B, whose electrons are distributed in the energy states of an allowed band as shown in Figure 3.20b. The energy states below EFB are mostly full and the energy states above EFB are mostly empty. If these two materials are brought into intimate contact, the electrons in the entire system will tend to seek the lowest po