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1. Lecture #9 OUTLINE
Continuity equations
Minority carrier diffusion equations
Minority carrier diffusion length
Quasi-Fermi levels
Read: Sections 3.4, 3.5
2. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 2 Derivation of Continuity Equation Consider carrier-flux into/out-of an infinitesimal volume:
3. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 3
4. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 4 Derivation of Minority Carrier Diffusion Equation The minority carrier diffusion equations are derived from the general continuity equations, and are applicable only for minority carriers.
Simplifying assumptions:
The electric field is small, such that
in p-type material
in n-type material
n0 and p0 are independent of x (uniform doping)
low-level injection conditions prevail
5. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 5 Starting with the continuity equation for electrons:
6. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 6 Carrier Concentration Notation The subscript n or p is used to explicitly denote n-type or p-type material, e.g.
pn is the hole (minority-carrier) concentration in n-type material
np is the electron (minority-carrier) concentration in n-type material
Thus the minority carrier diffusion equations are
7. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 7 Simplifications (Special Cases) Steady state:
No diffusion current:
No R-G:
No light:
8. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 8 Example Consider the special case:
constant minority-carrier (hole) injection at x=0
steady state; no light absorption for x>0
9. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 9 The general solution to the equation
is
where A, B are constants determined by boundary conditions:
Therefore, the solution is
10. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 10 Physically, LP and LN represent the average distance that minority carriers can diffuse into a sea of majority carriers before being annihilated.
Example: ND=1016 cm-3; tp = 10-6 s
Minority Carrier Diffusion Length
11. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 11 Whenever Dn = Dp ? 0, np ? ni2. However, we would like to preserve and use the relations:
These equations imply np = ni2, however. The solution is to introduce two quasi-Fermi levels FN and FP such that Quasi-Fermi Levels
12. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 12 Example: Quasi-Fermi Levels
13. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 13 Find FN and FP :
14. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 14 Summary
15. EE130 Lecture 9, Slide 15 The minority carrier diffusion length is the average distance that a minority carrier diffuses before it recombines with a majority carrier:
The quasi-Fermi levels can be used to describe the carrier concentrations under non-equilibrium conditions: