Degenerate semiconductor (nonfiction)

A degenerate semiconductor is a semiconductor with such a high level of doping that the material starts to act more like a metal than as a semiconductor.

At moderate doping levels the dopant atoms create individual doping levels that can often be considered as localized states that can donate electrons or electron holes by thermal promotion (or an optical transition) to the conduction or valence bands respectively. At high enough impurity concentrations the individual impurity atoms may become close enough neighbors that their doping levels merge into an impurity band and the behavior of such a system ceases to show the typical traits of a semiconductor, e.g. its increase in conductivity with temperature. On the other hand, a degenerate semiconductor still has far fewer charge carriers than a true metal so that its behavior is in many ways intermediary between semiconductor and metal.

Many copper chalcogenides are degenerate p-type semiconductors with relatively large numbers of holes in their valence band. An example is the system LaCuOS1−xSex with Mg doping. It is a wide gap p-type degenerate semiconductor. The hole concentration does not change with temperature, a typical trait of degenerate semiconductors.

Another well known example is indium tin oxide. Because its plasma frequency is in the IR-range it is a fairly good metallic conductor, but transparent in the visible range of the spectrum.

See also

• The Degenerate Semiconductors - folk-anarchist orchestral collective based in New Minneapolis, Canada. Compare Arrogant Worms (nonfiction).

• Band gap (nonfiction) - an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference (in electron volts) between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band in insulators and semiconductors. It is the energy required to promote a valence electron bound to an atom to become a conduction electron, which is free to move within the crystal lattice and serve as a charge carrier to conduct electric current. It is closely related to the HOMO/LUMO gap in chemistry. If the valence band is completely full and the conduction band is completely empty, then electrons cannot move in the solid; however, if some electrons transfer from the valence to the conduction band, then current can flow (see carrier generation and recombination). Therefore, the band gap is a major factor determining the electrical conductivity of a solid. Substances with large band gaps are generally insulators, those with smaller band gaps are semiconductors, while conductors either have very small band gaps or none, because the valence and conduction bands overlap. Also called an energy gap or bandgap.
• Copper sulfide (nonfiction) - a family of chemical compounds and minerals with the formula CuSy. Both minerals and synthetic materials comprise these compounds. Some copper sulfides are economically important ores. The bonding in copper sulfides cannot be correctly described in terms of a simple oxidation state formalism because the Cu-S bonds are somewhat covalent rather than ionic in character, and have a high degree of delocalization resulting in complicated electronic band structures.
• Dopant (nonfiction) - a trace of impurity element that is introduced into a chemical material to alter its original electrical or optical properties. The amount of dopant necessary to cause changes is typically very low. When doped into crystalline substances, the dopant's atoms get incorporated into its crystal lattice. The crystalline materials are frequently either crystals of a semiconductor such as silicon and germanium for use in solid-state electronics, or transparent crystals for use in the production of various laser types; however, in some cases of the latter, noncrystalline substances such as glass can also be doped with impurities. Also called a doping agent.
• Electron (nonfiction) - a subatomic particle, symbol e− or β−, whose electric charge is negative one elementary charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no known components or substructure.
• Electron hole (nonfiction) - the lack of an electron at a position where one could exist in an atom or atomic lattice. Since in a normal atom or crystal lattice the negative charge of the electrons is balanced by the positive charge of the atomic nuclei, the absence of an electron leaves a net positive charge at the hole's location. Holes are not actually particles, but rather quasiparticles; they are different from the positron, which is the antiparticle of the electron. (See also Dirac sea.) Holes in a metal or semiconductor crystal lattice can move through the lattice as electrons can, and act similarly to positively-charged particles. They play an important role in the operation of semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits. If an electron is excited into a higher state it leaves a hole in its old state. This meaning is used in Auger electron spectroscopy (and other x-ray techniques), in computational chemistry, and to explain the low electron-electron scattering-rate in crystals (metals, semiconductors). In crystals, electronic band structure calculations lead to an effective mass for the electrons, which is typically negative at the top of a band. The negative mass is an unintuitive concept, and in these situations a more familiar picture is found by considering a positive charge with a positive mass.
• Fermi level (nonfiction) - the thermodynamic work required to add one electron to a solid-state body.
• Indium tin oxide (nonfiction) - a ternary composition of indium, tin, and oxygen in varying proportions. Depending on the oxygen content, it can either be described as a ceramic or alloy. Indium tin oxide is typically encountered as an oxygen-saturated composition with a formulation of 74% In, 18% O2, and 8% Sn by weight. Oxygen-saturated compositions are so typical, that unsaturated compositions are termed oxygen-deficient ITO. It is transparent and colorless in thin layers, while in bulk form it is yellowish to grey. In the infrared region of the spectrum it acts as a metal-like mirror. Indium tin oxide is one of the most widely used transparent conducting oxides because of its two main properties: its electrical conductivity and optical transparency, as well as the ease with which it can be deposited as a thin film. As with all transparent conducting films, a compromise must be made between conductivity and transparency, since increasing the thickness and increasing the concentration of charge carriers increases the material's conductivity, but decreases its transparency. Thin films of indium tin oxide are most commonly deposited on surfaces by physical vapor deposition. Often used is electron beam evaporation, or a range of sputter deposition techniques.
• Metal (nonfiction) - a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typically malleable (they can be hammered into thin sheets) or ductile (can be drawn into wires). A metal may be a chemical element such as iron; an alloy such as stainless steel; or a molecular compound such as polymeric sulfur nitride. In physics, a metal is generally regarded as any substance capable of conducting electricity at a temperature of absolute zero. Many elements and compounds that are not normally classified as metals become metallic under high pressures.
• P-type semiconductors (nonfiction) - semiconductors which have a larger electron hole concentration than electron concentration. In p-type semiconductors, holes are the majority carriers and electrons are the minority carriers. A common p-type dopant for silicon is boron or gallium. For p-type semiconductors the Fermi level is below the intrinsic Fermi level and lies closer to the valence band than the conduction band.
• Semiconductor (nonfiction)
• Valence and conduction bands (nonfiction) - the electron bands closest to the Fermi level and thus determine the electrical conductivity of the solid. In non-metals, the valence band is the highest range of electron energies in which electrons are normally present at absolute zero temperature, while the conduction band is the lowest range of vacant electronic states. On a graph of the electronic band structure of a material, the valence band is located below the Fermi level, while the conduction band is located above it. The distinction between the valence and conduction bands is meaningless in metals, because conduction occurs in one or more partially filled bands that take on the properties of both the valence and conduction bands.