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Haynes–Shockley Experiment
In semiconductor physics, the Haynes–Shockley experiment was an experiment that demonstrated that diffusion of minority carriers in a semiconductor could result in a current. The experiment was reported in a short paper by Haynes and Shockley in 1948, with a more detailed version published by Shockley, Pearson, and Haynes in 1949. The experiment can be used to measure carrier mobility, carrier lifetime, and diffusion coefficient. In the experiment, a piece of semiconductor gets a pulse of holes, for example, as induced by voltage or a short laser pulse. Equations To see the effect, we consider a n-type semiconductor with the length ''d''. We are interested in determining the mobility of the carriers, diffusion constant and relaxation time. In the following, we reduce the problem to one dimension. The equations for electron and hole currents are: :j_e=+\mu_n n E+D_n \frac :j_p=+\mu_p p E-D_p \frac where the ''j''s are the current densities of electrons (''e'') and hol ...
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Semiconductor Physics
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. Its conducting properties may be altered in useful ways by introducing impurities ("doping") into the crystal structure. When two differently doped regions exist in the same crystal, a semiconductor junction is created. The behavior of charge carriers, which include electrons, ions, and electron holes, at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors, and most modern electronics. Some examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called "metalloid staircase" on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second-most common semiconductor and is used in laser diodes, solar cells, microwave-frequency integrated circuits, and others. Silicon is a critical element for fab ...
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Continuity Equation
A continuity equation or transport equation is an equation that describes the transport of some quantity. It is particularly simple and powerful when applied to a conserved quantity, but it can be generalized to apply to any extensive quantity. Since mass, energy, momentum, electric charge and other natural quantities are conserved under their respective appropriate conditions, a variety of physical phenomena may be described using continuity equations. Continuity equations are a stronger, local form of conservation laws. For example, a weak version of the law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed—i.e., the total amount of energy in the universe is fixed. This statement does not rule out the possibility that a quantity of energy could disappear from one point while simultaneously appearing at another point. A stronger statement is that energy is ''locally'' conserved: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, ''nor'' can it " ...
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Free Electron Model
In solid-state physics, the free electron model is a quantum mechanical model for the behaviour of charge carriers in a metallic solid. It was developed in 1927, principally by Arnold Sommerfeld, who combined the classical Drude model with quantum mechanical Fermi–Dirac statistics and hence it is also known as the Drude–Sommerfeld model. Given its simplicity, it is surprisingly successful in explaining many experimental phenomena, especially * the Wiedemann–Franz law which relates electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity; * the temperature dependence of the electron heat capacity; * the shape of the electronic density of states; * the range of binding energy values; * electrical conductivities; * the Seebeck coefficient of the thermoelectric effect; * thermal electron emission and field electron emission from bulk metals. The free electron model solved many of the inconsistencies related to the Drude model and gave insight into several other properties of meta ...
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Drift Current
In condensed matter physics and electrochemistry, drift current is the electric current, or movement of charge carriers, which is due to the applied electric field, often stated as the electromotive force over a given distance. When an electric field is applied across a semiconductor material, a current is produced due to the flow of charge carriers. The ''drift velocity'' is the average velocity of the charge carriers in the drift current. The drift velocity, and resulting current, is characterized by the ''mobility''; for details, see electron mobility (for solids) or electrical mobility (for a more general discussion). See drift–diffusion equation for the way that the drift current, diffusion current, and carrier generation and recombination are combined into a single equation. Overview Drift current is the electric current caused by particles getting pulled by an electric field. The term is most commonly used in the context of electrons and holes in semiconductors, alt ...
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Direct Current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current. The abbreviations ''AC'' and ''DC'' are often used to mean simply ''alternating'' and ''direct'', as when they modify '' current'' or '' voltage''. Direct current may be converted from an alternating current supply by use of a rectifier, which contains electronic elements (usually) or electromechanical elements (historically) that allow current to flow only in one direction. Direct current may be converted into alternating current via an inverter. Direct current has many uses, from the charging of batteries to large po ...
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Convection–diffusion Equation
The convection–diffusion equation is a combination of the diffusion and convection (advection) equations, and describes physical phenomena where particles, energy, or other physical quantities are transferred inside a physical system due to two processes: diffusion and convection. Depending on context, the same equation can be called the advection–diffusion equation, drift–diffusion equation, or (generic) scalar transport equation. Equation General The general equation is \frac = \mathbf \cdot (D \mathbf c) - \mathbf \cdot (\mathbf c) + R where * is the variable of interest (species concentration for mass transfer, temperature for heat transfer), * is the diffusivity (also called diffusion coefficient), such as mass diffusivity for particle motion or thermal diffusivity for heat transport, * is the velocity field that the quantity is moving with. It is a function of time and space. For example, in advection, might be the concentration of salt in a river, and then ...
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Conduction Band
In solid-state physics, the valence band and conduction band are the bands closest to the Fermi level, and thus determine the electrical conductivity of the solid. In nonmetals, 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. Band gap In semiconductors and insulators the two bands are separated by a band gap, while in semimetals the bands overlap. A band gap is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist due to the quantizat ...
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Alternating Current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which electric power is delivered to businesses and residences, and it is the form of electrical energy that consumers typically use when they plug kitchen appliances, televisions, fans and electric lamps into a wall socket. A common source of DC power is a battery cell in a flashlight. The abbreviations ''AC'' and ''DC'' are often used to mean simply ''alternating'' and ''direct'', as when they modify '' current'' or ''voltage''. The usual waveform of alternating current in most electric power circuits is a sine wave, whose positive half-period corresponds with positive direction of the current and vice versa. In certain applications, like guitar amplifiers, different waveforms are used, such as triangular waves or square waves. Audio ...
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Pulse Width
The pulse width is a measure of the elapsed time between the leading and trailing edges of a single pulse of energy. The measure is typically used with electrical signals and is widely used in the fields of radar and power supplies. There are two closely related measures. The pulse repetition interval measures the time between the leading edges of two pulses but is normally expressed as the pulse repetition frequency (PRF), the number of pulses in a given time, typically a second. The duty cycle expresses the pulse width as a fraction or percentage of one complete cycle. Pulse width is an important measure in radar systems. Radars transmit pulses of radio frequency energy out of an antenna and then listen for their reflection off of target objects. The amount of energy that is returned to the radar receiver is a function of the peak energy of the pulse, the pulse width, and the pulse repetition frequency. Increasing the pulse width increases the amount of energy reflected off the ta ...
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Gaussian Curve
In mathematics, a Gaussian function, often simply referred to as a Gaussian, is a function of the base form f(x) = \exp (-x^2) and with parametric extension f(x) = a \exp\left( -\frac \right) for arbitrary real constants , and non-zero . It is named after the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. The graph of a Gaussian is a characteristic symmetric " bell curve" shape. The parameter is the height of the curve's peak, is the position of the center of the peak, and (the standard deviation, sometimes called the Gaussian RMS width) controls the width of the "bell". Gaussian functions are often used to represent the probability density function of a normally distributed random variable with expected value and variance . In this case, the Gaussian is of the form g(x) = \frac \exp\left( -\frac \frac \right). Gaussian functions are widely used in statistics to describe the normal distributions, in signal processing to define Gaussian filters, in image processing where two-dimen ...
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Dirac Delta Function
In mathematics, the Dirac delta distribution ( distribution), also known as the unit impulse, is a generalized function or distribution over the real numbers, whose value is zero everywhere except at zero, and whose integral over the entire real line is equal to one. The current understanding of the unit impulse is as a linear functional that maps every continuous function (e.g., f(x)) to its value at zero of its domain (f(0)), or as the weak limit of a sequence of bump functions (e.g., \delta(x) = \lim_ \frace^), which are zero over most of the real line, with a tall spike at the origin. Bump functions are thus sometimes called "approximate" or "nascent" delta distributions. The delta function was introduced by physicist Paul Dirac as a tool for the normalization of state vectors. It also has uses in probability theory and signal processing. Its validity was disputed until Laurent Schwartz developed the theory of distributions where it is defined as a linear form acting o ...
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Boltzmann Constant
The Boltzmann constant ( or ) is the proportionality factor that relates the average relative kinetic energy of particles in a gas with the thermodynamic temperature of the gas. It occurs in the definitions of the kelvin and the gas constant, and in Planck's law of black-body radiation and Boltzmann's entropy formula, and is used in calculating thermal noise in resistors. The Boltzmann constant has dimensions of energy divided by temperature, the same as entropy. It is named after the Austrian scientist Ludwig Boltzmann. As part of the 2019 redefinition of SI base units, the Boltzmann constant is one of the seven " defining constants" that have been given exact definitions. They are used in various combinations to define the seven SI base units. The Boltzmann constant is defined to be exactly . Roles of the Boltzmann constant Macroscopically, the ideal gas law states that, for an ideal gas, the product of pressure and volume is proportional to the product of ...
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