Reading Materials

Timetable

In this section early important milestones in semiconductor physics and technology are listed.

1821：T. J. Seebeck-discovery of semiconductor properties of PbS.

1833：M. Faraday-discovery of the temperature dependence of the conductivity of AgS（negative dR/dT）.

1873：W. Smith-discovery of photoconductivity in selenium.

1874：F. Braun-discovery of rectification in metal sulfide semiconductor contacts，e. g. for PbS. The current through a metal semiconductor contact is nonlinear（as compared to that through a metal，Fig.1.1），i. e. a deviation from Ohm’s law . Braun’s structure is similar to a MSM diode.

1876：W. G. Adams and R. E. Day-discovery of the photovoltaic effectin selenium.

1883：Ch. Fritts-first solar cell，based on an Au/selenium rectifier . The efficiency was below 1%.

1907：H. J. Round-discovery of electroluminescence investigating blue light emission from SiC.

1911：The term ‘Halbleiter’（semiconductor）is introduced for the first time by J. Königsberger and J. Weiss.

1925：J. E. Lilienfeld-proposal of the field-effect transistor（Fig.1.2）（Method and Apparatus for Controlling Electric Currents，US patent 1，745，175，1930，filed 1926）. J. E. Lilienfeld was also awarded patents for a depletion mode MOSFET（US patent 1，900，018，1933）and current amplificationwith nppn and pnnp-transistors（US patent 1，877，140，1932）.

1927：A. Schleede and Baggisch-impurities are of decisive importance for conductivity.

1931：R. de L. Kronig and W. G. Penney-properties of periodic potentialsin solids.

A. H. Wilson-development of band-structuretheory.

C. Zener-Zener tunneling .

1936：J. Frenkel-description of excitons.

1938：B. Davydov-theoretical prediction of rectification in Cu2O.

W. Schottky-theory of the boundary layer in metal-semiconductor contacts，being the basis for Schottky contactsand field-effect transistors（FETs）.

N. F. Mott-metal-semiconductor rectifier theory .

R. Hilsch and R. W. Pohl-proposal of a three-electrode crystal（from NaCl）.

1941：R. S. Ohl-Si rectifier with point contact（Fig.1.3）（US patent 2，402，661）.

1942：K. Clusius，E. Holz and H. Welker-rectification in germanium（German patent DBP 966 387，21g，11/02）.

1945：H. Welker-patents for JFET and MESFET（German patent DBP 980 084，21g，11/02）.

1947：W. Shockley，J. Bardeen and W. Brattain fabricate the first transistor in the AT&T Bell Laboratories. Strictly speaking the structure was a point-contact transistor. A 50μm wide slit was cut with a razor blade into gold foil over a plastic（insulating）triangle and pressed with a spring on n-type germanium（Fig.1.4）. The one gold contact controls via the field effect（depletion of a surface layer）the current from Ge to the other gold contact. For the first time，amplification was observed.

1952：H. Welker– fabrication of compound semiconductors（German patent DBP 976 791，12c，2）

W. Shockley-today’s version of the（J）FET.

1953：G. C. Dacey and I. M. Ross-first realization of a JFET.

D. M. Chapin，C. S. Fuller and G. L. Pearson-invention of the silicon solar cellat Bell Laboratories. A single 2 cm2 photovoltaic cellfrom Si，with about 6% efficiency generated 5mW of electrical power. Previously existing solar cells based on selenium had very low efficiency（＜0.5%）.

1958：J. Kilby made the first integrated circuit at Texas Instruments. The simple oscillator consisted of one transistor，three resistors and a capacitor on an 11×1.7mm2 Ge platelet ［Fig.1.5（a）］. J. Kilby filed in 1959 for US patent 3，138，743 for miniaturized electronic circuits. At practically the same time R. Noyce from Fairchild Semiconductors，the predecessor of INTEL，invented the integrated circuit on silicon using planar technology（US patent 2，981，877，1959，for a silicon-based integrated circuit）. Fig.1.5（b）shows a flip-flopwith four bipolar transistorsand five resistors. Initially，the invention of the integrated circuit met scepticism because of concerns regarding yield and the achievable quality of the transistors and the other components（such as resistors and capacitors）.

1959：J. Hoerni and R. Noyce-first realization of a planar transistor（Fig.1.6）.

1960：D. Kahng and M. M. Atalla-first realization of a MOSFET.

1962：The first semiconductor laser on GaAs basis at 77K at GE and at IBM.

1963：Proposal of a double heterostructure laser（DH laser）by Zh. I. Alferov and H. Kroemer.

1966：Zh. I. Alferov-report of the first DH laser on the basis of GaInP at 77K.

C. A. Mead-proposal of the MESFET（‘Schottky Barrier Gate FET’）.

1967：W. W. Hooper and W. I. Lehrer-first realization of a MESFET.

1968：DH laser on the basis of GaAs/AlGaAs at room temperature by Zh. I. Alferov and I. Hayashi.

Words and Expressions

exaggeration n. 夸张，夸大之词

infrastructure n. 下部构造，基础下部组织，基础设施

diverse adj. 不同的，变化多的

Si（silicon）n. 硅，硅元素

GaAs（gallium arsenide）n. 砷化镓

periodic table 元素周期表

Ge（germanium）n. 锗，锗元素

binary adj. 二进制的，二元的

GaP（gallium phosphide）n. 磷化镓

ternary adj. 三重的

subscript adj. 写在下方的

selenium n. 硒，硒元素

sulfide n. 硫化物

electroluminescence n. 场致发光，电致发光

apparatus n. 设备、仪器

slit vt. 切开，撕裂

razor n. 剃刀

blade n. 刀刃

foil n. 箔，金属薄片

oscillator n. 振荡器

scepticism n. 怀疑主义

Glossary of Important Term

occupied states 被占据的状态

empty states 空态

energy gap 禁带、能隙、带隙

carrier concentration 载流子浓度

intrinsic carrier concentration 本征载流子浓度

impurity 杂质

dopant 掺杂剂

solid state electronic device 固态电子器件

integrated circuit 集成电路

n-type n型的（半导体）

p-type p型的（半导体）

elemental semiconductor 元素半导体

compound semiconductor 化合物半导体

binary compound 二元化合物半导体

ternary compound 三元化合物半导体

Ohm’s law 欧姆定律

MSM diode（Metal／Semiconductor／Metal diode）金属/半导体／金属二极管、肖特基二极管

photovoltaic effect 光伏效应

rectifier 整流器

field-effect transistor 场效应晶体管

depletion mode MOSFET 耗尽型场效应晶体管

current amplification 电流放大

periodic potentials 周期势场

band-structure 能带结构

Zener tunneling 齐纳隧穿

metal-scmiconductor contacts 金属半导体接触

Schottky contacts 肖特基接触

metal-scmiconductor rectifier theory 金属-半导体整流理论

MESFET 金属半导体场效应晶体管

solar cell 太阳能电池

photovoltaic cell 光伏电池

flip-flop 触发器

bipolar transistors 双极型晶体管

semiconductor laser 半导体激光器

double heterostructure laser（DH laser）双异质结激光器

Schottky Barrier Gate FET 肖特基势垒栅场效应晶体管

Exercises

1. Answer the following questions in English.

（1）List two elemental semiconductor materials and two compound semiconductor materials.

（2）Describe the invention of transistor and IC.

（3）Conld you please list the milestones in semicondutor physics and technology after 1968？