Physics of Semiconductor Devices

Solved Problems with Theory - Vol. 1 & 2

About the Book

The book is a collection of numerical and theoretical problems in physics of semiconductor devices. It is intended for undergraduate students of physics and for students of electrical engineering studying principles of semiconductor devices operation. Although text-books in this field already exist, those published so far include a number of numerical problems, but usually offer no solutions to them. This makes our book the first of its kind and, in a sense, even unique, since it is the most complete collection of both, problems and solutions, in the field concerned.

Generation of free carriers

The first volume covers the area of basic physical properties of semiconductors and properties and characteristics of p-n junctions. In terms of the topics displayed, it closely follows the first two chapters of the well-known book PHYSICS OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES by S. M. Sze (published by John Wiley & Sons). It has 286 pages in a ready-to-publish form (in the Croatian language), with 180 solved problems and 136 original drawings illustrating problems and solutions to them.

The second volume deals with the principles of bipolar transistor action. It covers almost all important aspects of transistor action including even the heavy-doping effects. It has 259 pages with 106 solved problems and 186 figures.

Haynes-Schockley experiment Each chapter begins with a short theoretical introduction, but the theory is mainly explained through detailed solutions of the problems. Although the majority of the problems are numerical, a few theoretical problems are also included, such as derivations of certain fundamental relations: minority carrier lifetime, Shockley equation, diffusion admittance and capacitance, diode and bipolar transistor storage-time, bipolar transistor volt-ampere characteristics. Each chapter ends with additional problems to which only final numerical solutions are given. Most of the problems are designed so that they can be solved with a simple non-programmable scientific calculator and require only a basic knowledge of calculus. This approach forced us to skip some topics, e.g. junction breakdown, which would require more complex calculations. The style of writing and approach is intended to help the reader even not familiar with solid-state physics to easily understand basic principles of solid-state devices.