Name | |
| - A - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
p-n junction with a step function doping profile | |
An atom which is likely to take on one or more electrons when placed in a crystal | |
Accumulation of free carriers in a semiconductor | |
Voltage applied to the structure | |
Breakdown mechanism caused by impact ionization leading to avalanching due to carrier multiplication | |
| - B - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
The range of energies between existing energy bands where no energy levels exist | |
Radiation from an object due to thermal energy | |
The variation of the threshold voltage of an FET due to a variation of the substrate or bulk voltage. | |
Model for the hydrogen atom as proposed by Niels Bohr | |
Radius of the electron orbit in a hydrogen atom corresponding to the lowest energy energy solution of the Bohr model | |
Electric field at breakdown | |
Potential across a structure in thermal equilibrium. The built-in potential equals the difference in work function of the two outer regions. | |
Potential across a p-n diode in thermal equilibrium. | |
Back contact of a MOSFET also referred to as the substrate contact. | |
| - C - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Charge per unit voltage | |
Ion implantation in the channel region used to adjust the threshold voltage of a MOSFET. | |
Variation of the channel due to an increase of the depletion region when increasing the drain voltage. A reduction of the channel yields a higher current. | |
Complementary metal oxide silicon (transistor) | |
The process of adding donors and acceptor to a crystal | |
Lowest empty or partially filled band in a semiconductor | |
The ratio of the current density to the applied electric field | |
Equation which states that the rate of change of a density of particles equals the net flux of particles coming in | |
A solid which consists of atoms placed in a periodic arrangment | |
Made of one or multiple crystals | |
Capacitance versus voltage measurement | |
| - D - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Wavelength of a particle λ = h/p | |
Characteristic length over which the carrier density in a semiconductor changes by a factor e | |
The density of electronic states per unit energy and per unit volume | |
Removal of free carriers in a semiconductor | |
Width of the region close to the p-n junction without free carriers | |
Transistor, which is normally on if the gate is connected to the source | |
Region close to the p-n junction without free carriers | |
Drain induced barrier lowering | |
Motion of particles caused by thermal energy | |
Average distance minority carriers travel in a quasi-neutral region before they recombine | |
An atom which is likely to give off one or more electrons when placed in a crystal | |
Contact region of a MOSFET to which the electrons in the channel flow | |
Dynamic random access memory | |
Motion of carriers caused by an electric field | |
| - E - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Electrically alterable programmable read only memory | |
Erasable electrically programmable read only memory | |
Particle with spin 1/2 and carrying a single negative charge (1.6 x 10-19 Coulomb) | |
A collection of closely spaced energy levels | |
The energy which an electron can have | |
Transistor, which is normally off when the gate is connected to the source | |
Heat divided by absolute temperature | |
Thin layer of a single crystalline semiconductor grown on a substrate | |
Electrically programmable read only memory | |
| - F - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Floating gate Avalanche injection Metal Oxide Silicon (transistor) | |
The average energy per particle when adding particles to a distribution but without changing the entropy or the volume. Chemists refer to this quantity as being the electro-chemical potential | |
Particles with half-integer spin | |
Field Effect Transistor | |
Doped region under the thick field oxide, which is obtained by ion implantation with the intend to eliminate the effect of the parasitic field oxide transistor. | |
Type of non-volatile memory | |
Bias conditions of an MOS capacitor for which the energy band diagram of the silicon is flat. The corresponding voltage is called the Flat band voltage | |
Energy band diagram of a M-S junction containing no net charge | |
Energy band diagram of a p-n diode containing no net charge | |
Energy band diagram of a MOS capacitor containing no net charge in the semiconductor | |
High current bias mode of a rectifying contact | |
A common approximation which simplifies the electrostatic analysis of semiconductor devices. Assumed is that the depletion region(s) is(are) fully depleted, with abrupt transitions to the adjacent quasi-neutral regions | |
| - G - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Electrode of an FET, which controls the charge in the channel | |
One of Maxwell's equations, stating that the gradient of the electric field equals the charge density, divided by the dielectric constant. | |
Process by which electron-hole pairs are generated | |
| - H - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Thermal energy | |
High injection occurs by definition when, while forward biasing a p-n diode, the minority carrier density equals or exceeds the doping concentration in the semiconductor. See also High-Current Analysis. | |
Particle associated with an empty electron level in an almost filled band | |
An atom consisting of a proton and an electron | |
| - I - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
p-n diode analysis based on recombination currents in the quasi-neutral regions | |
Metal-semiconductor contact with zero resistance | |
A number which characterizes the slope of a current-voltage plot as measured on a semi-logarithmic scale. A slope of a factor e per thermal voltage (or 1 decade/59 mV at room temperature) is considered ideal and is assigned an ideality factor of 1. A lower slope corresponds to a higher ideality factor. | |
A foreign atom in a crystal | |
Boundary between two materials | |
The density of electrons and holes in an intrinsic semiconductor | |
A semiconductors free of defects or impurities | |
Change of carrier type in a semiconductor obtained by applying an external voltage. In a MOSFET, inversion creates the free carriers, which cause the drain current. | |
The layer of free carriers of opposite type at the semiconductor-oxide interface of a MOSFET | |
The process of adding or removing an electron to/from an atom thereby creating a charged atom (i.e. ion) | |
Current-Voltage characteristics | |
Current versus voltage measurement | |
| - J - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| - K - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| - L - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
p-n diode with an optical cavity, which emits coherent light when forward biased | |
High current state of a CMOS circuit caused by the parasitic bipolar transistors | |
Low doped drain transistor structure | |
p-n diode which emits light when forward biased | |
Local oxidation used to isolate two adjacent devices. | |
p-n diode with a long quasi-neutral region as compared to the minority carrier diffusion length in that region | |
| - M - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
The larger density of the two carrier types (electrons and holes). The majority carrier density is frequently - but not always - equal to the doping density. | |
The law which describes the relation between the densities of species involved in a chemical reaction | |
The lower density of the two carrier types (electrons and holes). The minority carrier density is typically orders of magnitude lower than the majority carrier density, yet plays an important role in p-n diodes and bipolar transistors. | |
The ratio of the carrier velocity to the applied electric field | |
Mass times velocity | |
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. See also MOSFET | |
| - N - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
n-type semiconductor with high donor density (> 1018 cm-3) | |
n-type semiconductor with low donor density (< 1016 cm-3) | |
| - O - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Metal-semiconductor contact with a linear current-voltage characteristic and low resistance | |
Junction with a very large doping density on one side and a very low density of the other side. | |
Ratio of output current variation to the output voltage variation | |
Capacitance between the gate and the source/drain due to the overlap between the gate and the source/drain regions. | |
| - P - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
p-type semiconductor with high donor density (> 1018 cm-3) | |
p-type semiconductor with low donor density (< 1016 cm-3) | |
Quantum mechanical concept, which states that particles can behave as waves and waves can behave as particles | |
A p-n junction which can be exposed to light, thereby yielding a photocurrent | |
Emission of electrons from a metal when applying light with photon energy larger than the workfunction of the metal | |
Quantum of electromagnetic radiation | |
A junction between an n-type and a p-type semiconductor | |
Second order differential equation which relates the potential, f, to the charge density, r. | |
Poly-crystalline silicon. Sometimes referred to as poly. | |
Programmable read only memory | |
Breakdown mechanism caused by the overlap between the source and drain depletion regions | |
| - Q - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Theory which describes particles by a wavefunction | |
Doped semiconductor region containing free carriers and being almost neutral | |
| - R - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Random access memory | |
Process by which electron-hole pairs are removed | |
Current due to recombination of carriers in the depletion region of a p-n diode | |
Current due to band-to-band recombination of carriers in the depletion region of a p-n diode | |
see Shockley-Hall-Read | |
Current due to Shockley-Hall-Read recombination of carriers in the depletion region of a p-n diode | |
Device which converts an AC signal into a DC signal. | |
The ratio of the applied voltage to the current | |
Low current bias mode of a rectifying contact | |
Material constant which affects the thermionic emission current in a metal-semiconductor junction | |
Average thermal velocity of carriers moving in a specific direction | |
Read only memory | |
Unit of atomic energy = 13.6 eV | |
| - S - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Maximum velocity which can be obtained in a specific semiconductor | |
Barrier between a metal and semiconductor as seen by an electron or hole at the Fermi energy in the metal | |
Metal-semiconductor junction with a depletion region under the metal | |
Lowering of the Schottky barrier height due to image forces (only used in current calculations) | |
Atomic states which are associated with one principle quantum number | |
Deviations from the one-dimensional transistor model as observed in short channel transistors | |
p-n diode with a short quasi-neutral region as compared to the minority carrier diffusion length in that region | |
A p-n diode, which converts optical power into electrical power | |
Contact region of a MOSFET from which the electrons in the channel originate | |
A single solution to Schrˆdinger's equation defined by a unique set of quantum numbers | |
Strong inversion is obtained when the carrier density in an inversion layer equals or exceeds the carrier density in the substrate. | |
The material in which a device is embedded or on top of which a device is fabricated | |
Transistor current when biased below threshold | |
Midgap state caused by the termination of the lattice at the surface of a semiconductor | |
| - T - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Energy associated with the temperature of an object | |
A system is in thermal equilibrium if every ongoing process is exactly balanced by its inverse. | |
The gate-source voltage at which a transistor starts to conduct. | |
Ratio of output current variation to the input voltage variation | |
Output voltage of a device plotted as a function of the input voltage | |
Contraction of transresistance, a term used to describe a resistance which is controlled by a voltage at another node. | |
Ohmic contact in which carriers tunnel through a thin barrier layer | |
Quantum mechanical process by which a particle can pass through a barrier rather than having to go over the barrier | |
| - U - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| - V - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Highest filled or almost filled band in a semiconductor | |
Electrons in the outer shell of an atom | |
A MOSFET model which includes the variable depletion layer width between the inversion layer and the substrate | |
| - W - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Number of zero crossings per unit length times π. k = 2π/λ | |
Wave description of a localized particle | |
Doped region of opposite doping type used in a CMOS process | |
Mechanical energy | |
Potential an electron at the Fermi energy needs to gain to escape from a solid | |
| - X - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| - Y - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| - Z - | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Breakdown mechanism caused by tunneling of carriers through the energy bandgap |