Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/4/a/solution
Past exam of the condensed matter physics course of the University of Oxford 2015 4 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
An intrinsic semiconductor has thermally generated conduction electrons and valence holes, with at equilibrium in the ideal undoped neutral material. Their abundance is controlled by its band gap, temperature and band density of states.
An extrinsic semiconductor has its mobile carrier populations substantially modified by electrically active impurities. A donor impurity can supply electrons, producing n-type material; an acceptor impurity can capture a valence electron and leave a mobile electron hole, producing p-type material. Compensation and incomplete ionization can modify these simple counts. At low temperature dopant freeze-out can occur; at sufficiently high temperature intrinsic pair production can overwhelm a fixed dopant density. Doping and the dominant transport regime are related but are not interchangeable descriptions at every temperature.
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