# JEE Main & Advanced Physics Semiconducting Devices Density of Charge Carriers

Density of Charge Carriers

Category : JEE Main & Advanced

Due to thermal collisions, an electron can take up or release energy. Thus, occasionally a valence electron takes up energy and the bond is broken. The electron goes to the conduction band and a hole is created. And occasionally, an electron from the conduction band loses some energy, comes to the valence band and fills up a hole. Thus, new electron-hole pairs are formed as well as old electron-hole disappear. A steady-state situation is reached and the number of electron-hole pairs takes a nearly constant value. For silicon at room temperature (300 K), the number of these pairs is about $7\times {{10}^{15}}\,\,{{m}^{3}}$. For germanium, this number is about $6\times {{10}^{19}}/\,\,{{m}^{3}}$.

Densities of charge carriers

 Material Type Density of conduction electrons (m- 3) Density of holes (m-3) Copper Conductor $9\times {{10}^{28}}$ 0 Silicon Intrinsic semiconductor $7\times {{10}^{75}}$ $7\times {{10}^{15}}$ Silicon doped with phosphorus (1 part in ${{10}^{6}}$) N-type semiconductor $5\times {{10}^{22}}$ $1\times {{10}^{9}}$ Silicon doped with aluminium (1 part in ${{10}^{6}}$) P-type semiconductor $1\times {{10}^{9}}$ $5\times {{10}^{22}}$

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