4.3 The Built-in Potential

Table of Contents - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R S ¬ ­ ®
In this Section:

  1. The built-in potential

4.3.1 The built-in potential

The built-in potential in a semiconductor equals the potential across the depletion region in thermal equilibrium. Since thermal equilibrium implies that the fermi energy is constant throughout the p-n diode, the internal potential must equal the difference between the fermi energies of each region. It also equals the sum of the bulk potentials of each region, since the bulk potential quantifies the distance between the fermi energy and the intrinsic energy. This yields the following expression for the built-in potential.
4.2 ¬ ­ ® 4.4
© Bart J. Van Zeghbroeck, 1996, 1997