Electrical Properties of Heavily Doped Silicon

Abstract

Measurements have been made of the temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity and Hall coefficient in samples of n- and p-type silicon having impurity concentrations in the 1018 to 1020 cm−3 range. The resistivity data extend from 4° to 900°K, and the Hall data from 4° to 300°K. The results exhibit two noteworthy features: viz., (1) a hump or maximum in the resistivity vs temperature curves at or slightly below the degeneracy temperature in each sample, which is most pronounced in the least heavily doped samples and gradually fades out as the impurity concentration increases, and (2) an extension of the positive dependence of resistivity on temperature below the hump or degeneracy temperature to surprisingly low temperatures in each sample.