Covalent Bonding
Figure 1: A typical 3D crystal structure.
Covalent Bonding
The chemical activity of an atom is determined by the number of electrons in its valence shell. When the valence shell is complete, the atom is stable and shows little tendency to combine with other atoms to form solids. Only atoms that possess eight valence electrons have a complete outer shell. These atoms are referred to as inert or inactive atoms. However, if the valence shell of an atom lacks the required number of electrons to complete the shell, then the activity of the atom increases.
Silicon and germanium, for example, are the most frequently used semiconductors. Both are quite similar in their structure and chemical behavior. Each has four electrons in the valence shell. Consider just germanium. Since it has fewer than the required number of eight electrons needed in the outer shell, its atoms will unite with other atoms until eight electrons are shared. This gives each atom a total of eight electrons in its valence shell; four of its own and four that it borrowed from the surrounding atoms. The sharing of valence electrons between two or more atoms produces a covalent bond between the atoms. It is this bond that holds the atoms together in an orderly structure called a crystal. A crystal is just another name for a solid whose atoms or molecules are arranged in a three-dimensional geometrical pattern commonly referred to as a lattice. Figure 1 shows a typical crystal structure. Each sphere in the figure represents the nucleus of an atom, and the arms that join the atoms and support the structure are the covalent bonds.
Figure 2: A two-dimensional view of a germanium cubic lattice.
As a result of this sharing process, the valence electrons are held tightly together. This can best be illustrated by the two-dimensional view of the germanium lattice in figure 2. The big circles in the figure represent the nuclei of the atoms. The small circles indicate valence electrons. Because every atom in this pattern is bonded to four other atoms, the electrons are not free to move within the crystal. As a result of this bonding, pure germanium and silicon are poor conductors of electricity. The reason they are not insulators but semiconductors is that with the proper application of heat or electrical pressure, electrons can be caused to break free of their bonds and move into the conduction band. Once in this band, they wander aimlessly through the crystal.