Which of the following statements about extrinsic semiconductors is correct regarding the effect of temperature on their conductivity?

The correct statement about the effect of temperature on the conductivity of extrinsic semiconductors is:

In p-type semiconductors, increasing the temperature leads to an increase in the number of holes as more electrons get excited to the conduction band.

Here's an explanation:

• Extrinsic Semiconductors and Temperature: The conductivity of both n-type and p-type (extrinsic) semiconductors is highly dependent on temperature.

• Mechanism in P-type: In a p-type semiconductor, the majority carriers are holes. As temperature increases, two main things happen:

  1. Ionization of Acceptor Atoms: More acceptor impurity atoms get ionized by thermal energy, accepting electrons from the valence band and thus creating more holes in the valence band.

  2. Intrinsic Generation: Additionally, as temperature continues to rise, more covalent bonds break, leading to the generation of intrinsic electron-hole pairs (electrons move to the conduction band, leaving holes in the valence band). This also contributes to an increase in the number of holes.

• Both of these effects lead to a greater availability of charge carriers (primarily holes, but also electrons as minority carriers), which in turn increases the conductivity of the p-type semiconductor.