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N-type semiconductor is obtained on doping intrinsic germanium by

Asked in GUJCET 2007 · Doping and carrier concentration

Answer: (4) Phosphorus

Step-by-step solution

Idea: n-type means the majority carriers are electrons, so the dopant must supply a spare electron.

Germanium is tetravalent: each atom uses all four of its valence electrons in covalent bonds.

A pentavalent (group-15) dopant completes those four bonds and still has a fifth electron left over, loosely bound and free to conduct.

Of the four choices only phosphorus is pentavalent. Boron and aluminium are trivalent, so they give p-type germanium, and gold is neither a donor nor an acceptor.

So doping intrinsic germanium with phosphorus gives an n-type semiconductor.

Why the other options are wrong

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