Unit 3 Electrical Conductivity 2022
Unit 3 Electrical Conductivity 2022
Unit 3 Electrical Conductivity 2022
Introduction:
Conducting materials play a vital role in Engineering. It is very
essential to know the electrical properties of materials for specific
application of the materials. The properties of metals such as
electrical conduction, thermal conduction, specific heat etc., are due
to the free electrons or conduction electrons in metals. The first
theory to explain the electrical conductivity of metals is Classical
free electron theory and it was proposed by Drude in the year1900
and later developed and refined by Lorentz. Hence classical free
electron theory is known as Drude-Lorentz theory.
Drift Velocity
Initially the electrons in the metal which are in thermal equilibrium
will move in random directions and often collide with ions with no
net displacement. When electric field is applied, the equilibrium
condition is disturbed and there will be net displacement in randomly
moving free electron‟s positions, with time in a direction opposite to
the direction of the field. This displacement per unit time is called
drift velocity which will be constant for the free electrons in the
steady state. This accounts for the current in the direction of the
field.
RA
L
Conductivity ( ):
It is reciprocal of resistivity. It is a physical property that
characterizes conducting ability of a material.
1 L
RA
Relation between J, and E:
From ohms law
l
V=IR I .
A
I V 1
.
A l
I 1
J and
A
J E
Therefore σ =
Mobility of electrons:
Mobility of electrons ( ) is defined as the magnitude of drift
velocity acquired by the electron in unit field.
vd 1 eE eE
i.e.
E E m m
3
1. The molar specific heat of a gas at constant volume is Cv R,
2
where R is a universal constant. But the experimental value of
electronic specific heat is Cv=10-4RT which the classical theory
could not explain. Also the experimental value shows that the
electronic specific heat is temperature dependent, whereas the
classical free electron theory says that it is temperature
independent.
2. The electrical conductivity of a metal is inversely proportional
to temperature. According to classical free electron theory,
electrical conductivity is inversely proportional to the square
1
root of temperature, i.e. .
T
ne 2
3. Electrical conductivity is given as
m
According to classical electron theory electrical conductivity is
directly proportional to the electron concentration. But
monovalent metals like copper found to have high electrical
conductivity than the divalent & trivalent metals like Zinc and
Aluminium. Hence CFET fails to explain the observation.
4. Though metals are expected to exhibit negative Hall co-efficient
since the charge carriers in them are electrons, some metals like
zinc have positive Hall co-efficient. The free electron theory
could not explain the positive Hall co-efficient of metals.
EF
E0
Energy band
The dotted level is the Fermi level. Levels from Eo up to EF are
occupied while levels above EF are empty.
Fermi-Dirac statistics:
Under thermal equilibrium the free electrons are distributed in
various available energy states. The distribution of electrons among
the energy levels follows statistical rule known as Fermi-Dirac
statistics.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
At T=0K
EF
0 1
f (E)
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
n N ( E )dE
E 0
n g ( E ) f ( E )dE
E 0
n g ( E )dEx1
E 0
4
g(E) dE is given by, g ( E )dE 3
(2m) 3 / 2 E 1 / 2 dE
h
4
E F
n
3/ 2
3
( 2 m ) E 1 / 2 dE
h E 0
4 2
n 3
( 2m ) 3 / 2 ( E F ) 3 / 2
h 3
8 2 2
n 3
m 3 / 2 x ( E F ) 3 / 2
h 3
8
n 3 ( 2m ) 3 / 2 ( E F ) 3 / 2
3h
This is the equation of concentration of electrons in a metal at 0K.
h 2 3n 2 / 3
Expression for the Fermi energy at 0K is given by E F ( )
8m
E F Bn 2 / 3
h2 3 2/3
Where B= ( )( ) is a constant=5.85x10-38J.
8m
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
HALL EFFECT:
When a transverse magnetic field „B‟ is applied perpendicular to
current carrying conductor, a potential difference is developed across
the specimen in a direction perpendicular to both current and the
magnetic field. This phenomenon is called the Hall effect. The
Voltage so developed is called Hall voltage.
RH =
The Hall voltage can be measured with a voltmeter with the direction
of magnetic field & current depicted in fig, the sign of Hall voltage is
negative.
The separation between the upper level of valence band and the
bottom level of conduction band is known as forbidden energy gap,
Eg.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Pure semiconductors are the materials having electrical conductivity
greater than that of insulators but significantly lower than that of a
conductor at room temperature. They have conductivity in the range
of 10-4to 104 S/m. The interesting feature about semiconductors is
that they are bipolar and current is transported by two types of
charge carriers of opposite sign namely electrons and holes. The
number of carriers can be drastically enhanced by doping the
semiconductor with suitable impurities. The doped semiconductor
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS
A semiconductor in an extremely pure form is known as an
intrinsic semiconductor.
Intrinsic carriers in pure semiconductors
At room temperature in pure semiconductors, a single event
of breaking of bonds leads to two carriers; namely electron and hole.
The electron and hole are created as a pair & the phenomenon is
called electron-hole pair generation. At any temperature T the
number of electrons generated will be equal to the number of holes
generated. If „n‟ denotes number density of electrons in the
conduction band & „p” denotes the number of holes in the „valence
band then n = p = ni where, „ni‟ is called intrinsic concentration or
the intrinsic density
After the generation, the carriers move independently; the electrons
move in the conduction band & the holes move in the valence band.
The motion of these two carriers is random in their respective band
as long as no external field is applied.
n
Ec
f ( E ) gc ( E )dE
(1)
Since F-D function describes the probability of occupancy of energy
state. Under thermal equilibrium condition, the electron
concentration obtained from eqn. (1) is the equilibrium
concentration.
As f(E)rapidly approaches zero for higher energies, the integral in
eqn. (1) can be re-written as
n
Ec
f ( E ) g c ( E )dE
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
4
3 1
g c ( E ) 3 (2me* ) 2 ( E ) 2 dE
h
Where, E is the kinetic energy of the electron.
Ec
Conduction band
In the above fig. the bottom edge of conduction band EC corresponds
to the potential energy of an electron at rest in conduction band.
Therefore the quantity (E – EC) represents the kinetic energy of
conduction level electron at high energy level.
4
3 1
g c ( E ) 3 (2me* ) 2 ( E Ec ) 2 dE (2)
h
1
4 (E E c) 2
3
n 3 ( 2me* ) 2 dE (3)
h (E EF )
Ec
1 exp
kT
E EF E EF E EF
As E >EF : e kT
1 : 1 e kT
e kT
( E EF )
1
Therefore E EF
e kT
1 e kT
3 ( E EF )
4
1
n 3 (2me* ) 2 ( E E c ) 2 e kT
dE
h Ec
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
( E F Ec ) ( E Ec )
4
3 1
n 3 (2me* ) 2 e
h
kT
(E E )
Ec
c
2
e kT
dE
p 1 f ( E ) g ( E )dE
bottomband
v
(7)
Ev
E
( E F Ev )
Solving equation 7 we arrive at hole concentration, p N v e kT
( EC EF ) ( EF EV )
Nce kT
NV e kT
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
=>
Multiplying by kT throughout
N
=> EC E F kT ln V E F EV
NC
N
=> 2 E F kT ln V EC EV
NC
E EV 1 N
=> E F C kT ln V
2 2 NC
Substituting the values of NV and NC and after simplification we get
E Ev 3 m*h
EF C kT ln * (1)
2 4 me
As kT is small and the effective mass m*e and m*h do not differ much,
the second term in the eqn. (1) may be ignored.
If m*e = m*h , then we get
E Ev
EF C (2)
2
we can write eqn. (2) as
E Ev Ev Ev EC Ev
EF C Ev
2 2
but EC Ev Eg
Eg
EF Ev
2
Eg
If top of the valence band Ev is taken as zero level, then EF
2
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Ec
Eg Eg
EF
E 2
Ev
k
INTRINSIC DENSITY, ni
In an intrinsic semiconductor at T=0K, the electron concentration in
the conduction band is identical to hole concentration in the valence
band.
n=p=ni
From this, we get
np=ni2
( Ec E F ) ( EF EV )
ni N C e
2 kT kT
Nve
( Ec EV )
( N C N V )e kT
But Ec-Ev=Eg
Eg / kT
ni ( N C N V ) e
2
Eg / 2 kT
ni ( N C N V ) 1 / 2 e
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
h
The following important points may be inferred from the above
relation
1. The intrinsic density is independent of Fermi level position.
2. The intrinsic density is a function of band-gap Eg, which
represents the energy needed to break a bond.
3. The intrinsic density strongly depends on the temperature.
The contribution of temperature increase to ni is mostly due
to the exponential term and only to a marginal extent due to
the term T3/2.
Extrinsic semiconductor
The intrinsic semiconductor has low conductivity which is
not amenable to control. However a judicious introduction of
impurity atoms in an intrinsic semiconductor produces useful
modification of its electrical conductivity. The method of
introduction of controlled quantity of impurity into an intrinsic
semiconductor is called doping. The impurity added is called dopant.
The semiconductor doped with impurity atoms is called extrinsic
semiconductor. There are two types of extrinsic semiconductor
namely p-type & n-type which are produced depending on the group
of impurity atoms.
n-type semiconductors are produced when pure
semiconductors are doped with pentavalent impurity atoms such
Phosphorous, Arsenic etc.
p-type semiconductors are produced when pure
semiconductors are doped with trivalent impurity atoms such as
Aluminum, Boron etc.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Intrinsic
region
region
Depletion
region
n
II III
I
Td T Ti
At 0K the donor levels are filled which means that all the donor
electrons are bound to the donor atoms. At low temperature,
corresponding to region- I, there is no enough energy to ionize all
the donors and not at all enough to break covalent bond. As
temperature increases, the donor atoms get ionized and donor atoms
go into the conduction band. The region-I is known as ionization
region. Occasionally a covalent band maybe broken out, but number
of such events will be insignificantly small. At about 100K all donor
atoms are ionized, once all electrons from donor level are excited
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
P-type semiconductor
In case of p-type semiconductor the Fermi level EFp rises with
increasing temperature from below the acceptor level to intrinsic
level EFi as shown in fig2.
E Ev
EFp A (ionization region)
2
As temperature increases further above Ts, the Fermi level shifts
downward approximately in linear fashion, though hole
concentration in the valence band remains constant. This is in
E E A kT N v
accordance with the relation E Fp v ln .
2 2 NA
EFp = EA (at T=Ts)
Because of this force, holes are deflected towards the front face F
and pile up there. Initially the material is electrically neutral
everywhere. However, as holes pile up on the front side, a
corresponding equivalent negative charge is left on the rare face F/.
As a result an electric field is produced across F & F/.The direction
of electric field will be from front face to rare face. It is such that it
opposes the further pile up of holes on the front face F. A condition
of equilibrium is reached when FH due to transverse electric field EH
balances the Lorentz force. The transverse electric field EH is known
as Hall field.
In equilibrium condition
FL = FH
FH = e EH = e(VH/w) (3)
Substituting for FL and FH in eqn (3) we get
eBvd = eVH/w (5)
Substituting for vd from equation (2) in equation (5)
(6)
RH =
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
DIELECTRICS
Materials such as glass, ceramics, polymers and paper are non-
conducting materials. They prevent the flow of current through them,
therefore they can be used for insulation purposes. When the main
function of non-conducting materials is to provide electrical
insulation they are called Insulators.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
distance
The forbidden energy gap (Eg) between the valence band and
conduction band is very large (fig.1) in dielectrics and excitation of
electrons from valence band to conduction band is not possible under
ordinary conditions. Therefore conduction cannot occur in a
dielectric. Even if the dielectric contains impurities, extrinsic
conduction cannot occur as observed in case of extrinsic
semiconductors. The resistivity of an ideal dielectric is infinity, in
practise dielectrics conduct electric current to a negligible extent and
their resistivities range from 1010 to 1020Ωm.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
µ= (2a)q…………(1)
Polarization
E=0 E>0
Figure 5
The induced dipole sets up its own electric field which is opposite in
direction to the external field.
The dipole moment µ is a vector, directed along the axis of the
dipole from the negative charge to the positive charge.
When the molecule is polarized, restoring forces due to coulomb
attraction come into play which tends to pull the displaced
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Figure 7
d
P dv = v
Dielectric constant
For isotropic materials the electric flux density E and the electric
induction (or electric displacement) D are related by the equation
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
D=ε0εrE
Dielectric susceptibility
The magnitude of polarization is directly proportional to the
intensity of the electric field.
D=ε0E+χε0E
D= (1+χ)ε0E
D=ε0 εrE
whereεr = 1+χ
Types of Polarization
i) Electronic or Atomic Polarization:
Figure 8
This is the polarization that results from the displacement of electron
clouds of atoms or molecules with respect to the heavy fixed nuclei
to a distance that is less than the dimensions of atoms or molecules
(figure 8). This polarization sets in over a very short period of time,
of the order of 10-14-10-15s. It is independent of temperature.
The polarization is given by Pe=NαeE …..(1)
where N is the number of atoms/unit volume, αeis electronic
polarizability.
P
We have P=χε0E or …(2)
0E
Dielectric constant εr=1+χ ….(3)
Substituting eqn. (2) in eqn. (3)
Pe
εr = 1+ …..(4)
0E
Substituting for Pe from eqn (1) in eqn (4)
N e E
εr =1+
0E
N e 0 ( r 1)
εr = 1+ ……… (5) or e
0 N
εr is the dielectric constant of a non polar gaseous dielectric. The
above equation indicates that the dielectric constant depends on the
polarizability of a molecule and the number of molecules in a unit
volume of the dielectric.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
The total field at „X‟ which is the internal field Ei, is the sum of the
applied field (E) and the field due to all the dipoles (E')
1.2
Ei=E+E' =E+
0 d 3
Thus, the combined effect of induced dipoles of neighbouring atoms
is to produce a net field at the location of a given atom, which is
larger than the applied field.
ClausiusMosotti Equation
Let us consider a solid dielectric, which exhibits electronic
polarizability. If αe is the electronic polarizability per atom, it is
related to the bulk polarization P through the relation
P=αeNEi
P
Therefore αe= ….(1)
NEi
where N is the number of atoms per m3 and Ei is the local field.
P
From Lorentz field equation Ei=E+ ….(2)
3 0
Substituting equation (2) in equation (1) we get
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
P
αe =
P
N[E ]
3 0
P
We have E=
0 ( r 1)
Substituting for E in the above equation, we obtain
αe = P
P P
N[ ]
0 ( r 1) 3 0
N e 1 1
=
0 1 1 2
[ ] [ r ]
r 1 3 3( r 1)
3( r 1) N e
( r 2) 0
( r 1) N e
( r 2) 3 0
The above equation is known as Clausius Mosotti equation.
SOLVED NUMERICALS:
1. What is the probability of a level lying 0.01 eV below the Fermi
level not being occupied by electrons at T = 300K?
Solution:
Probability of electrons not being occupied = 1-f(E)
= 1- (e(E-EF)/kBT+ 1)-1
= 1 - (e 0.01/0.026 + 1)-1
= 1-[1/(1.47 + 1) ] = 0.405
2mkT
3/ 2
ni 2 e Eg / 2 kT ni=33.49x1018 /m3
h
2
S. No Sample Questions
1. An electron is accelerated by an electric field of 4V/cm, is
found to have mobility 8x 10-3 m2 / Vs. What is its drift
velocity?
2. How many valence electrons will a donor impurity has in a n-
type semiconductor?
3. What is a hole in context of semiconductors?
4. In Hall effect experiment what is the polarity of Hall voltage
for a n-type semiconductor?
5. What will be the Fermi velocity of an electron in copper if
Fermi energy (EF )= 6 eV ?
6. At 300K, if probability for occupancy of an energy state E by
an electron is 0.75, calculate probability for occupancy of the
same state by a hole?
7. Write any two assumptions of Drude-Lorentz theory?
8. Sketch the graph of Fermi factor f(E) verses E for the case
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Appendix
Expression for hole concentration in valence band
If f (E) is the probability for occupancy of an energy state at
E by an electron, then probability that energy state is vacant is given
by [1- f(E)]. Since hole represents the unoccupied state in valence
band, the probability for occupancy of state at E by a hole is equal to
probability of absence of electron at that level. The hole
concentration in valence band is therefore given by
Ev
p 1 f ( E ) g ( E )dE
bottomband
v
(7)
Ev
E
Valence band
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
1-f(E ) rapidly approaches to zero for lower energy levels, the above
equation rewritten as
Ev
p 1 f ( E ) g ( E )dE
v
4
Ev
1 f E 3 2mh 2 Ev E 2 dE
3 1
p *
h
E EF
kT
Now 1 f E 1
1 e
(8)
E EF E EF
1 e 1 e
kT kT
E EF
For E<EF (E-Ev) is negative. Therefore e 0
kT
E EF
Therefore 1 e 1
kT
( EF E )
and equation 8 reduces to 1- f(E)= e kT
EF E
4
E 3 1
p h
* 2 2 kT
3
2 m h ( E v E ) e dE
1
E F Ev Ev E E
4
3
v
2
p 3 (2mh* ) 2 e E E e
kT kT
v dE
h
E v E
2
p * 2
( 2m ) e
h
kT
e kT
( dE )
h3
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
1
E E E E
4
3 F v v
E v E
2
p * 2
( 2m ) e
h
kT
e kT
dE
h3 0
1
x 2 e dx
ax
Above equation is of the standard form where
0 2a a
1
Ev-E= x and a=
kT
E F Ev
4
3 3
p 3 (2mh* ) 2 e kT
(kT ) 2
h 2
3
2mh * kT 2 ( EFkT Ev )
p 2 2 e
h
3/ 2
2 mh*kT
Let N v 2 2
h
where Nv is temperature-dependent material constant known as
effective density of states in the valence band.
( E F Ev )
p Nve kT
2kTm 2 m m 4
* *
E
2 2 x e 2 h exp g e( e h )
h m 2kT
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
Eg
The above equation can be written as A exp
2kT
3 3
2kTm me mh 4
* *
2
Where A 2 x e( e h )
h m
2 2
1 E RA
As : B exp g We know that then
2kT l
l Eg
RB exp
A 2kT
Eg Bl
R C exp Where C
2kT A
Eg
Taking log on both sides ln R ln C
2kT
Eg
Therefore (ln R ln C )
2kT
The band gap is given by E g 2kT (ln R ln C )
Eg
ln R ln C is of the form y mx c : By taking ln R in the y-
2kT
1
axis and in the x-axis, if a graph is plotted, a straight line is
T
obtained as shown in below figure.
UNIT- III: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
METALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS
ln R
Slope
N M
Eg
m
2kT
Therefore
E g (m)kT
ln C
1/T
By finding the slope of the straight line, the band gap of the
semiconductor is determined using the relation, Eg = 2k x slope of
the straight line drawn between ln R and 1/T.
Lorentz field
Figure 16
P
dE1cosθ= cosθsinθdS
4 0 r 2
It is obvious that the perpendicular components of the upper and
lower half of the sphere cancel each other and only the parallel
components contribute to the total intensity E1. E1 is obtained by
integrating dE1 over the whole surface area of the sphere. Thus,
E1= dE1 cos dS cos dS
P 2
0
4 0 r 2 0
P
E1 = cos 2 sin d
2 0
0
1 1
x3 P 1 1 P 2 2P
P P P
E1= - x dx
2
2 0 2 0 3 1 2 0 3 3 2 0 3 6 0 3 0
1