p


 p

 

 p  
  
á Some solids conduct current at all temperatures and, generally, the
resistivity of such solids increases with temperature. These are
3


á Other solids stop conducting at low temperatures and their

resistivity falls with increasing temperature. These
J 
and  3J
 


 


 

 
Many solids conduct electricity.

There are electrons that are not bound to atoms but are able to move through the
whole crystal.

Conducting solids fall into two main classes; metals and semiconductors.

º (  ) M 10 8
and increases by the addition of small

 ;10 M
amounts of impurity. The resistivity normally decreases monotonically with
decreasing temperature.

º()`
 M
 

è º()M
 and can be reduced by the addition of

small amounts of impurity.

Semiconductors tend to become insulators at low T.

 


 

 

The common physical properties of metals;

‡ Great physical strength
‡ High density
‡ Good electrical and thermal conductivity, etc.

This chapter will calculate these common properties of metals

using the assumption that conduction electrons exist and consist
of all valence electrons from all the metals; thus metallic Na, Mg
and Al will be assumed to have 1, 2 and 3 mobile electrons per
atom respectively.
A simple theory of µ ë



  
 which works
remarkably well will be described to explain these properties of
metals.



 

 
á According to free electron model (FEM), the
valance electrons are responsible for the
conduction of electricity, and for this reason
these electrons are termed conduction electrons.

á Na11 D 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1 Valance electron (loosely bound)

Core electrons

á This valance electron, which occupies the third atomic shell,

is the electron which is responsible chemical properties of
Na.
á £hen we bring Na atoms together to form a Na
metal,

Na metal

á Na has a BCC structure and the distance between

nearest neighbours is 3.7 AÛ
The radius of the third shell in Na is 1.9 AÛ

á Solid state of Na atoms overlap slightly. From this

observation it follows that a valance electron is no
longer attached to a particular ion, but belongs to
both neighbouring ions at the same time.
á A valance electron really belongs to the whole
crystal, since it can move readily from one ion to
its neighbour, and then the neighbour¶s
neighbour, and so on.
á This mobile electron becomes a conduction
electron in a solid.
The removal of the valance electrons
+ + + leaves a positively charged ion.
+ + +
 


 

 

á p




  

  

p 


  
 


 
 

m 


** Jn an atom electrons revolue around the nucleus and a metal is

composed Of such atoms
á A valance electron really belongs to the whole
crystal, since it can move readily from one ion to
its neighbour, and then the neighbour¶s
neighbour, and so on.
á This mobile electron becomes a conduction
electron in a solid.

+ + +

+ + +


á These free electrons move in random

directions and collide with either positive
ions fixed to the lattice or other free
electrons. All the collision are elastic. i.e.
there is no loss of energy.

á The movements of free electrons obey the

classical free electron theory of gases


á The electron velocities in a metal obey the

Classical Statistics. i.e Maxwell-Boltzmann
Distribution of velocities .

á £hen an electric field is applied to the

metal ,the free electrons are accelerated
in the direction opposite to the direction of
applied electric field.

  
á Jn metals free electrons roam freely
through the crystal lattice .

á Jn the absence of applied external field the

net current due to the movement of
electrons is zero since they are randomly
in all directions .

á Jn between two collisions the electron

move with uniform velocity.

  

During every collision both the direction

+ + +
And the magnitude of velocity change.

+ + +

  
á According to the Ohm¶s Law
J V/R
R resistance of the wire

** The current is due to the motion of the

conduction electrons under the influence
of the electric field.
** The field E exerts a force ±eE on the
electron
 á £hen an external field applied the electrons
accelerated. Here we consider the frictional force
acting on the electron due to the collision.
á JfO is the velocity of the electron and is the time
between two consective collisions The frictional force
can be written as O
  M

  

' 
O O
M  › M





 


 


O
0
This is the steady-state velocity 

O  ›
M
x 



 

Jn the absence of the field the electrons

have random motion ,just as gas
molecules move randomly in a gas
container ,the randomly moving electrons
undergo scattering and the change the
direction. This random motion contributes
zero current and the corresponding
velocity is called the random velocity
x 



 

á Jn the presence of a field, in addition to

random velocity ,there is an additional net
velocity associated with electrons called
drift velocity due to applied electric field .
á Due to drift velocity (vd )electrons with
negative charge move opposite to the field
direction
x 



 

á Jf n is the number of conduction per unit volume

,then the charge per unit volume is (±ne).The
amount of charge crossing a unit area per unit time
is given by the current density J

á
(
)  
( ›)
M


 ›
M

›



M
x 



 

á 


m


á The average distance traveled by an

electron between two successive collision
in the presence of applied field is known
as Mean Free Path
à
   

á Relaxation Time can be defined as the

time taken for the drift velocity to decay
to 1/e of its initial value.
á Let assume that the applied field is cut off after
the drift velocity of the electron has reached its
steady value.Drift velocity after this instant is
governed by
O  O
Ñ


O  

Ñ
O
O  (
) O  (0) exp( Ñ
/ )

Vd(0)is the stedy state drift velocity

à
   

Vd(0)

Let t T
vd
Vd(t) vd(0)/e

t

á Mobility of the electron Nj is defined as the steady
state drift velocity<vd> per unit electric field.

O





.


1
º




( º )



á The electrical conductivity ı depends on
two factors ,the charge density n and their
mobility . These two quantities depend on
temperature.
á Jn metals n is constant and Nj decreases
slightly with temperature and hence with
increase of temperature ,the conductivity
decreases.
á Jn semiconductors the exponential
increase of n with temperature is
responsible for increase of conductivity
with temperature
á Jn insulator n remains constant and above
certain temperature Nj increase
exponentially resulting in dielectric
breakdown

  



 

 
** Jt verifies Ohm¶s Law

** Jt explains the electrical and thermal

conductivities of metals

** Jt derives £iedemann-Franz Law

** Jt explains Optical Properties of metals.
x    


 


 
á The phenomena such as photoelectric
Effect, Compton Effect and the Black Body
Radiation couldn¶t be explained by free
electron theory.
á According to CFET the value of specific
heat of metals is given by 4.5Ru.£here as
the experimental value nearly equal to
3Ru.
á Electrical conductivity of Semiconductor or
Jnsulators Couldn¶t be explained using this
model
å 

 


 
á This theory is proposed by Sommerfeld in
1928,with help of quantum of statistics (Fermi-
Dirac) explained QFET.

á The difficulty of classical FET arises M-B it permits

all the free electrons to gain energy.

á But in Quantum Statistics turn out that only about

one percent of the free electron to gain a energy
á Free electron moving in uniform potential
within in a metal .potential field inside the
metal not uniform.
á But instead ,the field experienced by a
moving free electrons varies periodically
with the periodicity of the crystal.
á To determine the restriction imposed by
quantum mechanics the energies that free
electron can have inside the metal
á Jt is assumed that valence electrons are traped in
constant potential well
’ ’

V(x)  
o

›(
)   
M 8M

X 0 X L
å 

 


 
á £hen an external
electric field E is
applied the force |`
exerted on the Ñ 
|

electron is ±eE.   
`
o
á Since force is also rate   
of change of Ñ 
|
(o
|
 ) o( )
momentum |
|


| Ñ |

o
å 

 


 
á This Means that origin of the k space
moves through a distance dk in time dt on
application of external field. Because of
collision with imperfection, displacement
of k space becomes steady Ʃk and dt is
then the average collision time
å 

 


 
›
 
o
`M o , 

M

  

o o ›
    ( )( )
M M o
›
 
M
No.of e-s per unit volume is n,then J is

( ) 

›

M

›



M

This treatment tell us that current carried out by very few electrons
  
á
3
 á å 

3

á 3etal is an array of positive á Electrons are in a potential
ions with electrons that are free well with infinite barriers:
to roam through the ionic array They do not leave metal, but
Electrons are treated as an ideal free to roam inside
neutral gas, and their total energy Electron energy levels are
depends on the temperature and discrete (quantized) and well
applied field defined, so average energy of
In the absence of an electrical electron is not equal to (3/)
field, electrons move with Electrons occupy energy levels
randomly distributed thermal according to Pauli¶s exclusion
velocities principle
When an electric field is applied, Electrons acquire additional
electrons acquire a net drift energy when electric field is
velocity in the direction opposite applied
to the field

x  
. The Fermi function ë(›) specifies how many of the existing states
at the energy › will be filled with electrons. The function ë(›)
specifies, under equilibrium conditions, the probability that an
available state at an energy › will be occupied by an electron. It is
a probability distribution function.

›F = Fermi energy or Fermi level

 = Boltzmann constant = 1.38$ 10 3 J/K
= 8.6 10 5 eV/K
 = absolute temperature in K

x  
á At a temperature T the probability of occupation
of an electron state of energy E is given by the
Fermi distribution function

1
ë   (› › ) / 
1
á Fermi distribution function determines the
probability of finding an electron at the energy
E.
 Fermi-Dirac distribution:

„ ` u

1
For › ' ›F : ë (   F ) 0
1  exp ()

1
For › < ›F : ë (   F ) 1
1  exp (Ñ)

F

0 1 ë()







 

x  
 
   
  




1 á fFD
At 0°K
ë   (› ›  ) / 
1
  i. E<EF
1
ë 
(  Ñ  ) / 
1
1

0.5 ii. E>EF

1
ë 
(  Ñ  ) / 
0
1


  

x   
 


!

x  
á At any temperature other than 0k,if E Ef
F(E) 1/2










 

  




 !"



#






"


#
 !

x  
á 


#



#







 

  




 !
á Electrons with Fermi energy move with Fermi
velocity and the same is related to the Fermi
temperature by the relation

1 
M   

Thank u