Drude model

The Drude model of electrical conduction was proposed in

1900[1][2] by Paul Drude to explain the transport properties of
electrons in materials (especially metals). The model, which is an
application of kinetic theory, assumes that the microscopic behavior
of electrons in a solid may be treated classically and looks much like
a pinball machine, with a sea of constantly jittering electrons
bouncing and re-bouncing off heavier, relatively immobile positive
ions.

The two most significant results of the Drude model are an electronic
equation of motion,

Drude model electrons (shown here in blue)

and a linear relationship between current density J and electric field constantly bounce between heavier, stationary
E, crystal ions (shown in red).

Here t is the time, ⟨p⟩ is the average momentum per electron and q, n, m, and τ are respectively the electron charge, number
density, mass, and mean free time between ionic collisions (that is, the mean time an electron has traveled since the last collision).
The latter expression is particularly important because it explains in semi-quantitative terms why Ohm's law, one of the most
[3][4][5]
ubiquitous relationships in all of electromagnetism, should be true.

The model was extended in 1905 by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (and hence is also known as the Drude–Lorentz model) and is a
classical model. Later it was supplemented with the results of quantum theory in 1933 by Arnold Sommerfeld and Hans Bethe,
leading to the Drude–Sommerfeld model.

Contents
Assumptions
Explanations
DC field
Time-varying analysis
AC field
Drude response in real materials
Accuracy of the model
See also
References
External links

Assumptions
The Drude model considers the metal to be formed of a mass of positively charged ions from which a number of "free electrons"
were detached. These may be thought to have become delocalized when the valence levels of the atom came in contact with the
potential of the other atoms.[6]

The Drude model neglects any long-range interaction between the electron and the ions or between the electrons. The only possible
interaction of a free electron with its environment is via instantaneous collisions. The average time between subsequent collisions of
such an electron is τ, and the nature of the collision partner of the electron does not matter for the calculations and conclusions of the
Drude model.[6]

After a collision event, the velocity (and direction) of the electron only depends on the local temperature distribution and is
[6]
completely independent of the velocity of the electron before the collision event.

Explanations

DC field
The simplest analysis of the Drude model assumes that electric field E is both uniform and constant, and that the thermal velocity of
electrons is sufficiently high such that they accumulate only an infinitesimal amount of momentum dp between collisions, which
occur on average everyτ seconds.[3]

Then an electron isolated at time t will on average have been traveling for time τ since its last collision, and consequently will have
accumulated momentum

During its last collision, this electron will have been just as likely to have bounced forward as backward, so all prior contributions to
the electron's momentum may be ignored, resulting in the expression

Substituting the relations

results in the formulation of Ohm's law mentioned above:

Time-varying analysis
The dynamics may also be described by introducing an effective drag force. At time t = t0 + dt the average electron's momentum
will be

dt
because, on average, a fraction of 1 − of the electrons will not have experienced another collision, and the ones that have will
τ
.[7]
contribute to the total momentum to only a negligible order

With a bit of algebra and dropping terms of orderdt2, this results in the differential equation
where ⟨p⟩ denotes average momentum and q the charge of the
electrons. This, which is an inhomogeneous differential equation,
may be solved to obtain the general solution of

d ⟨p⟩
for p(t). The steady state solution ( = 0) is then
dt
Drude response of electrons to an AC electric field.

As above, average momentum may be related to average velocity and this in turn may be related to current density
,

and the material can be shown to satisfy Ohm's law with a DC-conductivity σ0:

AC field
The Drude model can also predict the current as a response to a time-
dependent electric field with an angular frequencyω, in which case

Complex conductivity for different frequencies

assuming that τ = 10 −5 and that σ0 = 1 .

Here it is assumed that

Please note, that in other convention, used by engineers, i is replaced by −i (or −j ) in all equations, which reflects the phase
difference with respect to origin, rather than delay at the observation point traveling in time. The imaginary part indicates that the
current lags behind the electrical field, which happens because the electrons need roughly a time τ to accelerate in response to a
change in the electrical field. Here the Drude model is applied to electrons; it can be applied both to electrons and holes; i.e., positive
charge carriers in semiconductors. The curves forσ(ω) are shown in the graph.

If an oscillating sinusoidal electric field with frequency is applied to the solid, the negatively charged electrons behave as a plasma
that tends to move a distancex apart from the positively charged background. As a result, the sample is polarized and there will be an
excess charge at the opposite surfaces of the sample.

The dielectric constant of the sample is expressed as

where is the electric displacement and is the polarization density.

The polarization densities is written as

and the polarization density withn electron density is

After a little algebra the relation between polarization density and electric field can be expressed as

The frequency dependent dielectric function of the solid is

At a resonance frequency , called the plasma frequency, the dielectric function changes sign from negative to positive and real
part of the dielectric function drops to zero.

The plasma frequency represents a plasma oscillation resonance or plasmon. The plasma frequency can be employed as a direct
measure of the square root of the density of valence electrons in a solid. Observed values are in reasonable agreement with this
theoretical prediction for a large number of materials.[8] Below the plasma frequency, the dielectric function is negative and the field
cannot penetrate the sample. Light with angular frequency below the plasma frequency will be totally reflected. Above the plasma
frequency the light waves can penetrate the sample.

Drude response in real materials

The characteristic behavior of a Drude metal in the time or frequency domain, i.e. exponential relaxation with time constant τ or the
frequency dependence for σ(ω) stated above, is called Drude response. In a conventional, simple, real metal (e.g. sodium, silver, or
gold at room temperature) such behavior is not found experimentally, because the characteristic frequency τ−1 is in the infrared
frequency range, where other features that are not considered in the Drude model (such as band structure) play an important role.[9]
But for certain other materials with metallic properties, frequency-dependent conductivity was found that closely follows the simple
Drude prediction for σ(ω). These are materials where the relaxation rate τ−1 is at much lower frequencies.[9] This is the case for
certain doped semiconductor single crystals,[10] high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases,[11] and heavy-fermion metals.[12]

Accuracy of the model

Historically, the Drude formula was first derived in an incorrect way, namely by assuming that the charge carriers form a classical
ideal gas. Arnold Sommerfeld considered quantum theory and extended the theory to the free electron model, where the carriers
follow Fermi–Dirac distribution. Amazingly, the conductivity predicted turns out to be the same as in the Drude model as it does not
depend on the form of the electronic speed distribution.

Drude model provides a very good explanation of DC and AC conductivity in metals, the Hall effect, and the magnetoresistance in
metals near room temperature. The model also explains partly the Wiedemann–Franz law of 1853. However, it greatly overestimates
the electronic heat capacities of metals. In reality, metals and insulators have roughly the same heat capacity at room temperature.
The model can also be applied to positive (hole) char
ge carriers, as demonstrated by the Hall effect.

One note of trivia surrounding the theory is that in his original paper Drude made a conceptual error, estimating the Lorentz number
of Wiedemann-Franz law to in fact be twice of what it classically should have been, thus making it seem in agreement with the
experimental measurement. Another surprise is that the experimental value for the specific heat its about 100 smaller than the
classical prediction but this factor cancels out with the mean electronic speed that is actually about 100 times bigger than Drude's
calculation. [13]

See also
Free electron model
Arnold Sommerfeld
Electrical conductivity

References
1. Drude, Paul (1900). "Zur Elektronentheorie der Metalle"(http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/1124859
59/PDFSTART). Annalen der Physik. 306 (3): 566. Bibcode:1900AnP...306..566D (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/19
00AnP...306..566D). doi:10.1002/andp.19003060312(https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fandp.19003060312) .
2. Drude, Paul (1900). "Zur Elektronentheorie der Metalle; II. T eil. Galvanomagnetische und thermomagnetische
Effecte" (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/112485893/PDFSTART). Annalen der Physik. 308 (11):
369. Bibcode:1900AnP...308..369D (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1900AnP ...308..369D).
doi:10.1002/andp.19003081102(https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fandp.19003081102) .
3. Neil Ashcroft; David Mermin (1976). Solid State Physics. Saunders College. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-03-083993-9.
4. Edward M. Purcell (1965).Electricity and Magnetism. McGraw-Hill. pp. 117–122.ISBN 978-0-07-004908-6.
5. David J. Griffiths (1999). Introduction to Electrodynamics. Prentice-Hall. p. 289.ISBN 978-0-13-805326-0.
6. Neil Ashcroft; N. David Mermin (1976).Solid State Physics. Saunders College. pp. 2–6. ISBN 0-03-083993-9.
7. Neil Ashcroft; N. David Mermin (1976).Solid State Physics. Saunders College. p. 11. ISBN 0-03-083993-9.
8. C. Kittel (1953–1976).Introduction to Solid State Physics. Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-49024-5.
9. M. Dressel; M. Scheffler (2006). "Verifying the Drude response".Ann. Phys. 15 (7–8): 535–544.
Bibcode:2006AnP...518..535D (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AnP ...518..535D). doi:10.1002/andp.200510198
(https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fandp.200510198).
10. M. van Exter; D. Grischkowsky (1990). "Carrier dynamics of electrons and holes in moderately doped silicon".
Phys.
Rev. B. 41 (17): 12140–12149. Bibcode:1990PhRvB..4112140V(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990PhRvB..411214
0V). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.41.12140(https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevB.41.12140) .
11. P. J. Burke; I. B. Spielman; J. P. Eisenstein; L. N. Pfeiffer; K. W. West (2000). "High frequency conductivity of the
high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas".Appl. Phys. Lett. 76 (6): 745–747. Bibcode:2000ApPhL..76..745B (htt
p://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000ApPhL..76..745B) . doi:10.1063/1.125881 (https://doi.org/10.1063%2F1.125881).
12. M. Scheffler; M. Dressel; M. Jourdan; H. Adrian (2005). "Extremely slow Drude relaxation of correlated electrons".
Nature. 438 (7071): 1135–1137. Bibcode:2005Natur.438.1135S (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur .438.1135
S). doi:10.1038/nature04232 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature04232). PMID 16372004 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pubmed/16372004).
13. Neil W. Ashcroft; N. David Mermin (1976).Solid State Physics. Saunders College. p. 23. ISBN 0-03-083993-9.

External links
DrudeLorentz.com Database featuring online plotting and parameterisation of the Drude-Lorentz models of common
metals
Nanohub online lectureDrude formula in quantum transport course
The Drude Model

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