ENERGY BAND STRUCTURES IN SOLIDS

For many solids, there is only electronic conduction.

 depends on number of electrons participating in
conduction process.

No. of participating electrons is related to

1. arrangement of electron states or levels with respect to energy,
2. the manner in which these states are occupied by electrons.

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 ENERGY BAND STRUCTURES IN SOLIDS
In individual atoms
Discrete energy levels that may be occupied by electrons,
arranged into shells and subshells.

Shell Sub-shell No. of States

s p d f
1, 2, 3 etc. s, p, d, f 1 3 5 7

Electrons fill only the states having the lowest energies,

two electrons of opposite spin per state, in accordance
with Pauli exclusion principle.

Electron configuration of an isolated atom represents the

arrangement of the electrons within the allowed states.
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 ENERGY BAND STRUCTURES IN SOLIDS

For N = 12
A solid  Consists of a large number
of atoms initially separated from one
another.

All atoms brought together and

bonded to form the ordered atomic
arrangement found in the crystalline
material.

Each distinct atomic state

splits into a series of
closely spaced electron
states termed as an
electron energy band

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POSSIBLE BAND STRUCTURES IN SOLIDS AT 0 K

Metals like Cu Solids like Mg Insulators Semiconductors

Band gap > 2 eV

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 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
CONDUCTION BY FREE ELECTRON

 = Applied field gradient

m = mass of electron
a = acceleration of electron due to field

Velocity does not increase continuously.

Av. increment in velocity between

successive collisions is called drift
velocity.

Drift velocity
= extra velocity over and above normal
velocity with no field.

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CONDUCTION BY FREE ELECTRON

MOBILITY
Drift velocity
 Av. electron velocity in the direction
of force imposed by the applied field.

vd  
proportionailty constant = electron
mobility.

vd = e
  = nee
e is an indication of the frequency of the
scattering events;
Its unit is m2/V.s

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 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF METALS

Mean free path = Av. distance between two successive collisions

For an ideal crystal

at T = 0 K,
mean free path = 0  infinite conductivity

at temp T > 0 K
• electrons vibrate about their mean positions
• these vibrations can be thought of as elastic waves in crystal
(phonons)
• these phonons interact with motion of electrons
 decrease in conductivity

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 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF METALS

Practical cases (metals contain defects, impurities, etc)

 Crystalline defects serve as scattering centers for conduction of
electrons in metals.
 Increasing their number raises the resistivity (or lowers the
conductivity).
 Concentration of these imperfections depends on temperature,
composition, and the degree of cold work of a metal specimen.

It has been observed experimentally that the total resistivity

of a metal is the sum of the contributions from
 thermal vibrations,
 impurities,
 & plastic deformation.

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 ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF METALS

total = t + d + i Matthiessen’s rule

t = thermal contributions
d = deformation contributions
i = impurity contributions

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 CONDUCTOR & RESISTOR MATERIALS

Suitability of materials as conductors

• High electrical conductivity
• High thermal conductivity – dissipate heat effectively
• High melting point – accidental overheating does not fuse the
contacts
• High oxidation resistance – free from insulating oxides

Ex: Al for long distance applications & Cu for switch, brushes,

relays, etc.

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 CONDUCTOR & RESISTOR MATERIALS

Requirement for resistor applications

 Uniform resistivity
 Stable resistance
 Small temperature coefficient of resistance ()
– (minimizes error due to fluctuations in temp)

𝟏 𝒅𝑹
= For pure Cu,  = 4000 x 10-6 K-1,
𝑹 𝒅𝑻
Manganin alloy (87 % Cu, 13 % Mn)  = 20 x 10-6 K-1

Heating elements (low thermal expansion coefficient – good for thermal

cycling)
Resistance thermometers (high value of )

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INTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
Conduction is due to intrinsic processes characteristic of the solid without
influence of impurities (external material in the host/ dopants)

Characterized by a completely filled valence band, separated from an empty

conduction band by a relatively narrow forbidden band gap (< 2 eV).

Ex: Si (1.1 eV), Ge (0.7 eV) – IVA elements in

periodic table, covalently bonded

Compound semiconducting materials :

- between IIIA & VA elements (GaAs, InSb)

- between IIB and VIA elements (CdS, ZnTe).

As the two elements forming these compounds become more widely

separated with respect to their relative positions in the periodic table (i.e., the
electronegativities become more dissimilar), the atomic bonding becomes more
ionic and the magnitude of the band gap energy increases - the materials tend to
become more insulative.

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INTRINSIC CONDUCTVITY
Because there are two types of charge carrier (free electrons and holes) in an
intrinsic semiconductor,

 = neq + phq
where p is the number of holes per m3 and h is the hole mobility.

The magnitude of µh is always less than µe for semiconductors.

For intrinsic semiconductors, every electron promoted across the band gap leaves
behind a hole in the valence band; thus, n = p = ni
where ni = intrinsic carrier concentration.

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EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
Virtually all commercial semiconductors are extrinsic;
that is, the electrical behavior is determined by impurities.

P atom substitutes a Si atom.

Excitation to form a free electron. The motion of this free
This results in an extra bonding
electron in response to an
electron, which is bound to the
electric field.
impurity atom and orbits it.

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EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

Electron energy band scheme for a donor

impurity level

Energy band diagram for an

For each loosely bound electron  a single energy acceptor impurity level.
level, or energy state,

Energy state is located within the forbidden band

gap just below the bottom of the conduction band.

The electron binding energy corresponds to the

energy required to excite the electron from one of
these impurity states to a state within the
conduction band.

Each excitation event supplies or donates a single

electron to the conduction band

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APPLICATIONS OF SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

Whatever you see around you contains a semiconductor device

- probably a million of devices

Basic device: p-n junction diodes, transistors, etc.

p-n-p junction transistor

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