BAND THEORY

By Unsa Shakir
ENERGY LEVELS:
 Arrangement of electrons in an atom
• Range of energy
possessed by an
electron in a
solid is known as
energy band.
CONDUCTION BAND

• The set of electron orbitals, generally the outermost shells of

the atoms in a conductor or semiconductor, in which
electrons are free to move and thereby carry an electric
current.
VALENCE BAND

• The outermost electron shell of atoms in an insulator or

semiconductor in which the electrons are too tightly bound
to the atom to carry electric current.

FILLED BAND
• Energy band, each of whose energy levels is occupied by n
electron.
ENERGY BANDS
 Insulators
Conduction Band
• In an insulator, the
forbidden gap is very large
and in general is more than
FORBIDDEN GAP
3eV.
• No electron is available
for conduction.
Energ

Valence Band • Large amount of energy

is needed to move
y

electron from valance

Filled Band
band to conduction
band.
 SEMICONDUCTORS

• Semiconductorshaveresistivity between goodconductorsand

insulators.Theresistivity ofsemi-conductorliesapproximately
in between 10 -5 to 10 4 ohm-meter as compared to the
values ranges from 10 -8 to 10 -6 ohm-meter for
conductors and from 10 7 to 10 8 ohm-meter for
insulators.
 Semiconductors
• In the caseof semiconductors the
forbidden gapisvery small.

Conduction Band • At 0K the conduction band is

empty and the valence band is
FORBIDDEN GAP completely filled.
Around 0.7eV (Ge) and
1.1 eV (Si)
• When a small amount of energy is
Energ

supplied, the electrons can easily

Valence Band
jumpthe forbidden gap.
y

• The conductivity of a
semiconductorisof the order of
Filled Band
10-6 to 104 (ohm-m)
 Insulators vs. Semiconductors

INSULATOR SEMI-CONDUCTOR

• There is no difference between Insulators and

Semiconductors at very low temperatures
• In neither material are there any electrons in the
conduction band – and so conductivity vanishes in the
low temperature limit
 Insulators vs. Semiconductors

• Differences arises at high temperatures

– A small fraction of the electrons is thermally excited into the
conduction band. These electrons carry current just as in metals
– The smaller the gap the more electrons in the conduction band at a
given high temperature
– Resistivity decreases with temperature due to higher concentration
of electrons in the conduction band
 Electrons and holes in semiconductors

At 0 K • At absolute 0 temperature, in a
pure semiconductor the valence
Conduction Band band is completely filled and the
conduction band is vacant.
Energ
y

Valence Band

Electron
• In solids , the atoms are arranged in a
systematic space lattice and each atom is
influenced by neighbouring atoms.
• The closeness of atoms results in the
intermixing of electrons of neighbourring
atoms.
 Conductors • In conductors there is no forbidden
gap.

• The valence band and the

conduction band overlap.

Conduction Band • The electrons from valence band

freely enter into the conduction
band due to overlapping of bands.
Energ

No forbidden gap
y

• Therefore very low potential

Valence Band difference can cause continuous
flow of current.
 CONDUCTIVITY

• Conductivity, by contrast, is the degree to which a

conductor allows the flow of electricity through itself.

• Think of a pipe and water, the bigger the pipe, the

easier water can flow and thus the lower the resistance.

• The unit of conductivity is the siemens (S). It was

formerly called the mho.

• Conductivity is just the inverse of resistivity, σ = 1/ρ,

where σ is conductivity.
DRIFT VELOCITY:

It the average velocity with which electrons move

along the conductor under some electric field.

Before applying electric field After applying electric field