Condensed Matter Physics I : Tutorial Sheet 4 1.

Calculate the energy in terms of kT and EF at which the difference between Boltzmann approximation and Fermi-Dirac function is 5% of the Fermi function. [Ans E-EF ~ 3kT] 2. (a) Determine for what energy above EF ( in terms of kT) the F-D probability function is within 1% of the Boltzmann approximation, (b) calculate the value of the probability function at this energy. [ Ans (a) E1-EF = 4.6 kT, (b) 0.01] 3. Estimate the temperature at which there is 1% probability that a state with energy 0.5 eV above the Fermi energy will be occupied by an electron. [ Ans 1262 K] 4. We put 11 electrons in an infinite 1-D potential well of size 10 nm. (a) What is the Fermi level at 0 K?, (b) what is the probability of exciting a carrier to the first excited state at T = 300 K? [ Ans (a) EF = 0.0432 eV (b) 0.354] sin a 5. Using the relation f ( E ) = P + cos a = cos k a , a
mVo b a 2 mE and P = Calculate the lowest (a) allowed bandwidth, 2 h2 h (b) forbidden bandwidth for P = 10 and a = 0.5 nm. [Ans (a) 0.447 eV (b) 2.79 eV]

where 2 =

6. Show that for a free electron gas, on may write D( E ) = C D E ( D 2 ) / 2 where D(E) is the
density of states and D is the dimensionality (1,2 or 3). Find CD for each case. 7. Calculate the density of states for a 3-D solid with energies between 0 and 1 eV. [Ans 4.5x1021 state/cm3] 8. Copper has a density of 8.95 gm/cm3 and an atomic weight of 63.55. Calculate the electron density assuming the Cu is monovalent and hence calculate the EF in eV. [Ans n = 8.43x1021 cm-3 EF = 7.2 eV] 9. A sample of Cu is 10 cm long, 1 cm wide and 0.1 mm thick. At 300K a magnetic field of 2 Tesla is applied perpendicular to the largest face of the metal and a current of 1 Amp is passed along the length of the sample. The total voltage drop along the length of the sample is measured to be 1.7 mV while the Hall voltage across the width of the sample is -1.0 V. Calculate (a) resistivity, (b) Hall coefficient, (c) electron density, (d) mobility, (e) drift velocity, (f) mean free path of the sample. [Ans (a) 1.7x10-6 Ohm-cm (b) -5x1011 m3C-1 (c) 1.25x1023 cm-3 (d) 29.4 cm2/V.s (e) 5x10-3 cm/sec (f) 1.67x10-14 sec] 10. Cu is FCC with lattice constant 3.62 . The average energy per electron of the conduction electron gas at low temperature is E = ( k T ) 2 3 . Calculate the EF + 5 4 EF

heat capacity per electron of this electron gas at T = 2 K and compare it with the classical result. [Ans C(2K) = 1.68x10-27 J/K/electron, C(class) = 2.07x10-23 J/K/electron]