Answered step by step
Verified Expert Solution
Link Copied!

Question

1 Approved Answer

Can get the solution for this Engineering physics problem? The subject is thermodynamics. this is everything you need to solve this question from the image,

Can get the solution for this Engineering physics problem? The subject is thermodynamics.

this is everything you need to solve this question from the image, and it is all I have.

Recommended Text: Finn's Thermal Physics, third edition (CRC Press, 2017). copy and paste the link below on your computer to access the textbook.

file:///C:/Users/menhe/Downloads/Finn's%20Thermal%20Physics%20(3rd%20Ed).pdf

image text in transcribed
Problem 3: Electronic Band Structure A semiconductor is a type of material that is in some ways intermediate between a regular conductor of electricity and an electrical insulator. Examples include the elements silicon and germanium, which lie in between the metals and the nonmetals on the Periodic Table. In a semiconductor, there are two allowed ranges of energies that electrons can have, called the valence band and the conduction band. The forbidden region in between the two is known as the band gap. In order for an electron to move around inside the semiconductor, it has to be in the conduction band, not the valence band. When the semiconductor is cold, the valence band is full of electrons and the conduction band is empty. Thermal fluctuations, which we can describe using the canonical distribution, boost electrons up from the valence band to the conduction band. The number of electrons in the valence band will be proportional to the Boltzmann factor e-BEgap, where Egap is the width of the band gap. To be a little more detailed, N = VC(kBT) 3/2e-Esap/(KBT) . (7 ) Here, C is a constant that depends upon the particular material (silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, etc.). (a) To what does Eq. (7) reduce at low temperature, i.e., KBT much less than Egap? (b) What about high temperature? (c) Silicon has a band gap of about 1.1 electron volts (eV). What is the ratio of this to the thermal energy kBT at room temperature? Would you call room temperature "low" or "high" as far as silicon is concerned? (d) How, qualitatively speaking, does the temperature dependence of a semiconductor's ability to conduct electricity differ from that of a metal

Step by Step Solution

There are 3 Steps involved in it

Step: 1

blur-text-image

Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions

See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success

Step: 2

blur-text-image

Step: 3

blur-text-image

Ace Your Homework with AI

Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance

Get Started

Recommended Textbook for

Essential College Physics Volume 1

Authors: Andrew Rex, Richard Wolfson

1st Edition

978-0321611161, 0321611160

More Books

Students also viewed these Physics questions