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Chapter 10: Q53E (page 470)

In diamond, carbon’s four full (bonding) s and p spatial states become a band and the four empty(anti bonding) ones becomes a higher energy band. Considering the trend in the band gaps of diamond, silicon, and germanium, explain why it might not be surprising that “covalent” tin behaves as a conducting metallic solid.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The number of electrons are large in the conduction band and it makes the time behaves like metallic solid.

Step by step solution

01

Determine the formulas

Consider the formula for the energy of the electron as:

E=hcλ

Here,λ is the wavelength, h is the plank’s constant, and c is the speed of light.

02

Determine the answer for the question:

Consider the energy gap of the diamond is 5.4 eV and the energy gap of the silicon is 1.1 eV and 0.7 eV in the germanium. In the same way the energy gap of the covalent tin is small and same is at the room temperature. Thus, the number of electrons are large in the conduction band and it makes the time behaves like metallic solid.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Brass is a metal consisting principally of copper alloyed with a smaller amount of zinc, whose atoms do not alternate in a regular pattern in the crystal lattice but are somewhat randomly scattered about. The resistivity of brass is higher than that of either copper or zinc at room temperature, and it drops much slower as the temperature is lowered. What do these behaviors tell us about electrical conductivity in general?

What factors decrease the conductivity of a conductor as temperature increases? Are these factors also present in a Semiconductor, and if so, how can its conductivity vary with temperature in the opposite sense?

Question: - (a) Compare equation (10-11) evaluated at room temperature for a silicon band gap of 1.1 eV and for a typical donor-state/conduction band gap of 0.05 eV.

(b) Assuming only one impurity atom for every 10³ silicon atoms, do your results suggest that majority carriers, bumped up from donor levels. should outnumber minority carriers created by thermal excitation across the whole 1.1 eV gap? (The calculation ignores the difference in density of states between donor levels and bands, which actually strengthens the argument.)

Question:If electrical conductivity were determined by the mere static presence of positive ions rather than by their motion the collision time would be inversely proportional to the electron's average speed. If however, it were dominated by the motion of the ions, it should be inversely proportional to the “area" presented by a jiggling ion, which is in turn proportional to the square of its amplitude as an oscillator. Argue that only the latter view gives the correct temperature dependence in conductors of σ∝T-1. Use the equipartition theorem (usually covered in introductory thermodynamics and also discussed in Section 9.9).

It is often said that the transistor is a basic element of amplification, yet it supplies no energy of its own. Exactly what is its role in amplification?
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