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Chapter 10: Q60E (page 470)

Question: - A semimetal (e.g., antimony, bismuth) is a material in which electrons would fill states to the top of a band the valence band--except for the fact that the top of this band overlaps very slightly with the bottom of the next higher band. Explain why such a material, unlike the "real" metal copper, will have true positive charge carriers and equal numbers of negative ones, even at zero temperature.

Short Answer

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Answer: -

Semimetals will have true positive charge carriers and equal numbers of negative ones at zero temperature.

Step by step solution

01

Explanation

Because the semimetal's top of the valence band is slightly overlapped with the conducting band, the electrons will move from the top of the valence band to the bottom of the conducting band and leave holes in the top of the valence band. Thus, semimetals have both holes and electrons as charge carriers. The number of electrons reaching the conduction band is equal to the holes formed in the valance band.

Hence, semimetals will have true positive charge carriers and equal numbers of negative ones at zero temperature.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Electron affinity is a property specifying the "appetite" of an element for gaining electrons. Elements, such as fluorine and oxygen that lack only one or two electrons to complete shells can achieve a lower energy state by absorbing an external electron. For instance, in uniting an electron with a neutral chlorine atom, completing its n = 3 shell and forming a CI ion, 3.61 eV of energy is liberated. Suppose an electron is detached from a sodium atom, whose ionization energy is 5.14 eV.Then transferred to a (faraway) chlorine atom.

(a) Must energy on balance be put in by an external agent, or is some energy actually liberated? If so How much?

(b) The transfer leaves the sodium with a positive charge and the chlorine with a negative. Energy can now be extracted by allowing these ions to draw close forming a molecule. How close must they approach to recover the energy expended in part (a)?

(c)The actual separation of the atoms in a NaCl molecule is 0.24 nm. How much lower in energy is the molecule than the separated neutral atoms?

Question: The interatomic potential energy in a diatomic molecule (Figure 10.16) has many features: a minimum energy, an equilibrium separation a curvature and so on. (a) Upon what features do rotational energy levels depend? (b) Upon what features do the vibration levels depend?

By the “vector” technique of example 10.1 , show that the angles between all lobes of the hybridsp3states are 109.5°..

The "floating magnet trick" is shown in Figure 10.50. If the disk on the bottom were a permanent magnet, rather than a superconductor, the trick wouldn't work. The superconductor does produce an external field very similar to that of a permanent magnet. What other characteristic is necessary to explain the effect? (Him: What happens when you hold two ordinary magnets so that they repel, and then you release one of them?)

In Figure 10.24, the band n = 1 ends at k=4πL, while in Figure 10.27 it ends atπa. Are these compatible? If so, how?
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