AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BANGLADESH

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

Electrical Properties of Materials
SPRING 2013
ASSIGNMENT
FULL MARKS: 20
Due date: 28th February, 2013.

Question 1:
Electron transport in a metal due to drift is described by the following equation J = qnE.
a) Physically what is the explanation for resistance in a bulk material? What are the basic

sources of this resistance? How do you include all these sources to determine a net
resistivity for the material?
b) For a thick metal film discuss the physical basis for this equation. How is the mobility

expressed as a function of physical parameters?

c) If the solid has two other materials in solid solution (at very low concentrations) how

would you express the mobility as a function of the concentrations? Justify your
expression physically.
d) At high frequencies what effects would need to be included. Describe the effect.
e) For a very thin metal film how would the physics change and what would happen to the

mobility?

Question 2:
a) What is an intuitive definition for Temperature in a system consisting of a large number

of molecules?
b) If we model a solid as a 2D rectangular crystalline solid consisting of balls on springs

then as a function of Temperature (T) determine the following using the 1/2kT rule:
MD SHAMSUL AREFIN
Assistant Prof., EEE Dept., AIUB

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i.

The total kinetic energy in the solid.

ii.

The total energy in the solid.

iii.

The heat capacity of the material.

Question 3:
a) Consider a 100 W, 120 V incandescent bulb (lamp). The tungsten filament has a length of

0.579 m and a diameter of 63.5 m. Its resistivity at room temperature is 56 n m. Given

that the resistivity of the filament can be represented as = 0[T/T0]n, where T is the
temperature in K, 0is the resistance of the filament at T) K, and n = 1.2, estimate the
temperature of the bulb when it is operated at the rated voltage, that is, directly from the
main outlet. Note that the bulb dissipates 100 W at 120 V.
b) Suppose the electrical power dissipated in the tungsten wire is totally radiated from the

surface of the filament. The radiated power at the absolute temperature T can be
described by Stefens law Pradiated= SA(T4 T04), where S is Stefans constant (5.56
108Wm2K4), is the emissivity of the surface (0.35 for tungsten), A is the surface
area of the tungsten filament, and T0 is room temperature (293 K). Obviously, for T > T0,
Pradiated= SAT4. Assuming that all the electrical power is radiated from the surface,
estimate the temperature of the filament and compare it with your answer in part (a).
c) If the melting temperature of W is 3407C, what is the voltage that guarantees that the

light bulb will blow?

Question 4:
An electron beam is reflected off of a thin film at an angle of 30o to the surface and results in
constructive interference. If the thin film has a thickness of 5 Ao find, using the Bragg condition
for constructive reflection, the de Broglie wavelength of the electrons and their energy in eV.

Question 5:
Consider a thin insulating disk made of mica to electrically insulate a semiconductor device from
a conducting heat sink. Mica has = 0.75 Wm1K1. The disk thickness is 0.1 mm, and the
diameter is 10 mm. What is the thermal resistance of the disk? What is the temperature drop
across the disk if the heat current through it is 25 W?
MD SHAMSUL AREFIN
Assistant Prof., EEE Dept., AIUB

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