Department of Physics

Ume University

2015-04-02

Properties of Solids

Hassan Alhasnawi

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)

Weixin Chen

(1205545689@qq.com)

Benan Aksoy

(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Solid State Physics

Supervisor
Hamid Reza Barzegar Goltapehei
hamid.barzegar@physics.umu.se

Abstract
As a mandatory part of the course Solid State Physics, three separate laboratories practical were
conducted. The goal of the first experiment was to get a better understanding of the electrical
conductivity in a metal (), a semiconductor () and a superconductor (2 3 7). The goal
of the second experiment was to get a better understanding of the Hall effect in a semiconductor
() and lastly, the third experiment with the goal of determining the band gaps in the
semiconductors and .
The electrical conductivity was studied by decreasing the temperature in the three different materials
with a vacuum cooling system to a temperature of 10 . The temperature was then increased and a
current was fed through the samples in order to measure the resistance of the samples with a 4-pole
resistance measurement. These measurements where registered with a monitoring program Elledn
and the measurement series were conducted in a temperature interval ranging from 10 to 300 .
The band gaps were determined by exposing the samples to light of different wavelengths and
determining at what wavelength the material absorbs the light. The transmittance of the material is
determined by placing the sample between the light source and a photoresistor, which absorbed the
transmitted light and returned a signal proportional to the amount of absorbed photons. The
transmittance was measured with and without the sample for every wavelength in an interval ranging
from 800 to 1500 for silicon (), with an increase of 5 per measurement and 1500
to 1900 for germanium (), with an increase of 10 per measurement. The absorption could
be obtained using the measured values. By plotting the obtained absorption of the different samples as
a function of the photon energy, two linear fits could be applied in each case, where the intercept was
the band gap energy.
The Hall effect was studied by decreasing the temperature of the sample to a temperature of 83 .
Two measurement series was performed, ranging from 83 to 300 with an increase of 10 per
measurement. The measured quantities in the first series where the thermocouple voltage, the voltage
over the 10 resistor and the Ohmic voltage when the current is moving in either direction. The
measured quantities in this series where the thermocouple voltage, the voltage over the 10 resistor
and the Hall voltage.
The obtained band gap energy for the -sample was 1,13 and for the -sample 0,68 in the
band gap experiment.
In the Hall effect experiment, the thermal band gap energy was determined to be 0,277 , the carrier
density increased with increasing temperature and the carrier mobility decreased with decreasing
temperature. The proportionality of the mobility to the temperature was calculated to 1,25.
The conclusion made in this report was that the free electron model and the complementarities from
the nearly free electron model successfully predicts the outcome of the results.

Table of Contents
1.

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

2.

Theory ............................................................................................................................................. 1

3.

4.

5.

6.

2.1.

Electrical Conductivity ............................................................................................................ 1

2.2.

Band Gap in Semiconductor .................................................................................................... 2

2.3.

Metals, Insulators and Semiconductors ................................................................................... 3

2.4.

The Hall Effect ........................................................................................................................ 3

Experimental ................................................................................................................................... 5
3.1.

Electrical Conductivity ............................................................................................................ 5

3.2.

Band Gap in Semiconductor .................................................................................................... 6

3.3.

The Hall Effect ........................................................................................................................ 7

Results ............................................................................................................................................. 8
4.1.

Electrical conductivity ............................................................................................................. 8

4.2.

Band Gap in Semiconductor .................................................................................................. 10

4.3.

The Hall Effect ...................................................................................................................... 12

Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 15
5.1.

Electrical Conductivity .......................................................................................................... 15

5.2.

Band Gap in Semiconductor .................................................................................................. 16

5.3.

The Hall Effect ...................................................................................................................... 16

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 17

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 18

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

1. Introduction
Why does the electrical conductivity of solids vary with temperature? What is the band gap energy and
why does it vary for different semiconductors? Why does an electric field arise when a solid is
subjected to a magnetic field and a transverse current density? In this report, the free electron model
will be used and complemented with the nearly free electron model to give an explanation to these
different properties, along with experimental verifications of these theories.
Three different laboratories where conducted in order to verify the theories. The goal of the first
laboratory was to study the temperature dependence the electrical conductivity in a metal, a
semiconductor and a superconductor. In the second laboratory, the goal was to determine the band gap
energies of the semiconductors silicon and germanium, by measuring their transmission of light as a
function of the wavelength. In the final laboratory, the task was to determine the band gap as well as
the temperature dependence of the charge carriers mobility and concentration in indium antimonide.

2. Theory
Two models will be introduced in order to explain the properties of different crystalline solids, such as
the electrical conductivity, Hall effect and the band gap.

2.1. Electrical Conductivity

In the case where only a dc electric field is present, the equation of motion for an electron has the
steady state solution

= ,

(1)

where is the drift velocity, is the elementary charge, is scattering time, is the mass of an
electron and is an electric field. The proportionality constant in Eq. 1, the mobility , is defined as
=

(2)

It is also necessary to define the electric current density , using Ohms law, as
=
where =

2
,

(3)

is the electron density and is Avogadros constant. Using Eq. 2, the proportionality

constant from Eq. 3, which is defined as the electrical conductivity becomes

= .

(4)

The scattering time in a metal is assumed to have two independent contributions. The first
contribution being from a temperature-dependent electron-phonon scattering rate and the second being
a constant scattering rate, independent of temperature, that occurs due to electron collisions with
impurity atoms, vacancies and other structural defects. Thus, the total scattering time can be described
as
1

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)
1

()

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02
(5)

+ ,
0

where () is the temperature-dependent contribution from electron-phonon scattering that

approaches infinity as the temperature approaches zero. 0 is the constant, temperature-independent
scattering time that is present at all temperatures.
From Eq. 3, Eq. 4, Eq. 5 and the knowledge that the resistivity, is inversely proportional to the
electrical conductivity, the expected resistivity for a metal is

= 2 () + 2 ,

(6)

where the expected proportionalities for different temperatures is

{

0 ,
,
,

(7)

where is the Debye temperature.[1]

2.2. Band Gap in Semiconductor

The band gap is an energy interval, where no electron states are available. It can also be described as
the required energy for an electron to be raised from the valance band to the conduction band. The
conduction band is the energy range where the electrons can move freely within the lattice of a
material. If the zero potential is chosen to be at the top of the valence band, the energy of an electron
for different values of in the valence band can be described as
2 2

= 2 ,

(8)

where =

,
2

where is Plancks constant, is the wavenumber and denotes the mass of a hole.

Similarly, the energy of an electron in the conduction band can be described as

= +

2 2
,
2

(9)

where is the band gap energy. In the case where the maximum of Eq. 8 and the minimum of Eq. 9
occur at the same value of , the band gap is referred to as a direct band gap. For a direct gap, it is
necessary for the electron to obtain energy from a photon
= ,

(10)

where is the frequency, in order to move the conduction band. On the other hand, when the
maximum and minimum occur at different values of , the band gap is referred to as an indirect band
gap. For an electron to be raised to the conduction band in an indirect band gap, it is necessary for it to
obtain the required energy from a photon as well as the required momentum from a phonon.
Furthermore the phonon has an energy and thus, although comparably low to that of the photon. Thus,
in order for the energy balance to be satisfied, the photon energy absorbed from the electron must not
equal the band gap energy, due to the fact that the phonon will transfer an energy to the electron as
well. This can be observed in the dependency of the absorption to the photon energy, where photons
are absorbed when their energy is close to that of the band gap, but not when they are equal.[2]

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

2.3. Metals, Insulators and Semiconductors

Crystalline solids depict different capabilities of electric conduction. The solids can be classified into
metals, insulators and semiconductors, using the nearly free electron model and the introduction of
holes. Expected is that for an odd number of valence electrons in a primitive unit cell, the solid will
attain metallic properties. For an even number of valence electrons in a primitive unit cell, the solid
will possess insulating properties if the band gap is large and semiconducting-behavior if the band gap
is small.[3]
When an energy band is completely filled with electrons, no current will be transported. This is due to
the fact that when the electrons experience a shift in a certain point in k-space, the remainder of the
electrons will experience the same shift. This will cause no change in the electron distribution and thus
no current will be produced.[4]
A change in the behavior of the resistivity has been observed when in many materials, when they are
subjected to low temperatures. At a temperature, specific for each material, the finite resistivity drops
to a non-measurably small resistivity. The temperature where the drop in resistivity occurs is referred
to as the transition temperature and the phenomenon is referred to as superconductivity.[5]

2.4. The Hall Effect

The Hall effect is the phenomena that describes the transverse electric field arising in some solid
materials when they are subjected to a magnetic field and a current density is passed through it
simultaneously. The electric field, (also known as the Hall field) can be described by the relation
= ,

(11)

where is the hall coefficient and is the magnetic field. Figure 1Error! Reference source not
found. illustrates the orientation of the current density, the magnetic field, the electric field, as well as
the Lorentz force and the force caused due to the magnetic field and the Hall field
respectively.

Figure 1. An electric field arising in a metal, due to it being subjected to a magnetic field and a
current density . The Lorentz force occurring due to the magnetic field is balanced by the
force occurring due to the Hall field.[6]

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

For semiconducting material, there are two types of carriers, electrons and holes. In steady state,
with = 0, the equation of motion for electrons and holes, and Eq. 10 yield a Hall coefficient
1

(12)

= ,

when , where is the hole concentration. Similarly, for , the Hall coefficient becomes
1

(13)

= .
By combining Eq. 4 and Eq. 11 or Eq. 12, the carrier mobility is expected to be
= | |.[7]

(14)

The temperature dependence of the carrier mobility can be determined by knowing that the mean free
path, , is
1

(15)

,
the drift velocity is
1

(16)

2
and that the carrier mobility can be rewritten as

(17)

= .

Thus the expected proportionality of the carrier mobility to the temperature is

3

(18)

2 .

As for the carrier density, it is expected to increase slightly at low temperatures, due to the energy
being high enough to excite the electrons from the valence band to the acceptor level and from the
donor level to the conduction band. At intermediate temperatures, the carrier density will be constant,
due to all electron states in the acceptor level being filled, and all the electrons in the donor level being
excited. At higher temperatures the electrons will receive high enough energies in order to be excited
from the valence band to the conduction band, therefore the carrier density will increase again as the
temperature increase.[8]
In the case of an ideal semiconductor, every electron that is excited leaves a hole behind in the valence
band. This is referred to as an intrinsic semiconductor. The carrier density as a function of the
temperature can for an intrinsic semiconductor be determined by
3

() =

1 2 2
(
)
4 2

( )4

(19)

where denotes the carrier density for the intrinsic case, is the effective mass of an electron and
is the effective mass of a hole. The expected proportionality of the carrier density to the
temperature can be determined by using Eq. 19 to
3

.[8][9]

(20)

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

The proportionality of the electrical conductivity to the temperature is obtained by applying the
proportionalities in Eq. 18 and Eq. 20 in Eq. 4 to obtain

(21)

The temperature dependence of the band gap energy is quadratic at low temperatures and linear at high
temperatures. It is sufficient to assume that
() = (1 ),

(22)

where is an arbitrary constant. By applying Eq. 22 in Eq. 21 and applying the natural logarithm to it,
the obtained relation is

ln() = 2,

(23)

where is a constant. This is however valid for higher temperatures due to the above stated argument
that the band gap energy is linear at high temperatures.[9]

3. Experimental
Three laboratories practical where conducted in order to verify the theories. In this section, the method
of these will be presented.

3.1. Electrical Conductivity

The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity for the metal platinum (), the
semiconductor indium antimonide () and the superconductor yttrium barium copper oxide
(2 3 7 ) where studied, by lowering the temperature to 10 and measuring the resistance
through the different sample, for a given voltage and current.
Before the samples was cooled down, a coarse vacuum pump was used in order to lower the pressure
to approximately 101 before a turbo-molecular pump was started to further decrease the pressure
to 103 in the container. This is executed in order to decrease the amount of particles within the
container which can decrease the cooling rate.
The cryogenic equipment, used to decrease the temperature of the samples, was turned on when the
desired pressure was reached. The cryogenic equipment consisted of a compressor, a two-stage
cooling head and flexible pressure tubes.
The samples where connected to a copper plate in order to obtain a uniform temperature, further
lowering the temperature gradient through the samples by applying a conducting paste between the
sample and the copper plate. The copper plate is connected to the cooling head, with a indium foil
placed between in order to increase the surface contact between the materials, thus increasing the heat
conduction.
The temperature was measured with two silicon diodes of model DT-500 P/GR and monitored with
the program Elledn. In order to further decrease the error from the temperature gradient, the silicon
diodes was situated on the copper plate, and on the cooling head. Thus an average of the two
measurements could be obtained. However, the silicon diode on the cooling head was the only one
used during the experiment due to the fact that the absolute values of the measurements being of lesser
interest, but rather the general behavior of the samples being the important part of the study.
5

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

In order to measure the resistance, a 4-pole resistance measurement system consisting of a multimeter
was used, with a current measurement in series and a voltage measurement in parallel for each sample.
The program Elledn registered the resistance for the corresponding temperature automatically.
When a temperature of 10 was reached, a series of resistance measurements where conducted in an
interval ranging from 10 to 300 , with an increase of 5 per measurement in the range 10 to
80 , 2 per measurement in the range 80 to 100 and 10 per measurement in the range
100 to 300 .

3.2. Band Gap in Semiconductor

It is not easy to measure the band gap energy directly. However, the wavelength of the incident
photons that excite the electron to the conduction band is measurable. The semiconductors can only
absorb light with specific wavelength in order to excite the electrons from the valence band to the
conduction band. If the wavelength is known, the band gap can be determined by using Eq. 10.
A light source consisting of a light bulb was used in order to emit light upon samples of
semiconducting materials, in this case germanium and silicon. The light source emitted light in all
wavelengths and was directed towards the opening of a monochromator, in order to transmit light of a
specific wavelength. The wavelength of the transmitted light could be varied by changing the angle of
the grating within the monochromator.
The sample of semiconducting material was exposed to the transmitted light and in turn a
photoconductive resistor made of lead sulfide absorbed the light transmitted through the sample. In
order to avoid overheating of the photoconductive resistor, a chopper was situated between the light
source and the sample, thus decreasing the exposure time of the detector to light. An oscilloscope was
connected to the photoconductive resistor, in order to measure the absorbed light, thus obtaining a
measurement of the transmittance in the sample. The oscilloscope registered a voltage, proportional to
the absorbed light on the photoconductive resistor.
A measurement without the sample was conducted for the same wavelength but without the sample, in
order to measure the total emitted light. The absorption, of the sample could be obtained by the
relation
= 1 (

where is the voltage and the index denotes the measured voltage with and without the sample.
This procedure was repeated in an interval ranging from 800 to 1500 for silicon (), with an
increase of 5 per measurement and 1500 to 1900 for germanium (), with an increase of
10 per measurement. A schematic illustration of the laboratory equipment is presented in Figure 2,
oscilloscope excluded.

Figure 2. A schematic illustration of the laboratory equipment used for determining the band gap in
semiconducting material, oscilloscope excluded.[10]
6

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

3.3. The Hall Effect

The Hall effect in a semiconductor was studied by executing two series of measurements. The first
involved varying the temperature of a sample of exposed to a current and the second involved
the same as the aforementioned, including the appliance of a constant magnetic field transverse to the
current.
The orientation of the connection wires in the sample, as well as the dimensions of the sample is
illustrated in Figure 3. The dimensions where noted from the manual corresponding to the laboration
equipment. In order to apply a current through the sample, a constant current generator, able to change
the direction of the current was connected to it using wires soldered on either side of the sample. The
current was calculated by measuring the voltage over a 10 resistor, connected in series with the
circuit. The wires through which the current is passing are supposed to be connected at the same
height on the sample. This is not the case, due to imprecise installation. Thus, a temperature gradient
between the connection points is present. The Ohmic voltage is measured in both directions in order to
eliminate the measurement error that occurs due to the temperature gradient in the sample. The Ohmic
voltage is thus assumed to be the average of the two measurements. The voltage over the sample was
measured with a digital voltmeter, connected with wires that are soldered on one side of the sample.
The temperature was measured with a Chrome-Alumel thermocouple, with one of the junctions
situated closely to the sample and the other in an ice bath as a reference point. All the measurements
where registered with one single digital voltmeter and a switch that allowed for the use of one single
voltmeter to measure the voltage from all sources consecutively.

Figure 3. An illustration depicting the orientation of a sample used in a Hall effect experiment along
with the connection wires, as well as the dimensions. The connection wires C and D are used to
connect a current source to the sample, and the connection of measuring equipment in order to
measure the Hall voltage and the current through the sample. Connections A and B are used to
measure the Ohmic voltage over the sample.
The temperature of the sample was initially decreased to 83 by inserting it in a holder filled with
liquid nitrogen. A measurement series was performed, ranging from 83 to 300 with an increase
of 10 per measurement. The temperature was increased by slightly raising the sample from the
holder. The measured quantities where the thermocouple voltage, the voltage over the 10 resistor
and the Ohmic voltage when the current is moving in either direction.
7

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

A magnetic field was applied to the sample in the second measurement series by using an
electromagnet supported by a stabilized DC-voltage aggregate. The current passing through the
magnet coils was set 0, 75 and kept constant throughout the experiment. The temperature was
decreased to 83 using a holder filled with liquid nitrogen. A different holder was used in this part in
order to fit the sample within the magnet. The measurements where performed within the same
interval and with a similar increase as the first measurement series. The measured quantities in this
series where the thermocouple voltage, the voltage over the 10 resistor and the Hall voltage. The
Hall voltage was measured over the current direction twice in order to eliminate the error due to the
temperature gradient. This was executed by rotating the sample within the magnet until the maximum
Hall voltage was achieved and subsequently rotating it again roughly 180 in order to measure the
Hall voltage at the opposite side. The magnetic field was measured with a magnetic probe.

4. Results
The obtained results from the laboratories will be presented in this section.

4.1. Electrical conductivity

The registered values of the resistance were plotted as a function of the temperature for the -sample.
The graph is presented in Figure 4.

Figure 4. The measured values of the resistance in a -sample illustrated graphically as a function of
the temperature.

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

Similarly, the resistance for the -sample is plotted against the temperature in Figure 5.

Figure 5. The measured values of the resistance in an indium -sample illustrated graphically as a
function of the temperature.
The 2 3 7 -sample was studied in a similar way as the - and -sample, as can be seen in
Figure 6.

Figure 6. The measured values of the resistance in an 2 3 7 -sample illustrated graphically as

a function of the temperature.
The superconducting transition temperature is 90 10 , which can be compared to a measured
value equaling = 90 and = 92 .[11][12]
9

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

4.2. Band Gap in Semiconductor

The wavelength of the photons incident on the -sample was calculated using Eq. 10. The calculated
absorption from the measured voltages was plotted as a function of these energies, as can be seen in
Figure 7.
Equation

y = a + b*x

Weight

No Weighting

Residual Sum
of Squares

7,77302E-5

Pearson's r

0,99654

Adj. R-Square

0,99222

0,998
0,99551
Value

Absorption

1,0

Ge
Linear Fit of Absorption (1)
Linear Fit of Absorption (2)

1,52724E-4

Standard Error

Absorption (1)
Absorption (1)

Intercept
Slope

-1,61624
3,22764

0,0952

Absorption (2)

Intercept

-3,04233

0,08441

Absorption (2)

Slope

5,33628

0,11943

0,06365

0,8

0,6

0,4
0,7

0,8

Energy (eV)

Figure 7. The light-absorption in a sample of as a function of the energy of the incident photons.
Two linear regressions can be applied in the regions 0,65 < < 0,68 and 0,69 < <
0,73 in order to determine the band gap energy.
As stated in 2.2. Band Gaps, the transferred energy from the photons to the electrons will be either
higher or lower than the band gap energy. Applying two linear regressions in intervals were linearity is
observed will yield two linear functions, where the intercept is the band gap energy. The obtained
band gap energy for germanium is , = 0,68 , which can be compared a tabulated value
, = 0,664 . [13]

10

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

A similar approach as the one used for germanium was applied for the -sample. The absorption as a
function of the photon energy is presented in Figure 8.
Equation

y = a + b*x

Weight

No Weighting

Residual Sum
of Squares

1,0

Pearson's r
Adj. R-Square

0,0022

5,20652E-4

0,98344
0,96059

0,94459
0,8707
Value

Absorption (1)
Absorption (1)
Absorption (2)
Absorption (2)

Si
Linear Fit of Absorption (1)
Linear Fit of Absorption (2)

Standard Error

Intercept
Slope

-4,46155

Intercept

-0,93288

0,2198

1,29984

0,20201

Slope

4,43461

0,4237
0,36547

Absorption

0,8

0,6

0,4

1,0

1,2

Energy (eV)

Figure 8. The light-absorption in a sample of as a function of the energy of the incident photons.
Two linear regressions can be applied in the regions 1,06 < < 1,13 and 1,14 < <
1,20 in order to determine the band gap energy.
The calculated band gap energy was , = 1,13 which can be compared to the tabulated value
, = 1,124 .[13]

11

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

4.3. The Hall Effect

With the measured data for the Ohmic voltage and the voltage over the 10 resistor, the electrical
conductivity could be calculated by applying Ohms law, as well as the fact that the electrical
conductivity is inversely proportional to the resistivity. In order to obtain the band gap energy, the
natural logarithm of the electrical conductivity is plotted as a function of the reciprocal of the
temperature, as is presented in Figure 9. In accordance with Eq. 23, the slope of the obtained curve for

high temperatures should equal 2 .

Equation

y = a + b*x

Weight

No Weighting

Residual Sum of Squares

Pearson's r

ln(sigma) (ohm^-1m^-1)

2,50463E-29
-1

0,99864

Adj. R-Square

20

0,01077
-0,99939

1
Value

ln(sigma)

Intercept

ln(sigma)

Slope

E_g/(2*K_B*T)

Intercept

E_g/(2*K_B*T)

Slope

Conductivity
Theoretical slope
Linear Fit of Sheet1 ln(sigma)
Linear Fit of Sheet1 E_g/(2*K_B*T)

Standard Error
19,88042

0,07924

-1609,57721

18,76006

20

6,45948E-16

-1015,43461

9,85704E-14

15

10

0,002

0,004

0,006

0,008

0,010

0,012

1/T (K^-1)
Figure 9. The natural logarithm of the electrical conductivity as a function of the reciprocal of the
temperature, with a linear regression (blue line) in the temperature range 203 < < 300 . The
slope of the linear regression is used to calculate the band gap energy. The slope for a tabulated value
of the band gap energy at 300 is plotted as a comparison (red line).[13]
The obtained of the band gap energy at 203 < < 300 was , = 0,277 . This can be
compared to a tabulated value , = 0,175 .[13]

12

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

By applying Eq. 11 to the acquired data, could be calculated. Once the Hall coefficient was
obtained, the charge carrier density could be calculated, using Eq. 12. The charge carrier density is
plotted against the reciprocal of the temperature in Figure 10.

2,50E+021

Carrier density

2,00E+021

n (m^3)

1,50E+021

1,00E+021

5,00E+020

0,00E+000
0,005

0,010

1/T (K^-1)

Figure 10. The charge carrier density as a function of the reciprocal of the temperature.
The natural logarithm of the charge carrier density was also plotted against the reciprocal of the
temperature, this is presented in Figure 11.
Carrier density

ln(n) (m^3)

50

48

46

44
0,005

0,010

1/T (K^-1)

Figure 11. The natural logarithm of the carrier density plotted as a function of the reciprocal of the
temperature.
13

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

By using Eq. 14, the charge carrier mobility could be calculated. This is plotted as a function of the
reciprocal of the temperature in Figure 12.
Carrier mobility

Mu (m^2V^-1s^-1)

6000

4000

2000
0,005

0,010

1/T (K^-1)

Figure 12. The charge carrier mobility as a function of the reciprocal of the temperature.
The natural logarithm of the charge carrier mobility is plotted as a function of the natural logarithm of
the temperature in Figure 13. This is used to verify the proportion between these two variables that,
3

according to Eq. 18 should be equal to 2 when the natural logarithm is applied on the data.

10

Equation

y = a + b*x

Weight

No Weighting

Carrier mobility
Linear Fit of Sheet1 ln(Mu)

0,00538

Residual Sum
of Squares

-0,98755

Pearson's r

0,97217

Adj. R-Square

ln(Mu) (m^2V^-1s^-1)

Value

Standard Error

ln(Mu)

Intercept

14,85024

0,38636

ln(Mu)

Slope

-1,24573

0,07015

4,5

5,0

5,5

6,0

ln(T) (K)

Figure 13. The natural logarithm of the charge carrier mobility as a function of the natural logarithm
of the temperature, with a linear regression applied for the temperature range 203 < < 300 used
to verify the theoretical proportionality of the mobility.
The experimentally obtained slope was = 1,25 which implies that the proportionality of the charge
carrier mobility to the temperature is 1,25.
14

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

5. Discussion
The results of the three laboratories will be discussed in this section.

5.1. Electrical Conductivity

From Figure 4, one can see that the resistance is independent of the temperature for temperatures much
lower than the Debye temperature and proportional to the temperature for temperatures much higher
than the Debye temperature in accordance with Eq. 7. This is in favor of the conclusion that the
sample in Figure 4 sample is a metal.
The resistance approaches infinity as the temperature approaches 0 in Figure 5. This verifies the
theory in 2.3. Metals, Insulators and Semiconductors that when the valence band is completely
filled, no current will be present. At the temperature interval 0 < < 50 , the resistivity decrease
indicates an extrinsic region, which means that the semiconductor is doped. This is due to the fact that
the electrons does not possess sufficient thermal energy to be excited from the valence band to the
conduction band at such low temperatures. However, the electrons may have enough energy to be
excited from the valence band to the acceptor level or from the donor level to the conduction band.
In the temperature range 50 < < 150 , the acceptor level is filled with electrons and all electrons
in the donor level are excited, thus implying that the number of charge carriers is constant. As the
temperature increases without any increase in the number of charge carriers, the resistance will
increase, due to the carrier mobilitys scattering with thermally excited lattice vibrations. This is
consistent with the obtained result in Figure 11, where the charge carrier density is constant in
approximately the same region.
Finally, an increase is observed in the region 150 < < 300 , suggesting intrinsic behavior. This
can be explained by the electrons possessing enough thermal energy in order to be excited from the
valence band to the conduction band. This is coherent with the behavior noted in Figure 11, where the
charge carrier density increase in approximately the same region.
A clear transition is observed in Figure 6 from a finite resistance to what seems to be zero resistance.
This is the behavior of a superconductor as it transcends to its superconducting state. The observed
transition temperature is coherent with those observed in other experiments.
As stated in 3.1. Electrical Conductivity, only one of the silicon diodes was used to plot the obtained
values. This calls for the caution of taking the values obtained to be absolute values, due to the
possible presence of a temperature gradient within the copper plate. However, the coherence of the
transition temperature observed for the superconductor can be taken as an indication that the accuracy
of the measurements is within an acceptable range for this experiment.
A 4-pole resistance measurement was used in order to acquire accurate values of the resistance.
Although a more sensitive method that can be adapted in order to measure low resistances is to
measure the decay current around a closed superconducting loop. [12]
It is quite obvious from the first law of thermodynamics that the change in energy corresponding to a
temperature change in a mass will increase if the mass is increased. Thus, the application of vacuum
becomes practical as the presence of mass in the container will decrease. This will cause the cooling
process to become faster for a constant energy.
15

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Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

5.2. Band Gap in Semiconductor

The deviation of the calculated band gap energy for the germanium and silicon to the tabulated value
was within 3% and 0,6% respectively. Taking into account the fact that the surfaces of the samples
were quite reflective and the fluctuation of the signal from the oscillator at lower wavelengths, the
acquired value is within an acceptable range. Overheating was prevented by the appliance of a
chopper. Another solution could the appliance of a fan that keeps the temperature of the resistor
constant at its optimized drift temperature.
A DC-supply was used in the experiment in order to minimize fluctuations in the photon energy, as
would be the case with an AC-supply that would make the photon energy increase and decrease
periodically. This would obstruct the acquisition of accurate values with an oscillator.

5.3. The Hall Effect

The deviation of the calculated band gap energy for the -sample to the tabulated value was within
37%. The band gap energy was determined within a temperature range of 203 < < 300 in this
experiment, whereas the tabulated value was determined at 300 . As stated in 2.4. The Hall Effect,
the band gap energy has a linear dependency to the temperature at higher temperatures, thus implying
that the obtained value in this experiment is the mean value over the temperature range.
The charge carrier densitys tendency to follow the proportionality stated in Eq. 20 can be deduced
from Figure 10. Perusing Figure 11 and Figure 9, one can see that the increase in the charge carrier
density and the conductivity occurs simultaneously. This suggests that the thermal energy at
approximately 160 (corresponding to 1 0,006 1 in the graphs) becomes high enough to
excite the electrons from the valence band to the conduction band. In the temperature range 90 < <
190 (corresponding to 0,006 < 1 < 0,011 Figure 11) the charge carrier density is constant
which suggests that the thermal energy is too low to excite the electrons to the conduction band.
According to the theory, the charge carrier density should increase slightly at the lowest temperatures,
due to the electrons being excited from the valence band to the acceptor band. This cannot be verified
in this experiment, as the temperature needs to be decreased further. A slight decrease in the
conductivity can be seen in the temperature range 90 < < 190 in Figure 9. This is expected when
one considers the fact that the charge carrier density being constant within the same temperature range,
and the fact that the resistivity increases with increasing temperature.
The deviation between the experimentally obtained proportionality of the carrier mobility to the
temperature and the theoretically expected value was within 17%. The general behavior that is
observed in Figure 12 and Figure 13 is in line with the theoretically expected tendency of the charge
carrier mobility at intermediate temperatures, which is a decrease due to the scattering from thermally
excited lattice vibrations.
It is worth mentioning that the measuring equipment has its imperfections. An example is that the
increase of the temperature was obtained by raising the sample from the holder, thus forcing a
temperature gradient within it. Although this temperature gradient was taken into account by
measuring the ohmic voltage and Hall voltage in both directions, the value of the measured
temperatures depend on the placement of the thermocouple. The application of the vacuum cooling
system similar to the one used to study the electrical conductivity would be preferable, as it would
minimize the temperature gradient, as well as the human error in the collecting of the data.
16

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

6. Conclusion
Despite its simple approach, the free electron model and the complementarities from the nearly free
electron model successfully predicts the outcomes in all the conducted experiments.

17

Hassan Alhasnawi
Weixin Chen
Benan Aksoy

(hassan.alhasnawi@hotmail.com)
(1205545689@qq.com)
(aksoybenann@gmail.com)

Properties of Solids
2015-04-02

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[10] Schmidt, F., Hassmyr, L., Edman, L. (2004), Solid State Physics Band Gap in
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[11] Dam, B., Huijbregtse, J. M., Klaassen, F. C., van der Geest, R. C. F., Doornbos, G., Rector, J. H.,
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Studentlitteratur AB pp. 140

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