FREE ELECTRON FERMI GAS

Lecture - 1
By
Dr. J. K. Baria
Professor Of Physics
V. P. & R. P. T. P. Science College
Vidyanagar 388 120

Knowledge Keeps the mind always young

INTRODUCTION
We can understand a number of important physical
properties of metals, particularly the simple metals, in
terms of the free electron model. According to this
model the most weakly bound electrons of the
constituent atoms move about freely through the
volume of the metal. The valence electrons of the atoms
become the conduction electrons. Forces between
conduction electrons and ion cores are neglected in the
free electron approximation: all calculations proceed as
if the conduction electrons were free to move
everywhere within the specimen. The total energy is
exclusively the kinetic energy; the potential energy is
neglected.

INTRODUCTION
Even in metals for which the free electron model works well, the
actual charge distribution of the conduction electrons is known to
reflect the strong electrostatic potential of the ion cores. The
usefulness of the free electron model is greatest for experiments that
depend essentially upon the kinetic properties of the conduction
electrons.
The simplest metals are the alkali metals (lithium, sodium, potassium,
rubidium, and cesium). Conduction electrons in all metals are observed
to act very much like free electrons, except those metals where the d or
f shell electrons overlap or fall close in energy to the conduction band.
Electrons in d shells tend to be more localized and less mobile than
electrons in s and p shells. Other simple metals are Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba,
Al, Ga, In, TI, and Pb. Metals that are not simple are the noble metals
(copper, silver, gold), the transition metals, and the lanthanide and
actinide metals.

INTRODUCTION

Schematic model of a crystal of sodium metal. The atomic cores arc Na+ ions; they are immersed in a
sea of conduction electrons, the conduction electrons are derived From the 3s valence electrons of the
free atoms. The atomic cores contain 10 electrons in the configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6. In an alkali metal
the atomic cores occupy a relatively small part (15 %) of the total volume of the crystal, but in a noble
metal (Cu, Ag, Au) the atomic cores are relatively larger and may be in contact with each other. The
common crystal structure at room temperature is bcc for the alkali metals and fcc for the noble metals.

INTRODUCTION
Conduction electrons in a simple metal arise from
the valence electrons of the constituent atoms. In
a sodium atom the valence electron is in a 3s
state; in the metal this electron becomes a
conduction electron, roving throughout the crystal.
A monovalent crystal which contains N atoms will
have N conduction electrons and N positive ion
cores. The 10 electrons of the Na+ ion core fill the
1s, the 2s, and the 2p states in the free ion; the
distribution of core electrons is essentially the
same in the metal as in the free ion. The ion cores
fill only about 15 percent of the volume of a
sodium crystal

INTRODUCTION
There is a further difficulty. From many types of experiments it is
clear that a conduction electron in a metal can move freely in a
straight path over many atomic distances, undeflected by collisions
with other conduction electrons or by collisions with the atom cores. In
a very pure specimen at low temperatures the mean free path may be
as long as 10 interatomic spacing (more than 1 cm). Why is condensed
matter so transparent to conduction electrons? The answer to our
question contains two parts:

A conduction electron is not deflected by ion cores arranged on a

periodic lattice because matter waves propagate freely in a periodic
structure. As the propagation of x-rays in periodic lattice.

A conduction electron is scattered only infrequently by other

conduction electrons. This property we shall show is a consequence
of the Pauli Exclusion Principle. By a free electron Fermi gas, we
mean a gas of free and non-interacting electrons subject to the Pauli
Principle.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

In the free-electron model, the conduction electrons are assumed to
be completely free, except for a potential at the surface, which has the
effect of confining the electrons to the interior of the specimen.
According to this model, the conduction electrons move about inside
the specimen without any collisions, except for an occasional reflection
from the surface, much like the molecules in an ideal gas. Because of
this, we speak of a free-electron gas.

The potential in the free-electron model.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

Let us look at the model a little more closely. It is
surprising that it should be valid at all, because, at first
sight, one expects the conduction electrons to interact with
the ions in the background, and also with each other.
These interactions are strong, and hence the electrons
ought to suffer frequent collisions; a picture of a highly non
ideal gas should therefore emerge.
Why then does the free-electron model work?
The answer to this fundamental question was not known
to the workers who first postulated the model. We now
know the answer, but since it requires the use of quantum
mechanics, hence a brief qualitative statement is offered
here.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

The reason why the interaction between the ions appears
to be weak is as follows. Although the electron does
interact with an ion through coulomb attraction, quantum
effects introduce an additional repulsive potential, which
tends to cancel the coulomb attraction. The net potential
known as the pseudopotential turns out to be weak,
particularly in the case of alkali metals. Another way of
approaching this is to note that, when an electron passes
an ion, its velocity increases rather rapidly in the ion's
neighborhood, due to the decrease in the potential.
Because of this, the electron spends only a small fraction of
its time near the ion, where the potential is strong. Most of
the time, the electron is far away in a region in which the
potential is weak, and this is why the electron behaves like
a free particle, to a certain approximation.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

Variation of the local velocity of electrons in space.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

We come now to the interaction between the conduction electrons themselves, and the
reason for the weakness of this interaction. There are actually two reasons: First,
according to the Pauli Exclusion Principle, electrons of parallel spins tend to stay
away from each other. Second, even if their spins are opposite, electrons tend to stay
away from each other, in order to minimize the energy of the system. If two electrons
come very close to each other, the coulomb potential energy becomes exceedingly large,
and this violates the tendency of the electron system to have the lowest possible energy.
When these two considerations are carried out mathematically, the following situation
results: Each electron is surrounded by a (spherical) region which is deficient of other
electrons. This region, called a hole, has a radius of about 1 A0 (the exact value depends
on the concentration of electrons). As an electron moves, its hole-sometimes known as a
Fermi hole moves with it. We see now why the interaction between electrons is weak. If
we examine the interaction between two particular electrons, we find that other
electrons distribute themselves in such a manner that our two electrons are screened
from each other. Consequently there is very little interaction between them. Freeelectron gas in metals differs from ordinary gas in some important respects. First, freeelectron gas is charged (in ordinary gases the molecules are mostly neutral). Freeelectron gas is thus actually similar to plasma. Second, the concentration of electrons
in metals is large: N~ 1029 electrons m-3. By contrast, the ordinary gas has about 1025
molecules m-3. We may thus think of free-electron gas in a metal as dense plasma.

THE FREE-ELECTRON GAS

Our model of the electron (sometimes called the
jellium model) corresponds to taking metallic
positive ions and smearing them uniformly
throughout a sample. In this way there is a
positive background which is necessary to
maintain charge neutrality. But, because of the
uniform distribution, the ions exert zero fields on
the electrons; the ions form a uniform jelly into
which the electrons move.