Superconductivity

Superconductivity
When metals cool their resistance falls steadily as
i)the motion of the atoms of the metal
ii) and the motion of the free electrons
gets less and so the number of electron-atom
collisions is reduced.

As the metal was cooled further a temperature was

reached where the resistance suddenly fell to zero –
when this happens the metal is said to be
superconducting and the phenomenon is called
superconductivity.
 Transition Temperature
The temperature at which this happens for a given metal is
called the transition temperature or critical temperature for the
metal.

For pure metals the transition temperature is very low but

scientists have made compounds that have relatively high
transition temperature.

No materials have a transition temperature as high as room

temperature.
The transition temperatures of a few common metals are given
below:
Mercury 4.15 K, copper at 1.19 K, aluminium 1.19 K, zinc 0.85 K.
Recently a number of high temperature
superconductors with transition temperatures
as high as 200 K (-73oC) have been discovered.

In these conditions a current will flow for long

periods of time without any external
electromotive force being applied.

In 1911 Kammerlingh Onnes showed that this

period could be up to many hours!
 Application
The importance of superconductivity and the transition
temperature is that if a material is superconducting it has no
resistance, this means that an electric current can flow
through it without energy loss in the form of resistive
heating.

This has tremendous benefits in electric motors and electrical

circuits. They have already been used in superconducting
electromagnets in the levitation of experimental trains.
Unfortunately there is a critical magnetic field above which
the superconductivity breaks down and normal resistance is
restored. This means that the actual strength of a
superconducting magnet is limited.
 Semiconductors
The advent of the semiconductor has
revolutionised our lives, since it is the basis of all
integrated circuits and microprocessors.

To distinguish between the electrical properties

of materials we can group them into three
sections:
(a) conductors,
(b) semiconductors
(c) insulators
• You are probably aware of many conductors and
insulators such as copper and rubber;

• semiconductors include materials such as silicon,

germanium, carbon, selenium, gallium arsenide, lead
sulphide.

• The important difference between conductors,

semiconductors and insulators lies in the number of
free electrons present in the material.

• Perhaps the best way to consider the differences

between them is to use the band theory of solids.
 Chemistry Orbitals Concept
As you may know, electrons in an individual
atom are restricted to well-defined energy levels
and energy changes within the atom only take
place between one level and another.
Physics – BAND THEORY OF SOLIDS
• In a solid electrons can occupy a whole series
of energy levels grouped into bands.

• The difference in energy between levels

within the band is very small compared with
the energy gap between the bands.

• The electrical differences between one type of

solid and another is because of the different
arrangements of these energy bands.
 The band structures of a conductor,
semiconductor and insulator are shown below:
 Conductors
1. In a conductor the valence band is full of electrons,
while the conduction band has some free electrons
and many empty energy levels.

2. The addition of a very small amount of energy will

allow electrons to move within the conduction band,
some rising to a higher level and others returning to
lower levels.

3. This movement of electrons is electrical conduction.

In some conductors the valence band and the con-

duction band actually overlap. This effectively gives a
partly filled top band.
 Intrinsic semiconductors
1. In the intrinsic semiconductor the valence band is full, but
the conduction band is empty at very low temperatures.

2. However, the energy gap between the two bands is so

very small that electrons can jump across it by the
addition of thermal energy alone or even light energy of a
suitable wavelength.

3. In other words, heating the specimen or shining a light on

it maybe sufficient to cause electrical conduction.

4. The resistance decreases with temperature as more and

more electrons are liberated.

5. Semiconductors therefore have negative temperature

coefficients of resistance.
For germanium the energy gap is 0.66 eV and for
silicon it is 1.11 eV at 27 oC.

When an electron jumps to the conduction band it

leaves behind it a space or hole in the valence
band.

This hole is effectively positive and since an

electron can jump into it from another part of the
valence band it is as if the hole itself was moving!

Conduction can take place either by negative

electrons moving within the conduction band or
by positive holes moving within the valence band.
 Insulators
In the insulator the valence band is full once again,
but in these substances the energy gap between
this and the empty conduction band is very large.

It would take a great deal of energy to make an

electron jump the gap and to cause the insulator to
break down.
At very high temperatures or under very large
electric fields breakdown will occur, and like
semiconductors the greater the temperature the
greater the conduction.

Insulators, like semiconductors, have negative

temperature coefficients of resistance.