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In condensed matter physics, the Fermi surface is the surface in reciprocal space which separates occupied electron states from unoccupied electron states at zero temperature. [1] The shape of the Fermi surface is derived from the periodicity and symmetry of the crystalline lattice and from the occupation of electronic energy bands .
The Fermi energy is an energy difference (usually corresponding to a kinetic energy), whereas the Fermi level is a total energy level including kinetic energy and potential energy. The Fermi energy can only be defined for non-interacting fermions (where the potential energy or band edge is a static, well defined quantity), whereas the Fermi ...
The Fermi level does not necessarily correspond to an actual energy level (in an insulator the Fermi level lies in the band gap), nor does it require the existence of a band structure. Nonetheless, the Fermi level is a precisely defined thermodynamic quantity, and differences in Fermi level can be measured simply with a voltmeter .
The Fermi energy surface in reciprocal space is known as the Fermi surface. The nearly free electron model adapts the Fermi gas model to consider the crystal structure of metals and semiconductors , where electrons in a crystal lattice are substituted by Bloch electrons with a corresponding crystal momentum .
The surface energy of a liquid may be measured by stretching a liquid membrane (which increases the surface area and hence the surface energy). In that case, in order to increase the surface area of a mass of liquid by an amount, δA, a quantity of work, γ δA, is needed (where γ is the surface energy density of the liquid).
This leads to oscillations in the observed energy of the highest occupied level, and hence in many physical properties (including Hall conductivity, resistivity, and susceptibility). The periodicity of these oscillations can be measured, and in turn can be used to determine the cross-sectional area of the Fermi surface. [8]
where E F is the Fermi level, E C is the minimum energy of the conduction band, and N C is a concentration coefficient that depends on temperature. The above relationship for n e can be shown to apply for any conduction band shape (including non-parabolic, asymmetric bands), provided the doping is weak ( E C − E F ≫ kT ); this is a ...
Typical examples include graphene, topological insulators, bismuth antimony thin films and some other novel nanomaterials, [1] [4] [5] in which the electronic energy and momentum have a linear dispersion relation such that the electronic band structure near the Fermi level takes the shape of an upper conical surface for the electrons and a ...