Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
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.
In the case of a degenerate semiconductor, an electron from the top of the valence band can only be excited into conduction band above the Fermi level (which now lies in conduction band) since all the states below the Fermi level are occupied states. Pauli's exclusion principle forbids excitation into these occupied states. Thus we observe an ...
In undoped semiconductors the Fermi level lies in the middle of a forbidden band or band gap between two allowed bands called the valence band and the conduction band. The valence band, immediately below the forbidden band, is normally very nearly completely occupied. The conduction band, above the Fermi level, is normally nearly completely empty.
The mass action law defines a quantity called the intrinsic carrier concentration, which for undoped materials: n i = n 0 = p 0 {\displaystyle n_{i}=n_{0}=p_{0}} The following table lists a few values of the intrinsic carrier concentration for intrinsic semiconductors , in order of increasing band gap.
E i: The intrinsic Fermi level may be included in a semiconductor, to show where the Fermi level would have to be for the material to be neutrally doped (i.e., an equal number of mobile electrons and holes). E imp: Impurity energy level. Many defects and dopants add states inside the band gap of a semiconductor or insulator. It can be useful to ...
µ is the total chemical potential of electrons, or Fermi level (in semiconductor physics, this quantity is more often denoted E F). The Fermi level of a solid is directly related to the voltage on that solid, as measured with a voltmeter. Conventionally, in band structure plots the Fermi level is taken to be the zero of energy (an arbitrary ...
The conduction of current of intrinsic semiconductor is enabled purely by electron excitation across the band-gap, which is usually small at room temperature except for narrow-bandgap semiconductors, like Hg 0.8 Cd 0.2 Te. The conductivity of a semiconductor can be modeled in terms of the band theory of solids.
In solid-state physics, the valence band and conduction band are the bands closest to the Fermi level, and thus determine the electrical conductivity of the solid. In nonmetals, the valence band is the highest range of electron energies in which electrons are normally present at absolute zero temperature, while the conduction band is the lowest range of vacant electronic states.