Chapter

1:
Conductors and Resistors

Reading: Livingston, Chapter 1.1-1.6

Ohms Law and Electrical Conduc7vity

Macroscopic and microscopic Ohms Law
Anisotropy in electrical conduc7on
Drudes Free Electron Model
Hall Eect
Descrip7on
Mobility and carrier density
Temperature
Alloying
Applica7ons

EE-138 (Fall 2017) Instructor: H. Malekpour

 Ohms Law and Conduc7vity
SiO2,NaCl,Mica,Glass,Rubber Si, Ge, GaAs Ag, Cu, Fe

Insulators Semiconductors Metals

Increasing Conduc7vity
Ohms law:
I Increasing
conduc7vity
! [!"#$%]
! [] = = constant
! [!"#$]

V
Ques7on: Is it always constant?
R (Temperature)
Non ohmic material: R(V), R(I) Nonlinear I-V
2
 Ohms Law (Microscopic)
! [!] L
Resistance: ! ! = ![ !. !]
! [! ]2
!
! ! [!]
Current density: ! = !
! 2 ! [! ] 2
A -
! ! [!"#$%] V
Electric eld: ! =
! ! [!]
+
!
Inser7ng in ohms law
! = ! OR ! = !"

! !
Conduc7vity: ! =
! !

Advantages

1. Based on material characteris7cs, not dimension dependent

2. A vector rela7on ( )
! & !
3. Valid at any local point
3

 Anisotropy in Electrical Conduc7on
Isotropic:
similar in-plane and cross-plane elements
Cubic crystals, randomly oriented polycrystals
Anisotropic:
dierent in-plane and cross-plane elements
Single-crystals, polycrystals of preferred orienta7on

In General in three space axis:

[J] = []33 [E]

J1 = 11 E1 + 12E2 + 13E3
J2 = 21E1 + 22E2 + 23E3
J3 = 31E1 + 32E2 + 33E3

Ref. Livingston, James D. Electronic proper7es of

4
engineering materials. New York: Wiley, 1999.
 Drudes Classical Free Electron Theory
Free electron Metal atom

No Electric eld: J=0

Paul Drude
German physicist
(1863-1906)

xed laice and free electron gas

electrons are treated as charged par7cles
random collisions by other electrons, With electric eld: J0
boundaries, laice 5
 Con7nuing with Drudes Model
DriA Velocity (VD): The average velocity acquired by electrons
in par7cular direc7on under the applica7on of electric eld.
Mobility (): Drio velocity normalized by electric eld.
RelaxaIon Ime(): The average 7me between collisions.
Mean Free Path (MFP): Average distance an electron travel
before undergoing collision (MFP = VD)
VD

e- = e- Ne e
E

J e=e- me

Conduc7vity is dened based
Eq. Box (1-1) on charge career density and
their mobility
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 Examples
1. Mean Free Path:
A metal has a collision 7me of 10-14 s. Find the mean free
path at room temperature?


2. Compare Thermal Velocity (Vth) to Drio Velocity (VD):
Calculate Vth at room temperature
Calculate VD for a typical metal in an electric eld of 1 V/m
and ~ 5x10-3 m2/VS

7






The Hall Eect

F
VD
z e-

x
y B B
- - - - - - - - -
J J
EH
+ + + + + + + + +
Edwin Herbert Hall
American physicist
(1855-1938)
B Lorentz Force:


V ! = ! ! !
F q +
Hall Coecient (RH):

Eq. Box (1-2) RH = -1/(e e)

RH = -e 8
 Hall Eect: Mobility and Carrier Density
[Conductivity] [Carrier Density] [Mobility] Using Hall eect we can probe
! the two components of
[Hall Coefficient]
[!"##$%# !"#$%&'] conduc7vity, independently.

QuesIon:
Why do metals have higher conduc7vity than semiconductors and insulators?

Metals Semiconductors
RH independent of T, alloying, defects RH decreases with increasing T and doping
Silicon

Ref. L. H. Van Vlack, Materials Science for engineers, Ref. Li, S. S. and W. R. Thurber, Solid State Electron. 20, 7
9
Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1970, P.287 (1977) 609-616.
 Hall Eect: Applica7ons
Hall probe: Measuring magne7c eld

EH = -VD B Etot
EH
VD = - e EL

H

Ref. www.gaussmeter.co.uk EH / EL = e B
EL
Hall eect sensor: Sensing Magne7c Field

Example: By placing two small permanent
magnet on a shao and using hall eect sensor
to sense the varia7on in magne7c eld the
speed of shao is measured.
10
Ref. wikipedia
 Note: Ohms Law and AC Voltage
QuesIon:
In case of AC voltage, what happens to Ohms law?

E = E0 Sin (t) = E0 Sin (2o)

Collision frequency (1/) : 1014 Hz

As long as <<1/ ohms law is valid: J = E = E0 Sin (t)

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 Chapter 1: Review Ques7ons
1. What is Ohms Law in macroscopic and microscopic terms?
2. What are the units of conduc7vity?
3. Does the kine7c energy of an electron increase or decrease
with temperature?
4. Describe the mo7on of an electron in a metal under an
applied electric eld?
5. What is the mean free path?
6. What is the collision 7me?
7. What are the units of mobility?
8. What is the Hall Eect?
9. What are some applica7ons of the Hall Eect?
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 Chapter 1: Summary
Important Equa7ons:

Important Constants:
Speed of light in vacuum: c = 3.0 x 108 m/s
Mass of an electron: m = 9.11 x 10-31 kg
Boltzmann constant: kB = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K
Avogadros Number: NA = 6.022 x 1023 /mole
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