1

Solutions to the problems in Chapter 6 and 7

6.3 Pressure of a Fermi gas at zero temperature

The number of electrons N and the internal energy U , in the volume V , are

∞
∞
N =V D(ε)f (ε)dε, U =V εD(ε)f (ε)dε, (1)
0 0
The Fermi distribution function f (ε) and the density of states (per unit volume)
D(ε) are √
1 √ 2m3
f (ε) = β(ε−µ) , D(ε) = A ε, A = 2 3 . (2)
e +1 π

At zero temperature

2 kF2  1/3
f (ε) = θ(εF − ε), , kF = 3π 2 n
εF = (3)
2m
√
Introducing the step function and D(ε) = A ε in (1), we may determine U (0) and
an alternative expression for A:

ε
F √ 3/2 3n 5/2
N =V A εdε = 23 V AεF ⇒ A = 3/2 , U (0) = V 25 AεF = 35 N εF (4)
0 2εF
i.e. U ∝ εF ∝ kF2 ∝ V −2/3 and the pressure at zero temperature is
∂U (0) 2U (3π 2 )2/3 n5/3
2
P =− = = 25 nεF = (5)
∂V 3V 5m
in sharp contrast to a classical gas, where the zero-temperature pressure is zero.

6.4 Density of states in low dimensions

The density of states in k-space is Dk = 2/(2π)d in d dimensions (6.34)




2
D(ε) = [dk]δ(ε − εk ) ≡ Dk δ(ε − εk )dk = δ(ε − εk )dk (1)
(2π)d
Introducing “spherical coordinates” in d dimensions and k = |k|, then
⎧
⎨ 2 dk , d=1
dk = 2πk dk , d=2 (2)
⎩
4πk2 dk , d=3
The factor 2 in the one-dimensional case appears because the one-dimensional wave
vector may assume both positive and negative values, whereas k ≥ 0 per definition.
  1/2

2 k2 2mεk m
εk = εk = ⇒ k= , dk = dεk ⇒ (3)
2m
2
2 εk
⎧
∞  1/2 √
⎪
⎪ 2 m 2m −1/2
⎪
⎪ 2 δ(ε − εk ) dεk = ε , d=1
⎪
⎪ 2
2 εk
⎪
⎪ 2π 0 π

⎪
⎪   1/2
⎨
∞
2 2mεk m m
D(ε) =
⎪ 2π δ(ε − εk ) dεk = , d=2
⎪
⎪ (2π)2 0
2
2 εk π
2
⎪
⎪  1/2 √
⎪
⎪
∞
⎪
⎪
⎪
2 2mε m 2m3 1/2
⎩ 3
4π 2 k δ(ε − εk ) 2
dεk = ε , d=3
(2π) 0
2
εk π 2
3
2 The problems of 1st week (“electrons”)

6.5 Fermi pancakes

Thin layer of Ag: Lx = Ly = L = 106 Å and Lz = d.
The density of electrons is the same as the density of atoms (one conduction
electron per Ag atom), i.e. n = 5.86 · 1022 cm−3 = 0.0586 Å−3 , according to the
properties given in the periodic table on the front page of Marder. The wave
function of the “free” electrons should vanish at the boundaries z = 0 and z = d.
This condition is fulfilled if assuming the one-electron wave function to be
π
ψ(x, y, z) ∝ ei(kx x+ky y) sin (pqz) , q= , p = 1, 2, . . . (1)
d

The electron states are characterized by the two-dimensional wave vector k =

(kx , ky , 0) and the “band index” p. The eigenenergies are (k2 = kx2 + ky2 ):

2  2 
2 q 2
εpk = k + p2 q 2 ≥ ε10 = (2)
2m 2m
At T = 0 (T  TF ), as assumed implicitly in the exercise, the occupied states are
all those with energies smaller than εF . The number of electrons in the pth band,
Np , is zero if εp0 > εF . In the opposite case:

k 2
2 2 kp
p
Np = L2 2πk dk = L (3)
0 (2π)2 2π

where kp is the Fermi wave number of the pth band, i.e. the largest value of k of
occupied states in the pth band, as determined by


2  2  2mεF εF
εpk = kp + p2 q 2 = εF ⇒ kp2 = − p2 q 2 = q 2 − p2 (4)
p 2m
2 ε10

(a) In the first case d = 4.1 Å or q = π/d = 0.76624 Å−1 , and

2 q 2 (1.054572 · 10−27 × 0.76624 · 108 )2

ε10 = = eV = 2.2369 eV (5)
2m 2 × 9.109389 · 10−28 × 1.602177 · 10−12
Assuming the Fermi energy to be smaller than the lowest energy of the (p = 2)
band, εF < ε20 = 4ε10 , then only the (p = 1) states are occupied, in which case N1
has to be equal the total number N of free electrons:

k12 √ −1
N = L2 d n = N1 = L2 ⇒ k1 = 2πd n = 1.22866 Å (6)
2π
Introducing this result in (3) we get the Fermi energy and the band width W of
the occupied states:
 
εF = ε1k = ε10 (k1 /q)2 + 1 = 7.99 eV, W = εF − ε10 = 5.75 eV (7)
1

which is in accordance with our starting assumption of εF < ε20 = 8.948 eV. These
results may be compared with that obtained for bulk Ag:

2  2 2/3
εF (bulk) = W (bulk) = 3π n = 5.50 eV (8)
2m
 Solid state physics II (“electrons”) 3

(b) In the case of d = 8.2 Å, q = π/d = 0.38312 Å−1 and ε10 = 0.5592 eV. In order
to determine εF in this case, we need to include more bands than the lowest one.
The number of bands turns out to be 3, and
   
2 εF εF εF
N = N1 + N2 + N3 ⇒ 2πd n = q − 12 + − 22 + − 32 (9)
ε10 ε10 ε10
Solving this equation with respect to εF /ε10 , we get εF /ε10 = 11.523, which is
larger than 32 but smaller than 42 , in accordance with the assumption that all
electrons are found in the three lowest bands. Hence the results are:
εF = 6.44 eV, W = εF − ε10 = 5.89 eV (10)

20 p
2
16
Band energy (eV)

12 1
The two first figures show the en-
εF
8 ergy bands as functions of k in
the cases (a) and (b), where the
4 unit of k is the length of a recip-
rocal lattice vector 2π/a [r.l.u.].
k1
0 The last figure shows the Fermi
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Wave number k [r.l.u.]
energy (and the band width) as a
function of the number of atomic
5 p
20 layers of Ag. The crystal struc-
4 ture of Ag is fcc with the lattice
16 parameter a = 4.09 Å. This is
3
Band energy (eV)

very nearly the thickness d as-

12 sumed in (a), i.e. this case corre-
2
1 sponds to a film with two atomic
8 εF layers of Ag atoms.

k3 k2 k1
0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Wave number k [r.l.u]

12
Fermi energy and band width (eV)

10 εF

6
Bulk value
4 W

0
0 4 8 12 16 20
Number of Ag layers (2d/a)
4 The problems of 1st week (“electrons”)

Solution to HS’s problem 1

Heat capacity of a two-dimensional electron gas

GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure (see Marder Section 19.5):

2 k2
n = 1011 cm−2 , ε= , m∗ = 0.067me (1)
2m∗
The present situation corresponds to the case (a) of the previous problem 6.5 in
Marder, i.e. the gas is purely two-dimensional in the sense that only the (p = 1)
band
 needs to be considered, and k is a two-dimensional vector with the length k =
kx2 + ky2 . The most important quantity is the Fermi energy, which is determined
by evaluating N at zero temperature:


k √
N 2 F kF2
n= = Dk dk = 2πk dk = ⇒ kF = 2πn (2a)
A k≤kF (2π)2 0 2π

The same result is obtained by using that, according to problem 6.4 or equation
(6.35), D(ε) = m∗ /π
2 in the two-dimensional case:

ε √
F m∗ εF nπ
2
n= D(ε) dε = ⇒ εF = or kF = 2πn (2b)
0 π
2 m∗
−1
Introducing the numbers, and using that kF = 1 Å corresponds to a Fermi energy
εF = 3.81 eV when the mass is me , then we get
 2
−2 −1 0.793 · 10−2
kF = 0.793 · 10 Å , εF = 3.81 eV = 3.58 meV (3)
0.067
This Fermi energy corresponds to a Fermi temperature TF = εF /kB = 41.5 K.
1) T = 1 K is much smaller than the Fermi temperature and the heat capacity
may be determined by the leading order expression (6.77)

π2 2 π T 2 m∗ kF2 kF2
cV = D(εF )kB T = k k , as D(εF ) = = = (4)
3 6 TF F B π
2 2πεF 2πkB TF

In the case of a sample with the area A = 1 cm2 the result is

π 1
CV (el) = A cV = A (0.793·106 cm−1 )2 ×1.38066·10−23 J/K = 1.1 · 10−13 J/K
6 41.5
(5)
The explicit result is CV (el) = Aπm∗ kB2 T /(3
2 ). Hence, the small value of C is
V
not due to the low electron density n but to the two-dimensionality of the system
and the small effective mass.
2) In order to estimate the phonon contribution to the heat capacity we shall use
the Debye model (Section 13.3.2 in Marder). The Debye temperature of GaAs
is ΘD = 344 K (which value is not much change when some of the Ga ions are
replaced by Al ions). Using (13.70) in Marder and

∞  3
x4 ex 4π 4 12π 4 T
dx = ⇒ cV = n k (T  ΘD ) (6)
0 (e − 1)
x 2 15 5 A B ΘD
 Solid state physics II (“electrons”) 5

According to Table 2.5 (page 27) in Marder, GaAs has the zincblende structure (∼
diamond structure) with the lattice parameter a = 5.63 Å. In this structure there
are 8 atoms per unit cell, and the density of atoms is nA = 8/a3 = 4.48 · 1022 cm−3 .
[The mean atomic mass (periodic table) is (69.72 + 74.92)/2 = 72.3 u, implying a
mass density ρ = 5.38 g cm−3 ]. Assuming V = 1 cm3 and T = 1 K, the phonon
contribution becomes
 
12π 4 22 −23 1 3
CV (ph) = × 4.48 · 10 × 1.38066 · 10 J/K = 3.55 · 10−6 J/K (7)
5 344
which is much larger than the electronic contribution. Utilizing that CV (el) ∝ T
and CV (ph) ∝ T 3 , the temperature T0 at which the two contributions are equal,
is determined by (T0 in K)
1.10 · 10−13 T0 = 3.55 · 10−6 T03 ⇒ T0 = 1.8 · 10−4 K (8)
A more fair comparison would be to consider a film of thickness ∼ 100 µm, i.e.
A = 1 cm2 and V = 10−2 cm3 , in which case T0 = 1.8 mK, a temperature within
an accessible range (however, the reduction of the size of the sample makes it more
difficult to determine the heat capacity).

Solutions to the problems in Chapter 7

7.1 Normals to surfaces

r = (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = s(t) is the parametrization of a curve lying within the surface
defined by f (r ) = ε. Since f (s(t)) is a constant ε, the derivative of this function
is 0:
d  ∂f dsα ds
f (s(t)) = = ∇f · =0 (1)
dt α ∂xα dt dt
Because s(t) may be any arbitrary curve lying within the surface, the same is true
for the curve tangent ds(t)/dt, and (1) is only generally valid if ∇f is normal to
the surface.

7.3 Van Hove singularities

(a) The problem becomes the same as the one considered in problem 7.1 if making
the replacements k → r and εnk → f (r), hence ∇k εnk is perpendicular to the
energy surface defined by ε  = ε.
nk

(b) The energy is assumed to be εnk = εmax − k2 , and in the two-dimensional case


∞
2
D(ε) = [dk]δ(ε − εnk ) = 2πk δ(ε − εmax + k2 ) dk
(2π)2 0

(1)
1 ∞ 1
= δ(ε − εmax + k2 )d(k2 ) = θ(ε − ε)
2π 0 2π max
The density of states is zero if ε > εmax and 1/(2π) when ε < εmax .
(c) In the three dimensional case, the result is


∞
2
D(ε) = [dk]δ(ε − εnk ) = 4πk2 δ(ε − εmax + k2 ) dk
(2π)3 0

∞ (2)
1 1 
= 2 k δ(ε − εmax + k2 )d(k2 ) = 2 εmax − ε θ(εmax − ε)
2π 0 2π