Electrical Properties

Electrical Conduction
• OHM’s Law
• V = IR

• Electrical resistivity ρ – independent of specimen

geometry but related to R

RA
ρ=
l
Electrical Conductivity
•Used to specify the electrical
character of a material
•Reciprocal of resistivity
1
σ=
ρ
Influence of Plastic Deformation
•Plastic deformation – raises the
electrical resistivity as a result of
increases numbers of electron
scattering dislocations
Semiconductivity
• Electrical conductivity of semiconducting
materials – not as high as that of the metals
• Electrical properties – extremely sensitive to
presence of minute concentrations of
impurities
• Intrinsic semiconductors – electrical behavior
based on electronic structure inherent in
pure material
• Extrinsic semiconductors – characteristics
dictated by impurity atoms
The Hall Effect
• A results of the phenomenon whereby a magnetic
field applied perpendicular to the direction of
motion of a charged particle exerts a force on the
particle perpendicular to both the magnetic field
and particle motion directions
Semiconductor Devices
• Diodes – electronic device that allows the
current to flow in one direction only
• Transistor – capable of two types of function
• Perform same operation with vacuum tube
precursor, the triode, they can amplify electrical
signal
• Serve as switching devices in computers for the
processing and storage of information
Transistors
• Two Major Types
• Junction (bimodal) transistor

• Metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-
transistor (MOSFET)
Semiconductors in Computers
• Flash (Solid-State Drive) Memory
• Programmed and erased electronically
• Nonvolatile – no electrical power is needed
to retain the stored information
• No moving parts
• Memory cards, USB flash drives
• Extremely durable and capable of
withstanding relatively wide temperature
extremes as well as immersion in water
Semiconductors in Computers
•Microelectronic Circuitry
• Integrated circuits
• Consists of many layers that lie within
or are stacked on top of the silicon
wafer in a precisely detailed pattern
Electrical Conduction in Ionic
Ceramics and in Polymers
•Conduction in Ionic Materials
•Both cations and anions in ionic
materials possess an electric
charge, are capable of migration or
diffusion when an electric field is
present
Electrical Properties of Polymers

•Most polymeric materials – poor

conductors
•Unavailability of large numbers
of free electrons to participate in
the conduction process.
Conducting Polymers
• Polymers that have electrical
conductivity on par with metallic
conductors.
• Observed in a dozen or so polymers,
including polyacetylene,
polyparaphenylene, polypyrrole, and
polyaniline.
• Alternating single and double bonds
and/or aromatic units
Dielectric Behavior
• Dielectric material – one that is
electrically insulating (nonmetallic) and
exhibits or may be made to exhibit an
electric dipole structure
• There is separation of positive and
negative electrically charged entities on
a molecular or atomic level.
Capacitance
• When voltage is applied across a capacitor,
one plate becomes positively charged, the
other negatively charged, with the
corresponding electric field directed from
the positive to the negative
• Capacitance C, is related to the quantity of
charge on either plate Q
Q
C=
V
Dielectric Materials
• Ceramics – glass, porcelain, steatite,
mica, have dielectric constants within
the range of 6 to 10
• Titania (TiO2) and titanate ceramics
(BaTiO3)– can be made to have high
dielectric constants – for capacitor
applications
Polarization

•Process of dipole alignment

Types of Polarization
• Electronic Polarization
• -may be induced to one degree or
another in all atoms
• Polarization type is found in all
dielectric materials and exists only while
an electric field is present
Electronic polarization
Types of Polarization
• Ionic Polarization
• -occurs only in materials that are ionic
• Applied field acts to displace cations in
one direction and anion in the opposite
direction
Ionic polarization
Types of Polarization
• Orientation Polarization
• -found only in substances that possess
permanent dipole moments.
• Polarization results from a rotation of
the permanent moments into the
direction of the applied field
Orientation Polarization
Other Electrical Characteristics of
Materials
•Ferroelectricity
•- exhibit spontaneous polarization
(in absence of electric field)
•Dielectric analogue of
ferromagnetic materials (display
permanent magnetic behavior).
Other Electrical Characteristics of
Materials
•Piezoelectricity
•-pressure electricity
•Polarization is induced and electric
field is established across a
specimen by the application of
external forces
Piezoelectricity