GROUP FOUR WRITE UP

COURSE TITLE: ELECTRICAL MATERIAL SCIENCE

COURSE CODE: EEC 315

GROUP MEMBER’S NAME:

OWOLABI VICTOR

VINCENT DEBORAH

ANAGO FRIDAY

ENEBELI VICTORY

EGEGE VICTOR

SOLARIN SOLOMON

ODIOR GODSPOWER

AHMED SULEIMAN

AJAYI OSEGHALE

ADEDAPOOLUWATOB

MUSTAPHA JAMIU

DARE SOLOMON
 TABLE OF CONTENT

State an Explain The Energy Bands in solids

a- Valence Band

b-Conduction Band

c-Energy gap

d-Fermi level

Explain the properties of conductors ,insulators and semi conductors in terms

of energy band structure
 EXPLAIN ENERGY BANDS IN SOLID

When atoms come together to form a compound, their atom orbital energies mix
to form molecular orbital energies. As more atoms begin to mix and more
molecular orbitals are formed, it is expected that many of these energy levels will
start to be very close to, or even completely degenerate, in energy. These energy
levels are then said to form bands of energy.
In a single isolated atom, the electrons in each orbit have definite energy
associated with it. But in case of solids all the atoms are close to each other, so the
energy levels of outermost orbit electrons are affected by the neighboring atoms.
When two single or isolated atoms are bring close to each other then the
outermost orbit electrons of two atoms are interact or shared with each other. i.e,
the electrons in the outermost orbit of one atom experience a attractive force from
the nearest or neighboring atomic nucleus.  Due to this the energies of the
electrons will not be in same level, the energy levels of electrons are anged to a
value which is higher or lower than that of the original energy level of the
electron. The electrons in same orbit exhibits different energy levels. The
grouping of this different energy levels is called energy band. However, the
energy levels of inner orbit electrons are not much affected by the presence of
neighboring atoms.

Important energy bands in solids

There are number of energy bands in solids but three of them are very important.
These three energy bands are important to understand the behavior of solids.
These energy bands are
* Valence band
* Conduction band
*

Forbidden band or forbidden gap

VALENCE BAND

The energy band which is formed by grouping the range of energy levels of the
valence electrons or outermost orbit electrons is called as valence band. Valence
band is present below the conduction band as shown in figure. Electrons in the
valence band have lower energy than the electrons in conduction band. The
electrons present in the valence band are loosely  bound to the nucleus of atom. .

CONDUCTION BAND

The band energy where negative or positive energy mobile charge carriers exist.
Negative mobile charge carriers are simply electrons that had enough energy to
escape the valence band and jump to the conduction band. Here, they move freely
throughout the crystal lattice and are directly involved in the conductivity of
semiconductors. Positive mobile charge carriers are also referred to as holes.
Holes refer to the lack of an electron in the conduction band. In other words, a
hole refers to the fact that within the band there is a place where an electron can
exist (ie. negative mobile charge carrier), and yet the electron ceases to exist at
that particular location. Because the electron has the potential to be there and yet
isn't there, it is referred to as positive mobile charge carrier. Generally, the
conduction band is empty but when external energy is applied the electrons in the
valence band jumps in to the conduction band and becomes free electrons.
Electrons in the conduction band have higher energy than the electrons in valence
band. The conduction band electrons are not bound to the nucleus of atom.
FORBIDDEN BAND
The energy gap which is present between the valence band and conduction band
by separating these two energy bands is called as forbidden band or forbidden
gap. In solids, electrons cannot stay in forbidden gap because there is no allowed
energy state in this region. Forbidden gap is the major factor for determining the
electrical conductivity of a solid. The classification of materials as insulators,
conductors and semiconductors is mainly depends on forbidden gap. The energy
associated with forbidden band is called energy gap and it is measured in unit
electron volt (eV).

                                                              1 eV = 1.6 × 10-19 J

The applied external energy in the form of heat or light must be equal to to the
forbidden gap in order to push an electron from valence band to the conduction
band. 

FERMI LEVEL

This level refers to the highest occupied molecular orbital at absolute zero. It is
usually found at the center between the valence and conduction bands. The
particles in this state each have their own quantum states and generally do not
interact with each other. When the temperature begins to rise above absolute zero,
these particles will begin to occupy states above the Fermi level and states below
 the Fermi level become unoccupied.

The Fermi level of a solid-state body is the thermodynamic work required to add
one electron to the body. It is a thermodynamic quantity usually denoted by µ or
EF[1] for brevity. The Fermi level does not include the work required to remove
the electron from wherever it came from. A precise understanding of the Fermi
level—how it relates to electronic band structure in determining electronic
properties, how it relates to the voltage and flow of charge in an electronic circuit
—is essential to an understanding of solid-state physics.

PROPERTIES OFCONDUCTORS,INSULATORS AND SEMI

CONDUCTORS BASED ON ENERGYBANDTHEORY

Based on the ability of various materials to conduct current, the materials are
classified as conductors, insulators and the semiconductors. A metal which is
very good carrier of electricity is called conductor. The copper and
aluminium are good examples of a conductor. A very poor conductor of
electricity is termed as insulator. The glass, wood, mica, diamond are the
examples of an insulator. A metal having conductivity which is between
conductor and an insulator is called semiconductor. The silicon and
germanium are the examples of a
semiconductor. This does not conduct current at low temperatures but as
temperature increases these materials behave as good conductors..

ENERGY BAND DIAGRRAM

CONDUCTORS

In the metals like copper, aluminium there is no forbidden gap between valence
band and conduction band. The two bands overlap.
Hence even at room temperature, a large number of electrons are available for
conduction. So without any additional energy, such metals contain a large number of
free electrons and hence called good conductors.

INSULATORS
In case of such insulating material, there exists a large forbidden gap in
between the conduction band and the valenceband.Practically it is
impossible for an electron to jump from the valence band to
the conduction band. Hence such materials cannot conduct and called insulators.
The forbidden gap is very wide, approximately of about 7 eV is present in
insulators. For a diamond, which is an insulator, the forbidden gap is about
6 eV.Such materials may conduct only at very high temperatures or if they
are subjected to high voltage. Such conduction is rare and is called
breakdown of an insulator.
The other insulating materials are glass, wood, mica, paper etc

SEMICONDUCTORS

The forbidden gap in such materials is very narrow As shown above. Such materials
are called semiconductors.The forbidden gap is about 1 eV.In such materials, the
energy provided by the heat at room temperature is sufficient to lift the electrons
from the valence band to the conduction band
.