Name: Student #:

ELEC 315
Assignment 2: Quantization of states, Density of States and Conduction

1. Follow the steps to find the magnitude of the allowed energy levels of an electron trapped in a square
box with sides of length, L. Inside the box the potential energy is Uo, and outside it is infinite.
a. (1) Write the Classical (non-Quantum) equation for kinetic energy as a function of mass and
momentum:

b. (1) Assuming that an electron of mass, m*, is trapped in the sheet, and that it is behaving like a
wave trapped in a cubic cavity, with the wave amplitude dropping to zero at the edges of the
sheet, what is the longest wavelength allowed (as a function of L) in each direction?

c. (3) Describe the shape and amplitude of the lowest energy wavefunction in terms of L (a
sinusoidal function).

d. (3) What is the total kinetic energy of the lowest energy state in this cube? (Assume you can sum
the kinetic energy associated with the wave in each of the 3 axes.)

e. (3) What is the next lowest energy?

f. (1) The number of energy states that have this next lowest energy (the degree of degeneracy) is
_____, and the max. number of electrons that can fit in these states is _____.
g. (3) Write out a general equation for all allowed energy states as a function of quantum numbers
nx, ny and nz.

h. (3) Write the corresponding expression for the amplitude of the allowed wavefunctions.

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i. (5) Write out an expression for next 5 lowest energies (relative to Uo), including the degree of
degeneracy in brackets.

3rd __________( ) 4th __________(__) 5th _________(__) 6th _________(__) 7th __________(__)

j. (2) Is the density of states (number of allowed electron states per unit energy per volume) going
up, down or staying the same as electron energy increases?

k. (2) Rewrite the expression you found in (g) in terms of kx, ky and kz. What is the relationship
between nx and kx?

l. (1) Now find the density of states. First define n2 = nx2 + ny2 + nz2. Rewrite the equation from (g)
in terms of n.

m. (4) How many energy states, NE, (approximately) are there with an energy, Eo, or lower? (Hint –
think of n as the radius of a sphere. The volume of the sphere indicates how many states have an
energy equal to or less than Eo. (show your work)

n. (1) How many electrons, N, can fit into these states?

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o. (3) Now find the density of states, which is the number of electronic states, N, per unit energy
and per unit volume, at a given energy, E:

p. (3) Sketch the density of states, g(E) vs. E-Uo. (rough sketch is fine showing the trend. How does
the density of states change with energy (increase, decrease, stay approx.. constant?)

2. The Drude model of conduction. Large crystals contain imperfections. Also, as temperature increases,
nuclei gain kinetic energy, thereby increasingly distorting wavefunctions and leading to scattering. This
question uses a Classical model to help explain the origin of Ohm’s Law.
(a) (2) If a voltage V is applied across a metal wire of length L, what are the force and acceleration an electron
of mass, m, and charge, -e, feels in response to this applied potential?

(b) (2) What is the distance the electron travels in time, ?

(c) (2) If the average time between scattering events is , and the electron completely loses the momentum
gained from the applied field each time it collides, what is the speed of an electron as a function of applied
voltage?

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(d) (2) What is speed as a function of electric field, E?

(e) (2) Write an approximate expression for mobility as a function of mass and time between scattering events:

3. (a) (4) Which orbitals of magnesium contain electrons in the ground state? How many in each?

(b) (2) Which orbital leads to the formation of a conduction band, and which to the valence band, when a
solid is created from magnesium atoms?

(c) (2) What is the degree of filling of each band? Is magnesium expected to be a metal, semiconductor or
insulator, based on the band filling? What is it in reality, and how can this be explained by the band model?

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4. The probability of occupancy of an electron state at temperature, T, is described by a function f(E) which
is the probability (value between zero and one) that an electron will occupy the state at a specified
temperature. For electrons this is given by the Fermi-Dirac function:
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f (E) =
1 + exp( E − E F ) / kT 
where EF is the Fermi Level, T is absolute temperature, and k is the Boltzmann Constant (1.38x10-23 J/K). At
20 oC the product kT is 0.025 eV.

(a) (1) What does the value of the function tend to as energy goes to infinity?

(b) (1) What about as energy goes to zero?

(c) (1) What is the probability of occupancy is when E=EF (when energy is equal to the so called Fermi
level)?

(d) (6) Plot the Fermi-Dirac distribution vs. Energy (in eV) at 20oC, with EF is 10 kT, for energies between 0
and 15 kT. Also plot: f ( E ) = exp− ( E − EF ) / kT  on the same axes. The second function is called the
Boltzmann Distribution. Attach the plot when you hand in your assignment, or paste it below:

(e) How close are the two functions in value when E-EF = 3kT? In general, at what values of E is the
Boltzmann Distribution a good approximation of the Fermi-Dirac distribution?

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5. (5) In crystalline solids the orbital energy levels “split” into bands. If the material is a semiconductor or
an insulator, then valence electrons will form a valence band that is almost completely full, and higher
orbitals will form an essentially empty conduction band (as long as thermal energy is small compared to
the band gap). The figure below shows that absorption of electromagnetic radiation (infrared and visible
in this case) rises abruptly around and above a particular frequency. Explain why the absorption rises
dramatically at a certain energy of photons. What is the band gap of Germanium at 77 K?

6. (6) Explain why conductivity in a doped semiconductor increases from low temperatures (A), then
decreases (B) and finally increases again (C). (This was not covered in detail in class - please read Pulfrey
and Tarr.)
5. (a)
Region A:

B A

Region B:
C

Region C:

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6. In silicon near room temperature ni is found to equal 1010 cm-3.

(a) (1) What is pi?

(b) (2) Silicon is doped with Boron at a concentration of NA=1017 cm-3 and with Phosophorous at a
concentration of ND=51017 cm-3. What type of carriers do you expect to dominate conduction in this doped
silicon?

(c) (4) Assume that all the acceptors and donors in part b are ionized. We want to find the concentration of holes
and electrons. First use conservation of charge plus the relationship ni2=nop0 to generate a quadratic equation
relating no, NA, and ND and ni. (donor dopant concentration). (Set the concentrations of positive carriers and
ions equal to the concentration of negative carriers and ions. Think carefully about which ions are positive and
which are negative.)

(d) (2) Next write an expression for po by solving the quadratic equation (use the quadratic formula).

(e) (2) Assuming that the net doping levels are >>ni, use your result from (d) to show that no~ND-NA. Calculate
no.