ECEN 370: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

HOMEWORK # 1 SOLUTIONS

QUESTION 1: A 10 mm cube of germanium passes a current of 6.4mA when 10mV applied between two
of its parallel faces. Assuming that the charge carriers are electrons that have a mobility of 0.39m2V-1s-1,
calculate the density of carriers. What is their collision time if the electron’s effective mass in
germanium 0.22 m0 where m0 is the free electron mass?

SOLUTION 1: I=6.4mA V=10mV L=10mm A=100mm2 µ= 0.39m2V-1s-1

Electric Field: E= U/L Current Density: J= I/A = 64 Am-2

Electrical Conductivity: σ= J/E = 64/1= 64Ω-1m-1 and also σ=Ne e µe => Ne=σ/eµe = 64/ 1.64x10-19x0.39=
1.03x1021m-3 where Ne: Electron Density

m
µe=eτ/me => τ= m µe/e = 0.22x 9.1 x 10-31 x 0.39/ 1.6 x 10-19 = 4.88 x 10-13 s where τ: Collision Time

er as
e: Electron Charge= 1.6x10-19Coulomb, me= Electron Mass= 9.1x10—31kg, µe: mobility= m2/V s

co
eH w
o.
rs e
QUESTION 2: If both electrons and holes are present the conductivities add. This is because under the
ou urc
effect of an applied electric field the holes and electrons flow in opposite directions, add a negative
charge moving in the (say) +z direction is equivalent to a positive charge moving in the -z direction.
Assume that in a certain semiconductor the ratio of electronic mobility, µe, the hole mobility, µh, is equal
o

to 10, the number of holes is Nh=1.6x1020/m3 and the number of electrons is Ne=1.2x1019/m3. The
aC s

measured conductivity is 0.455 ohm-1m-1. Calculate the mobilities.

vi y re

SOLUTION 2: Conductivity: σ= σe + σh= Neeµe + Nheµh but µe=10µh therefore σ= eµh (10Ne + Nh )

0.455=1.6x 10-19µh (10x1.2x1019+1.6x1020) ==> µh= 0.01 m2V-1s-1 and 10x µh = 0.1 m2V-1s-1.
ed d

QUESTION 3: A cuboid of Ge has contacts over all of its 2x1 mm ends and point contacts approximately
ar stu

half way along its 5mm length, at the center of the 5x1 mm faces. A magnetic field can be applied
parallel to this face. A current of the 5mA is passed between the end contacts when a voltage of 210mV
is applied. This generates a voltage across the point contacts of 4.2mV with no magnetic field and 8.0mV
when a field of 0.16 Tesla is applied. (i) Using the corrected hall voltage find the carrier in the Ge sample,
sh is

(ii) Estimate the conductivity of the Ge. (iii) What is the mobility of the carriers?
Th

SOLUTION 3: (i) There may be a misalignment of contacts. The potential difference across the 5mm
length=210mV, The corrected hall voltage is 8-4.2= 3.8 mV,

(ii) N=JB/eE = [(5x10-3/2x10-6)x0.16]/ [1.6x10-19x (3.8/2)]= 1.32x1021m-3.

(iii) J=σE  σ= (5x10-3/2x10-6)/(210/5)=59.5 Ω-1m-1.

(iv) The results from the i and ii  σ=Neµ  µ=59.5/(1.32x1021x1.6x10-19)= 0.282 m2V-1s-1.

https://www.coursehero.com/file/37562683/ECEN370-Homework-1-Solutionspdf/

Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)