Electron Gas Density of States

By: Albert Liu

L 3


Recall that in a 3D electron gas, there are 2 2π modes per unit k-space
volume. The number of modes N that a sphere of radius k in k-space encloses
is thus:  3
L 4 3 V 3
N =2 πk = k (1)
2π 3 3π 2
A useful quantity is the derivative with respect to k:
dN V
= 2 k2 (2)
dk π
We also recall the relation between energy E and k:
~2 k 2
E= (3)
r 2m
2mE
k= (4)
~2
Taking the derivative of k with respect to E:
r
dk m
= (5)
dE 2~2 E
The density of states D(E) in 3D, which is the number of states per unit energy,
can now be calculated as follows:
V √  m  32
r
dN dN dk V m
D3D (E) = = = 2 k2 2
= 2 2E 2 (6)
dE dk dE π 2~ E π ~

In 2D, the number of modes that a circle of radius k encloses is:

 2
L A 2
N =2 πk 2 = k (7)
2π 2π
which gives:
dN A
= k (8)
dk π
The density of states in 2D is thus:
r
dN dk A m Am
D2D (E) = = k = (9)
dk dE π 2~2 E π~2

1
In 1D, the number of modes enclosed by the range (−k, k) is:
 
L
N =4 k (10)
2π
which gives:
dN 2L
= (11)
dk π
The density of states in 1D is thus:
r
dN dk 2L m
D1D (E) = = (12)
dk dE π 2~2 E

Example: Consider a 1D ballistic wire, meaning that the coherence length of

the electrons is longer than the channel (assume electrons do not experience any
collisions). What is the conductance of the wire? We begin by rewriting the 1D
density of states in terms of the electron velocity v:
r
2L m
D1D (E) =
π 2~2 E
r
2L m 2m
=
π 2~2 p2
4L
= (13)
hv
We now note that only the electrons moving in one direction will contribute to
a current. Depending on the direction of the applied voltage, these will be the
electrons in either k range (−k, 0) or (0, k), which means the density of states
we use will be divided in half:
curr 1 2L
D1D (E) = D1D (E) = (14)
2 hv
If a potential difference ∆V = (V2 − V1 ) is applied across the wire, there is a
corresponding potential energy difference of ∆E = −e∆V . The electron density
can thus be expressed as:
electrons 1 dN 2e
n= = ∆E = − ∆V (15)
m L dE hv
We now write the current:
2e2
I = −nev = ∆V (16)
h
Which gives the conductance:
I 2e2
G0 = = (17)
∆V h
The quantity G0 is known as the conductance quantum, which will be dis-
cussed in detail later.