❑ Electrical properties

❑ UV-Visible Spectroscopy

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 Why study electrical properties?

For many applications, we need electrical properties of Metals,

Semiconductors and Insulators.

How do we measure electrical conductivity or resistivity of solids?

Effect of Temperature and Composition on resistivity?

Effect of light on electrical conductivity?

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 Electrical Conductivity

In most materials (e.g. metals), the current is carried by electrons (electronic

conduction).
5/30/2022 In ionic crystals, the charge carriers are ions (ionic conduction). 3
 Ohm’s Law

Ohm’s law: current through a conductor between two points is

directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points.
V = IR
where I is current (Ampere), V is voltage (Volts) and R is the resistance
(Ohms or ) of the conductor V = IR

Electrical Resistivity, ρ = RA/l (ohm-m), where A is the area and l is the

length of the conductor.

Electrical
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Conductivity, σ= 1/ρ = l/RA (ohm-m)-1 4
 Resistivity of Metals

The resistivity ρ is defined by scattering events due to the imperfections

and thermal vibrations.

Total resistivity ρ can be described by the Matthiessen rule:

ρ(total) = ρ(thermal) + ρ (impurity) + ρ(deformation)

where ρ(thermal) - from thermal vibrations,

ρ(impurity) - from impurities
ρ(deformation) - from deformation-induced defects

Mattheissen rule  = T + r
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 Resistivity of Metals

Resistivity increases
with temperature,
with deformation,
and with alloying.

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 Resistivity of Metals

Influence of temperature:

Resistivity rises linearly with temperature (increasing

thermal vibrations and density of vacancies)

ρT = ρo + aT

Thermal phonons(Quantization of lattice vibration) is mainly

responsible for scattering event and decreases the conductivity.

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 Resistivity of Metals
Influence of impurities:

• Impurities that form solid solution

ρi = Aci(1-ci)
where ci is impurity concentration,
A – composition independent
constant

• Two-phase alloy (α and β phases) –

rule-of-mixtures

ρi = ραVα + ρβVβ

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 Conduction Mechanism
(Metals)
❑An electron has to be excited from the filled to the empty states
above Fermi level (Ef) for it to become free and a charge carrier.

❑ In metals large number of free valence electrons are available and

they can be easily excited to the empty states due to their band
structure.

❑ On the other hand a large excitation energy is needed to excite

electrons in Insulators and semiconductors due the large band gap.

Conduction in Metals
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 Conduction Mechanism
(Semiconductor)
❑ Semiconductors like Si and Ge have relatively narrow band gap
generally below 2 eV.

Therefore, it is possible to excite electrons from the valence to the

conduction band. This is called intrinsic semi conductivity.

❑ Every electron that is excited to the conduction band leaves

behind a hole in the valence band.

❑ Electron and hole can move under an electrical potential and thus
holes are also charge carriers.
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 Photoconductivity

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Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 11
 UV-visible Spectroscopy
Ultraviolet / Visible Area (UV-VIS) measurements span wavelengths from around 200
nm to 800 nm. The absorption by a molecule of ultraviolet or visible radiation results in
transitions between the molecule’s electrical energy levels. The optical and electronic
properties of different materials, such as films, powders, monolithic solids, and liquids,
are suitable for characterization.

UV-vis spectroscopy is a cost-effective, simple, versatile, non-destructive, analytical

technique suitable for a large spectrum of organic compounds and some inorganic
species. As a function of wavelength, UV-vis spectrophotometers measure the
absorption or transmission of light that passes through a medium.

When the interaction between incident radiation and the electron cloud in a
chromophore results in an electronic transition involving the promotion of one or more
of the outer shell or the bonding electrons from a ground state into a higher energy
state, ultraviolet-visible ( UV-Vis) spectra are derived.

- Online sources
5/30/2022 - See the attached PDF file of Agilent for more details. 12