Chapter 2: Electrical and Thermal

Conduction in Solids

Electrical Conduction Cont…

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 2.2: Temperature Dependence of Resistivity

Conduction electrons are scattered from the thermal vibrations of the ions (scattering
center).

Let, 𝑁𝑆 → concentration of scattering centers/scatterers

𝑢 → speed of electrons between two collisions
𝑆 → cross-sectional area of a vibrating ion = 𝜋𝑎2
here, 𝑎→ amplitude of atomic/ionic vibration
If the electron’s path crosses 𝜋𝑎2 , then it gets scattered.
∴ length traversed between collisions = 𝑙 = 𝑢𝜏
∴ volume between vibrating ions/scattering centers = 𝑆𝑙 = 𝑆𝑢𝜏
∴ No. of scatterer in that volume = 𝑁𝑆 𝑆𝑢𝜏 = 1 → one scatterer

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The mean free time, 𝜏 =
𝑁𝑆 𝑆𝑢
𝑢 → only slightly depends on temperature
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So, 𝜏 ∝
𝜋𝑎2 2
• A thermally vibrating ion/atom can be thought to be a Simple Harmonic
Oscillator, similar to a mass M attached to a spring.

• From kinetic molecular theory →

here, C is a temperature-independent constant.

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 Lattice-Scattering-Limited Conductivity
𝑒𝜏 𝑒𝐶
𝜇𝑑 = =
𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑇
So, the resistivity 𝜌𝑇 of a pure metal is:
1 1 𝑚𝑒 𝑇
𝜌𝑇 = = =
𝜎𝑇 𝑒𝑛𝜇𝑑 𝑒 2 𝑛𝐶

𝜌𝑇 = 𝐴𝑇
where, 𝐴 is a temperature-independent constant.

• Resistivity of a pure metal wire increases linearly with temperature.

• Resistivity is due simply to the scattering of conduction electrons by the
thermal vibration of the atoms/ions.
→ This conductivity is called ‘Lattice-scattering-limited conductivity’.

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 2.3.1: Matthiessen’s Rule
• For pure metals, the main scattering mechanism is lattice vibration →
𝜌𝑇 = 𝐴𝑇
But, this does FAIL for metallic alloys (and for many practical metals).
• For metallic alloys, their resistivities are weakly T dependent.
→ so, we must also consider scattering due to impurity atoms in an alloy.

Strained region by impurity exerts a

scattering force, 𝐹 = −𝑑(𝑃𝐸)/𝑑𝑥

When an impurity atom of a different

size is placed in a crystal lattice, the
impurity atom results in a local
distortion.

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• Hence, there are two types of ‘mean free time’ for conduction electrons.
→ due to scattering from thermal vibration (𝜏 𝑇 )
→ due to scattering from impurity atoms (𝜏𝐼 )

• e- can be scattered by both processes, thus the effective 𝜏 will be less than 𝜏 𝑇 or
𝜏𝐼 .
1/𝜏 → frequency of scattering or probability of scattering. So, the net
frequency of scattering for two independent events is:
1 1 1
= +
𝜏 𝜏𝑇 𝜏𝐼

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 𝑒𝜏 1 1 1
• Since, 𝜇𝑑 = , → = +
𝑚𝑒 𝜇𝑑 𝜇𝐿 𝜇𝐼
Here, 𝜇𝐿 → lattice-scattering limited mobility (note: 𝜇𝐿 , not 𝜇 𝑇 )
𝜇𝐼 → impurity-scattering limited mobility
1 1 1
• Now, resistivity, 𝜌 = = +
𝑒𝑛𝜇𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝜇𝐿 𝑒𝑛𝜇𝐼
So, 𝜌 = 𝜌𝑇 + 𝜌𝐼

Effective 𝜌 is the sum of resistivities due to lattice scattering and impurity

scattering → Matthiessen’s Rule.

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 Residual Resistivity
• There may also be electrons scattering from dislocations and other crystal
defects. All of these scattering processes add to the resistivity of a metal, just as
the scattering process from impurities. We can therefore write the effective
resistivity of a metal as
𝜌 = 𝜌𝑇 + 𝜌𝑅
𝜌𝑅 → residual resistivity due to scattering of electrons by impurities, dislocations,
interstitial atoms, vacancies, grain boundaries, etc.

• Residual resistivity shows very little temperature dependence.

𝜌 ≈ 𝐴𝑇 + 𝐵
where, 𝐴 and 𝐵 are temperature-independent constants.
→ 𝐴 and 𝐵 are dependent on material.

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 Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity (TCR)

𝜌 ≈ 𝐴𝑇 + 𝐵
• Instead of listing A and B on the resistivity tables of materials, a temperature
coefficient is preferred → Temperature Coefficient of Resistivity, 𝛼0
𝛼0 → the fractional change in the resistivity per unit temperature increase
at the reference temperature 𝑇0
1 𝛿𝜌
𝛼0 = (1)
𝜌0 𝛿𝑇 𝑇=𝑇0

where, 𝜌0 → resistivity at the temperature 𝑇0

• 𝑇0 → usually 273 K (0 ℃) or 293 K (20 ℃)
• δ𝜌 = 𝜌 − 𝜌0
δ𝑇 = 𝑇 − 𝑇0 → a small increase in temperature
when 𝛼0 is constant over the temperature range of interest, equation (1)
leads to:
𝜌 = 𝜌0 1 + 𝛼0 𝑇 − 𝑇0 (2)
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 𝜶𝟎 for Pure Metals
• For pure metals: 𝜌 ≈ 𝐴𝑇, (𝜌 ∝ 𝑇)
• Using this in equation (2), we have:
1 − 𝛼0 𝑇0 = 0
1
→ 𝛼0 =
𝑇0
• For 𝑇0 = 273 K, 𝛼0 = 1/273

As the table shows, 𝜌 ∝ 𝑇 holds ok for

some familiar metals (Al, Cu, Au), and
badly fails for many (particularly for
magnetic materials, e.g., iron and nickel)

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• 𝜌 ∝ 𝑇 is approximately obeyed for
some metals and fails for some others,
especially magnetic materials.
• For alloys, such as nichrome (Ni-Cr),
𝜌 is relatively temperature insensitive,
with a very small TCR.
• Frequently, an empirical relation
between 𝜌 and 𝑇 is used for pure
metals:
𝑇 𝑛
𝜌= 𝜌0
𝑇0
• For non-magnetic metals, 𝑛 ≈ 1,
whereas it is closer to 2 than 1 for the
magnetic metals Fe (1.80) and Ni
(1.72) due to magnetic interaction
between electrons and ions (additional
scattering).
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 𝝆 vs T at Lower Temperature

• 𝜌 = 𝐴𝑇 + 𝐵 → This is an
oversimplified expression of
complicated physical phenomena. It
does not hold true at very low
temperatures, 𝑇 ≤ 100 K
• The number of ions that vibrate with
sufficient energy to scatter conduction
electrons starts to decrease rapidly with
decreasing temperature → 𝜌𝑇 becomes
more strongly temperature dependent.
→ 𝜌𝑇 ∝ 𝑇 5
∴ 𝜌 = 𝐷𝑇 5 + 𝜌𝑅
• At 𝑇 → 0, 𝜌 is limited by scattering
from impurities and crystal defects.

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