18.1 (a) Compute the electrical conductivity of a cylindrical silicon specimen 7.0 mm (0.28 in.

)
diameter and 57 mm (2.25 in.) in length in which a current of 0.25 A passes in an axial direction. A voltage
of 24 V is measured across two probes that are separated by 45 mm (1.75 in.).
(b) Compute the resistance over the entire 57 mm (2.25 in.) of the specimen.
18.2 An aluminum wire 10 m long must experience a voltage drop of less than 1.0 V when a
current of 5 A passes through it. Using the data in Table 18.1, compute the minimum
diameter of the wire.

18.3 What is the distinction between electronic and ionic conduction?

18.4 How does the electron structure of an isolated atom differ from that of a solid material?
18.5 In terms of electron energy band structure, discuss reasons for the difference in electrical
conductivity among metals, semiconductors, and insulators.
18.6 Briefly state what is meant by the drift velocity and mobility of a free electron.
18.7 (a) Calculate the drift velocity of electrons in silicon at room temperature and when the
magnitude of the electric field is 500 V/m.
(b) Under these circumstances, how long does it take an electron to traverse a 25-mm (1-in.) length
of crystal?
18.8 At room temperature the electrical conductivity and the electron mobility for aluminum are
3.8 × 107 (Ω.m)–1 and 0.0012 m2/V.s, respectively.
(a) Compute the number of free electrons per cubic meter for aluminum at room temperature.
18.9 What is the number of free electrons per aluminum atom? Assume a density of 2.7 g/cm3.
(a) Calculate the number of free electrons per cubic meter for silver, assuming that there are 1.3 free
electrons per silver atom. The electrical conductivity and density for Ag are 6.8 × 107 (Ω.m)–1 and 10.5
g/cm3, respectively.
(b) Now compute the electron mobility for Ag.
18.10 Determine the electrical conductivity of a Cu–Ni alloy that has a tensile strength of 275
MPa (40,000 psi). See Figure 7.16.

18.11 A cylindrical metal wire 3 mm (0.12 in.) in diameter is required to carry a current of 12 A
with a minimum of 0.01 V drop per foot (300 mm) of wire. Which of the metals and alloys listed in Table
18.1 are possible candidates?
18.12 (a) Using the data presented in Figure 18.16, determine the number of free electrons per
atom for intrinsic germanium and silicon at room temperature (298 K). The densities for Ge and Si are 5.32
and 2.33 g/cm3, respectively.
(b) Now explain the difference in these free-electron-per-atom values.

18.13 At room temperature the electrical conductivity of PbS is 25 (Ω.m)–1, whereas the electron
and hole mobilities are 0.06 and 0.02 m2/V.s, respectively. Compute the intrinsic carrier concentration for
PbS at room temperature.
 18.14 Is it possible for compound semiconductors to exhibit intrinsic behavior? Explain your
answer.

18.15 For each of the following pairs of semiconductors, decide which has the smaller band gap
energy, Eg, and then cite the reason for your choice.
(a) C (diamond) and Ge
(b) AlP and InAs
(c) GaAs and ZnSe
(d) ZnSe and CdTe
(e) CdS and NaCl
18.16 Define the following terms as they pertain to semiconducting materials: intrinsic,
extrinsic, compound, elemental. Provide an example of each.

18.17 An n-type semiconductor is known to have an electron concentration of 5 × 1017 m–3. If

the electron drift velocity is 350 m/s in an electric field of 1000 V/m, calculate the conductivity of this
material.

18.18 Predict whether each of the following elements will act as a donor or an acceptor when
added to the indicated semiconducting material. Assume that the impurity elements are substitutional.

Impurit Semiconducto
y r
N Si
B Ge
S InSb
In CdS
As ZnTe

18.19 (a) The room-temperature electrical conductivity of a silicon specimen is 500 (Ω.m)–1. The
hole concentration is known to be 2.0 × 1022 m–3. Using the electron and hole mobilities for silicon in
Table 18.3, compute the electron concentration.
(b) On the basis of the result in part (a), is the specimen intrinsic, n-type extrinsic, or p-type
extrinsic?
Why?

18.32 Calculate the conductivity of intrinsic silicon at 80°C.

 18.33 Calculate the room-temperature electrical conductivity of silicon that has been doped with
1023 m–3 of arsenic atoms.
18.34 Calculate the room-temperature electrical conductivity of silicon that has been doped with
2 × 1024 m–3 of boron atoms.

18.39 Estimate the electrical conductivity at 75°C of silicon that has been doped with 1022 m–3
of phosphorus atoms.

18.40 Briefly describe electron and hole motions in a p–n junction for forward and reverse
biases; then explain how these lead to rectification.