Free Electron Theory

Sommerfeld theory of free electron gas, density of states, Fermi-Dirac (FD) distribution
function and its temperature dependence, electronic heat capacity, cyclotron resonance
and Hall effect, The AC conductivity and optical properties, Thermionic emission.
 Drude-Lorentz’s Classical Theory
• Before going to discuss the Free electron gas model, it is important to understand the Drude-Lorentz’s
classical theory.
• The most important characteristic of metal is its high electrical conductivity. Just after the discovery of
electron by J.J. Thomson (in 1900) people were interested to understand the mechanism of metallic
conduction. Paul Drude in 1900 proposed a simple model which explained a well known empirical law i.e.,
Widemann-Franz law (1853). This law stated that κ/σ has approximately the same value for different
metals at a given temperature
• Wiedemann–Franz law states that the ratio of the electronic contribution of the thermal conductivity (κ)
to the electrical conductivity (σ) of a metal is proportional to the temperature (T).

Theoretically, the proportionality constant L, known as the Lorenz number, is equal to

This empirical law is named after Gustav Wiedemann and Rudolph Franz, who in 1853. reported that. The proportionality
of κ/σ with temperature was discovered by Ludvig Lorenz in 1872.
• Actually, Drude postulated that the metals consist of positive ion
cores with valence electrons moving freely among these cores. The
electrons are bound to move within the metal due to electronic
attraction between the positive ion cores and the electrons. The
potential of the ion cores is assumed to constant through the metal
and the mutual repulsion among the electron is neglected. The
behavior of the free electron moving inside the metal is considered to
be similar to that of the atoms of molecule in a prefect gas. These free
electrons are referred as free electron gas and the theory is named as
free electron gas model. The valence electrons are conduction
electrons and responsible for conduction of electricity in metals.
• The Drude model of electrical conduction explained the transport
properties of electrons in metals. The model assumes the microscopic
behaviour of electrons in a solid may be treated classically and looks much
like a pinball machine, with a sea of constantly jittering electrons bouncing
and re-bouncing off heavier, relatively immobile positive ions.

The two most significant results of the Drude model are

an electronic equation of motion and other is the a linear
relationship between current density J and electric field E.
The later result is important i.e.,
Where q, n, m, and τ are the electron charge, number
density, mass, and mean free time between ionic
collisions respectively. Drude model electrons (shown here
Drude model predict the same DC electrical conductivity in blue) constantly bounce between
σ for Ohm's law, that is heavier, stationary crystal ions.
• Later, the Drude model was extended in 1905 by Hendrik Antoon
Lorentz to give the relation between the thermal conductivity and
the electric conductivity of metals, and is a classical model. He
postulated that the electrons in the free electron gas obey Maxwell-
Boltzmann statistics. Hence, it is known as Drude-Lorentz classical
theory. Since this theory based on the classical idea of M-B statistics,
it is called as classical theory.
Failure of Drude Model
In addition to the above success, the model fails to explain the
following.
 Though it correctly predict the room temperature resistivity of
various metals, the temperature dependence of resistivity could
not explain accurately.
 This theory also fails to explain the heat capacity and
paramagnetism susceptibility of the conduction electrons.
 What is free electron model?
• The free electron model is a simple model for the behaviour of charge carriers in a metallic solid.
It was developed in 1927 by Arnold Sommerfeld, who combined the classical Drude model with
quantum mechanical Fermi–Dirac statistics. Hence, it is also known as the Drude–Sommerfeld
model. The free electron model solved many of the inconsistencies related to the Drude model
This model successfully explain many experimental phenomena
• the Wiedemann–Franz law which relates electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity;
• the temperature dependence of the electron heat capacity;
• the shape of the electronic density of states;
• the range of binding energy values;
• electrical conductivities;
• the Seebeck coefficient of the thermoelectric effect;
• thermal electron emission and field electron emission from bulk metals
The free electron model considers that metals are composed of a quantum electron gas where
ions play almost no role. The model can be very predictive when applied to alkali and noble
metals.
Free electron gas in one-dimensional box
 Free electron gas in three dimension
Consider the behavior of electron gas in three dimensional metallic solid. The potential of the electron inside the
solid is constant and taken as zero and large outside the solid. For simplicity, consider the three dimensional solid
as a cubical box of edge length L. Then the free particle Schrodinger equation can be written as
References

1. M. Ali Omar: Elementary Solid State Physics, Pearson Edition

2. R.K. Puri and V.K. Babbar: Solid State Physics , S. Chand and Company Ltd.
3. Wikipedia