Band Gap of Germanium

Band Gap
“The term band gap refers to Energy difference between the valence band and
conduction band”.
 This is the amount of energy that a valence electrons must have to jump from
valence band to conduction band. Once in the conduction band, the electron is free
to move throughout the material.
  Germanium
 Germanium have the characteristic four valence electrons. The valence electrons in
the germanium are in the fourth valence shell. This means that the germanium
valence electrons are at the high energy levels required a small amount of additional
energy to escape from the atom. This property makes germanium more unstable at
high temperature
 The bandgap of germanium
at 0 K is based upon the
temperature dependence of
electrical conductivity of a
PN junction. The band gap
of germanium decreases as
temperature increases.
 Band gap of germanium is
0.66eV.
Principle:
The conductivity of a germanium testpiece is measured as a function of
temperature. The energy gap is determined from the measured values.
Circuit diagram