Electrical
Properties of
Materials
Lecture 1
In this lecture we will going to
discuss ….
Basic Theory of Electrical &
Thermal Conduction
Postulates of Drude model
Relation Between Current
density , Electrical conductivity
Drift velocity for Metals
Problems
Chapter 2
From Principles of Electronic Materials and Devices, Third Edition, S.O. Kasap (© McGraw-Hill, 2005)
Electrical conduction: motion of
charges (conduction electrons) in a
material under the influence of an
applied electric field
Electrical Thermal conduction: conduction of
thermal energy from higher to lower
and temperature regions in a material
Thermal conduction involves carrying of
Thermal energy by conduction electrons. Good
Conduction electrical conductors are also good
thermal conductors!
There must be some relationship
between electrical and thermal
conductivities.
Metals and We define, Electrical current density, net amount of charge flowing
across a unit area per unit time
Conduction by
Electrons: Let we consider flow of electrons in a conductor of cross-sectional area A under an
DRUDE Model applied electric field Ex .
◦ Goal → to find a relation
between flow of electrons
(i.e. current, or here
current density) J in a
metal and applied
electric field (E) across
the metal
◦ Drude assumed that
metals contained free
electrons that were free Note:
to move within the 1. Direction of electron motion is opposite to that of Ex and convention current
crystal lattice and the (here Current density, Jx). Electrons experience a Coulombic force, F = e Ex in
movement therefore was opposite direction due to its –ve charge.
random>. These
2. Application of Ex will result in a net velocity in previously randomly moving
electrons then were
taken to be particles that electrons in x direction. (otherwise → no net flow!)
obey Newton’s Laws of
Motion. Hence the terms
‘Classical Theory’
Metals and
Conduction by
Electrons:
DRUDE Model
◦ Goal → to find a
relation between flow
of electrons (i.e.
current, or here 1
current density) J in a Drift Velocity, v dx [v x1 v x 2 vx 3 v xN ]
metal and applied N
electric field (E)
across the metal Then, Electrical current density,
∆ 𝒒 𝒆 𝒏( 𝑨 ∆ 𝒙)
𝑱= = =𝒆 𝒏𝒗 𝒅𝒙
𝑨∆ 𝒕 𝑨∆𝒕
Relation between Current Density
and Drift Velocity
Metals and
Conduction by The motion of a single
electron in the presence of
Electrons:
an electric field E. During a
DRUDE Model time Interval ti, the electron
◦ Goal → to find a traverses a distance si along
relation between flow x. After p collisions, it has
of electrons (i.e.
drifted a Distance s = x.
current, or here
current density) J in a We now can calculate
metal and applied the vdx due to Ex. The
electric field (E) electron has its last
across the metal collision at ti,
Let, vxi = velocity of ith electron at time t in x
direction
(t – ti) is the time it accelerated free of collision
uxi = velocity of ith electron just after last
collision
𝑒𝐸
𝑣 =𝑢 + 𝑎 𝑡 −𝑡 =𝑢 + x / m
F = e E = m a a = e E 𝑥
𝑥𝑖
x
𝑥𝑖
e( 𝑖 ) 𝑥𝑖
e 𝑡 −𝑡 ( 𝑖 )
𝑚𝑒
Metals and 𝑒 𝐸𝑥
𝑣 𝑥𝑖 =𝑢𝑥𝑖 + 𝑎 ( 𝑡 −𝑡 𝑖 ) =𝑢 𝑥𝑖 + ( 𝑡 −𝑡 𝑖 )
Conduction by 𝑚𝑒
Electrons: Considering all such N electrons and averaging,
DRUDE Model
◦ Goal → to find a
relation between flow
of electrons (i.e.
current, or here
current density) J in a
metal and applied
electric field (E)
is the average free time for N
across the metal 𝑒 𝐸𝑥 𝑒 𝐸𝑥
𝑣 𝑑𝑥 =0+ ( 𝑡 −𝑡 𝑖) = 𝝉 electrons between collisions
𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑒 denoted by and known as mean
scattering time or relaxation time
Drift mobility can be defined as,
∴ 𝑣 𝑑𝑥 =𝜇 𝑑 𝐸 𝑥
Metals and
Conduction by 𝑣 𝑑𝑥 =𝜇 𝑑 𝐸 𝑥
Electrons:
DRUDE Model
◦ Goal → to find a 𝑱 =𝒆 𝒏𝝁 𝒅 𝑬 𝒙
relation between flow
of electrons (i.e.
current, or here Conductivity can be defined as,
current density) J in a
metal and applied
electric field (E)
across the metal 𝑱 =𝝈 𝑬 𝒙
Example
Problem:
Calculate the drift mobility and the mean scattering time of conduction electron in Copper at room temperature, given that
the conductivity of Cu is 5.9 x 105/Ω-cm. The density of Cu is 8.96 gm/cm3 and its atomic mass is 63.5 gm/mol.
Solution:
We know, conductivity,
Hence, mobility in terms of conductivity will be,
Only unknown here is n, the number of conduction electrons per unit volume.
To find n we can assume that each Cu atom donates one electron (there is only one electron at the outermost shell of Cu
atom) to the conduction electron gas in the metal.
Thus the number of conduction electrons per unit volume will be equal to the number of copper atoms per unit volume.
We also note that one mole of Cu has NA (Avogadro No.) = 6.02 x 1023 atoms and has Atomic mass (Mat) of 63.5 gm.
From the relation,
[Note: The unit for mobility is usually
expressed as cm2/V s. This can be
derived from cm2/Ω C by using the
relations V = IR (in terms of units, we
can write, V = A Ω, thus Ω = V/A)
and Q = It (in terms of units, we can
write, C = A s)]
Example
Drift velocity and mean speed Problem:
What is the applied electric field that will impose a drift velocity equal to 0.1% of the mean speed u (~106 m s-1) of the
conduction electrons in copper? What is the corresponding current density and current through a Cu wire of diameter
1mm?
Solution:
The drift velocity of the electron is,
Where, drift mobility of Cu,
From the relation,
This means a current of 1.4 x 1013 A through a 1m diameter wire. It is clear from the example that for all
practical purposes, even under the highest working current and voltages, the drift velocity is much smaller
than the mean speed of the electrons. Consequently, when an electric field is applied to a conductor, for all
practical purposes, the mean speed remains unaffected.
