Name: Sohaila Adel Ahmed

ID: 120210337

E-mail: [email protected]

Section:16

Experiment: Electrical Resistance of Semiconductors

The energy gap is the distance between the greatest level of the filled band (the
valence band) and the lowest level of the permissible empty band in each material
(conduction band). The energy gap is the amount of energy required for an electron
to pass from the valence band to the conductor band. The experiment will
demonstrate calculations for various temperatures and resistances, which will aid
in calculating the energy gap.

Aim of Experiment:

Calculate energy gap (energy value) by measuring the different values of current
with respect to the different values of temperature.

Introduction:

Metal, semiconductor, and insulator are the three types of materials. The energy
gap is different for each type. The energy gap is the distance
between the highest level of the filled band (also known as the
valence band) and the lowest level of the permitted vacant
band (called conduction band). Each material has its own
Fig.(1)
energy which is energy that required to the electron to transfer from
valence band to the conduction band as in fig.(1). The fig.(2) illustrates that the
metals don’t have energy gap
because its filled and empty bands
are overlap. On the contrary, the
insulator has very big gap is over
4eV so the electron cannot transfer
from valance band to conductor Fig.(2)

band, and it is not conductor. But the semiconductor has small energy gap so its
electron can transfer from valance band to conductor band but by external energy.
We can calculate the energy gap from experiment of heat effect (different in
temperature) on the resistance of the semi-conductors. Determining the energy gap
by adding the semiconductor in different temperatures and measure the change in
resistance. The mechanism of semiconductor is as when temperature increase, the
atomic vibration increases and interatomic spacing increases so average potential
decrease and energy bandgap’s size decrease. And resistance will decrease because
the increasing of current (inversely proportional), too. Conductivity is increasing
by decreasing the energy gap. For example, the Germanium has Eg = 0.72 eV but
Silicon has Eg = 1.1 eV. Which means that the Germanium has the larger
conductivity than Silicon For the conduction of electricity, a certain amount of
energy is to be given to the electron so that it can jump from the valence band to
the conduction band.

103
To calculate energy gap, use the formula: 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 Is = C + (−5.036 Eg)
𝑇

(Where, Is is the reverse current through the junction diode, C is a constant, which
is equal to the first term of RHS of following equation, 𝑇 𝑖𝑠 absolute𝑡
𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒). The main formula represents the equation of straight line having
103
negative slope (5.036 Eg) for graph drawn between log10 Is and . Therefore, by
𝑇

knowing the slope of the line, Eg can be determined through following formula:

103
Slope of graph drawn between 𝑙𝑜𝑔10 Is and 𝑇
𝐸𝑔 =
5.036

In the experiment we will calculate the energy gap by different readings of

𝐸𝑔 log(𝑒) 1
Log 𝑅(𝑇) = log 𝑅(𝑇𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚) + 𝑋
2𝐾𝐵 𝑇
 𝐸𝑔 log (𝑒)
(the term ( ) represents the slope in the (1/𝑇) - (𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑅) graph, and (KB) is a constant,
2𝐾𝐵

KB = 1.38 × 10−23.)

Experimental:

1. Bring the outer vessel and fill it with 1200 liter of pure water.
2. Fill the inner vessel with 400 liters of the pure water too.
3. Set the inner and the outer vessels together, the inner vessel must be rounded by
the pure water of the outer vessel. Figure .5 - Dual End Alligators Figure .3 -
Experiment setup Figure .4 - Water vessel.
4. Stick the semi-conductor’s tube into the pure water of the inner vessel, using the
fixed hand of the vessel’s system.
5. Dip the mercury thermometer into the tube of semi-conductor, and you can stick it
vertically using the other hand of the vessel’s system.
6. Connect the two wires of the semi-conductor to the high two inputs of the digital
multimeter, be careful to connect the ground cable (black one) to the black input
which refers to the ground input (COM). Also, connect the red wire to the high red
input which has the symbol (Ω) refers to the resistance.
7. Connect the down-step transformer to the electricity (220V AC).
8. Connect the electric oven to the (110V) output from the down-step transformer.
9. Switch on the digital multimeter, and set it on the resistance measurement up to
(50KΩ).
10. Read the temperature of the mercury thermometer, and wait for it to become a real
number without a fraction, in order to make the calculations easier.
11. The next step is the first step of measurement, so give your attention to the read of
resistance, with different temperatures.
12. Switch on the electric oven, and set it on the high level of heating.
13. Take the current read of the temperature, and the corresponding resistance.
14. From this step, take the corresponding value of the resistance each 5°C raising in
the value of temperature, until the temperature reaches 60°C.
 15. The resistance in (KΩ), so convert it to (Ω) by multiplying it (× 103 ). Also,
convert the temperature values from ℃ to °𝑘 by adding (273) to the temperature
values.
16. Set a table using these values, including these terms: 𝑇 (℃), 𝑇(°𝑘), Resistance
𝑅(Ω), 1 𝑇 (°𝑘 −1 ), and log𝑅.

From the collected data, draw a graph shows the relation between 𝑅, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇. To do so,
put the temperature 𝑇 on the X-axis, and 𝑅 on the Y-axis.

Also, draw a graph constructs from (1/𝑇) on the X-axis, and (𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑅) on the Y-axis.
From it determine the value of the energy gap (Eg), using the following equation, log
𝑅(𝑇) = log 𝑅(𝑇𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚) + 𝐸𝑔 log (𝑒) 2 𝐾𝐵 × 1 𝑇 Where, the term ( 𝐸𝑔 log (𝑒) 2 𝐾𝐵 )
represents the slope in the (1/𝑇) - (𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑅) graph, and (KB) is a constant, KB = 1.38 ×
10−23

Conclusion:

Metals, semiconductors, and insulators all have different energy gaps. The energy
gap varies by semiconductor material, and as temperature rises, the energy gap
decreases. The Eg may be computed using formula from an experiment in which a
semiconductor is added at various temperatures and resistance values are
measured:

𝐸𝑔 log(𝑒) 1
Log 𝑅(𝑇) = log 𝑅(𝑇𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚) + 𝑋
2𝐾𝐵 𝑇

References:

(2016). YouTube. Retrieved January 16, 2022, from https://youtu.be/VcYjueOklFc .

YouTube [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8yi-