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Lecture 6

The document discusses the concepts of mean free time, temperature dependence of resistivity, and lattice-scattering-limited conductivity in metals. It explains Matthiessen's rule, effective mean free time, and residual resistivity, highlighting the impact of impurities and crystal defects on resistivity. Additionally, it covers the temperature coefficient of resistivity and its empirical relation to temperature for various metals.

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4 views

Lecture 6

The document discusses the concepts of mean free time, temperature dependence of resistivity, and lattice-scattering-limited conductivity in metals. It explains Matthiessen's rule, effective mean free time, and residual resistivity, highlighting the impact of impurities and crystal defects on resistivity. Additionally, it covers the temperature coefficient of resistivity and its empirical relation to temperature for various metals.

Uploaded by

onlinemedia0011
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

Mean Free Time


• Conduction electrons are scattered from the thermal vibrations of the atoms.

• = 1  One scatterer.

• The mean free time between collisions:


1
=

• u  slightly depends on temperature.

• The temperature dependence of


essentially arises from = .

1
∝

1
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity
• Thermal vibrations of atoms can be considered to be simple harmonic
motion, like a mass M attached to a spring.

1 1 1 1
K. E. = = cos
2 2
1
K. E. =
4
1
• Kinetic molecular theory  K. E. =
2

1 1
≈  ∝
4 2

1 1
∝ ∝  =

Lattice-Scattering-Limited Conductivity

= =

So, the resistivity of a pure metal is

1 1
= = =

=  lattice-scattering-limited conductivity

2
Matthiessen’s Rule
• =  works well with pure metals
 Fails for metallic alloys.

Strained region by impurity exerts a


scattering force = − ( )/

Effective Mean Free Time


• Two different types of scattering processes: (1) from impurities alone and
(2) from thermal vibrations alone.
• Two types of mean free times between collisions: (1) T for scattering from
thermal vibrations only, and (2) I for scattering from impurities only.

1 1 1
= +   is smaller than both T and I.

1 1 1
= +

: drift mobility
: lattice-scattering-limited mobility
: impurity-scattering-limited mobility
1 1 1
= = + = +

3
Residual Resistivity
There may also be electrons scattering from dislocations and other crystal
defects, as well as from grain boundaries. All of these scattering processes add to
the resistivity of a metal, just as the scattering process from impurities. We can
therefore write the effective resistivity of a metal as

= +

∶ residual resistivity due to the scattering of electrons by impurities,


dislocations, interstitial atoms, vacancies, grain boundaries, etc.

Residual resistivity shows very little temperature dependence.

ρ ≈ AT + B
where A and B are temperature-independent constants.

Temperature Coefficient
• The temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) α0 is defined as the fractional
change in the resistivity per unit temperature increase at the reference
temperature T0
1
=

• T0  usually 273 K (0 °C) or 293 K (20 °C)

δρ = ρ − ρ0

δT = T − T0

when α0 is constant over the temperature range of interest

ρ = ρ0[1 + α0 (T − T0)]
1
• For metals: =  For T0 = 273 K, = 1/273.

4
0 at 273 K
Metal
Aluminum, Al 1/233
Antimony, Sb 1/196
Copper, Cu 1/232
Gold, Au 1/251
Indium, In 1/196
Platinum, Pt 1/255
Silver, Ag 1/244
Tantalum, Ta 1/294
Tin, Sn 1/217
Tungsten, W 1/202
Iron, Fe 1/152
Nickel, Ni 1/125

Resistivity vs. Temperature


• ρ ∝ T is approximately obeyed
except for the magnetic materials.

• For alloys, such as nichrome (Ni-


Cr), ρ is relatively temperature
insensitive, with a very small TCR.

• Empirical relation between  and


T for pure metals:

• For nonmagnetic metals, n  1,


whereas it is closer to 2 than 1 for
the magnetic metals Fe and Ni.

10

5
Resistivity vs. Temperature
ρ = AT + B

≲ K:
• The number of atoms that vibrate
with sufficient energy to scatter
the conduction electrons starts to
decrease rapidly with decreasing
temperature  becomes more
strongly temperature dependent
 ∝

• = +

• At T  0,  is limited by
scattering from impurities and
crystal defects.
11

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