FermiLevel

"Fermilevel"isthetermusedtodescribethetopofthecollectionof
electronenergylevelsatabsolutezerotemperature.Thisconcept
comesfromFermiDiracstatistics.Electronsarefermionsandbythe
Pauliexclusionprinciplecannotexistinidenticalenergystates.Soat
absolutezerotheypackintothelowestavailableenergystatesand
buildupa"Fermisea"ofelectronenergystates.TheFermilevelisthe
surfaceofthatseaatabsolutezerowherenoelectronswillhave
enoughenergytoriseabovethesurface.TheconceptoftheFermi
energyisacruciallyimportantconceptfortheunderstandingofthe
electricalandthermalpropertiesofsolids.Bothordinaryelectricaland
thermalprocessesinvolveenergiesofasmallfractionofanelectron
volt.ButtheFermienergiesofmetalsareontheorderofelectron
volts.Thisimpliesthatthevastmajorityoftheelectronscannot
receiveenergyfromthoseprocessesbecausetherearenoavailable
energystatesforthemtogotowithinafractionofanelectronvoltof
theirpresentenergy.Limitedtoatinydepthofenergy,these
interactionsarelimitedto"ripplesontheFermisea".
Athighertemperaturesacertain
fraction,characterizedbytheFermi
function,willexistabovetheFermi
level.TheFermilevelplaysan
importantroleinthebandtheoryof
solids.Indopedsemiconductors,ptype
andntype,theFermilevelisshiftedby
theimpurities,illustratedbytheirband
gaps.TheFermilevelisreferredtoas
theelectronchemicalpotentialinother
contexts.
Inmetals,theFermienergygivesus
informationaboutthevelocitiesofthe
electronswhichparticipateinordinary
electricalconduction.Theamountof
energywhichcanbegiventoan
electroninsuchconductionprocessesis
ontheorderofmicroelectronvolts(see
copperwireexample),soonlythose
electronsveryclosetotheFermienergy

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Semiconductors
forelectronics

canparticipate.TheFermivelocityof
theseconductionelectronscanbe
calculatedfromtheFermienergy.
Table
Thisspeedisapartofthemicroscopic
Ohm'sLawforelectricalconduction.
Forametal,thedensityofconduction
electronscanbeimpliedfromtheFermi
energy.
TheFermienergyalsoplaysanimportantroleinunderstandingthe
mysteryofwhyelectronsdonotcontributesignificantlytothespecific
heatofsolidsatordinarytemperatures,whiletheyaredominant
contributorstothermalconductivityandelectricalconductivity.Since
onlyatinyfractionoftheelectronsinametalarewithinthethermal
energykToftheFermienergy,theyare"frozenout"oftheheat
capacitybythePauliprinciple.Atverylowtemperatures,theelectron
specificheatbecomessignificant.
Fermienergiesformetals
TableofFermienergies

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FermiFunction
TheFermifunctionf(E)givestheprobabilitythatagivenavailableelectron
energystatewillbeoccupiedatagiventemperature.TheFermifunctioncomes
fromFermiDiracstatisticsandhastheform

Thebasicnatureofthisfunctiondictatesthatatordinarytemperatures,mostof
thelevelsuptotheFermilevelEFarefilled,andrelativelyfewelectronshave
energiesabovetheFermilevel.TheFermilevelisontheorderofelectronvolts
(e.g.,7eVforcopper),whereasthethermalenergykTisonlyabout0.026eV
at300K.IfyouputthosenumbersintotheFermifunctionatordinary
temperatures,youfindthatitsvalueisessentially1uptotheFermillevel,and
rapidlyapproacheszeroaboveit.
TheillustrationbelowshowstheimplicationsoftheFermifunctionforthe
electricalconductivityofasemiconductor.Thebandtheoryofsolidsgivesthe
picturethatthereisasizablegapbetweentheFermilevelandtheconduction
bandofthesemiconductor.Athighertemperatures,alargerfractionofthe
electronscanbridgethisgapandparticipateinelectricalconduction.

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Semiconductors
forelectronics

NotethatalthoughtheFermifunctionhasafinitevalueinthegap,thereisno
electronpopulationatthoseenergies(that'swhatyoumeanbyagap).The
populationdependsupontheproductoftheFermifunctionandtheelectron
densityofstates.Sointhegaptherearenoelectronsbecausethedensityof
statesiszero.Intheconductionbandat0K,therearenoelectronseventhough
thereareplentyofavailablestates,buttheFermifunctioniszero.Athigh

temperatures,boththedensityofstatesandtheFermifunctionhavefinite
valuesintheconductionband,sothereisafiniteconductingpopulation.
FermiDiracdistributionasafunctionoftemperature

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DensityofEnergyStates
TheFermifunctiongivestheprobabilityofoccupyinganavailableenergy
state,butthismustbefactoredbythenumberofavailableenergystatesto
determinehowmanyelectronswouldreachtheconductionband.This
densityofstatesistheelectrondensityofstates,buttherearedifferencesin
itsimplicationsforconductorsandsemiconductors.Fortheconductor,the
densityofstatescanbeconsideredtostartatthebottomofthevalenceband
andfilluptotheFermilevel,butsincetheconductionbandandvalence
bandoverlap,theFermilevelisintheconductionbandsothereareplentyof
electronsavailableforconduction.Inthecaseofthesemiconductor,the
densityofstatesisofthesameform,butthedensityofstatesforconduction
electronsbeginsatthetopofthegap.

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forelectronics
Reference
Simpson

Sec4.7

Electronenergydensityfunction

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PopulationofConductionBandfora
Semiconductor

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Semiconductor
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Thepopulationofconductionelectronsforasemiconductorisgivenby

Reference
Simpson
Sec4.7

Show
where

Forasemiconductorwithbandgap
Ge)
attemperature

K=

theconductionelectronpopulationis

Semiconductors
forelectronics

eV(1.1eVforSi,0.72eVfor
C
x10^

electrons/m3.
Youcouldusethiscalculationtoverifythattheconductionelectronpopulation
Ncbingermaniumdoublesforabouta13degreeriseintemperature.For
silicon,Ncbdoublesforaboutan8degreeriseintemperature.Becauseofthe
largerbandgap,therewillbefewerconductionelectronsinsiliconthan
germaniumforanygiventemperature.

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