1

Fermi-Dirac distribution and the Fermi-level

Density of states tells us how many states exist at a given energy E.
The Fermi function f(E) specifies how many of the existing states at
the energy E will be filled with electrons. The function f(E)
specifies, under equilibrium conditions, the probability that an
available state at an energy E will be occupied by an electron. It is a
probability distribution function.
E
F
= Fermi energy or Fermi level
k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38 10
23
J/K
= 8.6 10
5
eV/K
T = absolute temperature in K
2
Fermi-Dirac distribution: Consider T 0 K
For E > E
F
:
For E < E
F
:
0
) ( exp 1
1
) (
F

+ +
> E E f
1
) ( exp 1
1
) (
F

+
< E E f
E
E
F
0 1 f(E)
3
If E = E
F
then f(E
F
) =
If then
Thus the following approximation is valid:
i.e., most states at energies 3kT above E
F
are empty.
If then
Thus the following approximation is valid:
So, 1 f(E) = Probability that a state is empty, decays to zero.
So, most states will be filled.
kT (at 300 K) = 0.025eV, E
g
(Si) = 1.1eV, so 3kT is very small
in comparison.
kT E E 3
F
+
1 exp
F
>>

,
_

kT
E E

,
_

kT
E E
E f
) (
exp ) (
F
kT E E 3
F

1 exp
F
<<

,
_

kT
E E

,
_

kT
E E
E f
F
exp 1 ) (
Fermi-Dirac distribution: Consider T > 0 K
4
Temperature dependence of Fermi-Dirac distribution
5
6
Equilibrium distribution of carriers
Distribution of carriers = DOS probability of occupancy
= g(E) f(E)
(where DOS = Density of states)
Total number of electrons in CB (conduction band) =

top
C
d ) ( ) (
C 0
E
E
E E f E g n
Total number of holes in VB (valence band) =
( )

V
Bottom
d ) ( 1 ) (
V 0
E
E
E E f E g p
Properties of a Fermion gas
The internal energy of a gas of N fermions
Integration by parts (I)
In calculus, integration by parts is a rule that transforms the integral of
products of functions into other, hopefully simpler, integrals. The rule arises
from the product rule of differentiation.
If u = f(x), v = g(x), and the differentials du = f '(x) dx and dv = g'(x) dx; then in
its simplest form the product rule is

du v uv dv u
) ( ' ) ( ) ( ) ( ' ))' ( ) ( ( x g x f x g x f x g x f +
Integration by parts (II)
In the traditional calculus curriculum, this rule is often stated using indefinite integrals in
the form
As a simple example, consider
Since ln x simplifies to 1/x when differentiated, we make this part of ; since 1/x
2

simplifies to 1/x when integrated, we make this part of g. The formula now yields
dx x g x f x g x f dx x g x f ) ( ) ( ' ) ( ) ( ) ( ' ) (
dx
x
x
2
ln

dx x x
x
x
dx
x
x
) / 1 )( / 1 (
ln ln
2
At T = 0, U = (3/5)N
F
, this energy is large because all the electrons must
occupy the lowest energy states up to the Fermi level.
The average energy of a free electron in silver at T = 0 is
The mean kinetic energy of an electron, even at absolute zero, is two orders of
magnitude greater than the mean kinetic energy of an ordinary gas
molecule at room temperature.
Heat capacity
The electronic heat capacity C
e
can be found by taking the derivative of
Equation (19.18):
For temperatures that are small compared with the Fermi temperature, we can
neglect the second term in the expansion compared with the first and
obtain

Thus the electronic specific heat capacity is 2.2 x 10

-2
R. This small
value explains why metals have a specific heat capacity of about 3R,
the same as for other solids.

It was originally believed that their free electrons should contribute

an additional (3/2) R associated with their three translational degrees
of freedom. Our last calculation shows that the contribution is
negligible.

The energy of the electrons changes only slightly with temperature

(dU/dT is small) because only those electrons near the Fermi level
can increase their energies as the temperature is raised, and there are
precious few of them.
At very low temperatures the picture is different. From the Debye theory, C
v
is
proportional to T
3
and so the heat capacity of a metal takes the form C
v
= AT + BT
3
,
where the first term is the electronic contribution and the second is
associated with the crystal lattice.
At sufficiently low temperatures, the AT term can dominate, as the sketch of Figure 19.9
indicates.
Figure 19.9 Sketch of the
heat capacity of a metal
as a function of
temperature showing the
electronic and lattice
contributions.
S = 0 at T = 0, as it must be. The Helmholtz function F = U -TS is
The fermion gas pressure is found from
For silver we find that
N/V = 5.9 x10
28
m
-3
and T
F
= 65,000K .
Thus
P = 2/5 *5.9*10
28
*(1.38*10
-23
) (6.5*10
4
)
= 2.1*10
10
Pa = 2.1*10
5
atm.
Given this tremendous pressure, we can appreciate the role of the surface
potential barrier in keeping the electrons from evaporating from the metal.
19.5 Applications to White Dwarf Stars
The temperature inside the core of a typical star is at the order of 10
7

K.
The atoms are completely ionized at such a high T, which creates a hugh electron
gas
The loss of gravitational energy balances with an increase in the kinetic energy of
the electrons and ions, which prevent the collapse of star!
Example: The pressure of the electron gas in Sirius B can be
calculated with the formula
Using the following numbers
Mass M = 2.09 10
30

kg
Radius R= 5.57 10
6

m

Volume V= 7.23 10
20

m
3
Assuming that nuclear fusion has ceased after all the core hydrogen has been
converted to helium!
The number nucleons =
Since the ratio of nucleons and electrons is 2:1
there are electrons

Therefore, T(=10
7

K) is much smaller then T
F .

i.e. is a valid assumption !
Thus: P can be calculated as

A white dwarf is stable when its total energy is minimum
For
Since
can be expressed as
Where
For gravitational energy of a solid
With
In summary
To find the minimum U with respect to R

19.7 a) Calculate Fermi energy for Aluminum assuming three
electrons per Aluminum atom.
( )
eV
V
N
electrons for Density
mole kilo
atoms
kilomole
Kg
m
Kg
V
N
F
8 . 11 1 . 2 6 . 5
8
10 8 . 1 3
10 11 . 9 2
10 63 . 6
10 8 . 1
3 #
10 99 . 5 10 02 . 6
27
10 69 . 2
3
2
29
31
2
34
29
28 26
3
3

,
_

19.7b) Show that the aluminum at T=100 K, differs from

F
by
less than 0.01%. (The density of aluminum is 2.69 x 10
3
kg m
-3

and its atomic weight is 27.)
( )
( )
( )
[ ]
% 01 . 0
10 38 . 4 1
10 62 . 8
8 . 11
1000
12
1
12
1
5
0
2
1 5
2
0
2
2
0
than less
eVK
eV
K
T
T
F

1
1
1
1
]
1

,
_

1
1
]
1

,
_

19.7c) Calculate the electronic contribution to the specific heat
capacity of aluminum at room temperature and compare it to
3R.
Using the following equation

,
_

,
_

F F
e
kT
Nk
T
T
Nk C

2 2
2
19.13. Consider the collapse of the sun into a white dwarf. For the
sun, M= 2 x 10
30
kg, R = 7 x 10
8
m, V= 1.4 x 10
27
m
3
.
Calculate the Fermi energy of the Suns electrons.

eV
v m
v m
V
N
m
h
V
N
nucleous of electrons of
electrons of No
F
e F
e F
e
F
6 . 20
10 248 . 6 33 . 0
10 4 . 1
10 23 . 7
26 . 1
205 . 1
33 . 0
8
3
2
10 4 . 1
10 2 205 . 1
2
1
#
10 205 . 1
10 66 . 1
10 2
.
5
3
2
27
27
3
2
2
27
57
57
27
30

,
_

,
_

(b) What is the Fermi temperature?

(c) What is the average speed of the electrons in the fermion gas
(see problem 19-4). Compare your answer with the speed of
light.
k
eVk
eV
k
T
F
F
5
1 5
10 39 . 2
10 62 . 8
6 . 20