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In solid-state physics, the free electron model is a quantum mechanical model for the behaviour of charge carriers in a metallic solid. It was developed in 1927, [1] principally by Arnold Sommerfeld, who combined the classical Drude model with quantum mechanical Fermi–Dirac statistics and hence it is also known as the Drude–Sommerfeld model.
This timeline includes developments in subfields of condensed matter physics such as theoretical crystallography, solid-state physics, soft matter physics, mesoscopic physics, material physics, low-temperature physics, microscopic theories of magnetism in matter and optical properties of matter and metamaterials.
In this case, the carrier density (in this context, also called the free electron density) can be estimated by: [5] n = N A Z ρ m m a {\displaystyle n={\frac {N_{\text{A}}Z\rho _{m}}{m_{a}}}} Where N A {\displaystyle N_{\text{A}}} is the Avogadro constant , Z is the number of valence electrons , ρ m {\displaystyle \rho _{m}} is the density of ...
In electronics and semiconductor physics, the law of mass action relates the concentrations of free electrons and electron holes under thermal equilibrium.It states that, under thermal equilibrium, the product of the free electron concentration and the free hole concentration is equal to a constant square of intrinsic carrier concentration .
The mean free path can be increased by reducing the number of impurities in a crystal or by lowering its temperature. Ballistic transport is observed when the mean free path of the particle is (much) longer than the dimension of the medium through which the particle travels. The particle alters its motion only upon collision with the walls.
Electrical conduction of metals is a well-known phenomenon and is attributed to the free conduction electrons, which can be measured as sketched in the figure. The current density j is observed to be proportional to the applied electric field and follows Ohm's law where the prefactor is the specific electrical conductivity .
Relativistic heat conduction refers to the modelling of heat conduction (and similar diffusion processes) in a way compatible with special relativity. In special (and general ) relativity, the usual heat equation for non-relativistic heat conduction must be modified, as it leads to faster-than-light signal propagation.
Here t is the time, p is the average momentum per electron and q, n, m, and τ are respectively the electron charge, number density, mass, and mean free time between ionic collisions. The latter expression is particularly important because it explains in semi-quantitative terms why Ohm's law , one of the most ubiquitous relationships in all of ...