Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

MT-207 Electrical and Electronic Materials

Tutorial 1

1. i. Consider a multicomponent alloy containing N elements. If w1, w2, w3,..,wN are

the weight fractions of the components 1, 2, 3, ..,N in the alloy and M1, M2,
M3,..,MN are the respective atomic masses of the elements, show that the
atomic fraction of the ith component is given by,

ni = wi Mi
------------------------------
w1 M1+w2 M2+------------+wN MN

ii. Consider the semiconducting II-VI compound cadmium selenide, CdSe. Given the
atomic masses of Cd and Se, find the weight fraction of Cd and Se in the
compound and grams of Cd and Se needed to make 100 grams of CdSe.

2. Explain the general bonding principle of atoms to form a crystalline solid with the
help of energy verses inter-atomic distance plot.

3. Calculate the following:

i. Effective number of atoms in SC, BCC, FCC, HCP unit cells
ii. Relationship between the size of the unit cell and atomic diameter in SC, BCC,
FCC, HCP unit cells
iii. Packing factors of BCC, FCC, HCP unit cells
iv. Packing factor of a diamond cubic crystal structure
v. Coordination numbers of BCC, FCC, HCP crystal lattice
vi. c/a ratio for an ideal HCP unit cell
vii. Volume of unit cell of germanium in cubic meters, the atomic radius of Ge having
Diamond Cubic structure being 1.223 Ao

4. Show with the help of neat sketches the following:

i. Planes whose Miller indices are (111), (210), (010), (0 ), (002), (130), (212)
and(3 2).

ii. Directions whose Miller indices are [111], [110], [10], [122], [301], [201] and [2
3].

iii. [1210], [01 0], [011] directions and (1210), ( 22), (1230) planes (Miller
Bravais Index) in HCP unit cell
 In a cubic unit cell the (hkl) & [hkl] are perpendicular to each other

iv. Miller index of the direction that is common to both planes (110) and (111) inside
the unit cell of a cubic crystal.

v. 3 parallel planes of belonging to {111} inside a cubic unit cell (may be touching
the UC).

vi. 6 direction <110> on any one {111}

5. i. Given the Si lattice parameter a=0.543 nm. Calculate the number of Si atoms per
unit volume, in nm-3.

ii. Calculate the number of atoms per m2 on the (100), (110), and (111) planes in the
Si crystal as shown in above figure. Which plane has the maximum number of
atoms per unit area?

6. i. Why single crystals are used for electronic applications? Explain methods of single
crystal growth.

ii. What is epitaxial growth? Explain with one example each of growth for; binary,
ternary and quaternary semiconductor compounds, with the help of Eg vs lattice
parameter of the crystal plot.

iii. What is the significance of distribution coefficient in zone refining?

7. i. How amorphous semiconductors are prepared? Give an example.

ii. Explain how the nonstoichiometeric, ZnO crystal with excess Zn at the interstitial
sites contribute free electron for conduction.

8. Consider 50% Pb- 50% Sn solder alloy:

 f13_07_pg196
i.
Sketch the microstructure of the alloy at various stages as it is cooled from the
melt. What is the importance of this alloy in electrical applications?

ii. At what temperature does the solid melt? What is the significance of this
temperature?

iii. What is the temperature range over which the alloy is a mixture of melt and solid?
What is the micro structure of the solid ?

iv. Consider the solder at room temperature following cooling from 1830C. Assume
that the rate of cooling from 1830C to room temperature is faster than the atomic
diffusion rates needed to change the compositions of the and phases in the
solid. Assuming the alloy is 1 kg. Calculate the masses of the following
components in the solid.

a) The primary ( proeutectic), b) in the whole alloy, c) in the eutectic solid

and

d) in the alloy ( where is the phase?)

e) For Pb-40Sn, find the degree of freedom at,

i) liquid region, ii) liquidus, iii) two phase mushy region, iv) solidus and v )at
room temperature.
 DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGY AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING

MT: 202 Electrical and Electronic Materials

Tutorial 2

1. a Treating electron as a particle and applying classical mechanics, derive Ohms law
using Drudes Model of classical theory.
b State the assumptions and limitations of this model.
2. a Explain with neat sketches the microscopic processes that cause the scattering of
electrons in metals.
b How does the scattering affect the electrical conductivity , that is equal to end ?

3. Calculate and compare the drift mobility of free electrons in case of Ag and Cu at room
temperature (200 C). Given:
Element Atomic Mass Conductivity Density
Ag 107.8 g/mol 6.3 x 105 -1cm-1 10.49 g/cm3
Cu 63.5 g/ mol 5.9 x 105 -1cm-1 8.96 g/cm3

Hint: Use formula . Using atomic mass and density, calculate

number of atoms per unit volume. Knowing the valency of Ag and Cu as one, n will be
same as atoms/volume. For copper valency can also be two. Check in the book if any
information is available.
4. a What is lattice scattering- limited conductivity?
For pure metal derive an expression, T =AT
b Calculate the % change in the electrical resistance of a pure metal wire between winter
(50C) and summer (400C). Neglect the changes in the dimensions of the wire.
c How will the out-door cable power losses be affected?

d Connecting cable for your experimental set-up when given Ag, Cu and Al wires,
which one would you prefer? Justify your answer.

5. a What is the significance of Mathiessens rule used for finding of metals and alloys?

b Explain the typical resistivity, verses temperature (absolute) behavior for the given
copper alloys containing various amounts of nickel, pure copper sample that is
annealed and two samples that are cold- worked (deformed) to give same amount of
plastic deformations.
6. a What is the composition of nichrome?
b Why nichrome is widely used as a heater wire in house hold and industrial furnaces?
c What is Nordheims rule? State the limitations of this rule.
d What is the significance of Nordheims coefficient? Why it is modified to taken into
account of solid solutions with higher concentrations?
e For low voltage dc electrical appliances, the alloy Au-15 wt. %Cu is used. Calculate
the resistivity of the alloy. Given : Nordheims coefficient ,C when Cu is dissolved in
Au to form solid solution is, 450 nm.
7. a Show with neat sketches, the effective resistivity of composite materials, i) along a
direction perpendicular to the layer, ii) along a direction parallel to the plane of the
layer and iii) material with dispersed phase in a continuous matrix.
b. For a binary alloy system with partial solid solubilities (i.e. having two terminal solid
solutions) estimate the nature of resistivity behavior with concentration. Show with
neat sketch taking an example.
8. a What is Hall effect? Give an example of a material used for a particular application.

b Explain how the conduction occur in ionic crystals and glasses in an applied electric
field.
c Compare the electrical conductivity with the thermal conductivity of metal.
 MT 201A : Electrical and Electronic Materials
Tutorial - 3

1. a In a system comprising of two hydrogen atoms, explain the status of bonding molecular orbitals
and antibonding molecular orbitals with the help of Energy vs. inter atomic separation between
atoms.

b Why do H2 molecules form easily when inter-atomic distance, r reaches to the equilibrium
distance,r0 ?

c The splitting of a one-atom energy level when a molecule is formed is analogous to the splitting
of the resonant frequency in an RLC circuit when two such circuits are brought together and
coupled. Explain with neat sketches .

d With above argument, extent the explanation to Li metal with N atoms.

2. a Draw a schematic (simplified) electron energy band diagram for metal copper. Given: Fermi
energy, EF =7.0 eV and work function, = 4.65 eV.
b What is the significance of E-p(energy-momentum) plot for metal in the absence of applied
electric field?
c When a field ,E is applied what happens to change the shape of the E-p plot?
d In aluminium, the Fermi energy of the conduction electron is 11.7 eV. What is the speed of
electrons in the metal around this energy?
3. a For opto- electronic applications how does the input photon energy is selected with respect to the
Eg of the semiconductor?
b The optical communication network uses wave length 1.3 and 1.55m. Choose a semiconductor
that can be used as a photodetector. What is your criteria to choose ?
4. What the significance of effective mass while considering the behavior of material in a given
environment?
5. a Describe the distribution of states in the energy band.
b What do you understand by density of states? How does it vary with the energy in a band?
c What is the significance of Fermi-Dirac function, f (E)?
Exp
d Explain how the Fermi-Dirac function changes with the increase in temperature.

6. a Describe the contact potential with the help of tunneling that occur between two given metal.
b What is Seebeck effect?
c Explain how a thermocouple is designed and calibrated?
d Give one example each for thermocouples used <1000oC and >1000 oC.
e Consider a thermocouple pair that consists of gold and aluminium. One junction s at 100oC and
the other is at 0oC. A voltmeter (with a very large input resistance) is inserted into the
aluminium wire. Use the properties of Au and Al in Table to estimate the emf registered by
the voltmeter and identify the positive end.
Table : Seebeck coefficients of selected metals.
Metal S at 0oC S at 27oC EF(eV) X
V K-1) VK-1)
Al -1.6 -1.8 11.6 2.78
Au +1.79 +1.94 5.5 -1.48
7. ca A vacuum tube is required to have a cathode operating at 800oC and providing an emission
(saturation) current of 10 A. What should be the surface area of the cathode for the two
materials in given Table ? What should be the operating temperature for the Th and W
cathode, if it is to have the same surface area as the oxide- coated cathode?
Table
Be (A m-2 K-2) eV
Th on W 3* 104 2.6
Oxide coating 100 1

b Describe how the electrons are emitted by heating (thermionic emission) and applying field
(field emission). Give two materials for each that are used as emitters in above cases.
 MT 201A- Electrical and Electronic Materials
Tutorial Chapter 5

Q1. Bandgap and photodetection

a. Determine the maximum value of energy gap that a semiconductor, used as a
photoconductor, can have if it is to be sensitive to yellow light (600 nm).
b. A photodetector whose area is 5 x 10-2 cm2 is irradiated with yellow light whose
intensity is 2 mW cm-2. Assuming that each photon generates one electron-hole pair,
calculate the number of pairs generated per second.
c. From the known energy gap of the semiconductor GaAs (Eg=1.42 eV), calculate the
primary wavelength of photons emitted from this crystal as a result of electron-hole
recombination.
d. Is the above wavelength visible?
e. Will a silicon photodetector be sensitive to the radiation from a GaAs laser? Why?
Q2. a. Intrinsic Ge Using the values of density of states effective masses and in
the table given below, calculate the intrinsic concentration in Ge. What is ni if you
use Nc and Nv from the table. Calculate the intrinsic resistivity of Ge at 300K.
b. Fermi level in intrinsic semiconductors Using the values of density of states
effective masses and in the table given below, find the position of the Fermi
energy in intrinsic Si, Ge, and GaAs with respect to the middle of the bandgap (Eg/2).

Q3. Extrinsic Si A Si crystal has been doped with P. The donor concentration is 1015cm-3.
Find the conductivity and resistivity of the crystal.
Q4. Minimum conductivity
a. Consider the conductivity of a semiconductor, = + . Will doping
always increase the conductivity?
b. Show that the minimum conductivity for Si is obtained when it is p-type doped such
that the hole concentration is

=

and the corresponding minimum conductivity (maximum resistivity) is

= 2
c. Calculate pm and min for Si and compare with intrinsic values.
Q5. Temperature dependence of conductivity An n-type Si sample has been doped
15 -3
with 10 phosphorus atoms cm .The donor energy level for P in Si is 0.045 eV below the
conduction band energy.
a. Calculate the room temperature conductivity of the sample.
b. Estimate the temperature above which the sample behaves as if intrinsic.
c. Estimate to within 20 percent the lowest temperature above which all the donors are
ionized.
d. Sketch schematically the dependence of the electron concentration in the conduction
band on the temperature as log(n) verses 1/T, and mark the various important regions
and critical temperatures. For each region draw an energy band diagram that clearly
shows from where the electrons are excited into the conduction band.
e. Sketch schematically the dependence of the conductivity on the temperature as log()
versus 1/T and mark the various critical temperatures and other relevant information.