Lecture 3

Conductivity and resistance of metals

Resistance is caused by interactions of electron with atoms or

defects. These are known as phonons

So = f (T, [impurity], [defect])

All contributions are additive, the phenomenon being known as

Matthiesons Rule

So total = Temp + impurities + defects

Matthiessen's rule states that the total resistivity for a sample is the
sum of all of the individual contributions. A metal with a lower value
for resistivity, has a lower resistance to DC current flow. The bulk
resistivity for several common metals is shown below:
Metal Resistivity, (cm)

Al 2.73

Cu 1.73

Ag 1.63

Au 2.27

Temperature dependence of resistivity, Temp

Conventional Metals
Current flow in conventional metals is a result of the movement of
electrons under the influence of an applied electrical field. The electrons
flow through the metal is impeded by the presence of resistance, which
results from the scattering of electrons. Thus, electron scattering results
in electrical resistance. Resistance can also be caused by defects in the
metal, such as impurities and grain boundaries. Scattering from such
defects results in extrinsic resistance.
Resistivity of a metal
Slope = a
increases with temperature

=
T
25

(1+ aT)

Due to electron-phonon interactions,

i.e. e- bump into the lattice.
Atomic vibrations increase with
temperature hence more interactions.

T
The constant a is associated with the thermal vibrations of atoms
and also with thermally generated defects. For Cu, = 0.0068 oC-1
Values need to be determined experimentally

impurities

In simple homogeneous alloy systems where the impurities are

present at low levels with concentration c
then impurities =A c (1-c)
A is a constant depending on the host metal and on the impurity

Note: impurities is independent of temperature

The term c(1-c) is characteristically
domed when is plotted against c
Cu (300K)
= 1.6 x 10-6 cm but

Cu0.5/Ni0.5 (300K) = 4.7 x 10-5 cm

C
Metal alloy

100

So increases approx 30 times when Ni

is alloyed with Cu in a homogeneous
solid solution.
In some cases, alloys are heterogeneous
solutions and then overall resistivity is the
sum of two fractional components.
= aVa + bVb

deformation

Any working of metal gives rise to defects or dislocations and

therefore deformation increases.

Its effect is smaller than temp and impurities

Electrical properties of commercial metals and alloys

Most widely used metallic conductor is Cu.

Ag > Cu but the difference is not great and Cu is much less expensive
Al ~ 0.5 Cu but weight is a key factor
But to obtain high conductivity, , the metal needs to be pure and O2 free.
Pure metals are soft and prone to deformation and therefore a decrease
in conductivity
Ways to improve this are: (i) solid solution alloy
(ii) dispersed second phase (little effect)
(iii) cold working (can give lower )

Scattering

m.f.p.

Mean free path

Key parameter controlling is mean free path, , of conduction electrons.

This is the average distance between collisions
Frequent collisions short mean free path
low electron mobility

In an ideal metal at T = 0 oK, but in practice

(i) atoms vibrate about equilibrium position
(ii) Impurities may be present
(iii) All crystals contain lattice imperfections

The typical mean free path of conduction electrons in a good metal

is 5-20 nm.
In a perfect metal, the electrons would travel ballistically, without any
collisions. The short mean free path of a real metal implies that the
electrons collide frequently with impurities, grain boundaries,
dislocations, and phonons.
But if the mean free path were extremely long, and only a few
collisions occurred, then Ohm's Law, I = V/R, would break down.
The resulting classical equation would be:
I (current) ~ V1/2 (voltage)

Mean free path (mfp)

Changes in conductivity
In homogeneous metal alloys,
the mfp is very short as the
scattering centres are relatively
close together
In age hardened or dispersion
strengthened alloys, the mfp is
longer as the second phase is
concentrated in discrete positions
rather than being randomly
distributed.
In work hardened metals, the mfp
is usually longer because the
dislocations are well separated
as their stress fields act to repel
each other.

Metal

* %

Oxygen free
high purity Cu

100

2% Be addition

17

Cu + Al2O3
(0.7%)

84

Cold worked
Cu

97

* = (alloy/ Cu x 100)

Metals
In a metal, the inner orbitals are discrete and localised so do not
take part in the conductivity, . These are the core electrons. It is
only the outer, or valence electrons which overlap orbitals to form
bands of energy levels, eg Al ([Ne]3s23p1; 3s + 3p band is 3/8th full)
In Cu metal, the electron arrangement is [Ar] 3d 10 4s 1. So
effectively the d electrons are part of the core although they do form
a narrow 3d band. The 4s orbitals overlap to give a half full 4s band
Band structure of Al

Band structure of Cu

3s + 3p band

4s
3d

Ef

Ef

ro

4s band

Ef

There are two types of band structures in metals

Partly full bands such as in Cu.
Overlapping bands where both are partly occupied, eg Mg where 3s and
3p overlap.

Band Theory
Partly filled valence band
Metallic bonding
Above the highest occupied levels, there are empty levels of only
slightly higher energy so electrons can hop from one to the other.
Insulators
Filled valence band and empty conduction band, Eg > 5 eV
There is a large forbidden energy gap between the highest occupied
levels and the next lowest unoccupied level, ie the band gap is high
5ev.
SemiconductorsFilled valence band and empty conduction band, Eg 3 eV
The band gap is small, 3 ev. Electrons can be promoted across the
gap either through intrinsic conduction (usually thermally) or by adding
dopants that have energy states within the band gap, extrinsic
conduction
E ~ Eg/2
f

CB

VB
Eg

Ef

Ef

Eg

VB
Metal

Insulator

Semi conductor

General points regarding Band Theory

The valence band (VB) is the series of electron energy levels at which all
valence electrons normally reside. Unless there are vacancies the
electrons will not move.
The conduction band (CB) is the band level at which electrons are free to
move.
This theory ignores electron-electron repulsion effects within the bands.
This works well for wide bands (several eVs) but becomes problematic for
narrow bands.
The width of a band is related to the relative energy of the orbitals
involved and on the degree of overlap between the orbitals.
The actual position of Ef in intrinsic semiconductors and insulators
depends on the relative density of states in the VB and CB, however, it
can often be approximated to be Eg.