Chapter 10
Band Theory of Insulators and Semiconductors
10.1 INTRODUCTION
As has been discussed in Chapter 9, materials on the basis of electrical conductivity or electrical resistance have been broadly classified into three categories: metals, semiconductors, and insulators. On one hand, the metals have electrical resistivity as low as 10−6 Ωcm and on the other hand, the insulators have resistivity as high as 1020 Ωcm. (Remember we are not considering superconductors.) Semiconductors have resistivity in between these two extremes, but the speciality about the resistivity of semiconductor is that it is very much temperature dependent. At absolute zero temperature it behaves as a perfect insulator and at high temperatures it can compete with metals. ...
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