Conduction

Conduction



The passage of electric charges due to a force exerted on them by an electric field. Conductivity is the measure of the ability of a conductor to carry electric current; it is defined as the ratio of the amount of charge passing through unit area of the conductor (perpendicular to the current direction) per second divided by the electric field intensity (the force on a unit charge). Conductivity is the reciprocal of resistivity and is therefore commonly expressed in units of siemens per meter, abbreviated S/m. See also Electrical resistivity.

In metals and semiconductors (such as silicon, of which transistors are made) the charges that are responsible for current are free electrons and holes (which, as missing electrons, act like positive charges). These are electrons or holes not bound to any particular atom and therefore able to move freely in the field. Conductivity due to electrons is known as n-type conductivity; that due to holes is known as p-type. See also Hole states in solids; Semiconductor.

The conductivity of metals is much higher than that of semiconductors because they have many more free electrons or holes. The free electrons or holes come from the metal atoms. Semiconductors differ from metals in two important respects. First, the semiconductor atoms do not contribute free electrons or holes unless thermally excited, and second, free electrons or holes can also arise from impurities or defects.

An exception to some of the rules stated above has been found in conjugated polymers. Polyacetylene, for example, although a semiconductor with extremely high resistance when undoped, can be doped so heavily with certain nonmetallic impurities (iodine, for example) that it attains a conductivity comparable to that of copper. See also Organic conductor.

In metals, although the number of free carriers does not vary with temperature, an increase in temperature decreases conductivity. The reason is that increasing temperature causes the lattice atoms to vibrate more strongly, impeding the motion of the free carriers in the field. This effect also occurs in semiconductors, but the increase in number of free carriers with temperature is usually a stronger effect. At low temperatures the thermal vibrations are weak, and the impediment to the motion of free carriers in the field comes from imperfections and impurities, which in metals usually does not vary with temperature. At the lowest temperatures, close to absolute zero, certain metals become superconductors, possessing infinite conductivity. See also Superconductivity.

Electrolytes conduct electricity by means of the positive and negative ions in solution. In ionic crystals, conduction may also take place by the motion of ions. This motion is much affected by the presence of lattice defects such as interstitial ions, vacancies, and foreign ions. See also Electrolytic conductance; Ionic crystals.

Electric current can flow through an evacuated region if electrons or ions are supplied. In a vacuum tube the current carriers are electrons emitted by a heated filament. The conductivity is low because only a small number of electrons can be “boiled off” at the normal temperatures of electron-emitting filaments. See also Electron emission; Vacuum tube.