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Conductors
•substances that offer low resistance to the flow of electric current.
•Have high conductivity values (between 10⁴ and 10⁶ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹) at room
temperature.
•Conductivity decreases with an increase in temperature.

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 Types of Conductors
(A) Metallic Conductors
•Allow electricity to pass without any chemical change.
•Example: Copper wire conducts electricity without any alteration.
•Conductivity mechanism:
• Electrons flow freely in the metal lattice, allowing current to pass.
(B) Electrolytic Conductors
•Allow electricity to pass with a chemical change.
•Example: Molten or aqueous electrolytes (e.g., salt solutions, acids).
•Conductivity mechanism:
• Ions move towards opposite electrodes under an electric field.
• They get discharged at electrodes, causing a chemical reaction. 55
 Insulators
• Substances that do not allow electricity to pass through them.
• Have very high resistance and low conductivity.
• Non-metals: Sulfur, boron, carbon.
• Non-electrolyte solutions: Aqueous sugar solution.
• In insulators (generally non-metals):
• Valence band is completely filled—no free electrons for conduction.

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• Large energy gap exists between the valence band and
conduction band.
• Electrons cannot jump to the conduction band, preventing
current flow.
• The energy gap is very large, making electron promotion
difficult.
• Example: Carbon has an energy gap of ~120 kcal/mol, which
is too high for conduction.

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 Semiconductors
• Solids whose conductivity lies between conductors and insulators.
• Conductivity range: 10² to 10⁻⁹ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹.
• Conductivity arises due to:
• Presence of impurities (doping).
• Defects in the crystal structure.
• The energy gap between the valence band and conduction band is
small, allowing some electron movement.

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 Semiconductors
• Energy Gap in Semiconductors
• Silicon (Si): ~2.5 kcal/mol.; Germanium (Ge): ~14 kcal/mol.
• Thermal energy can excite electrons from the valence band to the
conduction band.
• As temperature increases, more electrons get promoted to the
conduction band.
• This increases the number of charge carriers, improving conductivity.
• Unlike conductors, where resistance increases with temperature,
semiconductors show increased conductivity with rising temperature.
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Intrinsic Semiconductors
• Pure silicon (Si) or germanium (Ge) are considered intrinsic semiconductors.
• They have a lattice structure with four strong covalent bonds.
• Unlike metals, intrinsic semiconductors have no free electrons for conduction.
• Their electrical conductivity is very low under normal conditions.

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• When heat energy is supplied, some covalent bonds break
due to thermal vibrations.
• This releases free electrons, creating 'positive holes' at
missing electron sites.
• When an electric field is applied:
• Free electrons move in one direction.
• Positive holes move in the opposite direction by jumping
between bonds.
• This movement of charge carriers enables electrical
conduction.
• The semiconductor contains an equal number of free
electrons and holes.
• Conduction is an inherent property of the material.

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 Extrinsic Semiconductors
• Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge) can be made semiconducting in a controlled
manner.
• This is achieved by adding specific impurities through a process called doping.
• The added impurities help in carrying current efficiently.

Types of Impurities •Acceptors (P-type doping) (Not

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• Pure Si or Ge is first obtained through zone refining (a purification method).
• A small amount of donor atoms (e.g., Arsenic) is introduced.
• Arsenic (As) has five valence electrons, while silicon/Germanium has four.
• When an As atom replaces a Si/Ge atom in the crystal lattice:
• Four electrons form covalent bonds with neighboring Si /Ge atoms.
• The fifth electron remains free and contributes to electrical conduction.
• Doping enhances the conductivity of semiconductors.
• Donor impurities introduce free electrons, leading to N-type semiconductors.
• These free electrons significantly improve electrical conductivity.

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 P-type semiconductors
• conductivity is by using acceptor impurities.
• Acceptor impurities introduce positive holes instead of free electrons.
• Germanium (Ge) is doped with elements having three valence electrons, such as Indium
(In).
• Indium can only form three covalent bonds instead of four, leading to electron deficiencies.
• electron-deficient sites are called positive holes because they carry a net positive charge.

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• When an electric field is applied:
• An electron from a neighboring Ge atom moves into the hole, creating
a new hole.
• This process continues, causing holes to migrate through the crystal.
• Effectively, current flows due to the movement of holes, which is
equivalent to electrons moving in the opposite direction.

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• Doping with acceptor impurities increases conductivity by creating holes that
facilitate charge movement.
• Since holes carry the current, this type of conduction is called P-type
semiconduction.
• P-type and N-type semiconductors are the foundation of modern electronics,
including diodes and transistors

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