DE OLIVEIRA RIBEIRO, LAURA

MSE 333 - MICROPROCESSING OF MATERIALS

CHANG-BEOM EOM
03/02/2015

LAB REPORT 1 - RESISTIVITY vs TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT OF METALS AND

SEMICONDUCTORS

INTRODUCTION

Resitivity is a measure of the resistance to electrical conduction for a given size of material.
Resistivity can be measured by an expression which involves Resistance (Ohms), (m^2), Lenght (m).



Resistivity is so important in any product which conducts electricity. Components which must
conduct easily must have low resistivity, so the current will flow free in the surface, while those which
must not conduct must have high resistivity. As an example for that statement, we have nowadays
different kinds of materials. Materials with low resistivity could be Metals or Semiconductors. On the
other hand, insulators are used to be materials with high resistivity.
The Joule Thomson Expansion is widely used for liquefaction of gases and for refrigeration. The
JouleThomson effect describes the increase or decrease in the temperature of a real gas (as differentiated
from an ideal gas) or a liquid when allowed to expand freely through a valve or other throttling device

while kept insulated so that no heat is transferred to or from the fluid, and no external mechanical work is
extracted from the fluid.The JouleThomson effect is an isenthalpic process, meaning that the enthalpy of
the fluid is constant (i.e., does not change) during the process.

PROCEDURE

To determine the film height, the dimensions of the bridge and the electrical resistance of silver,
we went to the laboratory at ECB. The mainly purpose was determine the resistivity of Silver using a 4point bridge, which is a technique used to measure resistance of thin films. To do that, we have to start by
using a surface profiler to determine the thickness of the bridge and an optical microscope to determine
the dimensions of the bridge. After, will be used a cryostat, which is cooled by Gifford-McMahon
refrigeration cycle, to measure the resistance of the silver.
The closed cycle cryocooler works based on a pneumattically driven Gifford-McMahon
refrigeration cooler, also known by GM Cycle or GM cooler. The mechanically driven in GM coolers uses
an internal pressure differential to move the displacer instead of mechanical piston, which result in
smaller vibrations. The refrigeration cycle of the closed cycle cryostat starts with the rotation of the valve
disk opening the high pressure path allowing the high pressure Helium gas to pass through the
regenerating material into the expansion space. Next, the pressure diferential drives the piston up allowing
the gas at the bottom expand and cool. Then, the rotation of the valve disk opens the low pressure path
allowing the cold gas to flow through the regenerating material removing heat from the system. Finally,
the pressure differential returns the displacer to its original position completing the cycle.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Measuring the resistance of silver with decreasing temperature, it was possible to calculate its resistivity
at different temperatures. Graph in Figure 1 below shows the relationship between Resistivity and
Temperature.
Figure 1: Eletrical Resistivity (mOhm.cm) vs Temperature (K):

In Silver can be observed that by increasing temperature, the resistivity also increases. The electrical
resistivity of doped Silicon when varying the temperature was also obtained, and it can be analyzed in the
following figure:

Differently from Silver, doped silicon has its resistivity decreased when increasing its
temperature. So, analyzing both figures 1 and 2, one can say that Silver is more resistive at high
temperatures, since its resistivity increases upon increasing temperature; while Silicon is more
resistive at lower temperatures, since its resistivity drops upon increasing temperature.
In addition, with the data obtained, it was possible to plot the graphics conductivity vs
temperature, carrier concentration vs temperature and finally, mobility vs temperature for doped
silicon, which can be seen below:
Figure 3: Conductivity (ohm-1cm-1) vs. Temperature (K)

Conductivity vs Temperature - Doped

Silicon
5.00E-01

Conductivity

3.75E-01
2.50E-01
1.25E-01
0.00E+00

75

150

225

300

Temperature
Figure 4: Carrier concentrarion(cm-2) vs. Temperature (K)

Carrier concentration vs
Temperature - Doped Silicon
Carrier concentration

8.00E+14
6.00E+14
4.00E+14
2.00E+14
0.00E+00
-2.00E+14

75

150

Temperature

225

300

Mobility vs Temperature - Doped

Silicon
3.00E+04

Mobility

2.25E+04

1.50E+04

7.50E+03

0.00E+00

75

150

225

300

Temperature
Figure 5: Mobility (cm2/Vs) vs. Temperature (K)

Carrier Concentrations increase because we have to provide sufficient energy to the system, so that way
electrons will jump a level and become charge carriers. When we analyze the Conductivity vs
Temperature graph, we can note that at certain temperature the conductivity will reach the maximum level
and will have charge carriers and they will scatter the phonons. Also, conductivity is influenced by
mobility, so at certain point the conductivity will decrease.
Figure 6: ln(Carrier Concentration)(cm2) vs. 1/Temperature (K-1):

ln(Carrier concentration)

ln(Carrier Concentration) vs 1/T Doped Silicon

3.20E+01
2.40E+01
1.60E+01
8.00E+00
0.00E+00

0.01

0.02

1/Temperature

0.03

0.04

Looking at Figure 6, we can note that there are two slopes in the curve, which represents the carrier
concentration due to two different factors. One is intrinsic, when the charge carriers are generated by the
material itself (it happens at higher temperatures); while and the other one is extrinsic, when the charge
carriers are generated by the doping material (it happens at lower temperatures).

CONCLUSION
This experiment shows how different can be the resistivity in materials and how important is the
temperature to influence this changes. It was observed that for a metal, as silver, the resistivity increases
by increasing temperature, while for a doped semiconductor, as doped silicon, the resistivity decreases by
increasing temperature. In addition, it was not possible to see the silicon bandgap, since the material was
doped. Thus, its bandgap had an "allowed" level, in between the valance and conduction bands. To
measure its bandgap, it would be necessary to have pure Si. .The material should be heated from low
temperature to high temperature, and it should be analyzed at which temperature the first carriers would
appear. That would be the energy equivalent to Si bandgap.

Source
Citizendium (Feb 2015) Joule-Thomson Effect. Available at <http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/JouleThomson_effect>
Ford, Michael; Christman, Alexandra (2015). Electrical Conductivity and Resistivity. Available at <http://
chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Wikitexts/UC_Davis/UCD_Chem_124A%3A_Kauzlarich/Chem
Wiki_Module_Topics/Electrical_Conductivity_and_Resistivity>.
Four Point Probes (Feb 2015) Four Point Probe. Available at <http://four-point-probes.com/four-pointprobe-theory>

Handout provided by Chang-Beom Eom. Resistivity and Temperature Measurements.

Wikipedia (Feb 2015). JouleThomson Effect. Available at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joule
%E2%80%93Thomson_effect>.
Wikipedia (Feb 2015). Electrical Resistivity and Conductivity. Available at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Electrical_resistivity_and_conductivity>
Wikipedia (Feb 2015). Cryocooler. Available at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryocooler>