PHYS3020 STATISTICAL

MECHANICS
Boltzmann Factor
Nurul Izzaty Yunus
42518185
Lab partner:
Amie Khosla,
Hasniza Ab
Aziz

1. Abstract
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the canonical distribution of the energies of
electron in semiconductors. This experiment consists of 2 parts. The first part required us to find
the ratio of qe/kB and to investigate the relationship between the collector current and the voltage
in the semiconductor. This can be measured from the current at the collector when the
temperature was fixed. We found that from Part 1 the ratio was acceptable since the percentage
error comparing the theoretical value was only 2.63%. For the second part of the
experiment, we tried to find the value of which is the band gap in the silicon. This can be
done by measuring the current in 3 different temperatures. From this part, we solved for
potential value and our results showed the percentage error of 37.14%.
2. Introduction
Ludwig Boltzmann, who is an Austrian physicist created a fundamental constant which is called
Boltzmann constant in 19 th century [1]. This value is very significant because it have improved
the theory of statistical mechanics. Boltzmann constant can be recognized by symbol k or kB, and
23
its value is 1.380650 10 joule per kelvin (K). It is related to the invidual energy of particle at
any level of temperature [2]. Boltzmann factor is often referred as the factor that determines the
probability of particles to be in a state, which is called Boltzmann distribution.
In our experiment, we investigated the behavior of collector current when the Base-emitter
voltage was varied. We are also required to determine the ratio of qe/kB and the value of potential
barrier in the semiconductor.
3. Theory
In a single silicon crystal, there are three regions which is called Emitter, Base and
Collector.This silicon crystal was used in this experiment to replace the silicon atom in high
quality and also purity the crystal. The diagram showing the regions of single silicon crystal
was shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Diagram showing the region of a single silicon crystal

(Emitter, Base and Collector).
The base is the regions of p-type of doping. The p-type can give fewer electrons to the crystal
than the silicon atoms. This will cause the highest energy level to occupy in the Base where the
number of electrons is lower. Due to the low number of electrons, diffusion of electrons to the
base region occurs. The electrons diffuse the base region because it produces an excess
negative charge. The Emitter and Collector are the regions of n-type doping. This type of
doping can provide additional electron to the crystal from the impurity atoms.
Emitter and Collector are regions of n-type of doping so that the impurity atoms will provide
additional electron to the crystal. The base is p-type where the impurity atoms give fewer
electrons to the crystal than the silicon atoms. Since then the highest energy level will occupy in
the Base as the electrons in the region is much lower. This leads to the diffusion of the electrons
to the base region that producing an excess negative charge.
Figure 1 a) shows that the p-n type junction is creating a strong electric field. This strong electric
field will build a double layer of charges. In figure 1 b), the extra negative charge will move the
energy level of conduction band and valence band upward. The energy of the conduction band in
n-region will be increased when the temperature is not zero. This will cause the electrons to be
distributed to the p-type region.
The collector current equation is

V BE qe

I c =I diff I gen= j 0 exp

1 exp (
) D ( ) exp
d (1)
kB T
kBT
k
BT
0

( ( ) )

( )

where

I diff

is the diffusion current and

I gen

is the generation current.

The generation current is proportional to the population of electrons in the conduction band of ptype semiconductor. It is independent of the potential barrier between the emitter/collector and
the base. The equation of the generation current can be expressed as

I gen= j 0 D ( ) exp
0

Where

j0

( k +T )d (2)
B

is the voltage and temperature independent quantity,

D ( ) is the density of the

electronic states, and =E-, which is the additional electron energy above and bottom of the
conduction band.
The diffusion current is dependent on the barrier height. It is also proportional to the Boltzmann
factor. The equation is

V qe
+
I diff =exp (
) j 0 D ( ) exp
d (3)
k BT
k BT
0

This is applied when there is no external voltage to make sure the net electron flux is zero.
From equation 1, the value 1 can be neglected when the voltage is larger than 25meV. Therefore,
the equation will be:
I c =

( ( )) ( )

exp

V BE q e
3 /2
exp
T (4)
k BT
k BT

is a constant and not dependent on temperature and B-E voltage. In this experiment, the

temperature, T and the energy factor, Vqe can be controlled.

4.

Method

This experiment consists of 2 parts, where both of the part used the same material and
apparatus. The setup for both experiments was slightly different. The setup of apparatus
was shown in figure below.

Figure 2: a) and b) shows the connection in the semiconductor to the voltmeter and ammeter.

1: A study to measure the exponent ial dependence o f the co llectors current on the vo ltage and to
find the ratio of qe/kBT.
The setup of experiment was shown in 2 a) and 2b). figure 2b) shows how to connect the wire
base, emitter and collector to the transistor external. The room temperature was recorded, it was
23C and it should be fixed along the whole experiment. the apparatus was connected according to
the setup shown in figure 2. After the wires have been connected correctly, the voltage supply
U81001A was switched on. The current limit on the voltage supply was set to 1A to make sure the
current will not overload. The voltage on the voltage supply was varied by adjusting the knob Adjust
after pressing Voltage/Current button in a range of 0V to 1V. After the voltage has been adjusted,
the collector current and the base-emitter voltage were recorded at the same time by using
multimeter Agilent U1252A and 125 multimeter respectively. The voltage was then adjusted in
increasing order, until it reach the maximum voltage. The data was recorded in a table. From the data,
we plotted the graph of ln(I c) against VBE at room temperature. From this graph, the value of q e/kBT
can be determined from the gradient of the graph.

Part 2: Determine the value of the band gap, in silicon.

In this part of the experiment, the setup was the same as part 1 except we need to measure the
the collector current and the base-emitter voltage was measured in three different temperature.
The temperature was room temperature (23C), the boiling point of water (98.5C), and the
temperature of dry ice (195.9C). When measuring the collector current and the base-emitter
voltage in boiling water, the transistor should be placed in oil bath because water is a good heat
insulator. When the transistor was placed in oil bath and reached its boiling point, the
measurement was taken. This step was repeated by replacing the oil with dry ice. The transistor
should be placed in the dry ice and isocol was added to the transistor. The data was recorded
and this experiment was repeated with the room temperature.
5. Results
Part 1
The table for the measurement of collector current at room temperature was placed in the
appendix. The measurement was taken by varying the base-emitter voltage. The uncertainty for
the voltage and current was calculated from the standard error. Room temperature was 296.15
0.05K. The graph at room temperature was shown in figure 3 below.

Figure 3: the relationship between base-emitter voltage, VBE and ln Ic.

Gradient, m= (35.90.48) A/V

Y-intercept=(-24.70.24) A

The ratio of

qe
=m x T
kB

Therefore, from the slope,

qe
=35.9 x 296.15=10.63 x 103 AK /V
kB
Uncertainty,
q
0.48 2
0.05 2
e =
+
=1.34 x 102 AK /V
kB
35.9
296.15

( ) ( ) (

Therefore, the experimental value for

qe
=10.63 x 10 3 0.013 AK / V . The theoretical value of
kB

qe
=11.609 x 103 AK /V .
kB
The percentage of error,

Percentage of error=

||

Theoretical valueexperimental value 11.609 x 10310.63 x 103

=
= 0.0837=8.37
3
Theoretical value
11.609 x 10

The value of lnI0 can be determined when the base-emitter voltage is 0, which is the y-intercept.
Therefore, lnI0=(-24.70.24) A.
Part 2
In this part, we are measuring the value of collector current at three different temperature, which
is room temperature, boiling point, and dry ice. The data from room temperature was already
collected from part 1. The data from boiling point of water and dry ice is shown in the appendix.