21PYB102J- SEMICONDUCTOR PHYSICS AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS

PART A

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does conductivity of metals depend upon?

a) The nature of the material
b) Number of free electrons
c) Resistance of the metal
d) Number of electrons

2. What happens to the free electrons when electric field is applied?

a) They move randomly and collide with each other
b) They move in the direction of the field
c) They remain stable
d) They move in the direction opposite to that of the field

3. Outer most shell of atom with highest energy level is known as

a) 1st shell
b) 2nd shell
c) Valence shell
d) hole shell

4. Which of the following theories cannot be explained by classical theory?

a) Electron theory
b) Lorentz theory
c) Photo-electric effect
d) Classical free electron theory

5. Which of the following theories can be adopted to rectify the drawbacks of

classical theory?
a) Compton theory
b) Quantum theory
c) Band theory
d) Electron theory
6. How does a semiconductor behave at absolute zero?
a) Conductor
b) Insulator
c) Semiconductor
d) Protection device

7. What are the charge carriers in semiconductors?

a) Electrons and holes
b) Electrons
c) Holes
d) Charges

8. How is charge carriers produced in intrinsic semiconductors?

a) By pure atoms
b) By electrons
c) By impure atoms
d) By holes

9. What type of material is obtained when intrinsic semiconductor is doped with

pentavalent impurity?
a) N-type semiconductor
b) Extrinsic semiconductor
c) P-type semiconductor
d) Insulator

10. What type of material is obtained when an intrinsic semiconductor is doped with
trivalent impurity?
a) Extrinsic semiconductor
b) Insulator
c) N-type semiconductor
d) P-type semiconductor

11. The motion of electron in periodic potential is explained by

a) Drude Model
b) Lorentz Model
c) Drude – Lorentz Model
 d) Kronig Penny Model
12. According band theory of solids, the splitting up of energy levels start from
a) Outermost shell
b) First Shell
c) Second shell
d) Any Shell
13. According band theory of solids, the splitting up of energy levels will be maximum
at
a) First Shell
b) Second shell
c) Any Shell
d) Outermost Shell
14. According to classical free electron theory,
1. there is no interaction between conduction electrons
2. the interaction of free electrons with ion cores is negligible
3. the free electrons find uniform electric field of positive ions and that of
electrons in metal
4. all
15. Most commonly used semiconductor material is
a. Silicon
b. Germanium
c. Mixture of silicon and germanium
d. Arsenic.
16. Energy band gap size for insulators is in the range ________ eV.
a)1-2
b) 2-3
c) 3-4
d) > 4
17. Fermi energy level for intrinsic semiconductors lies
a) At middle of the band gap
b) Close to conduction band
c) Close to valence band
d) None
18. . In intrinsic semiconductors, number of electrons __________ number of holes.
a) Equal
b) Greater than
 c) Less than
d) Cannot define
19. A hole in the semiconductors treated as __________
a) A free electron
b) A incomplete part of electron pair bond
c) A free proton
d) A free neutron
20. The probability that an electron in a metal occupies the Fermi-level, at any
temperature (>0 K) is
a) 0
b) 1
c) 0.5
d) 100
21. Consider the following statements: pure germanium and pure silicon are
examples of:
1. Direct band-gap semiconductors
2. Indirect band-gap semiconductors
3. Degenerate semiconductors
Of these statements:
a) 1 alone is correct
b) 2 alone is correct
c) 3 alone is correct
d) All are correct

22. What is a Brillouin zone?

a) A region of energy--‐space that encompasses all of the unique values of
energy
b) A region of position--‐space that the electron is allowed to reside within
c) Another name for the unit cell of the crystal
d) A region of k-space that contains all of the unique solutions of the wave
equation
e) A region of k-space where the group velocity is positive
23. When temperature increases, intrinsic concentration increases which results in
increase of

a) resistivity
b) conductivity
c) capacitivity
 d) all of the above

24. Energy gap is overlapped between Valence band and conduction band in

a) insulators
b) conductors
c) semiconductors
d) super semiconductors

25. In an insulating material, _______.

a. the valence band is filled and the conduction band is empty
b. the valence band is empty and the conduction band is filled
c. both the valence band and conduction band are empty
d. both the valence band and conduction band are filled
e. both the valence band and conduction band are partially filled
26. A material with 5 eV forbidden gap energy is:
a. conductor
b. An insulator
c. A semiconductor
d. An isolated molecule
e. An isolated atom
27. A material with a relatively large gap between its valance band and
conduction band would be expected to be ______.
a. a good conductor
b. easily melted
c. a poor conductor
d. in the liquid state
e. crystalline material
28. According to the band theory of solids, why is lead a good conductor?
a. There is a wide energy gap between the valance band and conduction
band of lead
b. The valance band of lead is empty and the conduction band is filled
c. The valance band and the conduction band of lead is half filled.
d. A great deal of energy is needed to move valence electrons of lead to the
conduction band
e. The conduction band of lead overlaps the valance band
29. What is the approximate energy gap between the valance band and
conduction band of insulators?
a. 0 eV
b. 1 eV
c. 5 eV
d. 10 eV
e. 100 eV
30. Which of the following is not a semiconductor?
a. Silicon
b. Gallium
c. Germanium
d. Aluminum

31. If a material contains overlapping of conduction and valence bands, both of

which are partially filled, then ____.
a. no potential difference is required to induce a current in the material
b. the acceleration of electrons will require a relatively large input of radiation
c. the conductance of the material will be directly related to its temperature
d. a small electric field will make electrons move from one atom to
another
e. the acceleration of electrons will requiredoping of the material
32. A material that conducts electricity will tends to have ______.
a. no valance electrons
b. partially filled bands
c. completely filled bands
d. conduction and valance bands that are far apart
e. a full valence band and an empty conduction band
33. ________ is an insulator.
a. Copper
b. Silicon
c. Gold
d. Table salt
e. Germanium
34. In a conductor, conductivity increases as ______.
a. temperature decreases
b. the applied electrical field decreases
c. resistance increases
d. more electrons move into the valence band
35. A material with a relatively large gap between its valance band and
conduction band would be expected to be ______.
a. a good conductor
b. easily melted
c. a poor conductor
d. in the liquid state
36. The highest filled energy band in a solid is called
a. valence band
b. conduction band
c. fermi level
d. equal level
37. At 0 K, Conduction band will be
a. fully occupied
b. completely empty
c. partially occupied by electrons
 d. partially occupied by holes
38. For metals, Conduction band and valence Band are
a. fully occupied
b. empty
c. Partially occupied
d. Overlapping
39. P-type and N-type extrinsic semiconductors are formed by adding
impurities of valency?
a. 5 and 3 respectively
b. 5 and 4respectively
c. 3 and 5 respectively
d. 3 and 4 respectively
40. The bond that exists in a semiconductor is:
a. Ionic bond
b. covalent bond
c. metallic bond
d. hydrogen bond
41. In solids, _________in outer most orbits of atoms determine its electrical
properties
a. protons
b. neutron
c. electrons
d. positron
42. This theory was developed by Drude& Lorentz in 1900
a. Classical free electron theory
b. Quantum free electron theory
c. Zone theory
d. Bloch theory
43. Sommerfield developed the quantum free electron theory in
a. 1956
b. 1900
c. 1927
d. 1928
44. According to this theory, free electrons move in a periodic potential
provided by the lattice
a. Classical free electron theory
b. Quantum free electron theory
c. free electron theory
d. zone theory
45. There is no loss of energy and resultant velocity is zero, this indicates
______ of free electrons
a. inelastic collision
b. elastic collision
c. Direct compact
d. Oblique impact
46. Pick out the odd one.
 a. fails to explain the specific heat capacity of metals
b. explains new phenomena like photoelectric effect, Compton effect,
black –body radiation
c. Susceptibility has greater theoretical value than the experimental value
d. fails to explain superconducting properties of metals
In QFET (quantum free electron theory), Energy levels are
a. discrete
b. continuous
c. discontinuous
d. has increasing value
47. QFET(quantum free electron theory) follows
a. Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
b. Bose-Einstein distribution
c. Fermi-Dirac distribution
d. Einstein-Kalam distribution
48. Highest energy level that can be occupied by an electron at 0 K
a. Excited state
b. Conduction state
c. Fermi energy level
d. Average energy level
49. Electron occupying an energy level can be determined by
a. probability function F(E)
b. probability function Z(E)
c. Normalized function F(E)
d. Occupation function N(E)
50. If F(E) =1, then
a. 0% probability that the electrons to occupy energy level below Fermi level
b. 50% probability that the electrons to occupy energy level below Fermi
level
c. 75% probability that the electrons to occupy energy level below Fermi
level
d. 100% probability that the electrons to occupy energy level below
Fermi level
51. The ability of metal to conduct electricity depends upon
a. Energy state and Energy level
b. Micro state and Energy level
c. Energy state and Macrostate
d. quantum states alone
52. In density of states, the shape of metal piece considered initially was
a. sphere
b. shell
c. cube
d. cylinder
53. In DOS, volume of the sphere of radius n is equal --------------------------
a. volume of cube
b. number of energy states
 c. number of energy levels

54. O𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧

d. none in the list

𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. This was coined by

a. Neils Bohr
b. Drude
c. Wolfgang Pauli
d. Lorentz
55. Carrier concentration in metals is
a. ZE x FE
b. Z(E) x F(E) dE
c. N(E)dE x F(E) dE
d. Z(E)dE
56. In CFET (Classical free electron theory), free electrons move in
a. unidirection
b. bidirection
c. random direction
d. one path
57. What are valence electrons?
a. The total number of electrons in an atom
b. The number of electrons in the outermost shell
c. The number of electrons in the second shell
d. The number of protons in the outermost shell
58. The orbital that an electron moves to after it releases energy is called the
a. ground state
b. excited state
c. s orbital
d. f orbital
59. Which of the following theories cannot be explained by classical theory?
a. Electron Thoery
b. Photo-electric effect
c. Lorentz thoery
d. electron gas
e. drift velocity
60. Wiedemann-Franz law could be verified by Classical free electron theory
a. True
b. False
61. Drude-Lorenz thoery is known as
a. Quantum free electron thoery
b. Classical Free electron theory
62. Black body radiation could be explained by quantum free electron theory.
a. False
b. True
c. Partially Explain
63. Which of the following is not explained by quantum free electron theory?
a. Zeeman effect
 b. Compton effect
c. Hall effect
d. Joule Thomson effect
64. Electron is a Fermion.
a. False
b. True
65. Particles which are obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics are called
a. Muon
b. Boson
c. nucleon
d. fermion
e. meson
66. Fermi Dirac Distribution function is

a.

b.

c.

d.

67. The equation 'Z(E) dE =' deals about

a. Density of states
b. Paul-Drude theory
c. Fermi-Distribution function
d. dielectric polarisation
e. dielectric constant
68. What happens to the free electrons when an electric field is applied?
a. They remain stable
 b. They move randomly and collide each other
c. They move in the direction of the field
d. They move in the direction opposite to that of electric field.
69. In the figure the y-axis represents
a. Energy level
b. Temperature
c. Probability of occupation

51. Which method is used to calculate the

electronic band structure of solids

a. Modern
b. Uniform
c. Classical
d. None of these
52. Which method uses atomic orbitals as basis wave functions.

a. Tight-binding.

b. Bonding nature

c. electron diffraction

d. neutron diffraction

53. LCAO stands for

a. Linear combination of atomic orbitals

b. Logical combination of atomic orbitals

C. Linear combination of orbitals atom

d. Logical combination of shell

54. Which method was the earliest method employed in band calculations by Wigner
and Seitz.

a. The cellular method

b. The nucleation method
c. The Modern method
d. The Classical method
55.Classical free electron theory proposed in……….
a. 1928
b. 1926
c. 1900
d. 1896
56.Quantum free electron theory proposed in…………..
e. 1900
f. 1905
g. 1928
h. 1926
57.………….is defined as time taken by the electron to move from disturbed position to
rest position when electric field is switched off.
a. Critical time
b. Relaxation time
c. Mean free time
d. Average time
58. According to quantum free electron theory, …………are having wave motion
a. Electrons
b. Protons
c. Neutrons
d. Photons
59. When two identical atoms are brought closer, the………..of atom overlap and
interact.
a. Inner orbit
b. Outermost orbit
c. Nucleus
d. Neutrons
60.For conductors, the energy gap between valance band and conduction band
is………….
a. 1 eV
b. 100 eV
c. 10 eV
d. Zero
61.. In Kronig-Penney model, the electrons moving in………..potential
a. Constant
b. Zero
c. Periodic
d. Negative
62.………….introduced zone theory
a. Newton
b. Drude
c. Bloch
d. Sommerfield
63.The region between +π/a and –π/a is called…………..
a. Forbidden gap
b. First Brillouin zone
c. Second Brillouin zone
d. Third Brillouin zone
64.…………… shows characteristics of particular semiconductor material
a. E-K diagram
b. Conventional band diagram
c. Circuit diagram
d. Zone diagram
65. The E-K diagram demonstrate…………..
a. Resistivity
b. Conductivity
c. Electron (or) Hole mobility
d. Thermal conductivity
66.. …………..is the example of direct band gap semiconductor
a. GaAS
b. Silicon
c. Germanium
d. Aluminum
67. The probability of a radiative recombination is……….for Indirect band gap
semiconductor
a. High
b. Low
c. Zero
d. Infinity
68.A packet of waves can travel throughout the crystal with a definite energy and
momentum is called……………..
a. Photons
b. Phonons
c. Mesons
d. Bosons
69.The wave length of phonons is the order of…………………
a. 1 Å
b. 1mm
c. 1 m
d. 1 km
 70.Fermi Energy is the energy of the state at which the probability of electron
occupation is…………at any temperature above 0 K.
a. 1
b. 0
c. ½
d. -1
71. The electrical resistivity of copper at 27⁰ C is 1.72 x 10-8 Ohm m. and the Lorentz
number is 2. 26 x 10-8 W Ohm K-2 then its thermal conductivity is…………………
a. 394.18 w/m
b. 394.18 w m/m/k
c. 3.9418 w/m/k
d. 3.9418 w/m
72. What is the drift velocity of electron if the current density is 4.976 x 10 power 6 A/m2
and carrier density is 8.46 x 10 power 28 /cubic meter?
a. 367 m/s
b. 0.367 m/s
c. 0.000367 m/s
d. 0.0367 m/s
73.The drift velocity of electron is 0.000367 m/s and carrier density is 8.46 x 10 power 28
/cubic meter then the current density is………………a/m2
a. 4.976 x 10 power 6
b. 4.976 x 10 power -6
c. 4.976 x 10 power -3
d. 4.976 x 10 power 3
74. --------------------- explains the behaviour of metals, semiconductors and insulators
a. Classical free electron theory
b.Lorentz Drude theory
c.Quantum free electron theory
d.Band theory
75. In the Kroning Penny model, the potential V(x) assumed to be ------------
a.A non- periodic cosine wave
b.A periodic rectangular wave
c.A periodic sine wave
d.A periodic square wave
76. Insulators posses ----------------forbidden gap
a.large
b.medium
c.zero
d.low

77.Fermi energy level--------------------

a.is the top most filled energy level at 0K
b. is the top most filled energy level at 0 degree centigrade
c.is the top most filled energy level at 0 degree Fahrenheit
d. is the top most filled energy level at 200 degree Centigrade

78. Which of the following method uses atomic orbital approach to compute electronic
based band structure computationally?
a.cellular method
b.APW method
c.Pseudopotential method
d.Tight binding method

79. Quantum free electron theory assumes electron are charged particles and
obey------------- principle
a. Paulis exclusion
b.Hunds
c.Aufbau
d.Bernoulis

80.Density of states for a given material is --------------

a.Directly proportional to square root of energy
b. Indirectly proportional to square root of energy
c. Directly proportional to cube root of energy
d. Indirectly proportional to cube root of energy
81. Metals posses ----------------forbidden gap
a.large
b.medium
c.zero
d.low
82. What is the shape of E- K diagram for a free electron?
a.Parabola
b.Square
c.Cube
d.Circle

83. Which of the following method uses primitive cell approach to compute electronic
band structure computationally?
a.cellular method
b.APW method
c.Pseudopotential method
d.Tight binding method

PART B- 4 marks

1. Write any two success and failures of classical free electron theory
2. Write any two success and failures of quantum free electron theory
3. Write a short note on Band theory of solids.
4. Explain E-K diagram with the help of Kronig-Penney Model (solution only)
5. Discuss Brillouin Zone for 1-D crystal lattice
6. Explain the concept of phonons in the indirect band gap materials using E-K
diagram
7. Explain probability of occupation in a given energy level using Fermi-Dirac
distribution
8. Write any two differences between n-type and p-type semiconductors
9. Explain direct band gap and indirect band gap in materials with the help of E-K
diagram.
10. Write the classification of electronic materials on the basis of band theory
11. Use the Fermi distribution function to obtain the value of F(E) for E-Ef = 0.01eV
at 200K
12. Find the differences between Phonons and Photons
13. An electron is bound in one dimensional infinite well of width 1X10-10 m. Find the
energy value in ground state, second excited state

Descriptive Type Questions

1. (a) Explain classical free electron theory with success and failures
(b) Explain quantum free electron theory with success and failures

2. Define and derive the expression for density of states

3. What do you mean by Kroning Penny moder. Explain the motion of electron in
periodic potential using Kronig-Penney Model with a neat diagram.

4. Draw E-K diagram with proper nomenclature and write short note about it. Write
down your understanding about Brillouin zone and its construction steps.
5. How do you define density of states(DOS). Derive an expression for the DOS by
considering 1/8th of the sphere. Discuss the case of no. of available states while
using Paulis exclusion principle