Insulator, band structure

Terakura K, Qguchi T, Williams A R and Kubler J 1984 Band theory of insulating transition-metal monoxides Band-structure calculations Phys. Rev. B 30 4734... 

It is well known that metallic electronic structure is not generally realised in low-dimensional materials on account of metal-insulator transition (or Peierls transition [14]). This transition is formally required by energetical stabilisation and often accompanied with the bond alternation, an example of which is illustrated in Fig. 4 for metallic polyacetylene [15]. This kind of metal-insulator transition should also be checked for CNT satisfying 2a + b = 3N, since CNT is considered to belong to also low-dimensional materials. Representative bond-alternation patterns are shown in Fig. 5. Expression of band structures of any isodistant tubes (a, b) is equal to those in Eq.(2). Those for bond-alternation patterned tube a, b) are given by. 

The description derived above gives useful insight into the general characteristics of the band structure in solids. In reality, band structure is far more complex than suggested by Fig. 6.16, as a result of the inclusion of three dimensions, and due to the presence of many types of orbitals that form bands. The detailed electronic structure determines the physical and chemical properties of the solids, in particular whether a solid is a conductor, semiconductor, or insulator (Fig. 6.17). 

Accepting that the electronic structure of the metal clusters is in between the discreet electronic levels of the isolated atoms and the band structure of the metals, it is expectable that under a certain size the particle becomes nonmetallic. Indeed, theoretical estimations [102,105] suggest that the gap between the filled and empty electron states becomes comparable with the energy of the thermal excitations in clusters smaller than 50-100 atoms or 1 nm in size, where the particles start to behave as insulators. A... 

Conductivity means that an electron moves under the influence of an applied field, which implies that field energy transferred to the electron promotes it to a higher level. Should the valence level be completely filled there are no extra higher-energy levels available in that band. Promotion to a higher level would then require sufficient energy to jump across the gap into a conduction level in the next band. The width of the band gap determines whether the solid is a conductor, a semi-conductor or an insulator. It is emphasized that in three-dimensional solids the band structure can be much more complicated than for the illustrative one-dimensional model considered above and could be further complicated by impurity levels. 

Figure 2.1 Schematic representation of band structure of (a) insulator, (b) semiconductor, and (c) metal.

After publication of the X-ray study, the charge transfer was obtained from the reciprocal-space position of the satellite reflections, which occur in the diffraction pattern at temperatures below the Peierls-type metal-insulator transition at 53 K (Pouget et al. 1976). Assuming that the gap in the band structure occurs at twice the Fermi wavevector, that is, at 2kF, the position of the satellite reflections corresponds to a charge transfer of 0.59 e, in excellent agreement with the direct integration. The agreement confirms the assumption that the gap in the band structure occurs at 2kF. 

Figure 6.1 Schematic band structures of solids (a) insulator (kT ,) (b) intrinsic semiconductor (kT ,) (c) and (d) extrinsic semiconductors donor and acceptor levels in n-type and p-type semiconductors respectively are shown, (e) compensated semiconductor (f) metal (g) semimetal top of the valence band lies above the bottom of the conduction band.

The assumption that the carriers are small or intermediate polarons in no way militates against discussions of ths band structure of the ground state (see e.g. Camphausen et al. 1972, Cullen and Callen 1971,1973). The absence of Jahn-Teller distortion (Goodenough 1971) also, in our view, indicates not the absence of a polaron mass-enhancement but rather a value.of V0jB not too far from the critical value. These conclusions seem to be in agreement with the considerations of Sokoloff (1972), who used a description in terms of a degenerate band of small polarons. Samara (1968) showed that pressure lowers the temperature of the Verwey transition. If this depended only on e2/ ca then the opposite should be the case. But pressure will increase B, and push the substance nearer to the critical value for the metal-insulator transition. 

The energy states of gaseous atoms split because of the overlap between electron clouds. Obviously, therefore, atoms must come much closer before the clouds of the core electrons begin to overlap compared with the distance at which the clouds of outer (or valence) electrons overlap (Fig. 6.119). Hence, at the equilibrium interatomic distances, the energy levels of the core electrons (in contrast to the valence electrons) do not show any band structure and therefore will be neglected in the following discussion. This simplified picture of the band theory of solids will now be used to explain the differences in conductivity of metals, semiconductors, and insulators. 

The changes in the optical absorption spectra of conducting polymers can be monitored using optoelectrochemical techniques. The optical spectrum of a thin polymer film, mounted on a transparent electrode, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass, is recorded. The cell is fitted with a counter and reference electrode so that the potential at the polymer-coated electrode can be controlled electrochemically. The absorption spectrum is recorded as a function of electrode potential, and the evolution of the polymers band structure can be observed as it changes from insulating to conducting (11). 

The electrical properties of any material are a result of the material s electronic structure. The presumption that CPs form bands through extensive molecular obital overlap leads to the assumption that their electronic properties can be explained by band theory. With such an approach, the bands and their electronic population are the chief determinants of whether or not a material is conductive. Here, materials are classified as one of three types shown in Scheme 2, being metals, semiconductors, or insulators. Metals are materials that possess partially-filled bands, and this characteristic is the key factor leading to the conductive nature of this class of materials. Semiconductors, on the other hand, have filled (valence bands) and unfilled (conduction bands) bands that are separated by a range of forbidden energies (known as the band gap ). The conduction band can be populated, at the expense of the valence band, by exciting electrons (thermally and/or photochemically) across this band gap. Insulators possess a band structure similar to semiconductors except here the band gap is much larger and inaccessible under the environmental conditions employed. 

---