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Blazing goIITian

Joined:	12 Apr 2008
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10 Sep 2009 19:57:07 IST

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Why resistance of carbon dec. wid inc. of temperature???

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Why resistance of carbon dec. wid inc. of temperature???

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edison

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Joined: 19 Oct 2006

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10 Sep 2009 22:23:42 IST

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For the elements carbon, silicon, and germanium, this coefficient is a negative number, meaning that resistance decreases with increasing temperature. For some metal alloys, the temperature coefficient of resistance is very close to zero, meaning that the resistance hardly changes at all with variations in temperature (a good property if you want to build a precision resistor out of metal wire!).

It is because the electron hole pair increases as T increases

In an intrinsic semiconductor like silicon at temperatures above absolute zero, there will be some electrons which are excited across the band gap into the conduction band and which can produce current. When the electron in pure silicon crosses the gap, it leaves behind an electron vacancy or "hole" in the regular silicon lattice. Under the influence of an external voltage, both the electron and the hole can move across the material. In an n-type semiconductor, the dopant contributes extra electrons, dramatically increasing the conductivity. In a p-type semiconductor, the dopant produces extra vacancies or holes, which likewise increase the conductivity. It is however the behavior of the p-n junction which is the key to the enormous variety of solid-state electronic devices.

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