Module 6 : PHYSICS OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
Lecture 31 : Electron in a Potential Well
Electron in a Potential Well
  A simplified model of an electron inside a crystal is to consider the electron to move in a periodic potential well structure.
The essential features of the problem is brought out by considering the crystal lattice to be a regular arrangement of atoms along a straight line with inter-atomic separation $ a$. The variation of potential energy with distance on a line along the centre of the atoms is as shown in the figure.
 
\includegraphics{fig5.05.eps}
 
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