Verified Solution • 2025–26 Session moderate

QPages 416-417: Q6: HC Verma: Concepts of Physics - Volume 2 Semiconductors and Semiconductor Devices Pages 416-417: Q6 Solution: What is the resistance of an intrinsic semiconductor at 0 K?

⚠️ Common Exam Traps & Conceptual Pitfalls

Students often assume that because lattice vibrations vanish at 0 K a semiconductor becomes a perfect conductor, but an intrinsic crystal has no thermally excited electrons across its band gap, so carrier concentration is zero and the resistance tends to infinity. Remember: only extrinsic dopants can supply carriers at absolute zero; an ideal intrinsic semiconductor is an insulator.

What is the resistance of an intrinsic semiconductor at 0 K?

Step-by-Step Verified Solution

**Answer:** The resistance of an intrinsic semiconductor at 0 K is infinite. **Step-by-Step Explanation:** At 0 K, all electrons are in the valence band, and the conduction band is completely empty. With no free charge carriers, no current can flow. Hence, the resistance is infinite .

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