Chapter 15 - Electrical conductivity of metals and alloys

Abstract

This chapter provides general formulae for electrical conductivity. It discusses the phonon-limited electrical conductivity and electrical conduction in noncubic lattices. It also provides solutions to the Boltzmann equation. The Boltzmann equation is an integral equation, which is nontrivial to solve. Therefore, most calculations for real systems rely on an approximate solution, through a variation procedure. The electrical properties of metals include two formulae—Matthiessen's rule and the Drude formula that expresses conductivity. Matthiessen's rule says that total resistivity is the sum of contributions that come from the scattering of conduction electrons by thermal vibrations and from the scattering by static lattice defects. The Drude formula gives the impression that the electron number density n plays a central role in the process.