Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2010/paper-2/section-a/1/solution

As an estimate, model the confinement by an infinite square well of width and use the stipulated electron mass. Its energy eigenvalues are , , so the gap controlling thermal occupation of a quantum well is
Thus suppresses excitation: . For example makes this ratio below one percent in this model. There is no sharp cutoff. The ground state energy itself corresponds to about , but it is the excitation gap that enters the Boltzmann factor. Finite barrier height and a different effective mass would change the numerical scale; neither is supplied.

New to topics? Read the docs here!