Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-condensed-matter-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/section-b/6/b/solution

In the nondegenerate conduction band, the Fermi-Dirac distribution reduces to its Boltzmann distribution tail. Thus
Here the substitution leaves . For electron holes use the empty-state probability , not the conduction-band Boltzmann factor. This gives
The chemical potential cancels in the product. With ,
This semiconductor mass-action law holds in thermal equilibrium for nondegenerate carriers, including a doped semiconductor. Only in an intrinsic semiconductor must . The factors are the effective density of states; the factor in the final expression follows from the two spin factors already included in (a).

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