Question

In semiconductors, thermal collisions are responsible for taking a valence electron to the conduction band. Why does the number of conduction electrons not go on increasing with time as thermal collisions continuously take place?

Answer 1

An electron jumps from the valence band to the conduction band only when it has gained sufficient energy. The thermal collisions sometimes do not provide sufficient energy to the electron to jump. Also, energy is lost in the form of heat because of the collision of the carriers with other charge carriers and atoms. Because of all these losses, only few electrons are left with sufficient energy to jump from the valence band to the conduction band. So, the population of electron in the conduction band does not keep on increasing with time.