Why does electrical resistance decrease with temperature in semiconductors?
Semiconductors, by classification, have a forbidden energy band bound by the valence band on the low-energy end and the conduction band on the high-energy side. At a very low temperature, most charge carriers are inactive — very few free electrons in the conduction band and free holes in the valence band, where these charge carriers can roam free and complete the circuit when an electrical source (a battery) is connected to a bar of the material. As the temperature rises, the probability of finding free electrons in the conduction band and free holes in the valence band increases, resulting in more free charge carriers available, hence lower resistance.
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