ABSTRACT
The electrical conductivity of a solid is determined by many parameters such as the charge carrier mobility, the density of free charge carriers available in a partially filled energy band, and the availability of unfilled energy states in the partially filled band. However, a solid material, such as a semiconductor crystal, is a matrix of atoms arranged in a lattice such that the various potentials of each of the atoms affect the surrounding atoms and their associated electrons. Quantum mechanics play a key role in understanding the behavior of electrons in semiconductor materials. An introduction to some quantum mechanics concepts and models is presented. Quantum mechanical tunneling is a phenomenon often observed and used for the design and development of semiconductor devices, including semiconductor radiation detectors. The electrons surrounding the atoms in a crystal can be thought of as confined in a series of identical potential wells.
