Electron temperature

In physics, the term electron temperature is used when a system of electrons is present and their kinetic energy is to be quantified. You can switch almost at will between an indication of the temperature and the energy.

Formally, in the thermodynamic equilibrium with a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of the electrons, this relationship is given by the equation:

${\displaystyle E_{e}={\frac {3}{2}}k_{\mathrm {B} }T_{e}\,,}$

in which

${\displaystyle E_{e}}$the electron energy in joules ,

${\displaystyle T_{e}}$the electron temperature in Kelvin and

${\displaystyle k_{\mathrm {B} }}$is the Boltzmann constant .

Since each degree of freedom contributes a factor ½ to the energy, the above formula results for three degrees of freedom. To express a temperature as energy, only the Boltzmann constant is used for conversion. With the three degrees of freedom at an energy of 1 eV, a corresponding temperature of about 7736 Kelvin is calculated .

Furthermore, this temperature cannot be equated directly with sensible temperatures, for example in air, because the electrons contribute little to sensible heat due to their low mass.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ P. Grosse: Free electrons in solids . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 3-642-95344-1 , p. 40 ( limited preview in Google Book search).