Metals

The valence electrons, which in other substances produce bonding between individual atoms or small groups of atoms, are shared equally by all the atoms in a piece of a metal. These delocalized electrons are thus able to move over the whole piece of metal and provide the metallic lustre and good electrical and thermal conductivities of metals and alloys. Band theory explains that in such a system individual energy levels are replaced by a continuous region called a band, as in the density-of-states diagram for copper metal shown in the figure. This diagram shows that the number of electrons that can be accommodated in the band at any given energy varies; in copper the number declines as the band approaches being filled with electrons. The number of electrons in the copper fill the band to the level shown, leaving some empty space at higher energies.

When a photon of light is absorbed by an electron near the top of the energy band, the electron is raised to a higher available energy level within the band. The light is so intensely absorbed that it can penetrate to a depth of only a few hundred atoms, typically less than a single wavelength. Because the metal is a conductor of electricity, this absorbed light, which is, after all, an electromagnetic wave, induces alternating electrical currents on the metal surface. These currents immediately reemit the photon out of the metal, thus providing the strong reflection of a polished metal surface.

The efficiency of this process depends on certain selection rules. If the efficiency of absorption and reemission is approximately equal at all optical energies, then the different colours in white light will be reflected equally well, leading to the “silvery” colour of polished silver and iron surfaces. In copper the efficiency of reflection decreases with increasing energy; the reduced reflectivity at the blue end of the spectrum results in a reddish colour. Similar considerations explain the yellow colour of gold and brass.

Pure semiconductors

In a number of substances a band gap appears in the density of states diagram (see figure). This can happen, for example, when there are an average of exactly four valence electrons per atom in a pure substance, resulting in a completely full lower band, called the valence band, and an exactly empty upper band, the conduction band. Because there are no electron energy levels in the gap between the two bands, the lowest energy light that can be absorbed corresponds to arrow A in the figure; this represents the excitation of an electron from the top of the valence band up to the bottom of the conduction band and corresponds to the band-gap energy designated E_g. Light of any higher energy can also be absorbed, as indicated by the arrows B and C.

If the substance has a large band gap, such as the 5.4 eV of diamond, then no light in the visible spectrum can be absorbed, and the substance appears colourless when pure. Such large band-gap semiconductors are excellent insulators and are more usually treated as ionic or covalently bonded materials.

The pigment cadmium yellow (cadmium sulfide, also known as the mineral greenockite) has a smaller band gap of 2.6 eV, which permits absorption of violet and some blue but none of the other colours. This leads to its yellow colour. A somewhat smaller band gap that permits absorption of violet, blue, and green produces the colour orange; a yet smaller band gap as in the 2.0 eV of the pigment vermilion (mercuric sulfide, the mineral cinnabar) results in all energies but the red being absorbed, which leads to a red colour. All light is absorbed when the band-gap energy is less than the 1.77-eV (700-nm) limit of the visible spectrum; narrow band-gap semiconductors, such as the lead sulfide galena, therefore absorb all light and are black. This sequence of colourless, yellow, orange, red, and black is the precise range of colours available in pure semiconductors.

Doped semiconductors

If an impurity atom, often called a dopant, is present in a semiconductor (which is then designated as doped) and has a different number of valence electrons than the atom it replaces, extra energy levels can be formed within the band gap. If the impurity has more electrons, such as a nitrogen impurity (five valence electrons) in a diamond crystal (consisting of carbons, each having four valence electrons), a donor level is formed. Electrons from this level can be excited into the conduction band by the absorption of photons; this occurs only at the blue end of the spectrum in nitrogen-doped diamond, resulting in a complementary yellow colour. If the impurity has fewer electrons than the atom it replaces, such as a boron impurity (three valence electrons) in diamond, a hole level is formed. Photons can now be absorbed with the excitation of an electron from the valence band into the hole level. In boron-doped diamond this occurs only at the yellow end of the spectrum, resulting in a deep blue colour as in the famous Hope diamond.

Some materials containing both donors and acceptors can absorb ultraviolet or electrical energy to produce visible light. For example, phosphor powders, such as zinc sulfide containing copper and other impurities, are used as a coating in fluorescent lamps to convert the plentiful ultraviolet energy produced by the mercury arc into fluorescent light. Phosphors are also used to coat the inside of a television screen, where they are activated by a stream of electrons (cathode rays) in cathodoluminescence, and in luminous paints, where they are activated by white light or by ultraviolet radiation, which causes them to display a slow luminous decay known as phosphorescence. Electroluminescence results from electrical excitation, as when a phosphor powder is deposited onto a metallic plate and covered with a transparent conducting electrode to produce lighting panels.

Injection electroluminescence occurs when a crystal contains a junction between differently doped semiconducting regions. An electric current will produce transitions between electrons and holes in the junction region, releasing energy that can appear as near-monochromatic light, as in the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) widely used on display devices in electronic equipment. With a suitable geometry, the emitted light can also be monochromatic and coherent as in semiconductor lasers.

Colour centres

A colour centre often involves a solid that is missing an atom, such as sodium chloride, an ionic crystal that consists of a three-dimensional array of positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged chloride ions. When a negative chloride ion is missing from the crystal, electrical neutrality can be maintained if a free electron occupies the spot vacated by the chloride ion, forming an F-centre (after the German Farbe, “colour”). This replacement electron can be viewed as providing a trapping energy level within the large band gap.

Some form of relatively high energy, such as ultraviolet radiation or high-energy X-rays or gamma rays, can then be used to promote an electron from the valence band into the trap, which contains excited energy levels such as that designated E_a in the figure. The E_a level for the sodium chloride F-centre occurs at 2.7 eV and can absorb blue light, leading to a yellow-brown colour; such a defect is called a colour centre. The electron in this excited energy level is still within the trap. Only by supplying energy corresponding to E_b can the electron leave the trap and return via the conduction band directly to the valence band. This can happen if the crystal is heated, resulting in bleaching of the colour centre. If E_b is about the same size as E_a, bleaching can occur merely while the material is being illuminated, leading to optical bleaching. If E_b is sufficiently small, the material may even fade in the dark at room temperature. This occurs in self-darkening sunglasses: the ultraviolet energy present in sunlight produces darkening, and room temperature leads to fading as soon as ultraviolet light is no longer present.