Die elektrischen Eigenschaften der Festkörper, ein Problem der chemischen Bindung

Abstract

The presence or absence of free conduction electrons in a solid depends essentially on the short-range interactions between the component atoms. The electrical properties of a solid may therefore be said to be determined by the chemical bond as characterized by composition and coordination configurations. Following a brief historical survey which shows how this fact gradually emerged from the ever increasing wealth of experimental data a qualitative explanation is given in terms of the tight-binding LCAO approximation. A series of polyanionic compounds and of compounds of the transition elements are discussed to illustrate the close relationship which exists between their electrical properties and their crystal chemistry.