• The density of charge carriers in copper is significantly greater then in silicon, resulting in superior conductivity
• Because the resistivity is inversely proportional to the density of the charge carriers, copper has a much small resistivity than silicon

• The temperature coefficent of resistivity, a=1/r dr/dT, describes how the resistivity changes with temperature. Because silcon has a negative a, its resistivty will decrease with increasing temperature (more electrons can be excited to the conduction band). Copper's a on the other hand is positive and so its resistivity will increase with increasing temperature (due to an increase in electron collisions)
  
  

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