Sensitivity of the specific heat to the electronic density of states

Abstract

The effect of an anomalous shape of the electronic density of states near the Fermi energy on the specific heat for bulk solids is investigated in this work. The density of states was simulated using a superposition of the usual square-root-energy-dependent function, and an additional Gaussian function centered in the region about the Fermi energy. The results show an enhanced specific heat when the anomalous density of states’ peak is located after but near the Fermi energy. If this peak is narrow, the specific heat displays an extra maximum with temperature. A large specific heat is suitable for applications wherein it is preferred to keep a system at constant temperature despite a large thermal energy exchange with its environment.