RESISTIVITY AND CARRIER CONCENTRATION OF A SEMICONDUCTOR

BY HALL EFFECT

Introduction:

In 1879, E.H. Hall observed that on placing a current-carrying conductor perpendicular to a magnetic field, a
voltage is observed perpendicular to both the magnetic field and the current. It was observed that the charge
carriers, which were assumed to be electrons, experienced a sideways force opposite to what was expected.
This was later explained based on band theory. The measurement of conductivity of a specimen cannot
determine the number of conducting charges and the sign of charge carriers. In metals/conductors, the current
carriers are only electrons whereas in semiconductors, both electrons and holes act as current carriers.
Therefore, in semiconductors, it is quite necessary to determine whether a material is of n-type or p-type. The
Hall effect can be used to distinguish the two types of charge carriers and also to determine the density of
charge carriers

The Hall effect

When a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to a current-carrying specimen(metal or semiconductor), a

voltage is developed in the specimen in a direction perpendicular to both the current and the magnetic field.
This phenomenon is called the Hall effect. The voltage so generated is called Hall voltage. We know that a
static magnetic field does not affect charges unless they are in motion. When the charges flow, a magnetic
field directed perpendicular to the direction of flow produces a mutually perpendicular force on the charges.
Consequently, electrons and holes get separated by opposite forces and produce an electric field E, thereby
setting up a potential difference between the ends H of a specimen. This is called Hall potential VH.
Consider a semiconductor in the form of a flat strip. A current I flows through the strip along the X-axis. P and
P¢ are two points on the opposite faces of a b c d and a¢ b¢ c¢ d¢ respectively. If a millivoltmeter is connected
between points P and P¢, it does not show any reading, indicating that there is no potential difference setup
between these points. But, when a magnetic field is applied along the Y-axis, i.e. perpendicular to the direction
of current, a deflection is produced in the millivoltmeter indicating that a potential difference is set up between
P and P ¢. This potential difference is known as Hall voltage or Hall potential VH.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of Hall measurement

As shown in Fig. 1, if a current is passed along the X-axis, then the electrons move along the negative

direction of the X-axis. The force on the electron due to the applied magnetic field 𝑩 is given by,

𝑭 = 𝑒(𝒗 × 𝑩)

𝑭 = 𝒆𝒗𝑩𝒔𝒊𝒏Ɵ

𝑭 = 𝒆𝒗𝑩

Where 𝒗 the drift velocity of an electron and e is the charge of an electron.

Using Fleming's left-hand rule, it is seen that force on the electrons will be directed towards the face a b c
d, i.e. along the positive Z-axis, thereby making the face a b c d negative and a’ b’ c’ d’ positive.

If the current is carried by positively charged carriers i.e. holes, the carriers move in the same direction as
that of the current. The magnetic force causes the positive charge carriers to move towards the face a b c d,
thereby making the face a b c d positive and a’ b’ c’ d’ negative.

Thus, by determining the polarities of the surface of the strip, we can determine the sign of the charge
carriers.

At thermal equilibrium, when the Lorentz force exactly matches the force due to the electric field 𝐸𝐻 (the
Hall voltage) we have:

𝑣𝐻
𝑒𝑣𝐵 = 𝑒𝐸𝐻 = 𝑒
𝑏

𝑉𝐻
𝒗=
𝑏𝐵

If b is the width and t is the thickness of the specimen (crystal), its cross-sectional area A is given by:

𝐴 = 𝑏𝑡

he current density 𝐽 = 𝐼/𝐴

or 𝐼 = 𝑛 𝑒 𝑣 𝐴
where n is the number of charge carriers per unit volume.

1 𝑣𝐴 𝑉𝐻
= = 𝐴
𝑛𝑒 𝐼 𝑏𝐵𝐼
1 𝑉𝐻 𝑉𝐻 𝑡
= 𝑏𝑡 =
𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝐵𝐼 𝐵𝐼

The Hall coefficient is given by:

𝑣𝐻 𝑡 1
𝑅𝐻 = =
𝐵𝐼 𝑛𝑒

and charge carrier density is given by:

1
𝑛=
𝑒𝑅𝐻

If the conduction is primarily due to one type of charge carrier, then conductivity is related to mobility 𝜇𝑚 :
𝜇𝑚 = 𝜎𝑅𝐻

Therefore,
𝑅𝐻
𝜇𝑚 =
𝜌
Where, 𝜌 is the resistivity.
Hall effect experiment set-up:

It consists of:
Power supply for electromagnet: Specifications: 0-20 V, 5 Amps.
Power supply (Constant current source): Specifications: 0-20 mA
Gauss meter with Hall Probe
Semiconductor (Ge single crystal) mounted on a PCB Specifications: p-type Ge crystal.
Thickness (t): 0.5 mm
Width (b): 4 mm
Length (L): 6 mm
Multimeter for measuring Hall voltage
Hall Effect Apparatus consisting of two 500-turn coils.
Block Diagram of Experimental Setup

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of experimental set up

Fig.2 Shows the block diagram for the experimental setup with connections. A p-type Ge crystal is mounted
on the PCB. PCB is provided with four sockets and a pot to make the Hall voltage zero, when there is no
current flowing through the crystal and also when there is no magnetic field. The upper two sockets are
connected to a constant current DC source and the lower two to a multimeter/millivolt meter.
Hall probe with Gauss meter is kept in the canter between the electromagnet.
Hall coefficient
𝑉𝐻 𝑡 3 −1
𝑅𝐻 = 𝑚 𝑐
𝐵𝐼
Where 𝑉𝐻 is the Hall voltage, t is the thickness of the sample, and B is the magnetic flux density in T.
The concentration of charge carriers per unit volume

1
𝑛= 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚3
ⅇ𝑅𝐻

Resistivity of the material of the sample

𝑉𝑙 𝑏𝑡
𝜌=
𝐼𝑙
Where 𝑉𝑙 is the voltage between two points situated l cm (4.5 cm) apart on one face of the sample
b = width of the sample in m.
t = thickness of the specimen in m.

𝐼 = current in the sample.

𝑅𝐻
Mobility 𝜇𝑚 = m2v-1s-1
𝜌

Figure 3: Photograph of experimental set up

Experiment procedure:

1. Mount the PCB (with mounted crystal) on one of the pillars and the hall probe in another pillar.
2. Complete all the connections as shown fig.-2
3. Switch ON the Gauss Meter and place the hall probe away from the electromagnet. Select the range of the
Gauss meter as X1 and using the adjustment knob of the Gauss Meter, adjust the reading of the Gauss Meter
as zero. DO NOT SWITCH ON THE ELECTROMAGNET AT THIS STAGE.
4. Switch ON the constant current source and set the current, say at 5 mA in constant current source. Keep the
magnetic field at zero as recorded by the Gauss meter. DO NOT SWITCH ON THE ELECTROMAGNET AT
THIS STAGE.
5. Complete the circuit diagram as shown in fig.-2. When a current of 5 mA is passed through the crystal without
the application of a magnetic field the hall voltage as recorded by the multimeter should be zero. The zero
 should be adjusted carefully and gradually. DO NOT SWITCH ON THE ELECTROMAGNET AT THIS
STAGE.

Figure 4: Set Zero

6. Bring the current reading of the constant current source to Zero by Adjusting the knob of the
constant current source.
7. Switch ON the electromagnet (say at about 1 7V, 3.5A)
8. Select the range of the Gauss meter as x10 and measure the magnetic flux density at the center
between the pole pieces. The tip of the Hall Probe and the crystal should be placed between the
center of the pole pieces. The pole pieces should be very close to the crystal and the tip of the Hall
Probe.
POLE PIECES SHOULD NOT TOUCH THE CRYSTAL OR THE TIP OF THE HALL PROBE
FOR CARRYING OUT THE EXPERIMENT THE MAGNETIC FLUX DENSITY SHOULD BE MORE
THAN 1500 GAUSS.
9. Do not change the current in the electromagnet i.e. keep the magnetic field constant for the whole of
the experiment.
10. Vary the current through the constant current source in small increments. Note the current I (mA)
from the constant current source passing through the sample and the Hall voltage (mV)as recorded
by the multimeter. Record these values in the observation table.
11. Reverse the direction the magnetic field by interchanging the ‘+’ and ‘-’ connections of the coils (i.e
by interchanging Red and Black wires to the coils of the electromagnet). Again, note down the Hall
Voltage for the same values of current as in step 10.
12. Draw the calibration graph (B vs. I).
13. Draw the Hall voltage vs sample current graph and determine the number of carrier concentrations.
14. Draw a voltage vs current graph for resistivity measurement, and calculate resistivity.
 Figure 5: Circuit connection for resistivity measurement

Sources of error:

The experiment has the potential to have systematic errors which could skew the final calculations. This may
be due to slight misalignment of the magnetic field, irregularity in the grainof germanium crystal, and stray
magnetic fields generated by nearby electrical equipment.
Checkpoints:

• Before starting the experiment, check the Gauss meter is showing zero value. For this put the probe in
separate place and switch on the Gauss meter, it will show zero value.
• Ensure that the specimen is located at the center between the pole pieces and exactly perpendicular to
the magnetic field.
• To measure the magnetic flux the Hall probe should be placed at the center between the pole pieces,
parallel to t h e semiconductor sample.
• Check the direction of electromagnet coils so that it generates the maximum magnetic field, this can be
checked by placing a soft iron near the generated magnetic field. If soft iron attracts forcefully, the
magnetic field is strong.