Aim of the experiment: To study Hall effect and hence determine the Hall co efficient, types of charge carrier,

carrier concentration and carrier mobility. Apparatus used: Hall Effect setup, constant current supply, electromagnet and hall probe. Theory: As we know that a static magnetic field has no effect on charge 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 charge particle. When this happens, electrons and holes will be separated by opposite forces. They will in turn produce an electric field ( ) which depends on the cross product of the magnetic intensity, and the current density as shown in the fig 1. 1

Where R is called Hall coefficient Now let us consider a bar of semiconductor having dimensions x, y and z. let is directed along x and along z then will be along y as shown in the fig2 Then we could write

.2

Where and I.

is the Hall voltage appearing between the two surfaces perpendicular to y

In general Hall voltage is not a linear function of magnetic field applied, i.e the Hall coefficient is not generally a constant, but a function of the applied magnetic field. Consequently, interpretation of the Hall voltage is not usually a simple matter. However it is easy to calculate this voltage if we assume that all carriers have the same drift velocity. We will do this in two steps (a) By assuming that carriers of only one type are present and (b) By assuming that carriers of both type are present.

One type of carrier: Metals and doped semiconductors are the example of this
type where one carrier dominates.

 and is compensated The magnetic force on the carriers is , where is the drift velocity of the carriers. Assuming by the Hall field the directions of the various vectors as before. = qn

But the current density

Hence from equation 2 we have.

From this equation it becomes clear that the sign of H depends upon the sign of q. this means, in a p type semiconductor the R would be positive, while in n type it would be negative. Also for a fixed magnetic field and input current, the Hall voltage is proportional to 1/n or its resistivity. When one carrier dominants, the conductivity of the material is , where Thus is the mobility of the charge carriers.

.4

(c) Two types of carriers:

Intrinsic and the lightly doped semiconductors are the examples of this type. In such cases , the quantitative interpretation of Hall coefficient is more difficult since both type of carriers contribute to the Hall field. It is also clear that for the same electric field, the Hall voltage of p-carriers will be opposite in sign to that from n-carriers. As a result both mobilites enter into any calculations of Hall coefficient and a weighted average is the result i.e. ..5 here and are the mobility of the electrons and holes respectively. p and n are carrier densities of electron and holes respectively. Since they are not constants but functions of temperature (T) the Hall coefficient given by equation 5 is also a function of T and it may become zero

change sign. In general so that inversion may happen if p efficient inversion is characteristics only of p type semiconductors.

thus Hall

At the point of zero Hall possible to determine ratio of mobilites and their relative concentration coefficient it is. Procedure: 1. Adjust the spacing between the pole pieces to a suitable value. Connect the electromagnet to the magnet terminals of the hall kit. Place the hall probe at the center of the gap with its face parallel to the faces of the pole pieces of the electromagnet. Keep magnet control and probe control in maximum anticlockwise position and switch ON the instrument. The experiment is performed by two methods. Method A: (magnet current Im is fixed) 2. With the selector switch at the current position in the magnet set the magnet current Im at 100mA. 3. Now note down the voltage recorded by the digital voltmeter in the Hall effect setup when the Hall probe is outside the magnet and nullify the voltage with the help of the zero control facility. 4. Keeping current Im fixed at 100mA, set the hall current or the sample current Is to a suitable fixed value between 40mA to 100mA (in steps of 10mA) and note down the corresponding values of the Hall voltages VH developed. 5. Plot VH versus IS and find the slop. Hence calculate RH. Method B: (specimen current IS fixed) 6. Set the current Is to a suitable fixed value between 40mA to 100mA. After nullifying the offset voltage of the probe increase Im and note down the values of VH for various values of Im viz. 100mA, 200mA, 300mA,400mA and 500mA. 7. Ettingshausen effect can be eliminated by repeating steps 2, 3 and 4for Im and Is in the forward and reverse direction i.e, other three situations Im ( - ) Is ( + ) Im ( + ) Is ( - )

Im ( - ) Is ( - ) and find the corresponding Hall voltages VH1, VH2, VH3, VH4 for each value of IS. calculate average Hall voltage VH for each values of Is 8. Find B corresponding to Im 9. Plot VH versus B. Find the slop and calculate RH. Observation: Thickness of the sample = Conductivity = Method A: Magnet current (Im) fixed. Im = 100mA Sl no Is (mA) VH1 VH2 1 40 2 50 3 60 . .. . .. . ..

VH2

VH3

VH

Method B : Hall current (Is ) fixed: Is = 50mA Sl no Im (mA) B VH1 1 100 2 200 3 300 . .. . .. . .. Graphs :

VH2

VH3

VH4

VH

Calculations: 1. From graph (a) , slope = B= t= RH = 2. From graph ( b ): slope = B= t= RH = Mean RH = .. 3. Carrier density, n = 4. Mobility of charge carriers, Results: The Hall coefficient = Carrier density = Mobility of charge carriers = = =

Sources of errors and precautions: