Laboratory Exercise 1

Halleffect and conductivity.

The aim of the exercise is to determine the following properties/parameters of a

doped germanium crystal:

1) Type of charge carriers (n- or p-type)

2) Doping level
3) Bandgap of germanium

Preparation:
Read section 1.5 (intrinsic carrier concentration), 1.6 (donors and acceptors) and
2.1 (about drift and Hall effect). Solve problems 13 and 17 (chapter 1) and
problems 1 and 8 (chapter 2).

Part 1: Halleffect
A circuit board with a mounted germanium crystal is electrically connected as
recommended by the lecturer. The germanium crystal is placed perpendicular to
the magnetic field generated by two coils. Be careful not to damage the crystal
when the circuit board is inserted into the gap of the iron core of the magnet. A
constant current of 30mA is driven through the germanium crystal. The
Hallvoltage, UH , is measured perpendicular to the sample for different currents
through the magnet: 0, 0.1, 0.2, 1.5A. This current can be converted to
magnetic field using a calibration table handed out by the lecturer.

Tasks:
1) From the sign of the Hallvoltage it is possible to determine the majority
carrier type (electrons or holes). Is the sample n- or p-type?
2) Plot UH versus B and determine the Hallconstant and the carrier concentration.
What is the doping level?

Part 2: Conductivity
This experiment is performed without magnetic field. Carefully remove the
circuit board from the magnet. The germanium crystal is heated by a large
current that is driven through a heating element integrated into the circuit board.
The current must not exceed 5A. The actual temperature of the germanium
crystal is measured as a thermovoltage from a device called thermocouple on the
circuit board. This thermovoltage can be converted to a temperature according to
a formula given by the lecturer. The maximum allowed temperature is 170C
(corresponding to a thermovoltage of 5.8mV). After reaching this
temperature, the current is successively decreased allowing the temperature to
decrease. While the temperature is decreasing, the voltage U along the sample is
 measured for a constant current (30mA) through the crystal. Measure the
voltage U for the thermovoltages 5.8, 5.6, 5.4....0mV. By plotting U versus
temperature in a clever way, the bandgap of germanium can be determined.
Magnetic field (mT)

Magnetization current (A)