NSE-843-NANOTECHNOLOGY

AND PHOTOVOLTAICS
CARRIER TRANSPORT
Dr. Sofia Javed
3-10-18
 Carrier Transport

Although carriers in a semiconductor are

in constant random motion, there is
no net motion of carriers unless there is a
concentration gradient or an electric field
 ■ Carrier transport when an electric field is imposed on the semiconductor.

Drift ■ Electrons move in the net direction opposite of the electric field. Holes move in the
net direction of the electric field.
In the presence of an electric field, superimposed on the random direction, and in the
presence of thermal velocity, carriers move in a net direction.
No Electric Field
 Drift velocity
The average velocity of the charge carrier
in an electric field is called drift velocity

Drift Current

In,drift = -(-q)nvdA

Drift Current Density

Jn,drift = qnvd
Diffusion

■ When light is incident on a solar cell, carriers get generated at that surface, but not
in the bulk of the solar cell. This creates a carrier concentration gradient within the
semiconductor
■ When a carrier concentration gradient exists in the semiconductor, through random
motion, carriers will have a net movement from areas of high carrier concentration
to areas of low concentration in the process of diffusion.
■ With time, these carriers will diffuse throughout the cell until the concentration is
uniform.
The rate at which diffusion occurs depends on the velocity at which carriers move and
on the distance between scattering events. It is termed diffusivity and measured in
cm2s-1.
Diffusion

(Fick’s first law of diffusion)

l= mean free path

t= mean free time
Φ flux density
n conc of electrons
p conc of holes
Jn and Jp = the diffusion current densities
q= charge on electron