Hall potential measurements show that electrons are the dominant charge carriers in most metals. However, Hall potentials indicate that for a few metals, such as tungsten, beryllium, and many semiconductors, the majority of charge carriers are positive. It turns out that conduction by positive charge is caused by the migration of missing electron sites (called holes) on ions. Conduction by holes is studied later in
Condensed Matter Physics .
The Hall effect can be used to measure magnetic fields. If a material with a known density of charge carriers
n is placed in a magnetic field and
V is measured, then the field can be determined from
[link] . In research laboratories where the fields of electromagnets used for precise measurements have to be extremely steady, a “Hall probe” is commonly used as part of an electronic circuit that regulates the field.
Velocity selector
An electron beam enters a crossed-field velocity selector with magnetic and electric fields of 2.0 mT and
respectively. (a) What must the velocity of the electron beam be to traverse the crossed fields undeflected? If the electric field is turned off, (b) what is the acceleration of the electron beam and (c) what is the radius of the circular motion that results?
Strategy
The electron beam is not deflected by either of the magnetic or electric fields if these forces are balanced. Based on these balanced forces, we calculate the velocity of the beam. Without the electric field, only the magnetic force is used in Newton’s second law to find the acceleration. Lastly, the radius of the path is based on the resulting circular motion from the magnetic force.
Solution
The velocity of the unperturbed beam of electrons with crossed fields is calculated by
[link] :
The acceleration is calculated from the net force from the magnetic field, equal to mass times acceleration. The magnitude of the acceleration is:
The radius of the path comes from a balance of the circular and magnetic forces, or
[link] :
Significance
If electrons in the beam had velocities above or below the answer in part (a), those electrons would have a stronger net force exerted by either the magnetic or electric field. Therefore, only those electrons at this specific velocity would make it through.
[link] shows a silver ribbon whose cross section is 1.0 cm by 0.20 cm. The ribbon carries a current of 100 A from left to right, and it lies in a uniform magnetic field of magnitude 1.5 T. Using a density value of
electrons per cubic meter for silver, find the Hall potential between the edges of the ribbon.
Finding the Hall potential in a silver ribbon in a magnetic field is shown.
Strategy
Since the majority of charge carriers are electrons, the polarity of the Hall voltage is that indicated in the figure. The value of the Hall voltage is calculated using
[link] :
Solution
When calculating the Hall voltage, we need to know the current through the material, the magnetic field, the length, the number of charge carriers, and the area. Since all of these are given, the Hall voltage is calculated as:
Significance
As in this example, the Hall potential is generally very small, and careful experimentation with sensitive equipment is required for its measurement.
Check Your Understanding A Hall probe consists of a copper strip,
electrons per cubic meter, which is 2.0 cm wide and 0.10 cm thick. What is the magnetic field when
I = 50 A and the Hall potential is (a)
and (b)
Perpendicular electric and magnetic fields exert equal and opposite forces for a specific velocity of entering particles, thereby acting as a velocity selector. The velocity that passes through undeflected is calculated by
The Hall effect can be used to measure the sign of the majority of charge carriers for metals. It can also be used to measure a magnetic field.
Conceptual questions
Hall potentials are much larger for poor conductors than for good conductors. Why?
Poor conductors have a lower charge carrier density,
n , which, based on the Hall effect formula, relates to a higher Hall potential. Good conductors have a higher charge carrier density, thereby a lower Hall potential.
A strip of copper is placed in a uniform magnetic field of magnitude 2.5 T. The Hall electric field is measured to be
(a) What is the drift speed of the conduction electrons? (b) Assuming that n =
electrons per cubic meter and that the cross-sectional area of the strip is
calculate the current in the strip. (c) What is the Hall coefficient 1/nq?
The cross-sectional dimensions of the copper strip shown are 2.0 cm by 2.0 mm. The strip carries a current of 100 A, and it is placed in a magnetic field of magnitude
B = 1.5 T. What are the value and polarity of the Hall potential in the copper strip?
The magnitudes of the electric and magnetic fields in a velocity selector are
and 0.080 T, respectively. (a) What speed must a proton have to pass through the selector? (b) Also calculate the speeds required for an alpha-particle and a singly ionized
atom to pass through the selector.
A charged particle moves through a velocity selector at constant velocity. In the selector,
E =
and
B = 0.250 T. When the electric field is turned off, the charged particle travels in a circular path of radius 3.33 mm. Determine the charge-to-mass ratio of the particle.
A Hall probe gives a reading of
for a current of 2 A when it is placed in a magnetic field of 1 T. What is the magnetic field in a region where the reading is
for 1.7 A of current?
