The hall effect — an important diagnostic tool

AbstractThe quantitative measurement of carrier concentrations and mobilities is of vital importance in the assessment of semiconductor materials. One of the best-established methods of doing this relies on the Hall effect, which was discovered as long ago as 1880 by E.H. Hall in his investigations of metals. This article introduces the basic theory of the Hall effect at a fairly elementary level, with a minimum of mathematics, and discusses how it can be used to determine semiconductor parameters. It does not attempt to cover the more advanced developments of the subject, such as the quantum Hall effect