Charge carrier denotes in physics a free (mobile, unbound) particle carrying an electric charge. Examples are electrons and ions. In semiconductor physics, the travelling vacancies in the valence-band electron population (holes) are treated as charge carriers. Physics (from the Greek, (phúsis), nature and (phusiké), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space and time. ... Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interactions. ... The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. ... An ion is an atom or group of atoms that normally are electrically neutral and achieve their status as an ion by loss (or addition) of an electron(s). ... A semiconductor is a material that is an insulator at very low temperature, but which has a sizable electrical conductivity at room temperature. ... In solid state physics, an electron hole (usually referred to simply as a hole) is the absence of an electron from the otherwise full valence band. ...

In ionic solutions, the charge carriers are the dissolved cations and anions. Similarly, cations and anions of the dissociated liquid serve as charge carriers in liquids and melted ionic solids (see eg. the Hall-Heroult process for an example of electrolysis of a melt). A cation is an ion with positive charge. ... An anion is an ion with negative charge. ... The Hall-Heroult process is the major industrial process for the production of aluminum. ...

In plasma, such as an electric arc, the electrons and cations of ionized gas and vaporized material of electrodes act as charge carriers. (The electrode vaporization occurs in vacuum too, but then the arc is not technically occurring in vacuum, but in low-pressure electrode vapors.) A Plasma lamp, illustrating some of the more complex phenomena of a plasma, including filamentation A solar coronal mass ejection blasts plasma throughout the solar system. ... Electricity arcs between the power rail and electrical pickup shoe on a London Underground train An electric arc is an electrical breakdown of a gas which produces an ongoing plasma discharge, similar to the instant spark, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. ...

In vacuum, in an electric arc or in vacuum tubes free electrons act as charge carriers. Look up Vacuum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A vacuum arc arises when the surface of metal electrodes in contact with a good vacuum begin to emit electrons because of heating or through exceeding the metals Work function. ... In electronics, a vacuum tube (U.S. and Canadian English) or (thermionic) valve (outside North America) is a device generally used to amplify, or otherwise modify, a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ...

In metals, the charge carriers are the electrons forming the Fermi gas in the metal lattice. Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms positive ions (cations) and has metallic bonds. ... A Fermi gas is a collection of non-interacting fermions. ...

Majority and minority carriers in semiconductors

In semiconductors, electrons and holes act as charge carriers. The more abundant charge carriers are called majority carriers. In N-type semiconductors they are electrons, while in P-type semiconductors they are holes. The less abundant charge carriers are called minority carriers; in N-type semiconductors they are holes, while in P-type semiconductors they are electrons. An N-type semiconductor is obtained by carrying out a process of doping, that is adding a certain type of atoms to the semiconductor in order to increase the number of free (in this case negative) charge carriers. ... The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. ... A P-type semiconductor is obtained by carrying out a process of doping, that is adding a certain type of atoms to the semiconductor in order to increase the number of free (in this case positive) charges. ... In solid state physics, an electron hole (usually referred to simply as a hole) is the absence of an electron from the otherwise full valence band. ...

Minority carriers play an important role in bipolar transistors and solar cells. However, they play no role in FET transistors. A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor. ... A solar cell, a form of photovoltaic cell, is a device that uses the photoelectric effect to generate electricity from light, thus generating solar power (energy). ... FET can mean: FET, field effect transistor FET, a Mazda piston engine This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

When an electron meets with a hole, they recombine and vanish. The energy released can be either thermal, heating up the semiconductor (thermal recombination, one of the sources of waste heat in semiconductors), or released as photons (optical recombination, used in LEDs and semiconductor lasers). In solid state physics, recombination is the process by which the broken semiconductor crystal bonds are restored, via a mutual elimination of an electron and a hole, the complementary charge carriers. ... The word light is defined here as electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength; thus, X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet light, microwaves, radio waves, and visible light are all forms of light. ... Blue, green and red LEDs. ... A laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor p-n junction similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. ...