Experiment 3

The Hall Effect

Physics 2150 Experiment 3
University of Colorado1

Introduction

The Hall Effect can be used to illustrate the effect of a magnetic field on a
moving charge to investigate various phenomena of electric currents in conductors
and especially semi-conductors. When a current-carrying conductor is placed in a
magnetic field such that the field and current directions are perpendicular to each
other, a voltage difference will appear as a result of the magnetic field. This voltage
is called the Hall voltage and is the discovery of E.H. Hall in 1879. This Hall voltage is
proportional to the product of the current and component of the magnetic field
perpendicular to the current. More recently, the Hall Effect is widely employed
throughout industry in modern Hall Effect gauss-meters, automotive speedometers,
fluid flow sensors, and pressure sensors to name a few.

Hall Coefficient/Sensitivity for Negative Charge Carriers

Consider the following simplified sketch of a Hall effect apparatus:

(Figure 1: Hall Effect Diagram)

If the carriers are negatively charged, they are then moving in the negative x-
direction in Fig. 1. The magnetic field exerts a force on them that will be in the
positive z-direction with magnitude given by

𝐹𝐵 = 𝐹𝑦 = −𝑞 𝜉𝑥 𝐵 (1)

where 𝜉𝑥 is the average velocity of the carriers in the x-direction. These carriers will
thus be forced toward the left edge of the slab, which will then develop a lower
potential than the right edge. An electric field 𝐸𝐻 will grow until the force on a

1Experimental apparatus and instructions come from Lambda Scientific:

www.lambdasys.com
Experiment 3

charge carrier due to the magnetic field is just canceled out, preventing further
buildup of charge.

This electric field will be given by

𝐵
𝐸𝐻 = 𝐸𝑦 = −|𝑞 𝜉𝑥 | |𝑞| = −|𝜉𝑥 | 𝐵 . (2)

The current density in the x-direction is given by

𝑗𝑥 = 𝑛 |𝑞 𝜉𝑥 | (3)

where 𝑛 is the average density of the carriers.

Thus, the Hall field is given by

𝐵
𝐸𝐻 = −𝑗𝑥 . (4)
𝑛|𝑞|

This is customarily written

𝐸𝐻 = 𝑅𝐻 𝑗𝑥 𝐵 (5)

and the “Hall Coefficient” 𝑅𝐻 is thus given by the positive number

1
𝑅𝐻 = − 𝑛|𝑞|. (6)

Typical units for 𝑅𝐻 are cubic meters per Coulomb. The “sensitivity” of the Hall
element (with units of mV mA-1T-1) is given by:
𝑅 −1
𝐾𝐻 = 𝑑𝐻 = 𝑛|𝑞|𝑑 (7)
where 𝑑 is the is the thickness of the Hall material. When determining the sensitivity
experimentally, we will make use of the following formula:
𝑉𝐻 = 𝐼𝐻 𝐾𝐻 𝐵 (8)
where 𝑉𝐻 is the measured Hall voltage and 𝐼𝐻 is the measured Hall current. (Note
that eq. 8 resembles eq. 5. We can derive eq. 8 if we consider that the speed of the
charge carriers is: 𝑣 = 𝐼𝐻 /𝑛𝑞𝑤𝑑 where 𝑣 is the velocity and 𝑤 is the width of the
sample. Try it!)

If positive charge carriers are considered, then one will find that the Hall
coefficient and sensitive are positive values with the same magnitudes found in the
analysis for negative charger carriers.

An experimental measurement of the Hall coefficient thus allows one to

determine both the sign and the density of the charge carriers in a material.
Historically, it was this effect that first conclusively established that current is
Experiment 3

carried in metallic conductors by negatively charged particles. A material, in

particular semiconductor materials, that consists of negative charge carriers are
referred to as “n-type.” Materials that predominantly have positive charge carriers
are referred to as “p-type”. The positive charge carriers are referred to as electron
“holes” since they aren’t drifting particles, but regions with a lack of an electron(s)
that drift through the material.

In metals, which have a large density of conduction electrons, 𝑅𝐻 is small and

negative. In a semiconducting material with a small excess of positive charge
carriers over negative charge carriers, the Hall coefficient can be large and positive.
For example, copper typically has a value of -6 x 10-11 m3/C, whereas the
semiconductor bismuth, -4 x 10-7 m3/C, nearly 10,000 times larger, both of which
are elements.

Experimental Apparatus

The figure below is a diagram of the apparatus:

(Figure 2: Cartoon of the Hall Apparatus)

The two switches, K and K2, allow us to change the direction of current flowing
through the electromagnet and the direction of current flowing through the sample.
The switch K3 toggles between measuring the Hall voltage and strip current. We do
not measure the strip current directly, but measure the voltage across a 300 𝛺
resistor and compute the current. In the IH setting we are measuring the strip
current and in the UH setting we are measuring the Hall voltage across the strip.

We need to be able to toggle K and K2 to eliminate unwanted magnetic and

thermal side effects. These include: Ettingshausen effect for the creation of a
thermoelectric potential due to the existence of a temperature difference at the two
sides of a Hall element. It is related to the directions of Hall current and magnetic
field; (b) Nernst effect for the creation of a potential between the two sides of a Hall
element when heat flows through the Hall element. It is only related to magnetic
field B and heat flux. Righi–Leduc effect for the creation of a thermoelectric potential
UR due to a temperature difference at the two ends of a Hall element created by heat
flowing through the Hall element. It is related to magnetic field B and the heat field.
These effects are often small, may become apparent (epically those that involve
heat), when the apparatus has been on for a long time. To reduce error, in particular
a systematic bias, we toggle K and K2 in four different combinations and compute an
Experiment 3

average for each measurement.

Procedure

1) Measure the relationship between the Hall current and Hall voltage. In
this part we will measure the relationship to ensure a linear
relationship between these two quantities. Read the set-up steps a-e
before taking data.
a. Place the Hall element at the center of the electromagnet by turning
the adjustment knob so the pointer is at 0mm on the ruler scale.
b. Before you begin to take data prepare the following data table in your
lab notebook (with space for additional rows):
IH Nom. Vx Meas. Vx UH1 UH2 UH3 UH4 UH
(mA) (mV) (mV) (mV) (mV) (mV) (mV) (mV)
0.5 150 ? ? ? ? ? ?
… … … … … … … …

c. Choose 7-10 values of IH to measure and write these down in the first
column. Notice that we cannot measure the current directly using this
apparatus; rather we set a voltage. The manufacturer has placed a
300-Ohm resistor (+/- 5%) in series with the Hall element so that
current can be set based on a voltage measurement. Compute the
nominal voltage (by Ohms Law) that you will set the “ Hall Current
Adj” knob to at each measurement. Put the nominal values in the
“Nom. Vx” column.
d. To eliminate side effects we need to measure the Hall voltage UH in
four different configurations using switches: I M and IH (these change
the direction of current flowing through the electromagnet and Hall
element respectively). The switches will be oriented via the following
scheme:
IM IH
UH1 + +
UH2 - +
UH3 + -
UH4 - -

e. The value of UH is the average of the absolute values of the four

1
different hall voltages: 𝑈𝐻 = − ∑4𝑖=1 |𝑈𝐻𝑖 | (Note: we know that UH
4
should be negative for an n-type semiconductor).
Experiment 3

f. Set the magnetizing current of the electromagnet to 400 mA using the

“Current Adj” and record the B-field strength with the Tesla meter.
g. The process for acquiring data goes a follows:
i. Switch the “IH/UH” to the IH position and match this voltage
reading to your nominal Vx and record your reading in the
third column.
ii. Switch the “IH/UH” to the UH and record the voltages for the
four different switch configurations listed in step (d).
iii. Compute the average UH using the formula from step (e).
iv. Return to step (i) and repeat for a different I H/VH value.
h. Verify the linear relationship between Hall current and Hall
voltage. Do so qualitatively and quantitatively (i.e. plot and
correlation coefficient). Why might it be important to ensure a
linear relationship between these two quantities?

2) Measure the sensitivity of the GaAs Hall element.

a. Set the electromagnet DC Current to zero using the “Current Adj”
knob, and zero the teslameter to zero using the “Teslameter Zero”
knob.
b. Set the Hall current IH to 1mA or 300 mV.
c. Set up a data table similar to the one in step (1b), however instead of
varying IH you will vary the magnetizing current IM with the “Current
Adj.” knob. You also will need an additional column to record the
magnetic field strength with the teslameter. You will need two extra
columns for the B-field. One for a positive magnetizing current and the
other for a negative magnetizing current. You may or may not see a
change in current or B-field magnitude when you toggle the direction
of IH.
d. Fill in your data table for magnetizing currents from 50 mA to 500 mA
in 50 mA increments. Be sure to toggle the switches according to the
scheme listed in step (1d).
e. Recall that the sensitivity of the Hall element can be calculated with
𝑈
𝐾𝐻 = 𝐼 𝐻𝐵. Compute the “best” value of KH (i.e. mean) and the
𝐻
statistical uncertainty (i.e. standard deviation of the mean).
f. Justify/verify the sign of the Hall coefficient/sensitivity.
g. Use your measured value of sensitivity to calculate the intrinsic
charge carrier density 𝒏 using eq. 7. The manufacturer gives 𝑑 = 0.2
mm. Compare your value to the calculated value at 300 K (about 80
Fahrenheit –a hot room!) of 2.03*106 cm-3.2
3) Measure the magnetic field distribution of the electromagnet along the
horizontal direction.

2https://ecee.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/chapter2/ch2_6.htm see section

2.6.3
Experiment 3

a. Set the magnetizing current to 400 mA using the “Current Adj” knob
and the Hall current to 1 mA or 300 mV, using the “Hall Current Adj”.
b. Use the knob on the probe mount to move the probe to the -12 mm
position and take measurements through the +10 mm position. Do
this in increments of 1mm. Make sure the gray wire connecting the
Hall element to the apparatus does not get caught while moving, the
wire can be gently pulled out for more slack. Notice that there is some
gear backlash in the probe mount carriage.
c. Measure the Hall voltage and calculate the magnetic field
strength B at each location using your best value for the
𝑈
sensitivity of the Hall probe: i.e. 𝐵 = 𝐼 𝐾𝐻 . Also record the value of
𝐻 𝐻
B that the teslameter displays at each position. In this case we do
not need to do the toggling procedure discussed in step (1d). You may
want to probe around the electromagnet before taking data –in
particular we want to characterize the fringe field outside of the
magnet.
d. Plot B vs. position. (Combining ListPlot[] and ListLinePlot[] might be
a nice way to visualize your data.) Do you notice a discrepancy
between your B-values measured with the Hall voltage and the direct
measurement of B with the teslameter.