Semiconductors: Hole current

Question

...And then suddenly It came in my book, Hole current is also there in semiconductors and i know it.  But there's a little thing that's confusing me. Is this hole current temporary? Yes, according to me. Isn't it? What if all the holes generated travels up to the negative potential. What after that? As they are atoms(positively charged). They can't move outside the material and go in the circuit like electrons are doing. So, what happens to those positively charged atoms at the negative potential? Do they remains there? Forever?

There's a second little doubt too, I've read about recombination process in semiconductors. So, when the electrons are moving towards positive potential and holes towards negative. Then do the recombinations occur? Do electrons go back into the holes?

These are two doubts i'm having in the section intrinsic semiconductors of my book. Please clear these doubts. Thank you so much!

Note: I'm a school student studying in class 12. So, please answer it according to the level of grade 12 school students.

Anshul · Answer

holes are not atoms, they are unoccupied states in the valence band. Connections to a metal can be a problem (Schottky barriers) but you are right, this is where recombination can take place

this is the answer to your question! Holes are not positively charged atoms. They are unoccupied positions in the electron shell. They behave like free positive charges. The "current" through them is just the movement of the electrons from neighbouring particles and causing another hole to form behind them. I would recommend you to go back to your textbook and refer to it. If you are Indian, the NCERT tb provides adequate explanation of this concept.

Semiconductors: Hole current

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question