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((Short description|Free-moving particle which carries an electric charge))
((Cleanup|reason=Rework hook and remove bullet points|date=November 2022))

In [[physics]], a '''charge carrier''' is a [[particle]] or [[quasiparticle]] that is free to move, carrying an [[electric charge]], especially the particles that carry electric charges in [[electrical conductor]]s.<ref>((Cite web |url=https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Charge_carrier |title=Energy Education - Charge carrier |date=May 11, 2018 |access-date=April 30, 2021|first=Gokul|last=Dharan |first2=Kailyn |last2=Stenhouse |first3=Jason |last3=Donev))</ref> Examples are [[electron]]s, [[ion]]s and [[electron hole|holes]]. The term is used most commonly in [[solid state physics]].<ref>((cite web |title=Charge carrier |url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Charge+carriers |website=The Great Soviet Encyclopedia 3rd Edition. (1970-1979)))</ref> In a conducting medium, an [[electric field]] can exert force on these free particles, causing a net motion of the particles through the medium; this is what constitutes an [[electric current]].<ref>((cite web
 |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html#c1
 |title=Microscopic View of Electric Current
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |first=R.
 |last=Nave))</ref> 
The [[electron]] and the [[proton]] are the '''elementary charge carriers''', each carrying one [[elementary charge]] (''e''), of the same magnitude and opposite [[sign (mathematics)|sign]].

==In conductors==
In conducting media, particles serve to carry charge:
*In many [[metal]]s, the charge carriers are [[electron]]s. One or two of the [[valence electron]]s from each atom are able to move about freely within the [[crystal structure]] of the metal.<ref>((cite web
 |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/conins.html#c1
 |title=Conductors and Insulators
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |first=R.
 |last=Nave))</ref> The free electrons are referred to as [[conduction band|conduction electron]]s, and the cloud of free electrons is called a [[Fermi gas]].<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/sm1/lectures/node86.html
 |title=Conduction electrons in a metal
 |date=February 2, 2002
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |first=Richard
 |last=Fitzpatrick))</ref><ref name="halbleiter-fundamentals"/> Many metals have electron and hole bands.  In some, the majority carriers are holes.((citation needed|date=April 2021))
*In [[electrolytes]], such as [[Saline water|salt water]], the charge carriers are [[ion]]s,<ref name="halbleiter-fundamentals"/> which are atoms or molecules that have gained or lost electrons so they are electrically charged. Atoms that have gained electrons so they are negatively charged are called [[anion]]s, atoms that have lost electrons so they are positively charged are called [[cation]]s.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://www.technologynetworks.com/analysis/articles/cation-vs-anion-definition-chart-and-the-periodic-table-322863
 |title=Cation vs Anion: Definition, Chart and the Periodic Table
 |date=August 15, 2019
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |first=Karen
 |last=Steward))</ref> Cations and anions of the dissociated liquid also serve as charge carriers in melted [[ionic compound|ionic solid]]s (see e.g. the [[Hall–Héroult process]] for an example of electrolysis of a melted ionic solid). [[Proton conductor]]s are electrolytic conductors employing positive hydrogen ions as carriers.<ref>((cite web
 |author=Ramesh Suvvada
 |date=1996
 |title=Lecture 12: Proton Conduction, Stoichiometry
 |url=http://www.life.illinois.edu/crofts/bioph354/lect12.html
 |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]]
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |archive-date=May 15, 2021
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515080504/https://www.life.illinois.edu/crofts/bioph354/lect12.html
 |url-status=dead
 ))</ref>
*In a [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]], an electrically charged gas which is found in [[electric arc]]s through air, [[neon sign]]s, and the sun and stars, the electrons and cations of ionized gas act as charge carriers.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://www.physics.muni.cz/~dorian/Soucek_Difuze.pdf
 |title=Plasma conductivity and diffusion
 |date=October 24, 2011
 |access-date=April 30, 2021
 |first=Pavel
 |last=Souček))</ref>
*In a [[vacuum]], free electrons can act as charge carriers. In the electronic component known as the [[vacuum tube]] (also called ''valve''), the mobile electron cloud is generated by a heated metal [[cathode]], by a process called [[thermionic emission]].<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://www.engineering.com/story/vacuum-tubes-the-world-before-transistors
 |title=Vacuum Tubes: The World Before Transistors
 |date=January 19, 2018
 |access-date=April 30, 2020
 |first=Michael|last=Alba))</ref> When an electric field is applied strongly enough to draw the electrons into a beam, this may be referred to as a [[cathode ray]], and is the basis of the [[cathode ray tube]] display widely used in televisions and computer monitors until the 2000s.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introchem/chapter/cathode-rays/
 |title=Cathode Rays ((!)) Introduction to Chemistry
 |access-date=April 30, 2021))</ref>
*In [[semiconductor]]s, which are the materials used to make electronic components like [[transistor]]s and [[integrated circuit]]s, two types of charge carrier are possible. In p-type semiconductors, "[[Quasiparticle|effective particles]]" known as [[Electron hole|electron holes]] with positive charge move through the crystal lattice, producing an electric current. The "holes" are, in effect, electron vacancies in the [[valence band|valence-band electron]] population of the semiconductor and are treated as charge carriers because they are mobile, moving from atom site to atom site. In n-type semiconductors, electrons in the conduction band move through the crystal, resulting in an electric current.

In some conductors, such as ionic solutions and plasmas, positive and negative charge carriers coexist, so in these cases an electric current consists of the two types of carrier moving in opposite directions. In other conductors, such as metals, there are only charge carriers of one polarity, so an electric current in them simply consists of charge carriers moving in one direction.

==In semiconductors==
There are two recognized types of charge carriers in [[semiconductor]]s. One is [[electron]]s, which carry a negative [[electric charge]]. In addition, it is convenient to treat the traveling vacancies in the [[valence band]] electron population ([[electron hole|holes]]) as a second type of charge carrier, which carry a positive charge equal in magnitude to that of an electron.<ref>((cite web
 |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solids/intrin.html
 |title=Intrinsic Semiconductors
 |access-date=May 1, 2021
 |first=R.
 |last=Nave))</ref>

===Carrier generation and recombination===
((main|Carrier generation and recombination))
When an electron meets with a hole, they [[carrier generation and recombination|recombine]] and these free carriers effectively vanish.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://ecee.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/chapter2/ch2_8.htm
 |title=Carrier recombination and generation
 |date=2011
 |access-date=May 1, 2021
 |first=B.
 |last=Van Zeghbroeck
 |archive-date=May 1, 2021
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501181954/https://ecee.colorado.edu/~bart/book/book/chapter2/ch2_8.htm
 |url-status=dead
 ))</ref> 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 [[photon]]s (''optical recombination'', used in [[light-emitting diode|LEDs]] and [[laser diode|semiconductor laser]]s).<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-720j-integrated-microelectronic-devices-spring-2007/lecture-notes/lecture4.pdf
 |title=Lecture 4 - Carrier generation and recombination
 |date=February 12, 2007
 |access-date=May 2, 2021
 |first=Jesús
 |last=del Alamo
 |page=3
 |publisher=MIT Open CourseWare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology))</ref> The recombination means an electron which has been excited from the valence band to the conduction band falls back to the empty state in the valence band, known as the holes. The holes are the empty states created in the valence band when an electron gets excited after getting some energy to pass the energy gap.

=== Majority and minority carriers ===
The more abundant charge carriers are called '''majority carriers''', which are primarily responsible for [[current (electricity)|current]] transport in a piece of semiconductor. In [[n-type semiconductor]]s they are electrons, while in [[p-type semiconductor]]s 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.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://www.physics-and-radio-electronics.com/electronic-devices-and-circuits/semiconductor/majority-and-minority-carriers.html
 |title=Majority and minority charge carriers
 |access-date=May 2, 2021))</ref>

In an [[intrinsic semiconductor]], which does not contain any impurity, the concentrations of both types of carriers are ideally equal. If an intrinsic semiconductor is [[doping (semiconductor)|doped]] with a donor impurity then the majority carriers are electrons. If the semiconductor is doped with an acceptor impurity then the majority carriers are holes.<ref>((cite web
 |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Solids/dope.html
 |title=Doped Semiconductors
 |access-date=May 1, 2021
 |first=R.
 |last=Nave))</ref>

Minority carriers play an important role in [[Bipolar junction transistor|bipolar transistors]] and [[solar cell]]s.<ref>((cite web|url=https://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee105/sp04/handouts/lectures/Lecture21.pdf|title=Lecture 21: BJTs|access-date=May 2, 2021|first=J. S.|last=Smith))</ref> Their role in [[field-effect transistor]]s (FETs) is a bit more complex: for example, a [[MOSFET]] has p-type and n-type regions. The transistor action involves the majority carriers of the [[field-effect transistor|source]] and [[Field-effect transistor|drain]] regions, but these carriers traverse the [[field-effect transistor|body]] of the opposite type, where they are minority carriers. However, the traversing carriers hugely outnumber their opposite type in the transfer region (in fact, the opposite type carriers are removed by an applied electric field that creates an [[Inversion layer (semiconductors)|inversion layer]]), so conventionally the source and drain designation for the carriers is adopted, and FETs are called "majority carrier" devices.<ref>((cite web
 |url=https://www.eetimes.com/back-to-the-basics-of-power-mosfets/
 |title=Back to the basics of power MOSFETs
 |date=February 22, 2007
 |access-date=May 2, 2021
 |first=Dan|last=Tulbure
 |publisher=EE Times))</ref>

===Free carrier concentration===
((Main|Charge carrier density))
''Free carrier concentration'' is the [[concentration]] of free carriers in a [[doping (semiconductor)|doped semiconductor]]. It is similar to the carrier concentration in a metal and for the purposes of calculating currents or drift velocities can be used in the same way. Free carriers are electrons ([[electron hole|holes]]) that have been introduced into the [[conduction band]] ([[valence band]]) by doping. Therefore, they will not act as double carriers by leaving behind holes (electrons) in the other band. In other words, charge carriers are particles that are free to move, carrying the charge. The free carrier concentration of doped semiconductors shows a characteristic temperature dependence.<ref>((cite web
 |url=http://truenano.com/PSD20/chapter2/ch2_6.htm#2_6_4_4
 |title=Carrier densities
 |date=2011
 |access-date=July 28, 2022
 |first=B.
 |last=Van Zeghbroeck))</ref>

==See also==
*[[Carrier lifetime]]
*[[Free charge]]
*[[Molecular diffusion]]

==References==
<references>
<ref name="halbleiter-fundamentals">((cite web|url=https://www.halbleiter.org/en/fundamentals/conductors-insulators-semiconductors|title=Conductors-Insulators-Semiconductors|access-date=April 30, 2021))</ref>
</references>

((DEFAULTSORT:Charge Carrier))
[[Category:Particle physics]]
[[Category:Charge carriers| ]]

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