A current flows along a slab in a magnetic field pointing into the page. The field pushes the moving charge carriers sideways, so charge piles up on one face until the electric field it creates exactly balances the magnetic force. The steady transverse voltage is the Hall voltage, Vₐ = BI / (ntq).
MissionSwitch from the metal to the semiconductor and watch the Hall voltage leap for the same B and current.Streak 0Best 0
Why are Hall probes usually made from a semiconductor, not a metal?
material · carrier density nMetal · 8.5 × 10²⁸ m⁻³
flux density B0.20 T
current I2.0 A
Hall voltage Vₐ = BI/(ntq)29 nV
At equilibrium the electric force balances the magnetic force: eE = Bev.