Carrier density

In physics, the charge carrier density is the number of charge carriers that are present in a certain volume ( unit m ⁻³ ). It is an important parameter for describing electrical conductivity and all associated processes. It should not be confused with the charge density , which indicates the amount of charge per volume (in coulomb · m ⁻³ ). ${\displaystyle n}$

The carrier density is a particle density , i.e. i.e., like any density , it can be location-dependent:

${\displaystyle n=f(\mathbf {r} )\neq konst.}$

and the integration over a volume provides the number of charge carriers in this volume: ${\displaystyle V}$ ${\displaystyle N}$

${\displaystyle N=\int _{V}n(\mathbf {r} )\,\mathrm {d} V\Leftrightarrow n={\frac {dN}{dV}}.}$

Is the charge carrier density independent of location :

${\displaystyle n=konst.=n_{0}\neq f(\mathbf {r} ),}$

the above formula is simplified to

${\displaystyle \Rightarrow N=n_{0}\cdot V\Leftrightarrow n_{0}={\frac {N}{V}}.}$

See also

• Electron density

Web links

• Determination of the charge carrier density of silver