Thomas Ihn

Semiconductor Nanostructures
Fall 2017

Exercise 8 released: 08.11.2017

Topic: Mobility, scattering time discussed: 15.11.2017

Problem 1

1V 10M

2DEG

Uy W

Ux

Figure 1: Measurement setup (Hall bar geometry).

You measure the resistance of a two-dimensional electron gas in GaAs (m? = 0.067m0 )
at a temperature T of 4.2 K with the setup shown in Fig. 1. The Hall bar sample
is connected in series with a 10 MΩ resistor to a voltage source supplying 1 V. The
resistance of the sample is small compared to the series resistor. You measure Ux =
10 µV between the two longitudinal contacts (separation L = 100 µm, sample width
W = 50µm).

1. Calculate the resistance R of the electron gas between the two longitudinal
contacts. Calculate the specific resistivity ρ of the electron gas.

2. In a magnetic field B = 1T normal to the plane of the electron gas, a Hall voltage
of Uy = 210 µV is measured. Calculate the sheet electron density ns of the
two-dimensional electron gas.

3. Compute the electron mobility µe , the Drude scattering time τD and the mean
free path l of the electrons at the Fermi energy.