Hall effect in polycrystalline semiconductors

A phenomenological theory of the Hall effect in polycrystalline semiconductors is elaborated which makes it possible to interpret reasonably the experimental results obtained from Hall effect measurements. The theory is based on the analysis of the Hall effect in the individual grains and intergrain domains forming the polycrystalline semiconductor. Explicit calculations of the expressions for the Hall constant, Hall scattering coefficient and Hall and conductivity mobilities are performed for wide-gap n-type semiconductors. It is shown that the models of Volger and of Berger are special limiting cases of the theory presented and that the model of Petritz can be extended to the problems of the Hall constant and the Hall mobility in a simple way.The expressions presented for the Hall constant, the Hall scattering coefficient and the Hall mobility represent generalized expressions from which the corresponding expressions for single-crystal semiconductors can be derived.