Charge carrier

<p>In <a href="/facts/Solid_state_physics/Cmc6hvyR">solid state physics</a>, a charge carrier is a <a href="/facts/Particle/JHKr2w6h">particle</a> or <a href="/facts/Quasiparticle/Bpx2MNpb">quasiparticle</a> that is free to move, carrying an <a href="/facts/Electric_charge/xxsBfmlB">electric charge</a>, especially the particles that carry electric charges in <a href="/facts/Electrical_conductor/BSuyupLP">electrical conductors</a>. Examples are <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electrons</a>, <a href="/facts/Ion/3bePpDna">ions</a> and <a href="/facts/Electron_hole/YymdTv9d">holes</a>. In a conducting medium, an <a href="/facts/Electric_field/tt4MooBs">electric field</a> can exert force on these free particles, causing a net motion of the particles through the medium; this is what constitutes an <a href="/facts/Electric_current/Dc1xdnUX">electric current</a>. 
The <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electron</a> and the <a href="/facts/Proton/clCjepXP">proton</a> are the elementary charge carriers, each carrying one <a href="/facts/Elementary_charge/lPcj6CoQ">elementary charge</a> (<i>e</i>), of the same magnitude and opposite <a href="/facts/Sign_(mathematics)/z0xollg1">sign</a>.
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Charge carrier open-in-new

Charge carrier