What is the mass of electron hole?

Answer 1

Simply, that's because in most semiconductor materials when an electric field is applied the holes have lower mobility than that of the electrons which means the hole effective mass is larger than the electron effective mass. And you can clearly see the effect of that in semiconductor nanocrystals (or as they called sometimes "quantum dots"), the energy levels in the conduction band are further apart than what they are in the covalent band due the fact that the effective hole mass is larger ....

Good luck

Physics PhD student,

University of Toledoooo!

Answer 2

An electron hole does not have mass as it is a conceptual entity that represents the absence of an electron in a crystal lattice. It is essentially a way to describe the movement of electrons in a material where an electron has moved from its usual position, creating a positive charge that can behave like a particle, but it does not have actual physical mass.

Answer 3

Well, basically what my intuition say and how I conceptualize it is, electron hole is a mathematical model described to "ease up" the explanation of physical macroscopic or microscopic phenomenon related to solid state physics or current electricity.

Electron hole refers to the vacant space left behind in a conductor, when the valance electron leaves their original place for example consider this 3 step diagram

Consider * -> electron and ^ -> hole

1) ****^***

<-* electron moves.

2) ***^****

<-* electron moves.

3) **^*****

<-* electron moves.

As you can see, as the electron moves forward the hole moves in the opposite direction. In actual sense, the hole just moves opposite to the motion of valence electron.

(Note that valence electron doesn't mean free electron, as free electron is completely free to flow in the pool of electron inside a conductor, but valance electron is still bounded to atom)

So, the valance electron experience more force as opposed to the free electron , normally. Now obviously if there's a force on a certain object, it ought to have a mass. So according to relativistic principles to a extent, A hole has mass. Or more conceptually, you can just refer the holes indirectly to the valence electron which moves.

For mathematical formulation, visit source.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_mass_%28solid-state_physics%29