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In electronics, other forms of electric current include the flow of electrons through resistors or through the vacuum in a vacuum tube, the flow of ions inside a battery, and the flow of holes within metals and semiconductors. A biological example of current is the flow of ions in neurons and nerves, responsible for both thought and sensory ...
The carrier particles, namely the holes and electrons of a semiconductor, move from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration. Hence, due to the flow of holes and electrons there is a current. This current is called the diffusion current. The drift current and the diffusion current make up the total current in the conductor.
In contrast, the low energy states are completely filled with a fixed limit on the number of electrons at all times, and the high energy states are empty of electrons at all times. Electric current consists of a flow of electrons. In metals there are many electron energy levels near the Fermi level, so there are many electrons available to move.
In n-type semiconductors, electrons in the conduction band move through the crystal, resulting in an electric current. In some conductors, such as ionic solutions and plasmas, positive and negative charge carriers coexist, so in these cases an electric current consists of the two types of carrier moving in opposite directions.
A lightning discharge consists primarily of a flow of electrons. [130] The electric potential needed for lightning can be generated by a triboelectric effect. [131] [132] If a body has more or fewer electrons than are required to balance the positive charge of the nuclei, then that object has a net electric charge.
In electromagnetism, an eddy current (also called Foucault's current) is a loop of electric current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction or by the relative motion of a conductor in a magnetic field. Eddy currents flow in closed loops within conductors, in planes ...
At the opposite extreme, if one looks at the microscopic situation, one sees there are many ways of carrying an electric current, including: a flow of electrons; a flow of electron holes that act like positive particles; and both negative and positive particles (ions or other charged particles) flowing in opposite directions in an electrolytic ...
In condensed matter physics and electrochemistry, drift current is the electric current, or movement of charge carriers, which is due to the applied electric field, often stated as the electromotive force over a given distance. When an electric field is applied across a semiconductor material, a current is produced due to the flow of charge ...