Relaxation time is a measure of the time it takes for charge carriers, such as electrons, to scatter and lose their momentum after being perturbed by an external force, like an electric field. This concept plays a crucial role in understanding how charge carriers move through materials, especially in scenarios where transport can be either ballistic or diffusive. The relaxation time helps distinguish between these two transport regimes by indicating how long the carriers remain coherent before experiencing collisions that change their direction and energy.
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