Semi-conductor
- A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as metallic copper, and an insulator, such as glass.
- Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave the opposite.
- Its conducting properties may be altered in useful ways by introducing impurities ("doping") into the crystal structure.
- When two differently-doped regions exist in the same crystal, a semiconductor junction is created.
- c.f., p-n junction
- a boundary or interface between two types of semiconductor materials, p-type and n-type, inside a single crystal of semiconductor.
- The "p" (positive) side contains an excess of holes, while the "n" (negative) side contains an excess of electrons in the outer shells of the electrically neutral atoms there.
- This allows electrical current to pass through the junction only in one direction.
- c.f., holes
- the lack of an electron
- The p-n junction is created by doping
- c.f., doping
- the intentional introduction of impurities into an intrinsic semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical, optical and structural properties
- c.f., charge carrier
- a particle or quasi-particle that is free to move, carrying an electric charge
- The behavior of charge carriers, which include electrons, ions and electron holes, at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors and all modern electronics.
Difference of semiconductors and conductors
- Conductors
- hard to control although it conducts well
- Semiconductors
- easy to change its properties by applying an artificial manipulation such as adding impurities
- Different manipulations can lead to different things a semiconductor can do
