Semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity between conductors and insulators. Silicon is the most common semiconductor used in electronics due to its properties. Semiconductors are key components in computing, communications, and other electronic devices. They conduct electricity through mobile molecules that carry electrical charge across the material. Semiconductors are used to make components like transistors and diodes, as well as solar cells, lasers, and other electronic devices. The process of forming semiconductor films is relatively simple in principle but requires theoretical understanding and modeling to improve quality.
2. What is a semiconductor?
• Semiconductors are materials which have a
conductivity between conductors (generally
metals) and nonconductors or insulators (such
as most ceramics). Semiconductors can be
pure elements, such as silicon or germanium,
or compounds such as gallium arsenide or
cadmium selenide
3. • Silicon is a pure element, but a semiconductor is
defined as any material which can conduct electricity. It
would be possible to be a conductive metal, such as
gold, but this is not a semiconductor. All materials
which conduct electricity are semiconductors and all
materials which do not are non-semiconductors.
Cadmium Sulfide is a semiconductor, as is Gallium
Arsenide and Gallium Nitride Electronic Devices
Semiconductors are the heart of modern electronics.
They are key components in all computing,
telecommunications, radar, and guidance systems for
missiles and aircraft. The transistor and vacuum tube
are other very important components of electronics
and are found in computers.
4. The types of semiconductors
• Semiconductors can be of many different properties: Alkali
(e.g. Na, K, Ca, Mg, etc.) Sulfur Amino (e.g. As, Cd, Mo, etc.)
Boron Cobalt Sulphur diode (at right) Organic light-emitting
diode (OLED) Lead selenide – the light on an OLED seems to
follow the outline of the silver conductor, which is the rare
earth metal tin Vacuum tube (valve) transistors – on a non-
silicon silicon chip, light travels through electrons (vacuum
tubes) and through a switch (transistor). Today, silicon is the
most common semiconductor, as it is easier to work with
and its properties are best understood. Other
semiconductors which have many different properties are
gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, indium phosphide –
infrared photodetector, aluminum nitride, indium tin oxide,
etc.
5. How do semiconductors work?
• In the simplest form of semiconductors, metals and non-
metals conduct electricity without any other chemicals
involved. On the other hand, semiconductors that are
conductors will do this via specialised molecules which
conduct electricity at the same time as they carry electrical
charge. The electricity carries the charge across the
conductor, and the mobile molecules carry the electrical
charge out of the conductor. Because the electrical current
carrying charge passes over the conductor, and the
electrons from a semiconductor do so at a specific velocity,
the conductivity of the material is related to its Joule
heating. This is one of the reasons that metals and
semiconductors are so widely used in the production of
electronic devices.
6. Who uses semiconductors?
• Semiconductor Devices Semiconductor Devices are used for
making many things such as components of electronic
circuits (such as transistors and diodes), photovoltaic cells
(converted by silicon), and laser diodes (sparked by the
light of the radiation they emit). Semiconductor devices can
also be used for making radio transmitters and receivers,
cellular phone receivers, video game consoles and so on.
What can I do with a semiconductor? Depending on the
type of device (or area) being used, you could be looking at
any of the following things. The main things that you will be
looking for in a circuit are voltage, current, and power.
Semiconductor Devices Components of Electronic Circuits
Transistors: Transistors control the flow of current in
electronic circuits.
7. Conclusion
• The process of film forming a semiconductor is fairly simple
in principle, and a new technique has been developed
which makes the entire process accessible to beginners.
The theory in terms of the physics of the process and the
corresponding physical modelling is not complex, and the
development of the necessary materials for the process has
been carried out by many research groups. The systems
that have been developed for the manufacturing of these
wafers are also available commercially, although the costs
have tended to be higher than those of the conventional
technique. Theoretical understanding and modelling is also
a prerequisite for improving the quality of the structures
produced by the method.
