Some of the silicon atoms are replaced with B boron. Holes appear to be moving. Basis of semiconductors Basis of Semiconductors Semiconductor material Silicon What is N-type and P-type semiconductor? What are Power Semiconductors? Thus, pure silicon is least affected by water, acid or steam. Also, at higher temperature in a molten state, silicon easily forms oxides and nitrides and even alloys.
The physical properties of Silicon also contribute to its popularity and usage as a semiconductor material. This also enhances the possibility of adding impurities like oxygen as the interstitial atoms within the crystal lattice. This provides a strong mechanical strength to the wafers against different kinds of stresses like thermal, mechanical or gravitational.
The last but not the least reason for the huge popularity of silicon, is the ease with which it forms oxides. Silicon dioxide is the most widely used insulator in IC technology owing to its extremely stable chemical nature when compare to other oxides like Germanium, which is water soluble and decomposes at a temperature of degree Celsius. Silicon Dioxide can be grown thermally using oxygen over silicon wafers at higher temperature or deposited using Silane and Oxygen. Semiconductors are widely used in familiar electric appliances such as personal computers, televisions, smartphones, digital cameras, IC cards, etc.
Silicon is the second most abundant element on earth after Oxygen. Most Silicon is found in soil and rock, but Silicon is also contained in natural water, trees and plants. In nature, however, Silicon is found in the form of compounds with Oxygen, Aluminum and Magnesium.
As a result, the Silicon element must be extracted from the compound and purified. A small current can turn a larger current on and off. A silicon chip is a piece of silicon that can hold thousands of transistors. With transistors acting as switches, you can create Boolean gates , and with Boolean gates you can create microprocessor chips.
The natural progression from silicon to doped silicon to transistors to chips is what has made microprocessors and other electronic devices so inexpensive and ubiquitous in today's society. The fundamental principles are surprisingly simple.
The miracle is the constant refinement of those principles to the point where, today, tens of millions of transistors can be inexpensively formed onto a single chip. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Solid State Electronics. How Semiconductors Work. Clockwise from top: A chip, an LED and a transistor are all made from semiconductor material.
In a silicon lattice, all silicon atoms bond perfectly to four neighbors, leaving no free electrons to conduct electric current. This makes a silicon crystal an insulator rather than a conductor. Doping Silicon You can change the behavior of silicon and turn it into a conductor by doping it. There are two types of impurities: Advertisement.
N-type - In N-type doping, phosphorus or arsenic is added to the silicon in small quantities. Phosphorus and arsenic each have five outer electrons, so they're out of place when they get into the silicon lattice.
The fifth electron has nothing to bond to, so it's free to move around. It takes only a very small quantity of the impurity to create enough free electrons to allow an electric current to flow through the silicon. N-type silicon is a good conductor.
Electrons have a negative charge, hence the name N-type. P-type - In P-type doping, boron or gallium is the dopant.
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