Topic > The Differences Between Types of Semiconductors

IndexIntrinsic semiconductorsExtrinsic and NS-type semiconductorsP-type semiconductorsP-NI junctions semiconductors play a dynamic role in almost all areas of modern integrated circuit technology and enable the production of everything from receivers to computers and microprocessors. The most significant applications for semiconductor materials include their use in the creation of transistors, which are solid-state electronic devices that form the derivative of a wide range of electronic systems and accessories, especially integrated circuits. Most semiconductor components and transistors are made of silicon, which is extremely valuable due to its distinct electronic structure and is one of the most widespread elements. By changing the arrangement of electrons in silicon or similar elements through the involvement of additional particles, it is possible to adjust the conductivity and resistivity levels of a material made of these elements to create a semiconductor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayAs the name suggests, a semiconductor has a resistivity level on a range between those of a conductor and an insulator. Decent conductors, such as metals, have electrical resistivity values ​​in the lower range of 10-6 ohms per centimeter, and good insulators have resistivities in the much wider range of 1012 ohms per centimeter. The resistivity of semiconductors is usually between 10-4 and 104 ohms per centimeter. . For semiconductors, resistivity typically depends on the presence of additional particles known as dopants which are used to selectively replace atoms within the base semiconductor material in order to alter its electrical properties. Intrinsic Semiconductors An intrinsic semiconductor is in its pure state without the addition of dopants. Its material contains thermal energy that can release covalent bonds and free electrons to move through a solid mass, increasing levels of electrical conductivity. The remaining covalent bonds that have lost their electrons have vacancies that affect the electrical properties of the semiconductor. Electrons in a covalent bond can easily move into a nearby vacancy, creating a hole in the initial covalent bond and restarting the vacancy process, holes can be said to pass through a semiconductor material, increasing conductivity showing characteristics of an equal positive charge to the magnitude of the electron's charge. Unbonded electrons and holes are the two main moving electric charge carriers in a semiconductor and are known to be generated and recombined in equal numbers, as well as having corresponding populations. Extrinsic and NA-Type Semiconductors Unlike intrinsic, extrinsic, or doped types, semiconductors have added particles that are used specifically to alter the electrical conductivity properties of a material. In silicon, the most common semiconductor material, each atom shares four valence electrons through covalent bonds with the four nearest atoms. If the silicon atom is replaced with a dopant element that has five valence electrons, such as phosphorus, four of them will remain bound while the fifth will remain free. These dopants carrying more than four valence electrons are known as donors because they provide an influx of free electrons moving through the semiconductor. The extra electrons remove the balance between the holes and the electrons, and when the electrons overcome the holes the material becomes an N-type semiconductor. In N-types, the electrons are.