semiconductor

(noun)

A substance with electrical properties intermediate between a good conductor and a good insulator.

Related Terms

Examples of semiconductor in the following topics:

  • Radiation Detection

    • Different types of radiation detectors exist ; gaseous ionization detectors, semiconductor detectors, and scintillation detectors are the most common.
    • A semiconductor detector uses a semiconductor (usually silicon or germanium) to detect traversing charged particles or the absorption of photons.
    • When these detectors' sensitive structures are based on single diodes, they are called semiconductor diode detectors.
    • When they contain many diodes with different functions, the more general term "semiconductor detector" is used.
    • Semiconductor detectors have had various applications in recent decades, in particular in gamma and x-ray spectrometry and as particle detectors.

  • Dependence of Resistance on Temperature

    • Note also that α is negative for semiconductors, meaning that their resistivity decreases with increasing temperature.
    • This property of decreasing ρ with temperature is also related to the type and amount of impurities present in the semiconductors.
    • One of the most common is the thermistor, a semiconductor crystal with a strong temperature dependence, the resistance of which is measured to obtain its temperature.

  • Lasers

    • Gas and semiconductors are commonly used gain media.

  • Implications of Quantum Mechanics

    • The study of semiconductors led to the invention of the diode and the transistor, which are indispensable parts of modern electronic systems and devices.

  • The Hall Effect

    • The Hall effect is a rather ubiquitous phenomenon in physics, and appears not only in conductors, but semiconductors, ionized gases, and in quantum spin among other applications.

  • X-Ray Diffraction

    • Now the XRD machines are equipped with semiconductor detectors.

  • Electron Configurations

    • In bulk materials this same idea helps explain the peculiar properties of lasers and semiconductors.

  • Different Types of Currents

    • Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams.