Explore tens of thousands of sets crafted by our community.
Semiconductor Basics
15
Flashcards
0/15
Silicon (Si)
A semiconductor material used as the base for most integrated circuits; has moderate bandgap and good thermal properties.
Germanium (Ge)
A semiconductor material with high carrier mobility but limited by its lower bandgap and poor thermal properties compared to silicon.
Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)
Semiconductor with higher electron mobility than silicon suitable for high-frequency applications but more expensive.
Doping
Process of adding impurities to a semiconductor to change its electrical properties; creates n-type or p-type semiconductors.
n-type semiconductor
A semiconductor in which extra electrons are introduced through doping, creating more negative charge carriers.
p-type semiconductor
A semiconductor which has been doped with an element that introduces holes, creating more positive charge carriers.
Bandgap
The energy difference between the valence band and the conduction band; responsible for electrical properties of semiconductors.
Valence Band
The highest range of electron energies where electrons are normally present at absolute zero temperature; involved in bonding.
Conduction Band
The energy band where electrons are free to move and thus conduct electricity; higher in energy than the valence band.
Intrinsic semiconductor
A pure semiconductor with no impurities; electrical properties are determined by the material itself, not by dopants.
Diode
A semiconductor device that allows current to flow in one direction only; made of a p-n junction.
Transistor
A semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals; made with p-n junctions in configurations like BJT or FET.
MOSFET
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor; a transistor that uses voltage to control the flow of current, popular in ICs.
Carrier Mobility
The speed at which an electron can move through a semiconductor when an electric field is applied.
Depletion Region
The region around a p-n junction where charge carriers are absent, due to recombination; acts as a barrier to carrier flow.
© Hypatia.Tech. 2024 All rights reserved.