[sem-ee-kuhn-duhk-ter, sem-ahy-] Pronunciation Key | 1. | a substance, as silicon or germanium, with electrical conductivity intermediate between that of an insulator and a conductor: a basic component of various kinds of electronic circuit element (semiconductor device) used in communications, control, and detection technology and in computers. |
| 2. | a semiconductor device. |
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
| sem·i·con·duc·tor
(sěm'ē-kən-dŭk'tər, sěm'ī-) Pronunciation Key
n.
sem'i·con·duct'ing adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
semiconductor
| semiconductor | |
noun | |
| 1. | a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities |
| 2. | a conductor made with semiconducting material [syn: semiconductor device] |
| semiconductor
(sěm'ē-kən-dŭk'tər) Pronunciation Key
Any of various solid substances, such as silicon or germanium, that conduct electricity more easily than insulators but less easily than conductors. In semiconductors, thermal energy is enough to cause a small number of electrons to escape from the valence bonds between the atoms (the valence band); they orbit instead in the higher-energy conduction band, in which they are relatively free. The resulting gaps in the valence band are called holes. Semiconductors are vital to the design of electronic components and circuitry, including transistors, laser diodes, and memory and computer processing circuits.
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Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
semiconductor
A material that conducts (see conduction) electricity, but very poorly. Silicon is the most common and familiar semiconductor. Devices made from semiconductors, such as the transistor, are the basis of the modern microelectric industry.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Semiconductor
Another word for "chip." A semiconductor is a material such as silicon, which conducts electrical charges but not as well as metals such as copper and aluminum.
Investopedia Commentary
To recap: chip = semiconductor = integrated circuit. Semiconductors are used in computers, DVD players, cell phones, household appliances, and video games, along with many other products.
Related Links
Industry Handbook
The Advantage of Intermarket Analysis
See also: Book-to-Bill Ratio, Fabless Company, Philadelphia Semiconductor Index - SOX, Silicon Valley
semiconductor electronics
A material, typically crystaline, which allows current to flow under certain circumstances. Common semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide. Semiconductors are used to make diodes, transistors and other basic "solid state" electronic components.
As crystals of these materials are grown, they are "doped" with traces of other elements called donors or acceptors to make regions which are n- or p-type respectively for the electron model or p- or n-type under the hole model. Where n and p type regions adjoin, a junction is formed which will pass current in one direction (from p to n) but not the other, giving a diode.
One model of semiconductor behaviour describes the doping elements as having either free electrons or holes dangling at the points in the crystal lattice where the doping elements replace one of the atoms of the foundation material. When external electrons are applied to n-type material (which already has free electrons present) the repulsive force of like charges causes the free electrons to migrate toward the junction, where they are attracted to the holes in the p-type material. Thus the junction conducts current.
In contrast, when external electrons are applied to p-type material, the attraction of unlike charges causes the holes to migrate away from the junction and toward the source of external electrons. The junction thus becomes "depleted" of its charge carriers and is non-conducting.
(1995-10-04)
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