semiconductor
- Key People:
- Duncan Haldane
- Walter H. Brattain
- Yves-André Rocard
- Related Topics:
- silicon
- germanium
- avalanche effect
- Gunn effect
- p-n junction
semiconductor, any of a class of crystalline solids intermediate in electrical conductivity between a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductors are employed in the manufacture of various kinds of electronic devices, including diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. Such devices have found wide application because of their compactness, reliability, power efficiency, and low cost. As discrete components, they have found use in power devices, optical sensors, and light emitters, including solid-state lasers. They have a wide range of current- and voltage-handling capabilities and, more important, lend themselves to integration into complex but readily manufacturable microelectronic circuits. They are, and will be in ...(100 of 1706 words)