Semiconductors are materials whose conductivity is between conductor and insulator at room temperature.
Semiconductors have applications in integrated circuits, consumer electronics, communication systems, photovoltaic power generation, lighting, high-power power conversion and other fields. For example, diodes are devices made of semiconductors.
No matter from the perspective of science and technology or economic development, the importance of semiconductors is enormous. Most electronic products, such as computers, mobile phones or digital recorders, are closely related to semiconductors.
Common semiconductor materials are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide and so on. Silicon is one of the most influential semiconductor materials.
Introduction:
Matter exists in various forms, such as solid, liquid, gas, plasma, etc. We usually call materials with poor conductivity, such as coal, artificial crystal, amber and ceramics, as insulators. Metals with good conductivity, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and aluminum, are called conductors. The material between conductor and insulator can be simply called semiconductor.
Compared with conductors and insulators, the discovery of semiconductor materials is the latest. It was not until the 1930s, when the purification technology of materials was improved, that the existence of semiconductors was truly recognized by academic circles.