Semiconductor device

Common card · No. 207789

A semiconductor device is an electronic component that relies on the electronic properties of a semiconductor material (e.g., silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and organic semiconductors) for its function. Its conductivity lies between those of conductors and insulators. Semiconductor devices have replaced vacuum tubes in most applications. They conduct electric current in the solid state, rather than as free electrons across a vacuum (typically liberated by thermionic emission) or as free electrons and ions through an ionized gas. Semiconductor devices are manufactured both as single discrete devices and as integrated circuits, which consist of two or more devices—which can number from the hundreds to the billions—manufactured and interconnected on a single semiconductor wafer (also called a substrate). Semiconductor materials are useful because their behavior can be easily manipulated by the deliberate addition of impurities, known as doping. Semiconductor conductivity can be controlled...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Nimal udayanga 12, CC BY-SA 4.0