Metals, Conductors and semiconductors

Physics

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Conductivity of conductors, insulators and semiconductors

Conductivity range for the different types of materials typically lie in the range as listed in the following table:
MaterialConductivity, (in )
Insulator
Semiconductor
Conductor

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Types of semiconductors

Broadly speaking, there are three types of semiconductors:
  1. Elemental semiconductors: Semiconductors comprising of a single fourth group element. Examples: Si and Ge. 
  2. Compound semiconductors: Semiconductors made of compounds of two or more elements. These can be further classified into:
             1. Inorganic: CdS, GaAs, InP, etc
             2. Organic: anthracene, doped pthalocyanines, etc
             3. Organic polymers: polypyrrole, ployaniline, etc

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Band gaps for conductors, semiconductors and insulators

Materials can be classified on the basis of their band-gaps as follows:
1. Insulators:
2. Semiconductors:
3. Metals:
Note: Band-gap is a function of the material, impurities, doping, temperature, etc.

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Advantages of semiconductor devices

Some advantages of semiconductors include:
  • Reduction in the size of electrical circuits and hence cost.
  • Improvement in efficiency and performance.
  • Low power requirements for operation.
  • Robustness of devices.

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