What is semiconductor

All materials with the above two characteristics can be classified into the scope of semiconductor materials. What reflects the intrinsic basic properties of semiconductors is the physical effects and phenomena caused by various external factors such as light, heat, magnetism, electricity, etc. acting on semiconductors, which can be collectively referred to as the semiconductor properties of semiconductor materials. Most of the base materials of solid-state electronic devices are semiconductors. It is the various semiconductor properties of these semiconductor materials that give different types of semiconductor devices different functions and characteristics. The basic chemical characteristic of semiconductors is the existence of saturated covalent bonds between atoms. As a typical covalent bond feature, it is tetrahedral in lattice structure, so typical semiconductor materials have diamond or zinc blende (ZnS) structure. Since most of the earth's mineral resources are compounds, the semiconductor materials that were first used are compounds. For example, galena (PBS) was used for radio detection long ago, cuprous oxide (Cu2O) was used as a solid rectifier, sphalerite (ZnS) is a well-known solid luminescent material, and the rectification and detection function of silicon carbide (SIC) was also used early. Selenium (SE) is the first discovered and utilized element semiconductor, which was once an important material for solid-state rectifiers and photocells. The discovery of element semiconductor germanium (GE) amplification opened a new page in the history of semiconductors, from which electronic devices began to realize transistorization. The research and production of semiconductors in China began with the first preparation of germanium with high purity (99.999999% - 99.999999%) in 1957. The adoption of elemental semiconductor silicon (SI) not only increases the types and varieties of transistors and improves their performance, but also ushers in the era of large-scale and very large-scale integrated circuits. The discovery of ⅲ - ⅴ compounds represented by gallium arsenide (GaAs) has promoted the rapid development of microwave devices and optoelectronic devices.