Semiconductor OneSource: Semiconductor Glossary -- Search For : halbleiter

Term (Index)	Definition
halbleiter	"semiconductor" in German.
semiconductor	solid-state material in which, in contrast to metals and insulators: (i) electrical conductivity can be controlled by orders of magnitude by adding small amounts of alien elements known as dopants, (ii) electrical conductivity can be controlled not only by negatively charged electrons, but also by positively charged holes, (iii) electrical conductivity is sensitive to temperature, illumination, electric and magnetic fields, and (iv) can relaease energy resulting from the inter-level electronic transitions in the form visible radiation. Semiconductor properties are displayed by the elements from the IVth group of periodic table: carbon, (C), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), and tin (Sn); compound semiconductors can be formed by combining elements from IVth group (IV-IV), e.g. SiGe and SiC, as well as from groups III and V (III-V) compounds,e.g. GaAs, InP, or GaN, and groups II and VI (II-VI compounds, e.g. CdTe, ZnS, etc. Furthermore, select organic materials display semiconductor properties.
semiconductor device	vert braod term; essentially any homogenous or multilayer piece of semiconductor material which is processed in such way that it can perform in the controlled fashion predetermined electronic (e.g. diode, transistor, monolithic integrated circuit) or photonic (e.g. LED, laser) function.