路灯节能控制系统的设计英文翻译.docVIP

Semiconductors 1 Semiconductors Fundamentals 1.1 Semiconductors Materials Solid-state materials can be grouped into three classes—insulators, semiconductors and conductors. Insulators such as fused quartz and glass have very low conductivities. Semiconductors have conductivities, typically between those of insulators and those of conductors. The conductivity of a semiconductor is generally sensitive to temperature, illumination, magnetic field, and minute amount of impurity atoms. This sensitivity in conductivity makes the semiconductor one of most important materials for electronic application. The study of semiconductor materials began in the early nineteenth century. Over the years many semiconductors have been investigated. The element semiconductors, those composed of single species of atoms, such as silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge)can be found in Column 4.however, numerous compound semiconductors are composed of two or more elements. For example, gallium arsenide (GaAs) is an 3-5 compound that is a combination of gallium (Ga) from Column 3 and arsenic (As) from Column 5. Prior to the invention of the bipolar in 1947, semiconductors were used only as two-terminal devices, such as rectifiers and photodiodes. In the early 1950s, germanium was the major semiconductor material. However, germanium proved unsuitable in many applications because germanium devices exhibited high leakage currents at only moderately elevated temperatures. In addition, germanium oxide is water soluble and unsuited for device fabrication. Since the early 1960s silicon has become a practical substitute and has now virtually supplanted germanium as a material for semiconductor fabrication. The main reasons we now use silicon are that silicon devices exhibit much lower leakage currents, and high-quality silicon dioxide can be grown thermally. There is also an economic consideration. Silicon in the form of silica and silicates comprises 25% of the Earth’s crust, and silicon is second only to o