Benefits of Semiconductors and Their Applications

Some devices in the world would be inefficient and lack operation without the use of semiconductors. This is to emphasize the vital benefits of semiconductors and their applications. Devices like televisions, radios; transportation mediums, and other modern electronic appliances and innovations would not operate effectively without semiconductors.

Semiconductor electronics are material like conductors and insulators. However, conductors are materials that can be easily connected to electricity with many free electrons due to the weakness of the magnetic force between the nucleus and valence electrons. Insulators do not have free electrons which thus, disallows the flow of the electric force. However, semiconductors, the third category of materials, can conduct electricity through factors such as temperature, impurities, light, and voltage.

To understand the benefits of semiconductors and their applications, emphasis must be placed on what semiconductors are. Semiconductors are materials with electric resistance between high-value insulators and low-value conductors. They are the electric conductivity of the materials; the intermediate in value of both insulators and conductors.

The common examples of semiconductors are Germanium and Silicon. The benefits of semiconductors and their applications are enhanced in the manufacturing processes and production of different types of electronic devices. These are commonly transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits.

Semiconductors are components found in power devices, optical sensors, lasers, and other devices and appliances. They encompass a broad range of electric and voltage-handling capabilities. They are also integrated into complex but already manufactured microelectronic circuits.

It is important to emphasize that they are projected to serve as signal processors, controllers of applications, and lots more in both electronic, communications, industrial, and computer companies. This is because of the many innovations that accompany their daily use in the technology and electronic sphere.

As noted above, they are materials that are neither good conductors nor good insulators. Thus, they are reliable materials with low cost and efficient use. A few examples of semiconductors are gallium arsenide which is important for high cost and high-efficiency solar cells. One of the manifestations of the gallium arsenide was launched in 1965 and used for Venera Mission 3.

Another example of semiconductors is Germanium which is a chemical element. It is found in carbon groups with similar chemical properties like Silicon and Tin.

Silicon is one of the most used semiconductors. It is an element found in solid-state devices that are used in computer and microelectronic companies. The silicon is mostly doped with pieces of Boron, Phosphorous, and Gallium to control present electrical properties in a device.

Semiconductors can also be found in most electrical appliances like radio, television, electronic decoders and gadgets, cars, solar engines, airplanes, and lots more.

There are numerous benefits of conductors but the most critical benefits include:

• Their extreme sensitivity to temperature and radiation which ensures that the electronic appliance doesn’t receive a high electrical current into its panel system.
• Semiconductors have an unlimited shelf life which makes them reliable and dependable for a comfortable period. In other words, semiconductors have an almost unlimited life span.
• Semiconductors have no filaments, unlike vacuum diodes, which makes them require no power or heat for the emission of electrons.
• Semiconductors also don’t produce any humming sounds which makes them efficient and comfortable to have indoors.
• Semiconductors are shockproof. This means that they are electricity resistant components. This has made it possible to protect devices from damages against anticipated shocks. Further, they are cheaper when compared to vacuum tubes.
• Semiconductors do not need to create vacuums which means that they have no vacuum deterioration trouble. Further, they are small size devices which makes the circuits involved very compact. This also enhances its occupation of a small space on any type of printed circuit board.

One of the most common semiconductor device used is the transistor. The transistor is used to produce logic gates and digital circuits in any device. Semiconductors are also applied in the production of analog circuits which are commonly used in the production of gadgets like amplifiers and oscillators.

The devices are also applied in the integration of circuits that operate at very high current and high voltage. It should be noted that they are also used in the making of high-speed computer chips, medical equipment, telephones, and other electronic gadgets. Semiconductors are also applied in the advancement of robotic engineering.

However, there are innovative activities and technology that depend on semiconductors for functioning. These are basically under the diode, which includes Light Emitting Diode, laser diode, solar cell, etc.

The diode is important in electric and digital circuits. Its critical use is in its allowance of passage from a current in a direction to prevent it from other directions. It is made up of tiny bits of silicon which is partly set with N-type impurities and the other half with the P-type impurities.

In the half-wave rectifier, the diode is used in the production of direct current. This allows the unidirectional flow of an electric surge. In a full-wave rectifier, it is used in converting alternating current to direct current. This can be found in many solar cells and battery-operated applications with the usefulness of generating continuous currents.

In the photodiode, silicon absorbs the energy of incident light which is used to produce additional pairs of electrons and gaps which then results in a significant change in the intensity of electrical currents. This can be found in solar cells, smartphone light sensors, digital cameras, sensitive lamps, and street lights, etc.

The Light Emitting Diode is also characterized by its rapid reaction and long life expectancy regardless of its small size. It is an alternative to fluorescent lamps and its spread covers a large area.

There are many other applications of the semiconductors in our everyday gadgets and smart technology products. Semiconductors are those materials with electric conductivity components of value between pure metal, that is, conductors, and insulators. This makes it one of the most important electronic materials integral for application in both the electronics, computer and communication industries. Further, semiconductors have a crystalline structure; which has the sequential arrangement of atoms.