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Q: What determines the amount of current flow in a pure semiconductor materials?
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What are the difference between semiconductors and semimetals?

A conductor is just that - something that conducts electric current. A semiconductor, however, is a material that can be and is used because by doing some things to it, we can cause its resistance to vary dramatically over a fairly wide range of values. We can cause it to conduct with little resistance, and we can cause it to resist current flow completely and prevent current from flowing. The material is a semiconductor, and it "sort of" conducts - either well or poorly or something in between, depending on how the device is made and on what we tell it to do. Conductor will pass electrons by the laws of electrical conductivity. Semiconductor will pass electrons basically only one way.Conductors, like copper, are materials that simply conduct electricity from point A, such as the negative terminal of a battery, to point B.Semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity from point A to point B, but have high high resistance. Many conductors can be modified to have unique properties when electricity is applied, such as in transistors. Put simply, semiconductors have an electrical conductivity somewhere between that of conductors (gold, copper) and insulators (wood, rubber).A conductor allows an electric current to flow through it equally well in either direction. The amount of current which flows depends only on the amount of resistance of the conductor and on the amount of voltage applied across it. The direction of flow can always be considered as being from the positive to the negative pole of the source of the voltage applied, so the direction of flow through a conductor is always determined by which end of the conductor is connected to the positive pole of the source. A semiconductor allows an electric current to flow very strongly in one direction (this is known as the forward current) and very weakly in the opposite direction (which is known as the reverse current). The amounts of current which flow in each direction depend partly on the amount of the voltage applied but mainly on the forward resistance (which is relatively low) and the reverse resistance (which is always very high). So, unlike a conductor, the flow of current through a semiconductor is not the same amount of current whichever way the voltage is applied. The direction in which a semiconductor allows the forward current to flow depends on whether it is a p-type semiconductor or an n-type semiconductor. How are semiconductors made? Certain elements, such as Germanium or Silicon, are not naturally semiconductors but can be made into semiconductors by melting them and adding very small amounts of other chemicals. This process is called doping. Whether a p-type semiconductor or an n-type semiconductor is produced depends on the type of doping chemical used.


Why semiconductor is called semiconductor not semiinsulator?

The purpose of semiconductors is to control the amount of conduction, not the amount of insulation.


What is an intrinsic semiconductor and what is an extrinsic semiconductor?

intrinsic semiconductor is an un-doped semiconductor, in which there is no impurities added where as extrinsic semiconductor is a doped semiconductor, which has impurities in it. Doping is a process, involving adding dopant atoms to the intrinsic semiconductor, there by gives different electrical characteristics


What determines the actual magnitude and direction of current through voltage source?

The voltage itself will determine the direction of current (assuming there isn't another source pushing current through the source backwards); the amount of current will be determined by the thevenin equivalent resistance of the circuit connected to that source (the resistance "seen" by the source, which can be lumped into a single circuit element).


Why does an extrinsic semiconductor behave as an intrinsic semiconductor at elevated temperature?

...It is due to the fact that at higher temperatures, the energy in the semiconductor is greater than Eg by a considerable amount, meaning that the conduction band is more full. At these high temperatures, the dopants' role on electron-hole pairs is negligible.

Related questions

What determines the amount of current a voltaic cell can produce?

Thew rate of corrosion determine the amount of current of a voltaic cell OR the potential difference of the two materials. --- R.B.DHRUV


What factor determines the amount of current to flow through a circuit?

current


Does the gauge of a wire change the amount the energy it carries?

It determines the amount of electric current it can safely carry


What is the name of the electrical part that is used to change the amount of current that flows to a heater motor?

A resistor resists the flow of current in a circuit but a transistor changes the amount of current through a device. This is called current magnification. Field effect transistors FETs and MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) may also change the amount of current to a load lastly a variable resistor or a potentiometer or a variable resistor can variate the amount of current at your will


What is the amount of impurities in pure semiconductor to make it extrinsic semiconductor?

the impurity add here is 1 atom of per million atoms of semiconductor.......


What are the difference between semiconductors and semimetals?

A conductor is just that - something that conducts electric current. A semiconductor, however, is a material that can be and is used because by doing some things to it, we can cause its resistance to vary dramatically over a fairly wide range of values. We can cause it to conduct with little resistance, and we can cause it to resist current flow completely and prevent current from flowing. The material is a semiconductor, and it "sort of" conducts - either well or poorly or something in between, depending on how the device is made and on what we tell it to do. Conductor will pass electrons by the laws of electrical conductivity. Semiconductor will pass electrons basically only one way.Conductors, like copper, are materials that simply conduct electricity from point A, such as the negative terminal of a battery, to point B.Semiconductors are materials that conduct electricity from point A to point B, but have high high resistance. Many conductors can be modified to have unique properties when electricity is applied, such as in transistors. Put simply, semiconductors have an electrical conductivity somewhere between that of conductors (gold, copper) and insulators (wood, rubber).A conductor allows an electric current to flow through it equally well in either direction. The amount of current which flows depends only on the amount of resistance of the conductor and on the amount of voltage applied across it. The direction of flow can always be considered as being from the positive to the negative pole of the source of the voltage applied, so the direction of flow through a conductor is always determined by which end of the conductor is connected to the positive pole of the source. A semiconductor allows an electric current to flow very strongly in one direction (this is known as the forward current) and very weakly in the opposite direction (which is known as the reverse current). The amounts of current which flow in each direction depend partly on the amount of the voltage applied but mainly on the forward resistance (which is relatively low) and the reverse resistance (which is always very high). So, unlike a conductor, the flow of current through a semiconductor is not the same amount of current whichever way the voltage is applied. The direction in which a semiconductor allows the forward current to flow depends on whether it is a p-type semiconductor or an n-type semiconductor. How are semiconductors made? Certain elements, such as Germanium or Silicon, are not naturally semiconductors but can be made into semiconductors by melting them and adding very small amounts of other chemicals. This process is called doping. Whether a p-type semiconductor or an n-type semiconductor is produced depends on the type of doping chemical used.


What determines the amount of electric current flow through a circuit?

voltage and resistance v=ir v=voltage i=current r=resistance in physics right now


What is Threshold Current density in semiconductor laser?

It's the current you have to inject into the device so that the gain inside it is equal to the losses due to absorption and scattering of the light generated. When you have reached this amount of gain, then lasing can start to occur.


What is the function of an emitter?

emitter collects output current produced in resister Wrong. An emitter in a semiconductor emits majority current carriers (electrons or holes) into the junction between it and the base..


What are the advantages of intrinsic semiconductor?

due to the poor conduction at room temperature,the intrinsic semiconductor as such,is not useful in the electronic devices.hence,the current conduction capability of the intrinsic semi conductor should be increased. this can be achieved by adding a small amount of impurity to the intrinsic semi conductor


Why semiconductor is called semiconductor not semiinsulator?

The purpose of semiconductors is to control the amount of conduction, not the amount of insulation.


What is the effect of temperature on an intrinsic semiconductor?

An intrinsic semiconductor is basically a pure semiconductor, though some might argue that a small amount of doping can still yield an intrinsic semiconductor. In the crystal structure of this material, there are very few electrons crossing the band gap into the conduction band, and this stuff doesn't want to conduct much current. But as temperature increases, more electron-hole pairs will appear as electrons jump that band gap and take up places in the conduction band. And if you guessed that increasing temperature will permit the intrinsic semiconductor to conduct current flow a bit better, you'd be right. The intrinsic semiconductor has a positive temperature coefficient. More heat, more conduction under the same conditions.