A: Because the element has different property as gallium arsenide.
silicon is less sensitive towards temperature.It costs low compared to germanium,
because lekage current of silicon is less than germenium
cut in voltage *** for silicon is 0.7volts and that for germanium is 0.3volts.According to Millman and Taub, "Pulse, Digital and Switching Waveforms", McGraw-Hill 1965, the cutin (or offset, break-point or threshold) voltage for a silicon diode is 0.6, and 0.2 for germanium.Breakdown voltage is another thing entirely. It is the reverse voltage at which the junction will break down.
Germanium has four number of shells while Silicon has three number of shell. therefore for germanium less energy is required to move the electron from valence band to conduction band if compared to silicon. So at room temperature for germanium their are more number of electrons present in conduction bond hence more number of holes present in the valence energy band. Due to movement of holes reverse saturation current is produced. Their is more number of hole movement in germanium comparatively therefore reverse saturation current is more than silicon for germanium. You may refer to Electronic Devices and Circuits by Allen Mottershead Regards, Zain Ijaz UCTI, Malaysia Mechatronic Engineer.
The class of materials that make up transistors is "semiconductor." A transistor is often made from very pure silicon that is doped with germanium or other dopant to change its electrical properties.
LEDs are made from binary semiconductors (e.g. gallium aluminum indium phosphide) not unary semiconductors (e.g. silicon, germanium) because they can be made transparent to light. Silicon & germanium are opaque.
silicon diode is preferred more when compared with germanium diode because in silicon diode the operating voltage is 0.7v where as in germanium diode the operating voltage is 0.3v , germanium is temperature sensitive so it can be easily destroyed by increasing temperature hence silicon diode is preferred more
because1) knee voltage of silicon is .7V where as germanium has .3V 2)silicon breakdown take place at around 200 0C and germanium at 90 0C
Silicon is actually preferred to germanium within the manufacture of semiconductor devices due to the following reasons:Silicon is cheap and abundantIn silicon, leakage current is less affected by temperature as compared to germanium.The leakage current in silicon is very very small as compared to germanium.The working temperature of silicon is more than that of germanium. The working junction temperature of silicon can go as high as 150C whereas the working junction temperature of germanium can only go as high as 60CSilicon dioxide is a stable insoluble solid that can be used both to electrically insulate circuitry and to passivate junctions preventing contamination (allowing use of inexpensive plastic packages), germanium dioxide is a crumbly water soluble solid (this requires all germanium devices to be packaged in expensive metal or glass hermetically sealed cases and making germanium integrated circuits almost impossible)
Silicon and Germanium are not used to make LEDs.They are opaque to visible lightThey have the wrong type of band gap (direct instead of indirect).LEDs are made with binary semiconductors, like:Indium Gallium NitrideSilicon CarbideIndium PhosphideGallium Indium Arsenide NitrideIndium Gallium Aluminum Phosphideetc.
Germanium is not used in integrated circuits. Silicon is.
The metalloids are Boron, Silicon, Germanium, Arsenic, Antimony, Tellurium, and Polonium.
Silicon and Germanium are the elements used in transistors
germanium
Yes,silicon and germanium are semiconductors.
Germanium diodes are more expensive than silicon ones, germanium is harder to process, germanium cannot be used to make integrated circuits (while early prototype integrated circuits were germanium the wiring between the integrated components cannot be integrated making it too expensive for production), germanium cannot operate with a junction temperature above 60C (silicon will operate up to 150C), and its reverse leakage current is greater. However! Germanium diodes have a lower forward voltage drop than silicon ones do, so they're better for some applications, like radio frequency detection.
products made by silicon are more stable than those made by germanium