Why metalloids are used as semiconductors?
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the yellow band denotes the conduction band and the green is valence band. To conduct electricity, an electron needs to jump from valence band to conduction band.
In conductors, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is very low or sometimes they overlap. The electron in conductor needs almost no energy to jump from valence band to conduction band. Silver, copper, and aluminum are some example for conductors.
In Insulators, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is very high. It requires a large amount of energy to jump the electron from valence band to conduction band. That is why insulators are bad or poor conductors of electricity.
In semiconductors, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is not very high and not very low. The energy gap is 1 eV.
They are neither conductors nor insulators. The most common semiconductors are silicon and germanium.
Coming to metalloid, it is a chemical substance with the properties in between metals and nonmetals. Means they are not completely metals and not completely non-metals. Most common are Boron, silicon, arsenic.
They have a metallic appearance and fairly conduct electricity but chemically they behave as non-metals. There is no widely accepted definition for metalloid. Metalloids usually look like metals but behave largely like nonmetals. Physically, they are shiny, brittle solids with intermediate to relatively good electrical conductivity and the electronic band structure of a semimetal or semiconductor. Chemically, they mostly behave as (weak) nonmetals, have intermediate ionization energies and electronegativity values, and amphoteric or weakly acidic oxides.
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In conductors, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is very low or sometimes they overlap. The electron in conductor needs almost no energy to jump from valence band to conduction band. Silver, copper, and aluminum are some example for conductors.
In Insulators, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is very high. It requires a large amount of energy to jump the electron from valence band to conduction band. That is why insulators are bad or poor conductors of electricity.
In semiconductors, the energy gap to jump from valence band to conduction band is not very high and not very low. The energy gap is 1 eV.
They are neither conductors nor insulators. The most common semiconductors are silicon and germanium.
Coming to metalloid, it is a chemical substance with the properties in between metals and nonmetals. Means they are not completely metals and not completely non-metals. Most common are Boron, silicon, arsenic.
They have a metallic appearance and fairly conduct electricity but chemically they behave as non-metals. There is no widely accepted definition for metalloid. Metalloids usually look like metals but behave largely like nonmetals. Physically, they are shiny, brittle solids with intermediate to relatively good electrical conductivity and the electronic band structure of a semimetal or semiconductor. Chemically, they mostly behave as (weak) nonmetals, have intermediate ionization energies and electronegativity values, and amphoteric or weakly acidic oxides.
THANK YOU FOR READING
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