Silicon as semiconductor

Silicon as whisker material is entering the area of engineering application, but the dominant area of interest is the use of silicon and doped silicon as semiconductor materials. The use of hardness measurement as a probe of the properties of specially prepared silicon crystals for semiconductor device use has been attempted several times but as some of the data presented below show, doping at the levels used in the device industry does not show up as change in hardness even through etch-pit rosette studies in the area around indentations show some dependence of dislocation movement on concentration and type of dopant. 

A major difference between silicon and organic electronics concerns the electronic structure of the semiconducting materials employed. Silicon as semiconductor is doped with elements Uke boron or phosphorus, which determines the type... 

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