Why is silicon used in diodes?
Why is silicon usually preferred to germanium in the manufacture of semiconductor devices? Silicon is abundant on the earth’s surface and therefore cheaper than germanium. The PIV (Peak Inverse Voltage) rating of silicon is much higher than germanium and therefore can withstand much higher temperatures than germanium.
Why silicon is not used to fabricate LED or laser diode?
Since Silicon is an Indirect Band Gap semiconductor so electron cannot fall directly to the valence band but must undergo a momentum change as well as a change in energy. So, energy is released as heat along with the light. Hence, silicon is not suitable for the fabrication of LEDs.
Are all diodes made of silicon?
The discovery of asymmetric electrical conduction across the contact between a crystalline mineral and a metal was made by German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1874. Today, most diodes are made of silicon, but other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide and germanium are also used.
Why is silicon used for transistors?
Silicon is used for electronic devices because it is an element with very special properties. Silicon’s electrical properties can be modified through a process called doping. These characteristics make it an ideal material for making transistors that amplify electrical signals.
Why silicon is not used in laser?
Silicon, the material par excellence for electronics, is not used for light sources because of the lack of efficient light emitters and lasers.
Why Cannot we use silicon and germanium in the fabrication of visible LED?
Answer: We cannot use Silicon or germanium in the fabrication of LED’s because they produce energy in the form of heat, and not in the form of Visible light of IR. It is not much sensitive to temperature.
How are silicon diode manufactured?
Normally, diodes are manufactured in that a semiconductor crystal wafer 10, for example a silicon wafer, is used, and then a p-n or an n-p junction is produced by a process of diffusion or epitaxy.
How are silicon diodes made?
A diode is formed by joining two equivalently doped P-Type and N-Type semiconductor. Causing a small region of the N-type near the junction to lose electrons and behaves like intrinsic semiconductor material, in the P-type a small region gets filled up by holes and behaves like an intrinsic semiconductor.