Silicon is a tetravalent metalloid element (atomic number 14) that forms the basis of most modern semiconductor technology and is a central topic across materials science, electronics, and solid-state physics. In crystalline form, it adopts a diamond cubic lattice, enabling precise control of its electronic band structure through doping with donors (e.g., phosphorus) or acceptors (e.g., boron) to create n- and p-type regions. Silicon’s indirect band gap, thermal stability, native oxide (SiO₂) formation, and compatibility with planar processing underpin integrated circuits, photovoltaics, and microelectromechanical systems, making it a foundational subject in research on electronic materials and device engineering.
The feature size of silicon-based transistors is approaching the theoretical limit, which puts forward higher requirements for the atomic level manufacturing of semiconductors. The basic idea of atomic level manufacturing ...
Nanophysics
Sep 2, 2024
0
107
Silicon, the cornerstone of modern electronics, photovoltaics, and photonics, has traditionally been limited to surface-level nanofabrication due to the challenges posed by existing lithographic techniques. Available methods ...
Nanophysics
Jul 16, 2024
0
547
Silicon computer chips have served us well for more than half a century. The tiniest features on chips currently sold are approximately 3 nanometers—a startlingly small size given that a human hair is roughly 80,000 nanometers ...
Nanophysics
Jul 9, 2024
0
109
California's Silicon Valley and Utah's Silicon Slopes are named for the element most associated with semiconductors, the backbone of the computer revolution. Anything computerized or electronic depends on semiconductors, ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 15, 2024
0
131
Semiconductors in modern electronics rely on small quantities of added impurity elements, called dopants, that alter the ability of the material to conduct electricity. While the role of these dopants is often straightforward, ...
Condensed Matter
Feb 9, 2024
0
63
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed a new theoretical model explaining one way to make black silicon, an important material used in solar cells, light sensors, ...
Nanophysics
Jan 9, 2024
0
171
Substitutional doping from foreign elements stands out as a preferred method for precisely tailoring the electronic band structure, conduction type, and carrier concentration of pristine materials. In the realm of three-dimensional ...
Condensed Matter
Jan 8, 2024
0
141
A new electrocatalyst made of nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) and silicon (Si) that decreases the amount of energy required to synthesize H2 from water has been manufactured in a simple and cost-effective way, increasing the practicality ...
Nanomaterials
Nov 27, 2023
1
1250
True to Moore's Law, the number of transistors on a microchip has doubled every year since the 1960s. But this trajectory is predicted to soon plateau because silicon—the backbone of modern transistors—loses its electrical ...
Nanophysics
Jan 18, 2023
0
421
A pressing quest in the field of nanoelectronics is the search for a material that could replace silicon. Graphene has seemed promising for decades. But its potential has faltered along the way, due to damaging processing ...
Nanophysics
Dec 21, 2022
1
409
