Semiconductors have wide spread uses in the electronic systems and solid-state devices. In fact, everything from the diodes, transistors, LED to IC, all fall under the category of the semiconductors. These devices are crucial in the development of modern electronic and digital devices. Semiconductor devices make use of silicon or germanium in their make.
Of course, semiconductors are different from metals and other conductors. Semiconductor materials do not have conductivity under normal circumstances. Upon providing energy greater than the threshold energy that allows the electrons in the semiconductor to overcome the Fermi level, the material starts behaving like a conductor.
However, different impurities are added to the semiconductor materials in order to decrease the Fermi level thereby increasing the level of conductivity. Physicists and Engineers have been working hard for over the last fifty years to optimise the semiconductors. Thanks to the rapid development in the semiconductor technology, the world has received the gift of powerful computers, smartphones, advanced medical diagnostic equipment and much more. Without semiconductors, the modern technologies that we rely on heavily would never have been possible.
