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Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments

The development of semiconductor electronics is reviewed briefly, beginning with the development of germanium devices (band gap E (g) = 0.66 eV) after World War II. A tendency towards alternative materials with wider band gaps quickly became apparent, starting with silicon (E (g) = 1.12 eV). This im...

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Autor principal: Klimm, Detlef
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: International Union of Crystallography 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4174871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25295170
http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S2052252514017229
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author Klimm, Detlef
author_facet Klimm, Detlef
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description The development of semiconductor electronics is reviewed briefly, beginning with the development of germanium devices (band gap E (g) = 0.66 eV) after World War II. A tendency towards alternative materials with wider band gaps quickly became apparent, starting with silicon (E (g) = 1.12 eV). This improved the signal-to-noise ratio for classical electronic applications. Both semiconductors have a tetrahedral coordination, and by isoelectronic alternative replacement of Ge or Si with carbon or various anions and cations, other semiconductors with wider E (g) were obtained. These are transparent to visible light and belong to the group of wide band gap semiconductors. Nowadays, some nitrides, especially GaN and AlN, are the most important materials for optical emission in the ultraviolet and blue regions. Oxide crystals, such as ZnO and β-Ga(2)O(3), offer similarly good electronic properties but still suffer from significant difficulties in obtaining stable and technologically adequate p-type conductivity.
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spelling pubmed-41748712014-10-07 Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments Klimm, Detlef IUCrJ Feature Articles The development of semiconductor electronics is reviewed briefly, beginning with the development of germanium devices (band gap E (g) = 0.66 eV) after World War II. A tendency towards alternative materials with wider band gaps quickly became apparent, starting with silicon (E (g) = 1.12 eV). This improved the signal-to-noise ratio for classical electronic applications. Both semiconductors have a tetrahedral coordination, and by isoelectronic alternative replacement of Ge or Si with carbon or various anions and cations, other semiconductors with wider E (g) were obtained. These are transparent to visible light and belong to the group of wide band gap semiconductors. Nowadays, some nitrides, especially GaN and AlN, are the most important materials for optical emission in the ultraviolet and blue regions. Oxide crystals, such as ZnO and β-Ga(2)O(3), offer similarly good electronic properties but still suffer from significant difficulties in obtaining stable and technologically adequate p-type conductivity. International Union of Crystallography 2014-08-29 /pmc/articles/PMC4174871/ /pubmed/25295170 http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S2052252514017229 Text en © Detlef Klimm 2014 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited.
spellingShingle Feature Articles
Klimm, Detlef
Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title_full Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title_fullStr Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title_full_unstemmed Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title_short Electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
title_sort electronic materials with a wide band gap: recent developments
topic Feature Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4174871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25295170
http://dx.doi.org/10.1107/S2052252514017229
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