Practical Audio Electronics

3  |  Semiconductors

The previous chapter concluded with a section about conductors and insulators. What is discussed there are materials at the two extreme ends of a continuum. In between them lie lots of substances that conduct electricity a bit but not really very well, things like water, graphite, people, and of interest here silicon and germanium. These latter two intermediate materials have some very specific and useful properties the details of which are unimportant but suffice it to say that they are called semiconductors and they are at the heart of all modern electronics. The one of most interest is silicon but germanium (which is only used a little today but which was much more commonly used in early semiconductors) are also mentioned ...