SEMICONDUCTING MATERIAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does semiconducting material mean? 

• SEMICONDUCTING MATERIAL (noun)
  The noun SEMICONDUCTING MATERIAL has 1 sense:

1. a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities

  Familiarity information: SEMICONDUCTING MATERIAL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEMICONDUCTING MATERIAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

semiconducting material; semiconductor

Hypernyms ("semiconducting material" is a kind of...):

conductor (a substance that readily conducts e.g. electricity and heat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "semiconducting material"):

atomic number 32; Ge; germanium (a brittle grey crystalline element that is a semiconducting metalloid (resembling silicon) used in transistors; occurs in germanite and argyrodite)

atomic number 14; Si; silicon (a tetravalent nonmetallic element; next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors)

Holonyms ("semiconducting material" is a substance of...):

semiconductor; semiconductor device; semiconductor unit (a conductor made with semiconducting material)

 Context examples 

The photo-excited states – when photons of light are absorbed by the semiconducting material – need to move so that they can be “harvested” before they lose their energy.

(Plastic crystals hold key to record-breaking energy transport, Universities of Cambridge)