Semiconductors

1. 2 words Applying an external voltage to overcome the barrier potential.
5. 2 words The shared electrons between the silicon atoms in a crystal represent covalent bonds because the adjacent silicon atoms pull on the shared electrons, just as two tug-of-war teams pull on a rope.
7. 2 words The voltage across the depletion layer.
9. The merging of a free electron and a hole.
11. A broad category of materials having four valence electrons and electrical properties between those of conductors and insulators.
12. A vacancy in the valence orbit.
13. 2 words One that is loosely held by an atom.
14. Adding a impurity element to an intrinsic semiconductor to change its conductivity.
15. 2 words The region at the junction of p- and n-type semiconductors.
16. 2 words An energy band in a semiconductor in which electrons are free to move.
17. 2 words A phenomenon that occurs for large reverse voltages across a pn junction.

2. 2 words The current in a reverse-biased diode caused by thermally produced minority carriers.
3. 2 words The border between p-type and n-type semiconductors.
4. 2 words Random kinetic energy possessed by semiconductor materials at a finite temperature.
6. 2 words The maximum reverse voltage a diode can withstand before avalanche or the zener effect occurs.
8. bias 2 words Applying an external voltage across a diode to aid the barrier potential.
10. A pn crystal. A device that conducts easily when forward-biased and poorly when reverse-biased.
11. The most widely used semiconductor material.