In semiconductor production, doping refers to the process of intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure (also referred to as intrinsic) semiconductor in order to change its electrical properties. The impurities are dependent upon the type of semiconductor. Lightly and moderately doped semiconductor is referred to as extrinsic. A semiconductor which is doped to such high levels that it acts more like a conductor than a semiconductor is called degenerate. A semiconductor is a solid whose electrical conductivity can be controlled over a wide range, either permanently or dynamically. ... In science and engineering, conductors are materials that contain movable charges of electricity. ...

Some dopants are generally added as the (usually silicon) boule is grown, giving each wafer an almost uniform initial doping. To define circuit elements, selected areas (typically controlled by photolithography) are further doped by such processes as diffusion and ion implantation, the latter method being more popular in large production runs due to its better controllability. A dopant, also called doping agent and dope, is an impurity element added to a semiconductor lattice in low concentrations in order to alter the optical/electrical properties of the semiconductor. ... And then it is said that if enough silicon is used it can cause the whole world to realise that Phil Crowley likes to take it up the bum General Name, Symbol, Number silicon, Si, 14 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 14, 3, p Appearance dark gray, bluish tinge... A boule is a term used to describe a single crystal ingot produced by synthetic means. ... An etched silicon wafer In microelectronics, a wafer is a thin slice of semiconducting material, such as a silicon crystal, upon which microcircuits are constructed by doping (for example, diffusion or ion implantation), etching, and deposition of various materials. ... Photolithography is a process used in semiconductor device fabrication to transfer a pattern from a photomask (also called reticle) to the surface of a substrate. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material can be implanted into another solid, thereby changing the physical properties of the solid. ...

The number of dopant atoms needed to create a difference in the ability of a semiconductor to conduct is very small. Where a comparatively small number of dopant atoms are added (of the order of 1 every 100,000,000 atoms) then the doping is said to be low, or light. Where many more are added (of the order of 1 in 10,000) then the doping is referred to as heavy, or high. This is often shown as n+ for n-type dopant or p+ for p-type doping. A more detailed description of the mechanism of doping can be found in the article on semiconductors. A semiconductor is a material that is an insulator at very low temperature, but which has a sizable electrical conductivity at room temperature. ...

Dopant elements

Group IV semiconductors

For the group IV semiconductors such as silicon, germanium, and silicon carbide, the most common dopants are group III or group V elements. (Group number refers to the Roman numerals of the columns in the periodic table of the elements.) Boron, arsenic, phosphorus and occasionally gallium are used to dope silicon. Boron is the p-type dopant of choice for silicon integrated circuit production, since it diffuses at a rate which makes junction depths easily controllable. Phosphorus is typically used for bulk doping of silicon wafers, while arsenic is used to diffuse junctions, since it diffuses more slowly than phosphorus and is thus more controllable. And then it is said that if enough silicon is used it can cause the whole world to realise that Phil Crowley likes to take it up the bum General Name, Symbol, Number silicon, Si, 14 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 14, 3, p Appearance dark gray, bluish tinge... General Name, Symbol, Number germanium, Ge, 32 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 14, 4, p Appearance grayish white Atomic mass 72. ... Silicon carbide (SiC) is a ceramic compound of silicon and carbon. ... The Boron group is the series of elements in group 13 (IUPAC style) in the periodic table. ... The Nitrogen group elements (a. ... The group 15 elements(a. ... The system of Roman numerals is a numeral system originating in ancient Rome, and was adapted from Etruscan numerals. ... The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements, first devised in 1869 by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. ... The periodic table of the chemical elements A chemical element, often called simply an element, is a substance that cannot be decomposed or transformed into other chemical substances by ordinary chemical processes. ... General Name, Symbol, Number boron, B, 5 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 13, 2, p Appearance black/brown Atomic mass 10. ... General Name, Symbol, Number arsenic, As, 33 Chemical series metalloids Group, Period, Block 15, 4, p Appearance metallic gray Atomic mass 74. ... General Name, Symbol, Number phosphorus, P, 15 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 3, p Appearance waxy white/ red/ black/ colorless Atomic mass 30. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gallium, Ga, 31 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 4, p Appearance silvery white   Atomic mass 69. ...

By doping pure silicon with group V elements such as phosphorus, extra valence electrons are added which become unbonded from individual atoms and allow the compound to be electrically conductive, n-type material. Doping with group III elements, such as boron, which are missing the fourth valence electron creates "broken bonds", or holes, in the silicon lattice that are free to move. This is electrically conductive, p-type material. In this context then, a group V element is said to behave as an electron donor, and a group III element as an acceptor. In chemistry, valence electrons are the electrons contained in the valence shell of an atom, and which are likely to participate in a chemical reaction through bonding with other atoms or molecules. ...

Compensation

In most cases, many types of impurity will be present. If an equal number of donors and acceptors are present in the semiconductor, the extra core electrons provided by the former will be used to satisfy the broken bonds due to the latter, so that doping produces no free carriers of either type. This phenomenon is known as compensation, and occurs at the p-n junction in the vast majority of semiconductor devices. Partial compensation, where donors outnumber acceptors or vice-versa, allows device makers to repeatedly reverse the type of a given portion of the material by applying successively higher doses of dopants. A p-n junction is formed by combining N-type and P-type semiconductors together in very close contact. ...

Although compensation can be used to increase or decrease the number of donors or acceptors, the electron and hole mobility is always decreased by compensation because mobility is affected by the sum of the donor and acceptor ions. In physics, electron mobility (or simply, mobility), is used to describe the relation between drift velocity of electrons or holes in a solid material or electrons/ions in a gas, and an applied electric field. ...

Doping in organic conductors

Main article: Conductive polymer

Conductive polymers can be 'doped' by adding chemical reactants to oxidise (or sometimes reduce) the system to push electrons into the conducting orbitals within the already (potentially) conducting system. (In a silicon lattice, the system is far from conducting to begin with!) There are two primary methods of doping a conductive polymer, both through an oxidation-reduction (redox) process. The first method, chemical doping, involves exposing a polymer, such as melanin (typically a thin film), to an oxidant (typically iodine or bromine) or reductant (far less common, but typically involves alkali metals). The second is electrochemical doping in which a polymer-coated, working electrode is suspended in an electrolyte solution in which the polymer is insoluble along with separate counter and reference electrodes. An electric potential difference is created between the electrodes which causes a charge (and the appropriate counter ion from the electrolyte) to enter the polymer in the form of electron addition (n doping) or removal (p doping). A conductive polymer is an organic polymer semiconductor, or an organic semiconductor. ... A conductive polymer is an organic polymer semiconductor, or an organic semiconductor. ... Semi-accurate illustration of a redox reaction Redox reactions include all chemical processes in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. ... Broadly, melanin is any of the polyacetylene, polyaniline, and polypyrrole blacks and browns or their mixed copolymers. ... Thin films are material layers of about 1 µm thickness. ... An oxidizing agent is a substance that oxidizes another substance in electrochemistry or redox chemical reactions in general. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iodine, I, 53 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 5, p Appearance violet-dark gray, lustrous Atomic mass 126. ... General Name, Symbol, Number bromine, Br, 35 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 4, p Appearance gas/liquid: red-brown solid: metallic luster Atomic mass 79. ... A reducing agent is the element or a compound in a redox (reduction-oxidation) reaction (see electrochemistry) that reduces another species. ... The alkali metals are a chemical series. ... Electrochemistry is the study of the electronic and electrical aspects of chemical reactions. ... An electrode is a conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e. ... An electrolyte is a substance that dissociates into free ions when dissolved (or molten), to produce an electrically conductive medium. ... Insoluble Not soluble ... Potential difference is a quantity in physics related to the amount of energy that would be required to move an object from one place to another against various types of force. ... An ion is an atom or group of atoms that normally are electrically neutral and achieve their status as an ion by loss or addition of one or more electrons. ... An electrolyte is a substance that dissociates into free ions when dissolved (or molten), to produce an electrically conductive medium. ...

The reason in doping is so much less common is that Earth's atmosphere is oxygen-rich, which creates an oxidizing environment. An electron-rich n doped polymer will react immediately with elemental oxygen to de-dope (re-oxidize to the neutral state) the polymer. Thus, chemical n doping has to be done in an environment of inert gas (e.g., argon). Electrochemical n doping is far more common in research, because it is easier to exclude oxygen from a solvent in a sealed flask; however, there are likely no commercialized n doped conductive polymers. Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) Air redirects here. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... In English, to be inert is to be in a state of doing little or nothing. ... General Name, Symbol, Number argon, Ar, 18 Chemical series noble gases Group, Period, Block 18, 3, p Appearance colorless Atomic mass 39. ... A solvent is a fluid phase (liquid, gas, or plasma) that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution. ... Look up flask in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...