silicon age - Gadget World
Houston Public Media: Engines of Our Ingenuity 3295: The Age of Silicon-Based Species Engines Podcast Engines of Our Ingenuity 3295: The Age of Silicon-Based Species Episode: 3295 The Age of Non-Carbon Species; The Age of Artificial Intelligence. Today, the age of silicon-based species ... Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust, making up about 27% of the average rock.
Understanding the Context
Silicon links up with oxygen (which makes up 55% of the earth's crust) to form the most common suite of minerals, called the silicates. The main consumers of silicon metal were producers of aluminum alloys and the chemical industry, in particular for the manufacture of silicones. Silicon metal may be further processed into ultra-high-purity semiconductor- or solar-grades, commonly referred to as polysilicon. Research on silicon began at about the same time, but rather in the back-ground.
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Key Insights
Sensational discoveries and/or advances were hardly expected unless one considered the proof of the semiconducting character of silicon – still in doubt in the 1940s – as such. Silicon Crystal Structure Last updated 7/1/23 These concepts have been greatly simplified Vox drops across oxide (assume linear) φs drops across the silicon substrate, most near the surface Two types of point defects are created in a silicon crystal when a silicon atom is set free from its lattice site and “eases” itself into a nearby interstitial site (a non-lattice site, between silicon atoms).