Semiconductor materials

Patent Granted Semiconductor materials are nominally small band gap insulators. The defining property of a semiconductor material is that it can be doped with impurities that alter its electronic properties in a controllable way.[citation needed] Because of their application in the computer and photovoltaic industry—in devices such as transistors, lasers and solar cells—the search for new semiconductor materials and the improvement of existing materials is an important field of study in materials science.