Narrow-gap semiconductors are
semiconducting
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
materials with a
band gap
In solid-state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap, is an energy range in a solid where no electronic states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference ( ...
that is comparatively small compared to that of
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...
, i.e. smaller than 1.11 eV at room temperature. They are used as
infrared detector
An infrared detector is a detector that reacts to infrared (IR) radiation. The two main types of detectors are thermal and photonic (photodetectors).
The thermal effects of the incident IR radiation can be followed through many temperature depen ...
s or
thermoelectric
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa via a thermocouple. A thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. Conversely, when ...
s.
List of narrow-gap semiconductors
:
See also
*
List of semiconductor materials
Semiconductor materials are nominally small band gap insulators. The defining property of a semiconductor material is that it can be compromised by doping it with impurities that alter its electronic properties in a controllable way.
Because of ...
*
Wide-bandgap semiconductor
References
* Dornhaus, R., Nimtz, G., Schlicht, B. (1983). ''Narrow-Gap Semiconductors''. Springer Tracts in Modern Physics 98, (print) (online)
*
Semiconductor material types
{{CMP-stub