semiconductor
nounUK /ˌsɛmikənˈdʌktə/ · CA, US /ˌsɛmikənˈdʌktɚ/
Etymology From semi- + conductor.
1
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A substance with electrical properties intermediate between a good conductor and a good insulator.
- Holonyms: chip, microchip, integrated circuit
- Integrated circuits are made from semiconductors, especially silicon.
2 more examples
- In this sense we are to understand the following table in which bodies are classed as conductors, semiconductors, and nonconductors; those bodies being conveniently designated as conductors which, when applied to an electroscope charged with either kind of electricity discharge it almost instantaneously; semiconductors being those which discharge it in a short but measurable time, a few seconds, for instance; while nonconductors effect no discharge even, in the course of a minute.1876, Adolphe Ganot, Natural Philosophy for General Readers and Young Persons, page 422:
- The following table of conductors may therefore be used in inverse order as a table of resistances, the good conductors being bodies of slight resistance, the semiconductors being bodies of great resistance, and the insulators being bodies of so great resistance that they almost effectually oppose the passage of any current.1901, George W. Jacoby, A System of Physiologic Therapeutics: Electrotherapy:
2
Business Abbreviation, Ellipsis, Metonymically Ellipsis of semiconductor device.
- Near-synonyms: chip, microchip, integrated circuit
- The company supplies semiconductors to laptop, server, and smartphone manufacturers.
2 more examples
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Wednesday said its revenues increased more sharply in the first quarter of 2024 than in any previous quarter since 2022 following a surge in demand for microchips driven by the artificial-intelligence boom. TSMC, which supplies semiconductors to top companies including Apple and Nvidia, posted a 16.5% increase in its first-quarter sales to NT$592.64 billion ($18.54 billion), in a sign the global chip market has now started recovering from the major slump that hit sales in 2023.2024 April 10, Louis Goss, “Chip maker TSMC posts sharpest increase in sales since 2022 following AI boom”, in MarketWatch, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2024, retrieved 08 May 2024:
- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo proudly held up the progress of American industry on semiconductor manufacturing Sunday, declaring the U.S. has “outinnovated” China as the two nations fight to advance their domestic technology manufacturing.2024 April 21, Nick Robertson, “Gina Raimondo says ‘we’ve outinnovated China’ amid chips war”, in The Hill, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2024:
- Related terms
- semiconductance, semiconducting, semiconduction, semiconductive, semiconductivity, germanium, silicium, silicon