Why is silicon wafers preferred over Germanium wafers?
Germanium was in the first transistors. These transistors were meant to replace the vaccum tubes found in World War Two era Radar. The military wanted smaller, lighter and more powerful radar to bomb Germany.
But the ware ended and the military's, spare-no-cost, attitude became more frugal.
With the research open to the public, commercial entities discovered that Silicon worked very well in consumer items such as portable transistor radios. Thus Silicon, which is more abundant and less expensive than Germanium became the standard material and is still being used today and for the foreseable future.
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The current trend is to use silicon instead of germanium, but what could be the reason? As we all know, silicon and germ are semiconductors and are among the most common materials in the world.
Silicon crystals have fewer free electrons than germanium crystals at room temperature, which is why silicon crystals are used for semiconductor devices.
In general, the ICBO of germanium is 10-100 times greater than that of silicon, but the variation of ICBo at any temperature is lower for silicon than for germanium. This means that silicon will have a higher ICBI (Inter - Cell Boundary Boiling Point), but a rough rule of thumb - of - thumb with germanium bebe says that the ICBO doubles at the same temperature.
Silicon can work up to 150 degrees Celsius, and therefore excess heat does not damage its components so easily. The maximum normal working temperature for g-germanium is 70 degrees Celsius and the structure of germanium is destroyed at about 100 degrees Celsius.
The PIV value of a silicon diode is almost 1000 V, while it is higher than that of g-germanium diodes. The Piv values for germanium diodes are closer to 400 V and for silicon to about 500 - 600 V.
The disadvantage of silicon compared to germanium is that the preload of the silicon diodes is higher than that of the germanium diodes. This means that high preload is required for high-performance applications such as solar cells, photovoltaics and energy-saving computers.
Silicon crystals contain fewer free electrons than germanium crystals at room temperature, and this is why the modern trend towards silicon semiconductors is going. The disadvantages of silicon have been eclipsed by the other advantages over silicon mentioned above. So why is silicon g - germanium preferred and why are silicon and g germanium both preferred?
The variation of the collector cross-section temperature is lower in silicon than in germanium. This means that silicon has a much smaller collector and thus a higher power output.
The structure of germanium crystals is destroyed at high temperatures, but silicon crystals are not easily damaged by excess heat. The peak voltage values of silicon diodes are greater than those of germanium diodes. Silicon is also cheaper due to the greater abundance of the element and its lower electricity consumption.
There is a lot of sand in nature, and sand is one of the most abundant elements in the earth's crust and a good source of energy.
The first transistors were made with germanium (Ge) and the potential barrier of silicon is greater than that of g germanium. After considering all the advantages listed above, we can conclude that silicon was the best element for semiconductor devices and applications. But what disadvantages does silicon have compared to germ and what advantages does it have compared to silicon?