Conductors are materials which will support a generous flow of charge when a

voltage source is applied across the materials. Most transition metals and a few other
elements (alkali metals) are natural conductors. Metals are atoms that can form cations by
donating electrons. The bond formed between metal atoms is called metallic bonding. It
refers to the interaction between the delocalized electrons and metal nuclei. Because of
the bonding, most of the conductors are strong, hard, good electricity and thermal
conductor. Besides that, conductors have high melting points and boiling points due to its
strong metallic bonding. Conductors tend to have an electrical resistivity of around

Ohm-meters.
Semiconductors are materials that have a conductivity level between conductors
and insulators. They are crystalline materials that are insulators when pure, but will
conduct when an impurity is added and in response to light, heat and voltage. Examples
of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, selenium and etc. Pure silicon has an electrical
resistivity of about

Ohm-meters. Semiconductors are formed by covalent bonding.

Example for silicon, there are 4 electrons in the valence shell. The potential (energy)
required to remove any one of these 4 valence electrons is lower than any other electrons
in the structure, so these 4 valence electrons will bond to 4 adjoining atoms. Elements in
group IV are referred to as tetravalent atoms because they have 4 valance electrons.
Although the covalent bonding (between the valance electrons and their parent atom) is
strong, its still possible for valence electrons to absorb energy and break the covalent
bond and become free (charge) state.
The natural causes of charge carriers are including effects such as light energy in
the form of photons and thermal energy from the surrounding medium. There are around
1.5 x

charge carriers in a cubic centimeter of intrinsic silicon material. The charge

carriers are sensitive to applied electric fields such as establish by voltage sources or any
difference potential that produce the flow of current.

Reference
1) Difference between Semiconductor and Metal, 2012, Dunee, viewed on 5
th
July 2014,
<http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-semiconductor-and-vs-metal/>
2) Fundamentals of Semiconductor, viewed on 5
th
July 2014,
< http://www.optique-ingenieur.org/en/courses/OPI_ang_M05_C02/co/Contenu_02.html>
3) Difference between conductors, insulators and semiconductors, 2012, Sree, viewed on
5
th
July 2014,
< http://way2science.com/difference-between-conductors-insulators-and-semiconductors/>