A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value falling between that

of a conductor � such as copper, gold etc. � and an insulator, such as glass. Their
resistance decreases as their temperature increases, which is behaviour opposite to
that of a metal. Their conducting properties may be altered in useful ways by the
deliberate, controlled introduction of impurities ("doping") into the crystal
structure. Where two differently-doped regions exist in the same crystal, a
semiconductor junction is created. The behavior of charge carriers which include
electrons, ions and electron holes at these junctions is the basis of diodes,
transistors and all modern electronics.

Semiconductor devices can display a range of useful properties such as passing

current more easily in one direction than the other, showing variable resistance,
and sensitivity to light or heat. Because the electrical properties of a
semiconductor material can be modified by doping, or by the application of
electrical fields or light, devices made from semiconductors can be used for
amplification, switching, and energy conversion.

The conductivity of silicon is increased by adding a small amount of pentavalent

(antimony, phosphorus, or arsenic) or trivalent (boron, gallium, indium) atoms (~
part in 108). This process is known as doping and resulting semiconductors are
known as doped or extrinsic semiconductors.

The modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on quantum

physics to explain the movement of charge carriers in a crystal lattice.[1] Doping
greatly increases the number of charge carriers within the crystal. When a doped
semiconductor contains mostly free holes it is called "p-type", and when it
contains mostly free electrons it is known as "n-type". The semiconductor materials
used in electronic devices are doped under precise conditions to control the
concentration and regions of p- and n-type dopants. A single semiconductor crystal
can have many p- and n-type regions; the p�n junctions between these regions are
responsible for the useful electronic behavior.

Although some pure elements and many compounds display semiconductor properties,
silicon,[2][better source needed] germanium, and compounds of gallium are the most
widely used in electronic devices. Elements near the so-called "metalloid
staircase", where the metalloids are located on the periodic table, are usually
used as semiconductors.

Some of the properties of semiconductor materials were observed throughout the mid
19th and first decades of the 20th century. The first practical application of
semiconductors in electronics was the 1904 development of the cat's-whisker
detector, a primitive semiconductor diode widely used in early radio receivers.
Developments in quantum physics in turn allowed the development of the transistor
in 1947[3] and the integrated circuit in 1958.

Mechanical and electrical transducers

Transducers that convert physical quantities into mechanical ones are called
mechanical transducers; Transducers that convert physical quantities into
electrical are called electrical transducers. Examples are a thermocouple that
changes temperature differences into a small voltage, or a Linear variable
differential transformer (LVDT) used to measure displacement.

Sensors and actuators

Transducers can be categorized by which direction information passes through them:

A sensor is a transducer that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus from a

physical system.[3][4][2] It produces a signal, which represents information about
the system, which is used by some type of telemetry, information or control system.
An actuator is a device that is responsible for moving or controlling a mechanism
or system. It is controlled by a signal from a control system or manual control. It
is operated by a source of energy, which can be mechanical force, electrical
current, hydraulic fluid pressure, or pneumatic pressure, and converts that energy
into motion. An actuator is the mechanism by which a control system acts upon an
environment. The control system can be simple (a fixed mechanical or electronic
system), software-based (e.g. a printer driver, robot control system), a human, or
any other input.[2]
Bidirectional transducers convert physical phenomena to electrical signals and also
convert electrical signals into physical phenomena. An example of an inherently
bidirectional transducer is an antenna, which can convert radio waves
(electromagnetic waves) into an electrical signal to be processed by a radio
receiver, or translate an electrical signal from a transmitter into radio waves.
Another example is voice coils, which are used in loudspeakers to translate an
electrical audio signal into sound and in dynamic microphones to translate sound
waves into an audio signal.[2]
Passive vs active sensors
Passive sensors require an external power source to operate, which is called an
excitation signal. The signal is modulated by the sensor to produce an output
signal. For example, a thermistor does not generate any electrical signal, but by
passing an electric current through it, its resistance can be measured by detecting
variations in the current or voltage across the thermistor.[5][2]
Active sensors, in contrast, generate an electric current in response to an
external stimulus which serves as the output signal without the need of an
additional energy source. Such examples are a photodiode, and a piezoelectric
sensor, thermocouple.[6]