Silicon

2025-05-05T18:30:21Z

Todeilfungo: added the "electrical uses" part

[[File:Si-TableImage.svg|thumb|300px|Position of silicon in the periodic table.]]
[[File:Křemík.PNG|thumb|200px|Silicon sample.]]

'''Silicon''' is a [[Chemical elements|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 metalloid. It is relatively unreactive.

== Uses ==
Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, often with very little processing of the natural minerals. Such use includes industrial construction with [[Clay|clays]], silica [[sand]], and [[stone]]. Silicates are used in Portland [[cement]] for mortar and stucco, and mixed with silica sand and [[gravel]] to make [[concrete]]. They are also used in whiteware [[ceramic]]s such as porcelain, and in traditional silicate-based soda-lime [[glass]] and many other specialty glasses.

Silicon compounds such as silicon carbide are used as abrasives and components of high-strength ceramics. Silicon is the basis of the widely used synthetic polymers called silicones. The small portion of very highly purified elemental silicon used in semiconductor electronics is essential to the transistors and integrated circuit chips used in most modern technology such as smartphones and other computers.

=== Electrical uses ===
Silicon is widely used in many electrical components and is fundamental to many circuits, both analog and digital, due to its semiconducting properties. To properly use these electrical properties, the silicon must be pure and in a monocrystalline form.
To make use of its semiconducting behavior, silicon needs to be doped:
-with an acceptor element (usually boron or aluminum) to form P-type silicon
-with a donor element (usually phosphorus or arsenic) to form N-type silicon
Fusing the two types together creates different types of junctions. The simplest of these is the P-N junction, which forms a diode. A diode allows current to flow in only one direction and is used to rectify alternating current or to block it in one direction.
Another important component is the transistor. One type can be made by sandwiching a P-doped slice of silicon between two N-doped layers (or the other way around). Transistors are used to create electrical controls, analog devices, and digital circuits.

== Dependencies ==

* '''Silicon'''
** [[Ceramic]]
** [[Clay]]
** [[Glass]]
** [[Stone]]
* [[Gravel]]
* [[Sand]]
** [[Concrete]]

== See also ==
* [[Arsenic]]
* [[Boron]]
* [[Chemical elements]]

== References ==
{{wa|Silicon}}

[[Category:Metalloids]]

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Silicon