Author:
Williams, Joel Mann
Category:
Research Papers
Date Published:
March 12, 2014
Keywords:
Atom bonding, semiconductors, molecular orbitals, electron orbital models
Abstract:
Diamonds and silicon wafers are prized materials that share a common crystal structure. Tetrahedral atom interactions are the basis for their properties: hardness, thermal conductivity, electrical non-conductivity, etc. sp3-Hybrid orbitals provide the current explanation for the interatomic “bond” connections. These covalent bonds, however, do not provide an adequate mechanism for these materials acting as semiconductors. Ionic bonding between atoms with the crystal lattice fully connected via overlapped, but “unoccupied”, orbitals does provide a logical structure to explain how semiconductor doping works, however.
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