Doping introduces controlled impurity atoms into a pure semiconductor crystal, usually silicon, to alter its electrical conductivity by adding either extra free electrons, called n-type doping, or electron vacancies called holes, called p-type doping. Precisely patterned regions of n-type and p-type doping, brought together, form the diode and transistor junctions that make solid-state electronics possible. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
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Origin YearThe 1947 point-contact transistor relied on doped germanium; diffusion doping and, later in the 1960s, ion implantation were developed and refined across the following two decades. Core PrincipleIntroducing a controlled concentration of impurity atoms into a semiconductor crystal, by diffusion or ion implantation, to create n-type or p-type regions with altered electrical conductivity. 1 FAQs
Who first developed the doping process, and why did it end up in court?
John Robert Woodyard of Sperry Gyroscope, whose 1950 patent preceded the 1953 Bell Labs work and became the basis of litigation by Sperry Rand.
A doping process was formally developed by John Robert Woodyard working at Sperry Gyroscope Company during World War II. His United States patent, issued in 1950, describes adding tiny amounts of solid elements from the nitrogen column of the periodic table to germanium to produce rectifying devices, though the word doping is not used in it. Similar work was performed at Bell Labs by Gordon K. Teal and Morgan Sparks, with a United States patent issued in 1953. Woodyard's earlier patent proved to be the grounds of extensive litigation by Sperry Rand.
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Associated With
Photolithography and doping are paired steps repeated many times in integrated circuit fabrication.
Silicon, Materials Doping introduces impurities into silicon to set its electrical conductivity type.
Controlled doping of germanium and later silicon is what makes a transistor junction possible.
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Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editorstier 1
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Sources
1. Doping, Semiconductor (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead section
In semiconductor production, doping is the intentional introduction of impurities into an intrinsic (undoped) semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical, optical and structural properties.
Dopant elements section
By doping pure silicon with Group V elements such as phosphorus, extra valence electrons are added that become unbounded from individual atoms and allow the compound to be an electrically conductive n-type semiconductor. Doping with Group III elements, which are missing the fourth valence electron, creates broken bonds (holes) in the silicon lattice that are free to move. The result is an electrically conductive p-type semiconductor.
In Group: Semiconductor Fabrication and Electronics Assembly, Introduction
In semiconductor production, doping is the intentional introduction of impurities into an intrinsic (undoped) semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical, optical and structural properties.
View the Source 2. A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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