A blast of gas for better solar cells
Treating silicon with carbon dioxide gas in plasma processing brings simplicity and control to a key step for making solar cells.
Oct 26, 2020
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64
Energy & Green Tech
Treating silicon with carbon dioxide gas in plasma processing brings simplicity and control to a key step for making solar cells.
Oct 26, 2020
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64
Electronics & Semiconductors
Power electronics regulate and modify electric power. They are in computers, power steering systems, solar cells, and many other technologies. Researchers are seeking to enhance power electronics by using silicon carbide ...
Oct 19, 2020
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Internet
Facebook on Wednesday said it will stop running political or social issue ads after the US polls close on November 3 to reduce chances of confusion or abuse.
Oct 8, 2020
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5
Energy & Green Tech
Researchers working to maximize solar panel efficiency said layering advanced materials atop traditional silicon is a promising path to eke more energy out of sunlight. A new study shows that by using a precisely controlled ...
Oct 6, 2020
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Energy & Green Tech
Efficient separation and collection of photogenerated carriers through the formation of asymmetric electron and hole transport channels is one of the key issues for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells and other types of ...
Sep 29, 2020
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Business
Perhaps the most secretive firm to emerge from Silicon Valley, Palantir Technologies is set for a stock market debut this month that may shed light on the Big Data firm specializing in law enforcement and national security.
Sep 20, 2020
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Electronics & Semiconductors
Understanding how solar cell operation changes as it moves from the lab into the real world is essential for optimizing their design prior to mass production. KAUST researchers show how perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells ...
Sep 14, 2020
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Consumer & Gadgets
Apple on Tuesday fired off invitations to a September 15 online event expected to star the first iPhone tailored for superfast 5G telecom networks.
Sep 8, 2020
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134
Energy & Green Tech
Electrifying research by Clemson University scientists could lead to the creation of lighter, faster-charging batteries suitable for powering a spacesuit, or even a Mars rover. The research, which was funded by NASA, was ...
Aug 31, 2020
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140
Data analysis specialist Palantir on Tuesday laid out plans to directly list shares on the New York Stock Exchange, shunning the typical tactic of going public by issuing new stock.
Aug 26, 2020
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Silicon (pronounced /ˈsɪlɨkən/ or /ˈsɪlɨkɒn/, Latin: silicium) is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855. A tetravalent metalloid, silicon is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon. As the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, silicon very rarely occurs as the pure free element in nature, but is more widely distributed in dusts, planetoids and planets as various forms of silicon dioxide (silica) or silicates. On Earth, silicon is the second most abundant element (after oxygen) in the crust, making up 25.7% of the crust by mass.
Silicon has many industrial uses. It is the principal component of most semiconductor devices, most importantly integrated circuits or microchips. Silicon is widely used in semiconductors because it remains a semiconductor at higher temperatures than the semiconductor germanium and because its native oxide is easily grown in a furnace and forms a better semiconductor/dielectric interface than any other material.
In the form of silica and silicates, silicon forms useful glasses, cements, and ceramics. It is also a constituent of silicones, a class-name for various synthetic plastic substances made of silicon, oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, often confused with silicon itself.
Silicon is an essential element in biology, although only tiny traces of it appear to be required by animals. It is much more important to the metabolism of plants, particularly many grasses, and silicic acid (a type of silica) forms the basis of the striking array of protective shells of the microscopic diatoms.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA