Timeline for Why are microprocessors made using silicon and not germanium?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18 at 14:31 | comment | added | Karl Knechtel | That source looks like really obnoxious SEO bait. I'm inherently skeptical. | |
| Mar 18 at 9:21 | comment | added | ingframin | This is an excellent answer. I want to add that Germanium is water soluble. | |
| Mar 16 at 19:25 | comment | added | periblepsis | The properties of silicon and germanium are found here. The resistivity is markedly different between the two. The linked page has a poor choice of words, writing "good conductors" without defining the meaning of good and talking about semiconductors when using the word conductors. A "good semiconductor" doesn't prioritize properties in the same way as a "good conductor" does. | |
| Mar 16 at 16:17 | comment | added | tobalt | I think the "fewer electrons" thing is an awkward way of saying that one wants a certain minimum bandgap to keep room temperature leakage below certain levels for VLSI. Germanium VLSI might show too much leakage in the "off" state. At the time, Si was the "wide bandgap semiconductor", with all the advantages that we attribute to WBG semiconductors of our time 😉 | |
| Mar 16 at 15:39 | comment | added | Hearth | I'm not sure where they got "if their free electrons are less than 3" from. The more free electrons, the better for conductivity. | |
| Mar 16 at 13:39 | history | answered | Chester Gillon | CC BY-SA 4.0 |