Skip to main content

How a Semiconductor formed the basis of modern-age Computing


 Semiconductors are substances that exhibit both electrical conductivity and electrical non-conductivity.

How useful is a Semiconductor?

They are mostly deployed in computers among other electronic appliances.

They are an important component of electronic devices owing to their ability to control and manage the flow of an electric current.

Semiconductors can be compounds like gallium arsenide, or pure elements like silicon or germanium.

Semiconductors, also referred as Micro Chips or Integrated Circuits, are tiny fragments of Silicon and related raw materials altered through doping so that they can sometimes conduct electricity and sometimes not.

Doping entails the addition of small amounts of impurities to the pure substances with the aim of causing changes in their electric conductivity.

Micro Chips use a binary language that only recognizes 0s and 1s thus allowing them to be used as electric switches.

Semiconductors are used in the manufacture of various electronic devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits.

Imagine how life would be boring without electronic devices such a tvs, radios and smartphones. 

Therefore, semiconductors are a very important aspect of human life in relation to technology.

According to DigWatch, categories of semiconductors include: Memory chips, Microprocessors, Graphic processing units (GPUs), Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and Systems-on-a-chip (SoCs).




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How Human Noise Kills Marine Species, as revealed by Scientists

Scientists have warned that the discord of noise made by humans is harming marine species .  A comprehensive assessment revealed that large noise from human activities was as harmful as pollution, overfishing and climate change .  The study that was conducted by the Journal Science exposed how marine animals can hear from far distances than they can see or smell. According to a report published in the Guardian, most of the marine life uses sound to catch prey as well as attracting a mating partner.  Prof Carlos Duarte of King Abdullah University in Saudi Arabia argued that: “Marine animal can only sea up to around 10 meters, smell up to around a hundred meters, but they can hear across the entire ocean basins.” The research concluded that sound “is very important in the marine ecosystems, and noise is pervasive, affecting animals at all levels .” The increasing cacophony in the marine habitat is interfering with how marine animals respond to various survival tactics which

What President Mwai Kibaki will be remembered for, even in death?

Former President Mwai Kibaki, who passed away on Friday, is undoubtedly one of the best one that Kenya has ever had since independence.  President Uhuru Kenyatta announced his death at midday. Kibaki has died at the age of 91 years. Unfortunately Kibaki has died at a time when Kenyans are struggling to make their ends meet as a result of increased cost of living. The Makerere university-trained economist fine-tuned Kenya’s economy overseeing the dramatic increment of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Kibaki inherited a government that had been badly ravaged by ‘years of misrule and ineptitude.’ He chose technocrats and intellectuals to work with in building an all-inclusive country – reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. His predecessor the late Daniel Arap Moi had gravely ruined the country’s economy by entertaining corruption. Despite waging a serious battle against corruption, the same hounded some members of his cabinet including the then Finance Minister David Mwira

How Technology Hacked KCPE, KCSE Examination Integrity

Both Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) have lost credibility. The two academic testimonials awarded by the Kenyan National Examination Council (KNEC) lost luster with the advent of social media platforms such as Whatsapp , Telegram and even Facebook. The era when hard work was rewarded is long gone. Social messaging apps have expedited the speed at which exam material is spread, before the official examination date. Instant messaging services widened the scope of material delivery. In 2014 and 2015 there was unprecedented massive exam theft across Kenya, a scenario that led to a major overhaul of the entire examination council and the manner in which exams were administered. The then Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof Jacob Kaimenyi paid the ultimate price, when he was transferred to the less lucrative Ministry of Lands. The no-nonsense, tough looking Matiang’i replaced Kaimenyi at Jogoo House and he singl