What is the difference between semiconductor and semi-metals?
Some materials are called semi-metals and some, semi conductors.
then what is the difference?
In case of semi metal there is a small overlap between top of valence band and bottom of conduction band. But in semiconductor there is no overlap between CB and VB and so possesses a band gap. Semi metal has negligible density of states at the Fermi level and no band gap. The electrical conduction property is similar to metal, if we increase temperature then conductivity will decrease. In semiconductor electrical conductivity will increase with temperature.
In case of semi metal there is a small overlap between top of valence band and bottom of conduction band. But in semiconductor there is no overlap between CB and VB and so possesses a band gap. Semi metal has negligible density of states at the Fermi level and no band gap. The electrical conduction property is similar to metal, if we increase temperature then conductivity will decrease. In semiconductor electrical conductivity will increase with temperature.
For insulators, the magnitude of the band gap is larger (e.g. > 4 eV) than that of asemiconductor (e.g. < 4 eV). Metals have a partially filled conduction band. Asemimetal is a material with a very small overlap between the bottom of the conduction band and the top of the valence band.
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