Which of the following is most commonly used as a semiconductor?
The semiconductor materials are either elementary such as silicon and germanium or compound such as gallium arsenide. Silicon is the most used semiconductor instead of germanium for discrete devices and integrated circuits. Silicon is less expensive due to the greater abundance of an element. The major raw material for Si wafer fabrication is sand and there is lots of sand available in nature. The structure of germanium crystals will be destroyed at a higher temperature. However, Silicon crystals are not easily damaged by excess heat.