Conductors | Insulators | Semiconductors |
1. Valence band or conduction band are partially filled. | Valence Band is completely filled with electrons and conduction band is empty. | At 0K, electrons in valence band do not have sufficient energy to jump to conduction band. |
2. Valence and conduction bands overlap. Energy gap ~ 0 eV. | Valence and conduction band have Energy gap ~ 6 eV. | Forbidden gap in between conductors and insulators. Energy gap ~ 3 eV. |
3. Conductivity is highest. | Conductivity is very low. | Conductivity is in between conductors and insulators. |