Question

In a semiconductor, the energy gap between the valence band and conduction band is about?

Answer 1

Semiconductor:-

• A semiconductor is a material that has an electrical conductivity value between that of a conductor and that of an insulator.
• It is used as a popular component of electronic chips made for computing components and a variety of electronic devices, including solid-state storage.

Valence band:-

• The valence band is defined as the band of electron orbitals from which the electrons can jump out and move into the conduction band when excited.

Conduction band:-

• The conduction band is the band of electron orbitals that electrons can bounce up into from the valence band when it will be given energy.

The energy gap between the valence band and conduction band:-

• The forbidden band gap, also called bandgap, in materials is the difference in energy between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band.
• Since the electrical conductivity of semiconductors lies between conductors and insulators, so there is a minimum but not zero bandgaps, and is around $1\mathrm{eV}$ in semiconductors.

Hence, in semiconductors, there is a small energy gap of about $1\mathrm{eV}$ exists between the valence band and the conduction band.