Semi-conducteur

In brief

The basic material used in microchips lies somewhere between substances that conduct electricity and those that block it. It is by exploiting this property that billions of tiny switches are etched onto a piece of silicon.

▶ Precise definition

A material, most commonly silicon, whose conductivity can be precisely controlled, and which forms the basis of all integrated circuits. Its manufacture involves a long and specialised industrial process: design, etching at the foundry, lithography equipment, assembly and testing, almost none of which is carried out entirely within Europe.