Silicon Rising

Abstract

Silicon, as an electronic material, has played an enormous role in promoting the modern technical evolution in almost all fields. And, needless to say, it will continue its leadership until a better material is found. We are currently going through an exploration period to search out alternative materials. A number of different materials are have been proposed as challengers, but silicon (Si) is still the front runner, as far as complementary metaloxide- semiconductor (CMOS) technologies is concerned. Silicon is widely used in electronic industries in a number of forms, such as the amorphous silicon used in thin-film transistors (TFTs) in liquid-crystal display units, poly-silicon can be found in flash memory structures and photovoltaic solar cells, and single crystals are predominately used in CMOS technologies. Among the various forms of silicon embodiments, silicon nano-structures – for example, silicon nanowires – are also currently being explored, and for the last a few decades, there has been intense interest in how toprepare nanometre scale silicon.