the.com/semiconductors
materials that conduct electricity only when you politely ask them to.
means a class of materials, like silicon, whose conductivity sits between metal and insulator and can be precisely tuned to switch and control electric current.
from the term dates to 19th-century physics describing materials with resistance between conductors and insulators, but it became civilization-defining in 1947 when bell labs built the first transistor from germanium, replacing bulky vacuum tubes.
doping trickadding trace impurities controls conductivity precisely.
moore's lawtransistor counts doubled roughly every two years, decades running.
one chipmodern processors pack billions of transistors on a fingernail.
geopolitical linchpinone taiwanese company fabs most advanced chips worldwide.