GC: n

CT: A semiconductor is called a semiconductor because it is a type of material that has an electrical resistance which is between the resistance typical of metals and the resistance typical of insulators, so it kind of, or “semi”-conducts electricity. Semiconductors are used in many electrical circuits because we can control the flow of electrons in this material, for example, with a controlling current.
Semiconductors are also used for other special properties. In fact, a solar cell is made of semiconductors which are sensitive to light energy. The amount of light energy that hits the semiconductors will determine the amount of electrical current generated by those semiconductors that make up the solar cells.

S: http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/power/3-whats-a-semiconductor.html (last access: 29 December 2014)

N: 1. 1838, “material whose electrical conductivity is between that of a conductor and that of an insulator,” from semi- + conductor. Modern very specific sense is recorded from 1931.
2. A non-metallilc conductor of electrons. There are different kinds of semiconductors: intrinsic, extrinsic, N type, P type, ionic, mixed.
3. A semiconductor is a substance, usually a solid chemical element or compound, that can conduct electricity under some conditions but not others, making it a good medium for the control of electrical current. Its conductance varies depending on the current or voltage applied to a control electrode, or on the intensity of irradiation by infrared (IR), visible light, ultraviolet (UV), or X rays.
4. The specific properties of a semiconductor depend on the impurities, or dopants, added to it. An N-type semiconductor carries current mainly in the form of negatively-charged electrons, in a manner similar to the conduction of current in a wire. A P-type semiconductor carries current predominantly as electron deficiencies called holes. A hole has a positive electric charge, equal and opposite to the charge on an electron. In a semiconductor material, the flow of holes occurs in a direction opposite to the flow of electrons.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=semiconductor&searchmode=none (last access: 29 December 2014). 2. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 29 December 2014. 3 & 4. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/semiconductor (last access: 29 December 2014).

GV: semi-conductor

S: TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 29 December 2014

SYN:
S:

CR: computer science, diode , light-emitting diode, photovoltaic effect.