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semiconductor

(Encyclopedia)CE5 N-type and P-type crystals: In a pure silicon crystal each silicon atom (Si) is surrounded by four valence electrons. In the N-doped semiconductor, illustrated in the left-hand figure, some sil...

Beaverton

(Encyclopedia)Beaverton, city (2020 pop. 99,561), Washington co., NW Oreg., a suburb of Portland, in a farm area; inc. 1893. Beaverton is the heart of the Silicon For...

Mountain View

(Encyclopedia)Mountain View, city (1990 pop. 67,460), Santa Clara co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1902. A steadily growing city, Mountain View is part of the Silicon Valley high-technology industrial comp...

Moses Lake

(Encyclopedia)Moses Lake, city (1990 pop. 11,235), Grant co., central Wash., on Moses Lake; settled 1897, inc. 1938. A distribution and shipping point for the Columbia basin project, it produces are sugar, potatoes...

sandpaper

(Encyclopedia)sandpaper, abrasive originally made by gluing grains of sand to heavy paper sheets. Today sandpaper is made primarily with quartz, aluminum oxide, or silicon carbide grains, and is graded according to...

Hawthorne

(Encyclopedia)Hawthorne. 1 City (2020 pop. 88,083), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1922. Located in an oil- and gas-producing area, ...

Sunnyvale

(Encyclopedia)Sunnyvale, city (1990 pop. 117,229), Santa Clara co., W Calif., near San Francisco; settled 1849, inc. 1912. A city in Silicon Valley, its many manufactures include semiconductors; machinery and instr...

magnalium

(Encyclopedia)magnalium măgnāˈlēəm [key], alloy of aluminum and about 5% magnesium. Although weak and soft in the elemental state, magnesium alloys with aluminum, manganese, zinc, tin, zirconium, and cerium to...

solar cell

(Encyclopedia)solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of forms of crystalline silicon or of thin films (as of copper indium gallium ...

silica

(Encyclopedia)silica or silicon dioxide, chemical compound, SiO2. It is insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alkalies, and soluble in dilute hydrofluoric acid. Pure silica is colorless to white. It occurs in sev...

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