Semiconductors

A semiconductor is a very important electrical component both economically and technologically. Its electrical conductivity which borders between an insulator and a metal makes it useful in most modern electrical devices, ranging from computers to digital audio players and cellular phones.

Today, the most commercially used semiconductor is silicon, though there are many others as well. Semiconductors work on permanent modification through doping while its electrical properties can be dynamically modified using electric fields. It is because of these properties that semiconductors are used in many semiconductor devices such as transistors. Together with passive components like semiconductor capacitors and resistors, it can be used to produce numerous electronic devices.

There are numerous companies manufacturing semiconductors, and National Semiconductor is one of the largest manufacturers of semiconductors. This company is situated in Santa Clara and it specializes in producing analog devices and subsystems. Its market includes wireless handsets and numerous electrical devices in various fields.

Fairchild semiconductor is the manufacturer of the first commercially available integrated circuit, and it was one of the important players in the Silicon Valley evolution of the 1960s. Fairchild has many branches around the world, and its corporate headquarters is situated in South Portland, Maine.

One of the top semiconductor suppliers, Philips Semiconductor aims to be the leading provider of solutions for semiconductors in consumer and communications applications. Philips semiconductors are commonly used in analog and mixed signal applications. Freescale semiconductor is a company which is famous for manufacturing embedded semiconductors that are used in automative, wireless, industrial and consumer markets.

Planar Semiconductor Inc. is a company that is basically involved in the production, sale and development of water cleaning techniques used in manufacturing semiconductors. There is also the Dallas Semiconductor, a company that manufactures and designs analog, digital and mixed signal semiconductors. This company specializes in communication products, delay lines, real time clocks, 1-Wire products and many other things.

In addition to these brands of semiconductors, there are many more companies that manufacture semiconductors, such as Cypress Semiconductor, Rabbit Semiconductor and Maxim Semiconductor. So choosing the best semiconductor for your need can be rather difficult. In such situations, it is generally better to do a semiconductor cross reference. There are many sites on semiconductor types on the internet, and with this cross reference, you will be able to find out if engineer chain semiconductor em-plant is a valid name or link in the world of semiconductors.