Silicon
Si
Description
Silicon (Si)
Overview
Silicon is a brittle, blue-gray crystalline metalloid. It is a Group 14 element and serves as the primary semiconductor material for the modern electronics industry. It is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust by mass ($28\%$).
Crystallographic Structure
Silicon utilizes the Diamond Cubic lattice system. This structure consists of two interpenetrating Face-Centered Cubic (FCC) sub-lattices displaced by a vector of $(1/4, 1/4, 1/4)$ along the body diagonal.
- Lattice Parameter: $a = 5.4307$ Å
- Atomic Packing Factor (APF): 0.34
- Coordination Number: 4
- Bonding: Strong covalent bonding in a tetrahedral geometry.
Properties
- Atomic Number: 14
- Atomic Mass: 28.085 u
- Melting Point: 1,414°C
- Boiling Point: 3,265°C
- Density: 2.329 g/cm³
- Band Gap: $1.12$ eV (Indirect)
- Resistivity: Decreases as temperature increases (characteristic of semiconductors).
Applications
- Semiconductors: High-purity silicon (Electronic Grade) is used for microchips, transistors, and integrated circuits.
- Solar Energy: The active component in photovoltaic cells for converting sunlight into electricity.
- Alloying: Used as an additive in aluminum and steel to improve castability and strength.
- Silicones: Synthetic polymers (silicon-oxygen backbones) used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, and medical applications.
- Silica/Silicates: Used in the production of glass, ceramics, and cement.
Unit Cell Axes
a=5.43 b=5.43 c=5.43
Unit Cell Angles
α=90° β=90° γ=90°
Lattice Type
fcc
Grid Expansion
Appearance
Si Color
#7e838c
Bond Color
#94a3b8
Coordination
Atoms: 18Bonds: 28
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