Since they cannot move or change their energy, electrons in a bond are not considered "free" and cannot participate in current flow, absorption or other physical processes which require presence of free electrons. The electrons in the covalent bond are held in place by this bond and hence they are localised to region surrounding the atom. A covalent bond consists of two atoms "sharing" a single electron, such that each atom is surrounded by 8 electrons. The electrons surrounding each atom in a semiconductor are part of a covalent bond. One key effect is limit the energy levels which the electrons can occupy and how they move about the crystal lattice. The bond structure of a semiconductor determines the material properties of a semiconductor. A semiconductor can be either of a single element, such as Si or Ge, a compound, such as GaAs, InP or CdTe, or an alloy, such as Si xGe (1-x) or Al xGa (1-x)As, where x is the fraction of the particular element and ranges from 0 to 1. More common semiconductor materials are shown in blue. Several properties of silicon are described at the silicon page. Silicon is the most commonly used semiconductor material as it forms the basis for integrated circuit (IC) chips. The atoms in a semiconductor are materials from either group IV of the periodic table, or from a combination of group III and group V (called III-V semiconductors), or of combinations from group II and group VI (called II-VI semiconductors). Schematic representation of covalent bonds in a silicon crystal lattice. The structure of a semiconductor is shown in the figure below. The electrons occupy certain energy levels, based on the number of electrons in the atom, which is different for each element in the periodic table. The number of electrons and protons is equal, such that the atom is overall electrically neutral. An individual atom consists of a nucleus made up of a core of protons (positively charged particles) and neutrons (particles having no charge) surrounded by electrons. Semiconductors are made up of individual atoms bonded together in a regular, periodic structure to form an arrangement whereby each atom is surrounded by 8 electrons.
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