: a tetravalent nonmetallic element that occurs combined as the most abundant element next to oxygen in the earth's crust and is used especially in ferrosilicon for steelmaking, in other alloys, and in semiconductors see Chemical Elements Table
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebDespite its ubiquity in the chip industry, silicon is not the best semiconductor out there. Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2022 Starting in 2024, Intel CPUs for PCs will combine the company’s processor technology with silicon from other manufacturers on a single chip. Michael Kan, PCMAG, 18 Feb. 2022 Regardless, the thin-film silicon is lightweight, only weighing 6 lb for a 120W solar blanket. Vikram Mittal, Forbes, 2 June 2021 An onboard waste incinerator minimizes black-water discharge, while a silicon antifouling coating on the hull avoids the use of toxic paints. Julia Zaltzman, Robb Report, 31 Aug. 2022 Its potential to outperform silicon as a semiconductor is very well known within the engineering world. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 28 Aug. 2022 Between 1980 and 2012, the cost of a photovoltaic module made from crystalline silicon fell 96%, according to a 2018 paper by Ms. Trancik and two co-authors. Greg Ip, WSJ, 24 Aug. 2022 Most silicon/rubber/polyurethane cases provide ample heat dissipation for smartphones that are functioning properly. Ken Colburn, The Arizona Republic, 22 Aug. 2022 By that point, bitcoin mining was already dominated by specialized silicon optimized for computing huge numbers of SHA-256 hashes, locking ordinary bitcoiners out of the mining game. Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 19 Aug. 2022 See More