n-type, a. Physics.
(ˈɛntaɪp)
[f. N (repr. negative) + type n.1]
Applied to (a region in) a semiconductor in which electrical conduction is due chiefly to the movement of electrons. Opp. p-type a.
| 1946 J. A. Becker et al. in Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engin. LXV. 714/1 The theoretical and experimental physicists have established that there are two types of electronic semiconductors which can be called N and P type, depending on whether the carriers are negative electrons or are equivalent to positive ‘holes’ in the filled energy band. Ibid. 715/1 N-type oxides, such as ZnO... P-type oxides, such as NiO. 1948 Torrey & Whitman Crystal Rectifiers iii. 49 A semiconductor that conducts principally by electrons in the nearly empty band is said to be an ‘n-type’ semiconductor. 1962 Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors i. 8 If this type of impurity semiconduction is predominant the material is said to be an n-type extrinsic semiconductor, or simply of n-type. 1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 60/2 Light⁓sensitive diodes are produced by diffusing islands of boron into a substrate of n-type silicon. |