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Silicon

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Silicon An element with semiconductor properties, and a main ingredient of wafers. Silicon is an element with atomic number 14. It is a metalloid, having both metal and non-metal characteristics. Silicon has both the nature of an insulator, a material through which electricity does not flow, and the nature of a conductor, a material through which electricity flows well. It is the second most abundant element on the Earth’s crust, following oxygen. Silicon exists in nature as oxide or silicate, and is found in sand, rock, and soil.
▲ 보석 중에서 석영, 자수정 등은 규산염의 한 형태이다.
▲ 보석 중에서 석영, 자수정 등은 규산염의 한 형태이다.

▲ Quarts and amethyst are types of silicate among gemstones.

Silicon is usually extracted from sand, and goes through a purification process to use as a raw material for semiconductors. Silicon is melted under high heat, and turned into round rods of pure silicon. These rods are called ingots, an ingredient of wafers. Silicon is also used to make copper and iron alloys, and also as an ingredient of the organic silicon compound called silicone.
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