Meaning of Bandgap | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The energy difference between two allowed ranges of electron energy in a solid; especially the difference between the energies of the valence band and the conduction band.
2. A gap in a frequency range in which waves cannot propagate.

Equivalents

Examples

“The problem has been the lack of what is known as a bandgap. Semiconductors have⟳ bands of higher and lower energies and a point⟳ – the bandgap – at which excited electrons can hop from one to the other. This effectively allows switching on and off of the flow⟳ of current, so it is either conducting or not conducting, creating the binary system of zeroes and ones used in digital computers. […] Now, Walter de Heer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and his colleagues have⟳ created graphene with a bandgap and even demonstrated a working transistor, an on/off switch⟳ that either prevents or allows current to flow⟳ through it.”

“The propagation of an acoustic wave⟳ inside a phononic crystal is forbidden in the bandgap frequency range due to Bragg scattering.”

CEFR level