n-typeadj.
/ˈɛntʌɪp/, U.S. /ˈɛnˌtaɪp/ Physics.
Designating (a region in) a semiconductor in which electrical conduction is due chiefly to the movement of electrons. Opposed to p-type adj.
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the world > matter > physics > solid state physics > semiconductivity > [adjective] > relating to semiconductor type or region
intrinsic1933
n-type1946
p-type1946
injected1949
PNP1949
NPN1951
1946 J. A. Becker et al. in Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 65 714/1 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.
1948 H. C. Torrey & C. A. Whitmer 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 J. H. Simpson & R. S. 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.
1990 Austral. Personal Computer Feb. 88/1 FETs consist of two regions of one type of conductivity located on a substrate of the opposite conductivity—for example, two n-type regions on a p-type substrate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1946