Semiconductor Band Gaps

From the band theory of solids we see that semiconductors have a band gap between the valence and conduction bands. The size of the band gap has implications for the types of applications that can be made. A low band gap implies higher intrinsic conduction, and a high band gap implies a larger possible photon energy associated with a transition across the gap in light emitting diodes. Band gaps in electron volts are given for a few semiconductor materials in the table below.