What is doped?

Doping is the process of intentionally introducing impurities into a material to change its electrical, optical, or mechanical properties. In electronics, doping is commonly used to create semiconductors, which have intermediate conductivity between conductors and insulators.

Doping can be done by adding impurities to the material during its production or by exposing the material to certain chemicals or radiation. The doping process can result in changes in the material's electron or hole concentration, bandgap, thermal conductivity, and other properties.

Doping is widely used in the semiconductor industry for fabricating transistors, diodes, and other electronic devices. The most common dopants used in semiconductors are boron, phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony. The type and concentration of dopants used can be carefully controlled to tailor the properties of the material for specific applications.

There is also doping in sports, which refers to the use of performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unfair advantage in competition. This type of doping is prohibited and considered unethical.