Gallium nitride's prominence as ... the valence and conduction bands of the semiconductor. (The valence and conduction bands are the outermost of the energy levels wherein electrons ...

(a) Unit cell of the semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs). Chemical bonds (blue) connect every Ga atom to four neighboring As atoms and vice versa. Valence electron density in the grey plane of ...

However, due to the fact that electrons always prefer to be in the lowest energy state – just like us – they can cross over again into the valence band. Energy must be conserved.

Known as III-V semiconductors, they fall into categories of elements with either three or five valence electrons. Boron, aluminum, gallium, indium, and thallium are Category III elements.