Semiconductor vs. Dielectric

Semiconductornoun

(physics) A substance with electrical properties intermediate between a good conductor and a good insulator.

Dielectricnoun

(metamaterial) An electrically insulating or nonconducting material considered for its electric susceptibility, i.e. its property of polarization when exposed to an external electric field.

Semiconductornoun

a substance as germanium or silicon whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a metal and an insulator; its conductivity increases with temperature and in the presence of impurities

Dielectricadjective

(electrically) insulating

Semiconductornoun

a conductor made with semiconducting material

Dielectricnoun

Any substance or medium that transmits the electric force by a process different from conduction, as in the phenomena of induction; a nonconductor, separating a body electrified by induction, from the electrifying body.

Semiconductor

A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as metallic copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way.

Dielectricnoun

a material such as glass or porcelain with negligible electrical or thermal conductivity

Dielectric

In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric material) is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material as they do in an electrical conductor, but instead only slightly shift from their average equilibrium positions, causing dielectric polarization.