Dopants

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Materials added to another substance to change its physical or chemical properties, particularly for improving electronic performance
2. Substances mixed with a host material to enhance certain attributes such as conductivity or reactivity for applications in electronics
3. Substances introduced into another material to modify its characteristics, especially aiming to improve electrical conductivity or reactivity

Etymology: "Dopants" is the plural of "dopant", a word built from "dope" and the suffix "-ant". The "dope" part is the one that surprises most readers: it is related to the Dutch "doop", meaning a dip or sacrament, a sense that has nothing to do with electronics. Its path to English is traced through a Dutch root rather than the Latin or Greek route most technical vocabulary follows. The suffix "-ant" has a long lineage, passing through Old French and Latin back to Proto-Indo-European, and English used it for words denoting an agent or thing that performs an action. Adding it to "dope" gives a noun for whatever does the doping, which in semiconductor work means the impurity atoms deliberately introduced into a pure crystal, such as silicon, to change how it carries electrical charge.

Synonyms: doping agents