of mobile charge carriers. When the device is forward biased (connected with the p-side at higher electric potential than the n-side), this depletion region is diminished, allowing for significant conduction, while only a very small current can be achieved when the diode is and thus the depletion region expanded. Exposing a semiconductor to light can generate electron–hole pairs, which increases the number of free carriers and thereby the conductivity. Diodes optimized to take advantage of this phenomenon are known as photodiodes. Compound semiconductor diodes can also produce light, as in light-emitting diodes and laser diode Transistor Bipolar junction transistor Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) are formed from two p–n junctions, in either n–p–n or p–n–p configuration. The middle, or base, the region between the junctions is typically very narrow. The other regions, and their associated terminals, are known as the emitter and the collector. A small current injected through the junction between the base and the emitter changes the properties of the base-collector junction so that it can conduct current even though it is reverse biased. This creates a much larger current between the collector and emitter, controlled by the base-emitter current. Field-effect transistor Another type of transistor, the field-effect transistor (FET), operates on the principle that semiconductor conductivity can be increased or decreased by the presence of an electric field. An electric field can increase the number of free electrons and holes in a semiconductor, thereby changing its conductivity. The field may be applied by a reverse-biased p–n junction, forming a junction field-effect transistor (JFET) or by an electrode insulated from the bulk material by an oxide layer, forming a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Metal-oxide-semiconductor The metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET, or MOS transistor), a solid-state device, is by far the most used widely semiconductor device today. It accounts for at least 99.9% of all transistors, and there have been an estimated 13sextillion MOSFETs manufactured between 1960 and 2018. The gate electrode is charged to produce an electric field that controls the conductivity of a "channel" between two terminals, called the source and drain. Depending on the type of carrier in the channel, the device may be an n-channel (for electrons) or a p-channel (for holes) MOSFET. Although the MOSFET is named in part for its "metal" gate, in modern devices polysilicon is typically used instead. Semiconductor device materials By far, silicon (Si) is the most widely used material in semiconductor devices.