What characteristic of metalloids makes them significant in semiconductor technology?

Metalloids are significant in semiconductor technology primarily due to their intermediate conductivity. This characteristic allows them to conduct electricity better than nonmetals but not as well as metals. This unique electrical property enables metalloids to be modified with impurities, a process known as doping, to enhance their conductivity even further.

In semiconductor applications, materials like silicon and germanium, which are both metalloids, can be precisely engineered to create p-type and n-type semiconductors, crucial for electronic components such as transistors and diodes. The ability to control conductivity through the addition of specific impurities makes metalloids indispensable for the development of various electronic devices, ensuring that they can operate effectively in a range of environments and applications.

While other properties of metalloids, like their brittle nature and relatively low melting points, can be interesting, they do not directly contribute to the functional role metalloids play in semiconductor technology. Similarly, high conductivity is a characteristic more associated with metals rather than metalloids.