Metalloid nanocrystals may enable lithium-ion batteries to be replaced by more powerful sodium ion batteries. Tellurium, which is a semiconductor in its standard state, is used mainly as a component in type II/VI semiconducting-chalcogenides; these have applications in electro-optics and electronics. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) is used in solar modules for its high conversion efficiency, low manufacturing costs, and large band gap of 1.44 eV, letting it absorb a wide range of wavelengths. Bismuth telluride (BiTe), alloyed with selenium and antimony, is a component of thermoelectric devices used for refrigeration or portable power generation. Five metalloids—boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, and antimony—can be
Crystal detector voltage of around 0.2V from a battery to make it more sensitive. Although the zincite-chalcopyrite "Perikon" was the most widely used crystal-to-crystal detector, other crystal pairs were also used. Zincite was also used with carbon, galena, and tellurium. Silicon was used with arsenic, antimony and tellurium crystals. During the first three decades of radio, from 1888 to 1918, called the "wireless telegraphy" or "spark" era, primitive radio transmitters called spark gap transmitters were used, which generated radio waves by an electric spark. These transmitters were unable to produce the continuous sinusoidal waves which are used to transmit audio (sound) in