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I find this term a bit mysterious, it appears that everyone is using it intuitively without proper definition (or at least I failed to find one).

So the Physics Glossary defines it as

In condensed matter physics, doping refers to the deliberate introduction of impurities into an extremely pure crystal. For example, a crystal of pure silicon might be doped with boron atoms that change the material's electrical properties, making it a more effective semiconductor.

But this definition doesn't help to use it in practice. Books like "Physics of Low-Dimensional Semiconductors" by Davies keep using this term a lot as "you can control something with doping" or "something is limited by doping". Professors assign problems mentioning "(...) find doping (...)".

What is doping in practice in this kind of context. Is it a number? Is it a function? What are its dimensions? If we have to find the degree of doping, what do we search for?

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    $\begingroup$ Doping is a physical process. It isn't something you calculate or something that has a number associated with it like mass or momentum. You can quantify things about the doping, but that is different than doping itself being a number or having dimension. $\endgroup$
    – BioPhysicist
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 3:59
  • $\begingroup$ I think that many books and articles like the following one explain what doping is: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_(semiconductor) $\endgroup$
    – user93237
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 4:00
  • $\begingroup$ I understand this is something more complicated than just a value, perhaps I should formulated my question as, if someone asks you to "find doping", what do you need to find? $\endgroup$
    – Marek
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 4:57
  • $\begingroup$ @Marek - "Find doping" means find the numerical value of the required doping for whatever physics problem was given to you. $\endgroup$
    – user93237
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 5:03
  • $\begingroup$ @SamuelWeir ok, so it is a value, and what are its dimensions? $\endgroup$
    – Marek
    Commented Oct 19, 2018 at 5:09

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The Wikipedia link given in the comments explains it actually pretty nicely.

In intrinsic crystalline silicon, there are approximately $5×10^{22} \text{ atoms}/cm^3$. Doping concentration for silicon semiconductors may range anywhere from $10^{13} cm^{−3}$ to $10^{18} cm^{−3}$.

The doping level is a concentration of dopants in a semiconductor - as such it has the unit $[\frac{1}{cm^3}]$, since it gives the number of dopant atoms per volume.

Doping is important in the semiconductor industry since it modifies the charge carrier concentration of the semiconductor.

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    $\begingroup$ I agree the information is present in the page, however I disagree it is explained nicely, it is hidden inside of long paragraph and when you learn something for the first time and you just want definition of something you don’t want to read entire page as there is no way to know which part is relevant. Still as you see it is given as example, not as definition which is a bit unprofessional. Your answer is helpful, I’m happy to accept it. Thank you! $\endgroup$
    – Marek
    Commented Oct 20, 2018 at 15:10

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