Silicon Carbide semiconductor devices are revolutionizing power electronics, according to market research firm Yole Development. Furthermore, their growth within the power semiconductor device market is rapid. SiC is an inorganic compound composed of layers, or polytypes. When doped with impurities like aluminum, boron and gallium it becomes an effective semiconductor material.
Wide band-gap
Silicon carbide (SiC) is an extremely hard synthetic crystalline compound of silicon and carbon that has long been utilized as an abrasive for use with sandpaper, grinding wheels, cutting tools and industrial furnace linings since its invention during the late 19th century. Furthermore, SiC serves as an excellent semiconductor substrate material used for light emitting diodes (LED).
Power semiconductors made of SiC can handle higher voltages than devices made with traditional silicon, leading to smaller and lighter components and reduced manufacturing costs for manufacturers. Furthermore, SiC’s higher temperature ratings make for simpler yet more reliable systems capable of operating under harsh environments.
Silicon carbide stands out as a top performer thanks to its wider bandgap, which allows it to conduct current more efficiently than common semiconductor materials like silicon. Wide-bandgap materials also possess higher temperature tolerance, higher voltage potentials, and can support higher frequencies than their silicon-based counterparts.
High breakdown voltage
Silicon Carbide (SiC) semiconductors have garnered significant attention due to their ability to withstand higher voltages and temperatures than traditional silicon semiconductors while also helping electronic devices reduce power loss and switching losses, two important aspects of electronic device performance.
Market Research Future estimates that power semiconductor market revenue will experience annual compounded compound growth of more than 10% during the next five years due to rising demand for electric vehicles (EV), renewable energy sources (RE), and 5G technology – driving demand for advanced power electronics technologies with greater performance and higher efficiency while remaining compact in size.
SiC semiconductors boast a high breakdown voltage, making them perfect for power electronics applications. Their electrical properties far surpass those of silicon and gallium nitride, making SiC suitable for high-voltage systems above 1000V. Their voltage resistance is significantly lower than silicon’s; gallium nitride performs poorly compared with it.
Silicon Carbide, composed of carbon and silicon, can be found abundantly in nature; however, only trace amounts occur naturally on Earth in meteorites or rock deposits. However, it can be produced synthetically quite easily for industrial abrasives over the past century.
High thermal conductivity
excellent thermal conductivity of silicon carbide ceramic makes it an excellent material choice for power semiconductor devices. Its ability to disperse heat away from devices helps reduce circuit temperatures, increasing efficiency and reliability while its higher blocking voltage further aids device performance.
Silicon Carbide (SiC), is a compound made up of silicon and carbon that features an unusually wide band-gap to enable it to conduct electricity at higher frequencies than regular silicon semiconductors, higher voltages, and faster switching speeds than their silicon-based counterparts. All these qualities make SiC an excellent material choice for applications requiring maximum performance at various temperatures.
Silicon carbide stands out among ceramic materials by withstanding extreme temperatures without suffering strength loss or chemical instability, having low thermal expansion rates and being resistant to acids and lyes. Furthermore, its high Young’s modulus makes it suitable for construction applications.
Goldman Sachs recently published a report suggesting that silicon carbide can enable electric vehicles (EV) to become more energy-efficient and quicker charging, thus significantly expanding their market potential. Furthermore, silicon carbide can enhance battery density by decreasing energy losses and component count – leading to greater power density with reduced component counts.
Excellent electrical conductivity
Silicon Carbide (SiC) in its pure state is an electrical insulator; however, when doped with impurities under controlled circumstances it can gain semi-conduction properties that allow current to pass through it more freely. This process is known as doping. Doping creates free charge carriers which allow current to flow more freely throughout the material.
SiC’s ability to tolerate higher voltages means systems designed with it require fewer capacitors and storage inductors, reducing system design complexity while improving reliability, as well as helping reduce size/weight/cost considerations of power components and ultimately leading to reduced system costs.
SiC’s high voltage capabilities enable automotive inverters to operate at higher switching frequencies than traditional inverters, thus optimizing battery efficiency and increasing driving range for electric vehicles. Furthermore, increased switching frequencies require smaller passives and cooling requirements resulting in reduced system complexity and costs.
SiC is a key element of modern electronics, from smartphones to data centers. Due to its hardness, strength, and ability to withstand high-temperature environments, SiC has long been used as an industrial material in various applications including abrasives such as sandpaper and grinding wheels; ceramic plates for bulletproof vests; as well as in abrasive products like sandpaper.
Excellent thermal shock resistance
Silicon Carbide ceramic is an extremely hard, strong ceramic material with superior thermal shock resistance and resistance to high temperatures without suffering strength loss due to its unique lattice structure and properties. SiC has an unusual primary coordination tetrahedron crystal structure composed of carbon and silicon atoms forming strong bonds in its crystal framework that results in significant hardness, strength, low density, elastic modulus, inertness and thermal expansion; low thermal expansion as well as good thermal conductivity are among its characteristics.
Silicon Carbide can be found naturally as moissanite in small amounts in meteorites and kimberlite, but most often produced synthetically through either reaction bonding or sintering processes. The production method often has a significant effect on its microstructure as well as thermal shock resistance of final products.
Silicon carbide-based power semiconductors can withstand much higher voltages than their silicon counterparts, making them suitable for use in demanding applications like power electronics for electric vehicles. Their wider bandgap allows for higher energy efficiency and faster switching between conducting and insulating states than silicon (Wolfspeed). As a result, power systems made with silicon carbide contain fewer components in series with reduced space requirements–increasing system reliability while decreasing costs for manufacturers.
High strength
Silicon carbide is one of the world’s strongest human-made materials, possessing superior strength even at very high temperatures. This allows devices made from it to operate at higher voltages and temperatures than their silicon counterparts, thus increasing power density and improving performance. Furthermore, silicon carbide’s thermal shock-resistant qualities lowers device failure risks caused by overheating while increasing device reliability.
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is an intricate crystalline material, featuring numerous polytypes characterized by different arrangements of its atoms and an assortment of stacking sequences and forms. Cubic SiC is the most prevalent polytype, consisting of carbon and silicon atoms joined together in tetrahedral structures. Production of hexagonal and rhombohedral SiC is possible but their yield limits their usage.
Silicon Carbide was first synthesized artificially by Edward Acheson in 1891 from a melt of silicon and carbon. Later discovered naturally by Henri Moissan in 1905 at Canyon Diablo meteorite in Arizona where it has since been named moissanite. Nowadays, most silicon carbide produced is synthetic while only small quantities remain naturally occurring within certain meteorites, corundum deposits or kimberlite sources.
Low density
SiC’s low density allows more components to be stacked together in an electrical system, decreasing their size and weight while simultaneously improving energy efficiency and reliability while decreasing system costs for manufacturers. Furthermore, SiC allows higher switching frequencies that increase device reliability while decreasing power loss.
Silicon carbide is produced as a powder from reaction-bonded silicon and carbon in electric furnaces, or grown from large single crystal boules through chemical vapour deposition. Silicon carbide can be used as an industrial abrasive, as well as serving many other purposes in industries like automotive, aerospace and medicine. Furthermore, semiconductor devices like rectifiers and transistors often utilize silicon carbide.
Silicon Carbide has experienced a surge in interest over recent years, creating a gold rush among investors. Market Research Future reports that SiC devices used in electric vehicles (EVs) will push global power semiconductor market revenue beyond $1 billion worldwide by 2022; its use can help improve vehicle range and enable faster charging times while operating at higher voltages and temperatures than can challenge current electronics systems.