Silicon Carbide (SiC) – Hard, Heat and Corrosion Resistant Semiconductor

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an innovative non-oxide ceramic with remarkable chemical and physical properties. At different temperatures it displays properties similar to both metals and insulators – this feature gives SiC its characteristic flexibility.

Aluminium oxide can be doped either n-type with nitrogen and phosphorus or p-type with aluminium, boron, and gallium for further modification and cooling; additionally it can become superconducting with further doping and cooling.

Elektrisk konduktivitet

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an exceptionally hard, heat and corrosion-resistant semiconductor material composed of silicon-carbon tetrahedral structures bound together by strong covalent bonds in its crystal lattice. SiC is known for its exceptional strength and resistance to deformation – making it the material of choice in environments such as bulletproof vest ceramic plates.

Pure SiC is an electrical insulator, while adding impurities (known as doping) can alter its properties to become semiconductors. Doping with aluminum, boron, or gallium produces p-type semiconductor properties.

SiC’s tetrahedral structure also permits for the existence of numerous polytypes with varied chemical and electrical properties due to atomic site substitution in its silica layer; generally speaking, larger atomic site replacement increases changes in electrical and chemical properties of polytypes.

SiC is an ideal material for high-power applications due to its wide bandgap capability, enabling electronics to operate at higher temperatures, voltages and frequencies than silicon-based devices. Furthermore, SiC’s ability to withstand high temperatures, oxidation and mechanical loads allows it to be utilized both automotively and aeronautically.

SiC offers superior conductivity and stable operating conditions compared to silicon, the more widely-used semiconductor material. As such, it makes an excellent choice for power electronic components required by electric vehicle technology’s rapid expansion. Furthermore, SiC can reduce current/voltage losses while increasing thermal efficiency for increased thermal efficiency which helps decrease component size while simultaneously supporting rapid vehicle growth.

Bulk techniques that can be used to characterize SiC include Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry and X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy on solid samples; Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ICP-Mass Spectrometry on digested or leached ones; as well as SEM-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy used to perform uncalibrated, semiquantitative, and fully quantitative analyses. Elkem has both facilities and expertise needed to prepare and deliver SiC to meet customer specifications; our state-of-the-art facility known as Elkem Processing Services (EPS) will mix, classify, and pack SiC in accordance with your exacting demands.

Termisk konduktivitet

Silicon carbide, or SiC, is an inorganic material composed of covalently bound carbon and silicon atoms in an ordered structure. Doped with nitrogen, phosphorus or beryllium it becomes an n-type semiconductor; doping with boron gallium aluminum gives rise to p-type characteristics. Bulk SiC has one of the hardest surfaces known with an Mohs hardness rating of 9. Its strong surface also resists corrosion well and chemical reactions.

Silicon carbide has many industrial uses, from power electronics to electric vehicle (EV) applications. Recently, its popularity among these industries has been propelled by its higher operating temperature capabilities that enable it to withstand the high voltage requirements associated with these vehicles.

Silicon carbide offers excellent thermal conductivity as well as electrical conductivity, which enables heat to move swiftly through it and eliminates the need for active cooling systems, thus helping to decrease weight, cost and complexity in battery management systems for electric vehicles (EV).

Silicon carbide stands out as an electrical conductive material due to its lower melting and boiling points and higher thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures, making it more thermally conducive than silicon.

Silicon carbide’s superior thermal conductivity results from its multilayered crystal structure, known as polytypes. Each polytype differs by stacking sequence of its atomic layers; for instance, four carbon atoms bonded to two silicon atoms is usually the most popular configuration in single crystal wafers.

Single-crystal SiC has an average thermal conductivity of 490 W/mK at room temperature. Conductivity in SiC ceramics varies with grain size, lattice impurities, structural defects and the presence of secondary phases with lower conductivities at grain boundaries.

Silicon Carbide (SC) is one of the world’s most commonly used electrical conductors after copper. With excellent thermal and mechanical conductivity, cost efficiency, and low thermal expansion properties, SC offers an attractive alternative to metals and plastics in a range of manufacturing and automotive applications.

Chemical Conductivity

Silicon carbide possesses semiconductor characteristics, which allow certain amounts of current to pass through it when voltage is applied to it. This enables its use in high voltage applications where its wide bandgap would otherwise cause insulating materials to fail due to their prohibitively large energy barriers which prevent electrons from leaping between valence and conduction bands.

This insoluble compound ranks ninth on the Mohs hardness scale, making it one of the hardest synthetic materials. As such, it makes an effective abrasive material which resists impact damage and wear during grinding of metals, as well as most organic acids, alkalis, and salts. Unfortunately it’s soluble in water and alcohol which could adversely impact its properties, such as electrical conductivity.

SiC is notoriously difficult to assess electrically; however, you can identify its type by measuring the Seebeck coefficient – this identifies its n-type conductivity type; which has an intrinsic electrical conductivity of DE(3.1+0.2)x104 (ohm-cm).

Conductivity can be increased in materials by adding impurities or doping agents such as nitrogen or phosphorus doping agents; aluminum, boron or gallium doping can create n-type or p-type semiconductors and be invaluable to many applications. Doping can produce either an n-type or p-type semiconductor depending on the impurity used – for instance adding nitrogen or phosphorus can make your material an n-type semiconductor, while aluminum boron gallium or doping can create n-type or p-type semiconductors; which create n-type or p-type semiconductors used by various applications. Doping materials with nitrogen or phosphorus doping can make your material an n-type semiconductor while doping aluminum, boron, and gallium can doping agents can alter this material into creating p-type semiconductors which have many practical applications.

Electrical conductivity of SiC can vary depending on its concentration and distribution of dopants. Assessing this aspect is paramount in producing reliable semiconductor devices.

Furthermore, SiC’s thermal conductivity varies depending on its density due to interstitial voids that interfere with heat transfer. Therefore, for maximum thermal conductivity it’s crucial that it has consistent grain size and high purity standards to maximize its thermal conductivity.

Silicon carbide is an adaptable material with multiple applications across industries. Its versatility showcases modern materials science’s ingenuity while its distinctive properties play a part in shaping cutting-edge industrial technologies.

Mechanical Conductivity

Silicon carbide typically exhibits mechanical conductivity between 105 – 107 Ohm*cm; however, doping the material with electrically conducting second phases can increase it to much higher levels, making SiC an ideal candidate for heaters and other components requiring high levels of conductivity. Furthermore, its hardness makes it an attractive material for use in sintering and machining operations while its chemical purity and resistance to high temperatures – especially at grain boundaries – have made it popular choice in wafer tray supports and paddles in semiconductor furnaces while other applications include seal faces wear plates and bearings.

Silicon carbide (SC) is an inorganic semiconductor material composed of pure silicon and pure carbon atoms, doped with nitrogen or phosphorus to form an n-type semiconductor, or doped with boron, aluminium and gallium for p-type semiconductor use. SC ranks among one of the hardest known substances today – rivaling materials like diamond and boron carbide as one of the hardest known substances.

Semiconducting properties make ceramic an excellent material choice for electronics such as diodes, transistors and thyristors, due to its wide bandgap which allows it to handle high voltages. Furthermore, its durability, corrosion resistance and heat resistance make this material invaluable when applied in car brakes, clutches and ceramic plates found on bulletproof vests.

Recent studies have demonstrated that radiation damage to MC (M=Si, Ti or Zr) carbides creates predominantly vacancy, interstitial, and antisite defects8,13. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of low energy radiation responses indicate these defect states cause significant decreases in bulk and Young’s moduli values.

SiC is especially susceptible, where antisite defects such as VC, VSi and CSi predominate. Damage end states tend to exhibit significantly lower shear and tensile moduli when compared to ideal counterparts; the effect being particularly evident with SiC than TiC and ZrC. As evidenced by these and other studies, more work needs to be done in understanding how point defects influence MC carbide performance under radiation environments, in order to promote improvements through fundamental research as well as advanced characterization methods.