The past and present life of silicon carbide
Due to its stable chemical properties, high thermal conductivity, small thermal expansion coefficient and good wear resistance, silicon carbide has many other uses besides being used as abrasives. For example, coating silicon carbide powder on the inner wall of turbine impeller or cylinder block with special process can improve its wear resistance and prolong its service life by 1-2 times; the high-grade refractories made of silicon carbide are heat-resistant, shock-resistant, small volume Light weight and high strength, good energy saving effect. Low grade silicon carbide (containing about 85% SiC) is an excellent deoxidizer, which can speed up steel-making, control chemical composition and improve steel quality. In addition, silicon carbide is also widely used to make silicon carbide rods for electric heating elements.
The hardness of silicon carbide is very large. Its Mohs hardness is 9.5, which is next to the hardest diamond in the world (Grade 10). It has excellent thermal conductivity and is a semiconductor. It can resist oxidation at high temperature.
Silicon carbide history table
The first discovery of silicon carbide in meteorites in 1905
The first silicon carbide led was born in 1907
In 1955, a great breakthrough was made in theory and technology. Lely proposed the concept of high quality carbonization for growth, and since then, SiC has been regarded as an important electronic material
In 1958, the first World Conference on silicon carbide was held in Boston for academic exchange
In the 1960s and 1970s, SiC was mainly studied by the Soviet Union. By 1978, "Lely improved technology" was used for the first time to purify and grow grains
1987 - since the establishment of silicon carbide production line based on the research results of Cree, the supplier has started to provide commercialized silicon carbide base.
In 2001, Infineon company in Germany launched SiC diode products, and Cree and French semiconductor companies in the United States followed suit. In Japan, ROM, Nippon wireless and Risa electronics have put SiC diodes into production.
On September 29, 2013, icscrm2013, the international society of silicon carbide semiconductors, was held. 136 units including semiconductor enterprises and scientific research institutions from 24 countries attended the meeting, with 794 people, the most in the past years. The world famous semiconductor device manufacturers, such as Kerui, Mitsubishi, Roma, Infineon, and Fairchild, showed the latest mass-produced silicon carbide devices at the conference.
Up to now, many manufacturers have produced silicon carbide devices such as Cree, MICROSEMI, Infineon and Rohm.
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