Silicon carbide (SiC) is an inorganic material composed of carbon and silicon that forms hard compounds with unusual physical and chemical properties. Natural examples can be found as gem moissanite; however, most electronic equipment uses synthetically produced SiC instead.
Power devices made of SiC can offer numerous advantages over traditional silicon ones, including higher voltages and frequencies with reduced switching losses for greater power density in smaller packages.
Högspänning
Silicon carbide is an ideal material for power applications due to its ability to withstand higher voltages – up to 10 times those achieved with silicon. Furthermore, its superior dielectric strength means lower drift layer resistance per area allowing more power to be converted to electricity.
Silicon carbide pellets are widely utilized as lightning isolators on electric power lines, ensuring that lightning strikes travel away from them instead of hitting directly along them.
Silicon carbide IGBTs may be an efficient replacement in electric vehicle inverters, thereby increasing energy efficiency for battery-powered cars and contributing to global decarbonization efforts. This is an essential step towards global decarbonization efforts.
High Temperature
Silicon carbide has the unique ability to withstand high temperatures without losing its essential electrical properties, making it the perfect material for power semiconductor devices that must operate at higher voltages and frequencies.
Edward Goodrich Acheson first made significant advances in producing SiC in 1891 during an attempt to synthesize artificial diamonds. Although SiC can be found naturally occurring in corundum deposits and Canyon Diablo meteorites as moissanite, most SiC is produced synthetically today.
ST’s market-leading SiC devices are engineered for maximum performance and efficiency. These powerful components are small, lightweight and can withstand higher operating temperatures than silicon devices; additionally, they present lower switching losses and thermal management issues.
High Current
Silicon carbide semiconductors enable higher current densities and voltages in power electronics applications, helping reduce switching losses and improve overall efficiency across applications from electric motor drives to solar power generation and grid infrastructure.
Silicon carbide’s high current density stems from its unique material properties, specifically its wide bandgap and excellent thermal conductivity, which allow it to withstand greater levels of off-state current than traditional silicon devices can sustain, leading to lower ON resistance and decreased power loss at elevated operating temperatures. As a result, silicon carbide makes an extremely desirable semiconductor choice for power applications.
Hög värmeledningsförmåga
Thermal conductivity measures the ability of a semiconductor material to conduct heat, which plays an essential role in determining how much electric energy can pass through it. Silicon carbide has significantly higher thermal conductivity than silicon, enabling it to withstand more electric fields.
Power devices crafted from SiC can improve power system efficiency by eliminating high switching losses and heat generation, leading to reduced device size. They offer wide operating voltage ranges without performance loss at elevated temperatures.
SiC is an ideal material to serve as the substrate of active functional components and power semiconductors, while its simple crystal structure makes it suitable for high performance wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor materials.
Low Thermal Expansion
Silicon carbide has recently made waves in the electronics industry, as a modern alternative to silicon semiconductors. Offering superior physical and electronic properties, silicon carbide has taken root as a promising choice to expand power semiconductor devices into uncharted territories.
SiC is initially an electrical insulator; however, doping can transform it into an n-type semiconductor by adding nitrogen and phosphorous or aluminum, boron or gallium; doping also allows for controlled manipulation of its electro-thermal characteristics and can change device behaviour across many applications.
Silicon carbide’s chemical composition also confers exceptional high temperature strength, oxidation resistance, and thermal shock resistance – qualities which make it particularly advantageous for high voltage power semiconductors operating under extreme temperatures and power densities.
High Stability
Silicon carbide semiconductors can be made to act either as conductors or insulators depending on how it’s doped; doping with aluminum, boron or gallium will result in P-type semiconductors; while doping nitrogen and phosphorus will yield N-type semiconductors.
SiC substrates boast higher current densities than traditional silicon ones, making them power-efficient solutions for high-power applications. Furthermore, SiC has been shown to maintain stable electrical properties even at elevated temperatures, which helps minimize energy losses and enable efficient cooling solutions.
ST’s high-performance SiC is designed for use in harsh environments and is an essential material in protecting structures from wear and corrosion, offering outstanding wear resistance and corrosion protection. Furthermore, its chemical reaction resistance makes this material ideal for power electronics devices operating under these harsh conditions. ST is pioneering sustainable power electronics through this innovation.
Hög tillförlitlighet
Silicon carbide semiconductor devices have greater tolerance to higher voltages and temperatures, reducing heat generation while creating more efficient power designs. This allows for smaller systems that run at reduced costs with increased functionality.
SiC offers an exceptionally wide bandgap that allows devices to operate at higher frequencies, making them more energy efficient while helping manufacturers lower costs through lower power loss and faster switching times.
Wolfspeed has invested billions to meet present and future demand with an advanced SiC fabrication facility – offering 30x the production capacity over traditional silicon devices and meeting anticipated market growth seamlessly.
Hög effektivitet
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is an emerging wide band gap semiconductor material making waves across numerous industries. SiC is integral to high performance technologies like power electronics for electric vehicles and telecom infrastructure as well as many others.
SiC transistors offer higher switching frequencies, lower operating temperatures and improved current capacity than their silicon (Si) counterparts; these advantages help minimize losses and power consumption for increased efficiency.
Energy-efficient SiC solutions play an integral role in automotive advancements, enabling more people to adopt clean transportation and decrease carbon footprints. Furthermore, SiC is also integral in green energy installations like solar inverters and grid-tied storage systems as it ensures reliable performance even under adverse environments or challenging applications.
Swedish 
English