Silicon carbide: Structure, Properties and Applications

K Prasad, Z Gao, L Zhao and H Gao

Abstract: Silicon carbide, which is gaining acceptance as a semiconductor has many properties such as good chemical stability, high thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion coefficient and good wear resistance. It can be used as abrasive materials, and also there are many other uses, such as: the silicon carbide powder can be coating on the turbine impeller or cylinder body wall which can improve the wear resistance and extend the life about 1 to 2 times; SiC can be made of high-level refractory material which has the properties of good heat shock, small size, light weight, high strength, etc. This article will focus on the structure, properties and applications of SiC.

I. INTRODUCTION

Silicon carbide is the oxide of silicon and carbide. The chemical formula Silicon carbide is SiC, and it has a molecular weight of 40.096 g/mol. SiC exists as a whole family of crystals known as polytypes. Polytypes differ not in the relative numbers of Si and C atoms but in the arrangement of these atoms in layers. The polyt ypes are named according to the periodicity of these layers. One of the commonest pol ytypes is 6H -SiC, with hexagonal lattice structure. There are 6 different Si and C layers before the pattern repeats itself. More than 200 different polytypes of SiC are known, some with patterns that do not repeat for hundreds of layers. Some of the most common structures used are the hexagonal polytypes 6H and 4H and the cubic form 3C of SiC. SiC has the properties of high temperature s t a b i l i t y , h i g h t h e r ma l c o n d u c t i vi t y , outstanding semiconducting when SiC materials are in high temperature environment, also has excellent chemical and radiation resistance. Because of these properties, SiC can be made as a promising material for high-

power, high-frequency, high-temperature, and radiation-resistant devices.Specialized applications for SiC: due to silicon carbide has a higher saturated of electron velocity and high critical breakdown field strength, it is a good material for making microwave and high frequency components. [2] Because of the silicon carbide structural characteristics, blue laser diode has been developed, and it will greatly improve the high-density data storage technology standards and will play an important role in future. [3] Silicon carbide materials can be installed inside the engine and work as a variety of UVsensitive diode which can be used to monitor vehicles, aircraft, rockets and other combustion engine working condition and it is significantly increased engine efficiency, energy conservation, and pollution reduction. 2.1 Areas discussed in this report Silicon carbide is truly an advanced ceramic material, it can be used in a variety of forms including as a ceramic, as single crystals or in films. It has many possible applications due to its variety of desirable physical and electrical properties. The following sections expand on these forms and their properties.

II.

STRUCTURE OF SIC

The basic structural unit of silicon carbide consists of a covalently bonded primary coordinated tetrahedron, SiC4. The four bonds are directed to the neighbors having a purely covalent character. The difference in electronegativity between the silicon and the carbon atom also contribute to an ionic bond of about 12%. [4] Silicon carbide, which is also known as a wide band gap semiconductor usually exist in 250 crystalline forms.[5] The polymorphism of SiC is characterized by a large many different polytypes.[6] All polytypes exhibit a hexagonal structure with a carbon atom located on top of the center of a triangle of Si atoms and is connected to an Si atom of the other layer (Figure.1).[7].For all polytypes the distance between neighboring silicon and carbon atom is 3.08 . The carbon atom is situated at the center of mass of the tetragonal structure surrounded by the four neighboring Si atoms so that the distance between the C atom to each of the Si atoms is the same. The distance between two silicon planes is, approximately 2.52 . The height of a unit cell usually varies between the different polytypes. The difference between the polytypes is the stacking order between succeeding double layers of carbon and silicon atoms.[7] Figure 2: Stacking sequence of three most common SiC Polytypes The polytypes are variations of the same chemical compound that are identical in two dimensions and differ in the third. Therefore they are viewed as layers stacked in a certain sequence. [6] The stacking sequence of three most common polytypes, 3C, 6H and 4H are shown in Figure 2. In the figure the different position of layers are shown by marking A B and C. Different polytypes will be constructed by permutations of these three positions.[7] Although a great variety of SiC polytypes is known, the cubic polytype is refered as - SiC, and to all noncubic structures (hexagonal and rombohedral) collectively known as -SiC. (Figure 3)

Figure 1: Structure of Silicon Carbide

Figure 3: 3C-SiC and 6H -SiC

III. PROPERTIES OF SIC

temperature (without load) Table 2: Thermal properties of SiC[10] Thermal Properties Thermal Conductivity Coefficient of Thermal Expansion Specific Heat SI/Metric 120 W/mK 4 *106/C 750 J/KgK

Pure SiC is colorless and has a molar mass of 40.01g/mol. The color of SiC used for industrial purposes varies from brown to black which occurs due to the presence of iron impurities. SiC has a rainbow-like luster which is caused by a passivation layer of silicon dioxide that forms on the surface.[8] The mechanical and thermal properties of SiC is abbreviated in table 1 and table 2 The unique combination of properties such as good oxidation resistance, strength retention to high temperatures, high wear resistance, high thermal conductivity, and good thermal shock resistance made SiC being recognized as an important structural ceramic material. These combination of properties is determined by the highly covalent chemical bonding between silicon and carbon atoms.[4] Moreover, SiC has got a high sublimation temperature of around 27000C and it is also a highly inert chemical. At present much interest is paid in its use as a semiconductor material in electronics, where its high thermal conductivity, high electric field breakdown strength and high maximum current density make it more promising than silicon for high-powered devices.[8] SiC also has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion and experiences no phase transitions which will in turn cause discontinuities in thermal expansion. [4] Table 1: Mechanical Properties of SiC [10] Mechanical Density Color Flexural strength Poissons Ratio Compressive Strength Hardness Fracture Toughness KIC Maximum use SI/Metric 3.1 gm/cc Colorless 550 MPa 0.14 3900 MPa 2800 Kg/mm2 4.6 MPam1/2 1650 C

3.1 ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF SIC Silicon Carbide is gaining acceptance as a semiconductor which can be doped n-type by nitrogen or phosphorus and p-type by aluminum or boron. If SiC is doped heavily with boron, aluminium or nitrogen, metallic conductivity can be achieved. At a temperature of about 1.5K superconductivity has been detected in 3C-SiC: Al, 3C-SiC: B and 6H-SiC:B [9] When considering the different types of SiC, the stacking of double layer of Si and C atoms affects the electronic properties of the crystal.[7]

IV. APPLICATIONS OF SIC

Silicon carbide (SiC) is the best choice for the advanced next generation power electronics material due to its excellent electrical and physical properties which are wide band gap, high electron saturation velocity, high critical electric field, high radiation stability, and high thermal conductivity.[18] With these physical and electrical properties, SiC is always used to make the high frequency, high temperature, high resistance to radiation, short wavelength light-emitting, optoelectronic and high voltage powerswitching applications. It plays a unique role in the microelectronic, optoelectronic and other fields..

From the 1980s, especially in the 1989 the first SiC substrate wafer was sold,and after that a rapid development has occurred on the SiC application and circuits. In some areas, such as light emitting diodes, high power and high voltage applications, SiC has been widely used. Many companies including Cree, have made use of SiC for commercial products. As we know the Schottky Barrier Diode is widely used in electronic products. Because of the simple process of making Schottky Barrier Diode, the research of the SiC is more mature.[11] Some experts in the university of Purdue recently made a blocking voltage up to 4.9kV of 4H-SiC Schottky Barrier Diode with the resistance of 43m*cm2, which is the highest level of SiC Schottky diodes. Radiation detectors based on semiconductors like silicon carbide (SiC), aluminum nitride (AlN), and boron nitride (BN) with large energy band gap are the most promising ionizing radiation detectors for high temperature and in harsh radiation fields.[15] Photoconductive switch [12] with high switching velocity, high transmission power, synchronization accuracy, good optical isolation, simple device structure, long service life were also made by with SiC. Because of the excellent electronic and physical properties, the NASA, LLNL and other universities or institutions focus on the photoconductive switch made of large scale and high mass SiC, and have made achievements in the three-dimensional radar.[16] Advanced SiC powerelectronic devices can improve the utility power, system efficiency and reliability. At any time, the required energy is 20% more than the actual consumption and the extra electricity is stored to ensure the power service stable and reliable. Using SiC as a power device will lead to a less electricity shortage by 15% and increase electricity energy from the wire transmission about 50%. The high voltage of SiC means it has a smaller physical size and less response time. As these reasons, the SiC applications not only improve power conversion efficiency but also decrease the total mass and scale of the electricity system.[13]

The SiC applications used in the airplane will gently enhance the anti-jamming capability of RF receiver circuits. The SiC mixer successfully reduces RF interference to 1/10 of the original one, which means that passengers are still able to use the electronic communication tools during the taking off and landing. The SiC microwave devices can work at a high power density and temperature, which means that it will contribute to the performance of radar and wireless communication tools.[14] In the aerospace and automotive equipment, electronic devices often have to work at high temperatures, such as aircraft engines, automobile engines, spacecraft and satellite equipment working in the high-temperature. Because of the thermal property of SiC, the SiC application can be installed inside and on the surface of the engine of the airplane, in which condition are still working normally. It reduces the total mass of the controlling system and improves the reliability. According to the feedback from the United States Air Force, the fighter aircraft F-16 equipping with the advanced SiC electronic applications has a less mass at least 100kg, better performance and fuel efficiency than the original aircraft. And according to the news from Toyota, the SiC electronic application will make a better monitoring and controlling fuel efficiency, even at a high temperature 125, the application will keep working normally, which increases the service life of a car.

V. CONCLUSION

This report has focused on the electrical properties of various forms that Silicon carbide takes in application in electrical devices. The electrical properties common and specific to these forms has also been investigated. The possible applications that arise from making use of these properties are diverse and part of their breadth has been discussed. Silicon carbide is a material that the modern electronics industry relies on. This report has made evident the versatility and useful properties of this material that have led to it occupying this position.

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