studies shows blessings of silicon carbide for sensors in harsh environments

Experiments with silicon carbide grown at the Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre (QMNC) at Griffith university have confirmed the compound's superiority as a semiconductor for excessive overall performance sensors.

The research has diagnosed benefits for fields including mining, aerospace, aviation and the car, electrochemical and biomedical industries.

The findings seem within the professional booklet journal of materials Chemistry C and for the first time gift the impact of mechanical pressure on the electrical conductivity of silicon carbide deposited on silicon wafer.

"over the last 50 years, silicon has been the dominant material used as a semiconductor for sensing devices and that maintains today in computer systems, mobile telephones, vehicles and extra," says Dr Dzung Dao, from Griffith's school of Engineering and one of the lead researchers.

"but, silicon is not suitable for electronic devices at excessive temperatures above two hundred°C due to the technology of thermal vendors and junction leakage.

"Silicon carbide, then again, possesses terrific mechanical energy, chemical inertness, thermal sturdiness and electrical stability due to its precise digital shape.

"for that reason it holds promise as the fabric for high overall performance sensors in, as an example, deep-oil and coal mining, combustion engines, power conversion devices and so on.

"In areas wherein the temperature can attain nicely above 2 hundred°C, chemical corrosion and mechanical shock are extreme. it is where silicon carbide is available in.

"Silicon carbide is already utilized in power electronics and those results are very encouraging for sensor era, particularly in harsh working environments."

The tool-grade silicon carbide for this studies become grown on six inches of silicon wafer at low temperature with the aid of Professor Sima Dimitrijev's team at QMNC.