In the semiconductor domain, the competition between nitrile (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) continues to increase. Recently, the research team of the Bentsyvania State University, led by Professor of Electric Engineering Zhu Rongming, successfully developed a nitride chip that can operate at up to 800°C. This temperature is enough to melt the salt, showing its potential in an extreme environment.
The breakthrough progress of nitride wafers may be important for future applications such as space probes, spray engines and drug production processes. Alon Mantus, a professor of electric engineering and computer science at the University of Arkansas, pointed out that nitride chips can have a monitoring effect in the high-energy manufacturing process of natural gas turbines and chemical factories, which cannot be realized by silicon carbide chips.
The advantages of these two semiconductor materials come from their wide energy gap, with the energy gap of nitrides being 3.4 eV and the energy gap of silicon carbide being 3.3 eV, which allows them to operate stably at high temperatures. The high-electronic mobility crystal tube (HEMT) structure of the nitride electrode is formed by adding an aluminium nitride film above the nitride electrode layer, which makes the electrons move more rapidly in the wafer and improves the response speed and current bearing capacity of the crystal tube.
However, although the performance of the nitride wafer exceeds silicon carbide, Mantus expressed concern about its long-term reliability, especially at extreme end temperatures above 500°C, where the nitride may experience micro-cracking and other problems. Zhu Rongming also admitted that improving reliability at high temperatures is still the future direction of improvement. Their chips are currently operating at 800°C for about an hour, which poses a challenge for actual applications.
The potential applications of this technology are broad, including electronic equipment operating in extreme environments such as Venus' surface. Zhu Rongming pointed out that if it can run stably at 800°C for an hour, the running time will be longer in an environment of 600°C or 700°C.
With the success of the nitride chip, future plans include further improving the chip's operation speed and considering the possibility of commercialization. Although nitrides currently have advantages in high temperature electronics, Mantus's laboratory is also working hard to improve the performance of silicon carbide wafers, and the competition is still increasing. According to market forecasts, the global GaN and SiC power semiconductor market will reach US$17.1 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to US$34.3 billion by 2029, with an annual synthesis growth rate of more than 19%.
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