Silicon Carbide Latest News
Recently, the Chief Minister of Odisha performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the country’s first end-to-end silicon carbide semiconductor production plant.Â
About Silicon Carbide
- It is a synthetically produced crystalline compound of silicon and carbon.
- Its chemical formula is SiC and it is the most widely used non-oxide ceramic.
- It was discovered by the American inventor Edward G. Acheson in 1891.Â
Properties of Silicon Carbide
- Hardness: It is the hardest ceramic material and has excellent thermal conductivity, low thermal expansion.
- Conductivity: It is also classed as a semiconductor, having an electrical conductivity between that of metals and insulating materials.
- It has excellent mechanical properties, and excellent resistance to wear and oxidation.
Applications of Silicon Carbide
- Abrasives: Its primary application is as an abrasive because of its high hardness, which is surpassed only by diamond, cubic boron nitride, and boron carbide.
- Refractory linings: It is used in refractory linings and heating elements for industrial furnaces, in wear-resistant parts for pumps and rocket engines.
- Semiconducting substrates: It is used in semiconducting substrates for light-emitting diodes.
- It is a promising ceramic material with excellent thermo mechanical characteristics.
Source: IE
Silicon Carbide FAQs
Q1: What is Silicon Carbide used for in the electronics industry?
Ans: It is used as a semiconductor substrate.
Q2: What is the chemical formula of Silicon Carbide?
Ans: SiC
