Slide 2 of 16
Notes:
Silicon is the the most commonly used semiconductor material. An important reason for the dominance of Si in electronics is the quality of its native oxide SiO2. Heating the Si substrate material to high temperature while exposing it to an oxidizing agent forms a thermal oxide layer on the surface. The oxide layer is a glassy insulating material that is the basis for the fabrication of many semiconductor devices.
Although sufficient for most applications silicon devices fail under high temperature and high power conditions.
Of the alternative semiconductor materials that will tolerate these hostile conditions silicon carbide offers the greatest promise.
