SiC Semiconductor Applications - An Air Force Perspective
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Applications - An Air Force Perspective
L.S. Rea U.S. Air Force Wright Laboratory Materials Directorate 3005 P St. Ste. 6, WPAFB, Ohio 45433-7707, [email protected] ABSTRACT The Department of Defense (DoD) is investing in the development of Silicon Carbide (SiC) for a wide range of applications. Over the past year, SiC technology has demonstrated excellent device performance results for power devices, high temperature electronic devices and microwave devices. The materials growth and processing technology for SiC is now at a level of sufficient maturity to support substantial device development efforts. While there is still considerable materials and device research required for SiC to achieve it's full potential, the fundamental technology has been proven for several critical applications. A perspective on some Air Force device performance requirements will be presented. The status of SiC materials development, material limits to advances in device performance and issues relating to supporting technology will also be discussed. INTRODUCTION The U.S. Air Force is developing advanced semiconductor materials to "Conventional" meet requirements for next generation systems. semiconductors, such as silicon and gallium arsenide, won't be able to
provide performance for many high temperature, high power applications. SiC-based electronic devices are being developed to address some of these military applications. Much work is being performed and sponsored by other U.S. government agencies, including DARPA, the Navy, the Army and NASA. Many of the applications for SiC discussed here are quite similar to applications being pursued by these other agencies and services. This paper will focus, however, on Air Force applications. Three primary system application areas will be presented: Power Components, High Temperature Sensors and High Frequency Applications. There are other technical areas where SiC (and other wide bandgap semiconductors) offer advantages, such as for UV sensors and optoelectronics, but the majority of the development efforts within the Air Force are presently focused on these three primary applications. Each will be discussed in turn. Other wide bandgap semiconductors are beginning to show great promise for dramatic improvements in device performance. There has been a tremendous increase in the research efforts on gallium nitridebased devices. These materials have already demonstrated superior
Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 423 0 1996 Materials Research Society
optical performance over SiC , and will possibly push the performance envelope of RF devices beyond that obtainable with SiC. These materials are, however, much less mature than SiC. For some relatively near-term applications needed by the Air Force, SiC technology is becoming mature enough to be considered as a candidate for these requirements. For nonoptoelectronic applications, the electronic and thermal properties of SiC are sufficient to meet many device performance requirements. The mobility and breakdown field strengths are high enoug
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