A Consortium for the Development of Silicon Carbide for Electronics Applications

The US Air Force SiC Consortium was established as a partnership of industry and government to invest in university research supporting the expansion of the technical base for this emerging compound semiconductor material. SiC has a wide bandgap, relative to more conventional compound semiconductors 2.9 eV and high thermal conductivity 5 Wcm-K. These properties make SiC uniquely suited for high temperature, high power and high frequency operation, with higher package density and reduced cooling subsystem requirements. In addition, the high temperature nature of SiC permits the development of a host of harsh environment electronic devices. SiC-based electronics will be the enabling technology for on-engine sensors for advanced turbine engines, and will provide high-power solid state radars for future tactical systems. While some commercial and military products based on SiC have emerged over the past several years, there was a lack of fundamental understanding of some critical aspects of the material, which could ultimately hinder full exploitation of the advantageous material properties of SiC. The SiC Consortium, jointly funded by the US Air Force and three industrial partners, focused world-class university research teams on three of these areas 1 High Field Electron Transport in 6H and 4H SiC 2 Minority Carrier Lifetime Measurements of SiC 3 Critical Resolved Shear Stress Measurements of SiC.