SILICON CARBIDE (Syllabus GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)
Context: Odisha Chief Minister attended the groundbreaking ceremony for India’s first silicon carbide manufacturing facility in the state, which will be established with an investment of Rs 620 crore.
Silicon Carbide (SiC):
- About: It is a semiconductor base material that consists of pure silicon and pure carbon.
- Widely Used: Silicon carbide is the most widely utilized non-oxide ceramic material.
- Properties:
oHardness: Silicon carbide is an exceedingly hard crystalline compound of silicon and carbon.
oThermal Properties: Exhibits high thermal conductivity, high-temperature strength, low thermal expansion, and chemical resistance, making it ideal for high-temperature bricks and refractories.
oSemiconductor: Silicon carbide is also a semiconductor, bridging the conductivity gap between metals and insulators, making it suitable for high-temperature semiconductor applications.
- Applications:
oIndustrial Furnaces: Used in refractory linings and heating elements for industrial furnaces.
oWear-Resistant Parts: Employed in components for pumps and rocket engines due to its durability.
oSemiconducting Substrates: Utilized in semiconducting substrates for light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
oAbrasives: Primarily used as an abrasive, with hardness only surpassed by diamond, cubic boron nitride, and boron carbide.
- Advantages of SiC
oHigh thermal conductivity
oLow coefficient of thermal expansion
oHigh maximum current density.
