Silicon Carbide, or CarborundumSilicon carbide, or carborundum, is a semiconductor material. Pure silicon carbide of stoichiometric composition is colourless crystals with diamond glitter. Technical silicon carbide can be of different colours: white, gray, yellow, green and black. The colour of the material depends on the raw materials and technology used to procure crystals and is defined both by the type and amount of impurities and the degree of deviation from the stoichiometric composition. The band gap for silicon carbide crystals is 2,39 eV. For its various modifications the band gap can have values ranging from 2,72 to 3,34 eV. Large values of the band gap allow to create semiconductors that keep working capacity at temperatures up to 600 degrees Celsius.The use of silicon carbide. Monocrystalline carborundum is used to create radiation-resistant light-emitting diodes with very high operational reliability and stability. It can be used to produce high-power semiconductor devices, field effect transistors, tunnel diodes, particle counters with high energy, thermistors. Polycrystalline silicon carbide is used to grow crystals or to obtain powders by crushing. Polycrystalline silicon carbide is used to produce non-linear resistors - varistors. For these purposes multiphase materials are made based on powdered silicon carbide, bonded by a binder. Silicon carbide is a promising semiconductor material for high temperature and high-frequency electronics.
