Today's microprocessors are all made using the CMOS logic family. It has the advantage of using a minimum amount of electricity, since - exce pt for leakage currents, which are becoming more important as transistors a nd wires shrink - electrical power is only used during changes of state. However, the performance of CMOS circuits is limited by the slower P-type F ET branch of them - this can be helped by going to Germanium, which has hig h hole mobility, or by using stretched silicon, or by using domino logic... the IBM CELL processor used an alternative approach instead of domino logi c which also worked. And the fastest logic family used to be ECL, because the transistors didn't saturate. But it was an energy hog. Silicon carbide can tolerate high temperatures, and it's a semiconductor. T he trouble is that silicon carbide crystals are riddled with defects, so it 's a challenge to even make decent single transistors out of it, let alone microprocessors with millions of transistors! However, the thought occurred to me that surely there must be some material that forms nice single crystals, free of defects, with the same interatomi c lattice spacing as silicon carbide. One could use wafers of _that_ - pres uming it's also an insulator - and using chemical vapor deposition, produce good silicon carbide transistors in large numbers per die... No doubt there are good reasons why that is harder than it seems. John Savard

cept for leakage currents, which are becoming more important as transistors and wires shrink - electrical power is only used during changes of state. FET branch of them - this can be helped by going to Germanium, which has h igh hole mobility, or by using stretched silicon, or by using domino logic. .. the IBM CELL processor used an alternative approach instead of domino lo gic which also worked. 't saturate. But it was an energy hog. The trouble is that silicon carbide crystals are riddled with defects, so it's a challenge to even make decent single transistors out of it, let alon e microprocessors with millions of transistors! al that forms nice single crystals, free of defects, with the same interato mic lattice spacing as silicon carbide. One could use wafers of _that_ - pr esuming it's also an insulator - and using chemical vapor deposition, produ ce good silicon carbide transistors in large numbers per die... What exactly is the result of a transistor built on a defective...

Why Hasn't This Been Done with Silicon Carbide

Dec 12, 2014 44 Replies

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Michael A. Terrell 11 years ago

You have to be really clumsy, to hit your thumb with a 20 pound sledge hammer. :)

Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

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Phil Hobbs 11 years ago

Well, 11 if you count the HP 70820A 40 GHz sampling gizmo and a mildly broken Tek 466. But I also have 17 plug-ins for the 1180x ones.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net

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John Larkin 11 years ago

I have, in theory, close to a half million dollars worth of SD-series sampling heads and o/e converters. They go on ebay for a few percent of the original 1990s price.

Anybody can teach themeslves picosecond electronics for a total investment around $1500.

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Bill Sloman 11 years ago

You don't seem to have figured in the brain implant - though in your case a brain transplant might be needed to reduced the severity of "not-invented here".

Bill Sloman, Sydney

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Michael A. Terrell 11 years ago

If you include the waveform monitors and vectorscopes I have over 20, plus a pile of plug ins for the Tek 7000 series.

Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

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