1 - Introduction and Applications of SiC Ceramics

Abstract

This is the introductory chapter of the book entitled ‘Silicon Carbide Ceramics. Structure, Properties, and Manufacturing’, the first book on SiC ceramics since the early 1990s. The glittering jewel in the crown of SiC ceramics is the SiC single crystal semiconductor wafer/substrate, which took 50 years to develop and was finally commercialised in 2001. SiC is 3–10 times superior to silicon as a semiconductor on all important criteria, although it is more expensive. The SiC semiconductor market is growing rapidly and is forecast to reach $1 billion PA by 2032. SiC is also one of the most commercially significant advanced ceramics in industrial applications in the world today, comparable to ZrO2, AlN and Si3N4, only Al2O3 significantly surpasses SiC in advanced ceramics market impact. SiC ceramics stand out as the hardest and lightest in weight of the three, making SiC the predominant armour ceramic in the world today, and the mainstay at the top end of the wear-resistant ceramics market in the global $500 billion mining and mineral processing industry. SiC is also a widely used refractory material owing to its outstanding oxidation resistance at high temperatures, high thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. SiC–SiC (SiC fibre reinforced SiC matrix) technology is still a work in progress but in a state of advanced development, with potential paradigm-shifting applications in aerospace and the nuclear industry. This chapter overviews the history and origins of SiC and explores in detail the four principal uses of SiC ceramics globally: semiconductors, armour, wear resistance and refractories, as well as all the many minor niches uses such as precision ceramics, the nuclear industry, aerospace and automotive applications. Chapter 2 overviews the structure and properties of SiC. Chapters 3–9 are about the different types of SiC ceramics: single crystal semiconductor wafer/substrate SiC technology, hot-pressed SiC, pressureless-sintered (direct-sintered) SiC, reaction-sintered (siliconised) SiC, silicon nitride-bonded SiC, glass-bonded SiC and SiC–SiC ceramic matrix composites.