The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.

IInnovative silicon concepts and nonsilicon materials such as SiC, diamond and group-III nitrides are finding interest for new generations of electronic devices operational at much higher voltages and temperatures than conventional lower-power transistors and integrated circuits. Improved bulk and epitaxial growth, processing, device design and circuit architecture, bonding, testing and packaging are all necessary for realization of new applications. It seems clear that Si will continue to dominate most power electronics applications for the next decade, while SiC is by far the most mature of the newer materials technologies. The group-III nitrides are also extremely attractive because of their excellent transport properties and the availability of heterostructures. It is likely that hybrid GaN/SiC devices will have a role due to the need for high thermal conductivity substrates for thermal management. Diamond appears to be trailing because of the inability to dope with donor impurities, although in principle, its properties are probably better suited to high-temperature applications than many other materials.

The MRS Symposium Proceeding series is an internationally recognised reference suitable for researchers and practitioners.

Silicon carbide is known to have been investigated since 1907 when Captain H J Round demonstrated yellow and blue emission by applying bias between a metal needle and an SiC crystal. The potential of using SiC in semiconductor electronics was already recognized half a century ago. Despite its well-known properties, it has taken a few decades to overcome the exceptional technological difficulties of getting silicon carbide material to reach device quality and travel the road from basic research to commercialization.This second of two volumes reviews four important additional areas: the growth of SiC substrates; the deep defects in different SiC polytypes, which after many years of research still define the properties of bulk SiC and the performance and reliability of SiC devices; recent work on SiC JFETs; and the complex and controversial issues important for bipolar devices.Recognized leaders in the field, the contributors to this volume provide up-to-date reviews of further state-of-the-art areas in SiC technology and materials and device research.