Semiconductor devices are the core of modern industrial equipment, widely used in computer, consumer electronics, network communications, automotive electronics and other core fields, semiconductor device industry is mainly composed of four basic parts: integrated circuit, optoelectronic devices, discrete devices, sensors, of which integrated circuits accounted for more than 80%, so usually semiconductor and integrated circuit equivalent.
Integrated circuits are mainly divided into four categories according to product types: microprocessors, memory, logic devices, and simulators. However, with the continuous expansion of the application field of semiconductor devices, many special occasions require semiconductors to be able to adhere to the use of high temperature, strong radiation, high power and other environments, without damage, the first and second generation of semiconductor materials will be powerless, so the third generation of semiconductor materials came into being.
At present, wide band gap semiconductor materials represented by silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), zinc oxide (ZnO), diamond, aluminum nitride (AlN) occupy the market with greater advantages, collectively referred to as the third generation semiconductor materials. The third generation semiconductor material has a wider band gap, higher breakdown electric field, thermal conductivity, electron saturation rate and higher radiation resistance, and is more suitable for the production of high temperature, high frequency, radiation resistance and high-power devices, usually known as wide band gap semiconductor materials (band gap width greater than 2.2eV), also known as high temperature semiconductor materials. From the current research of third-generation semiconductor materials and devices, silicon carbide and gallium nitride semiconductor materials are more mature, and silicon carbide technology is the most mature, while zinc oxide, diamond, aluminum nitride and other materials are still in the initial stage of research.
