Diamond firm claims Schottky diode breakthrough
A company in the UK says that it has fabricated a Schottky-barrier diode based on diamond.
Element Six made the diode in collaboration with power electronics specialist Dynex Semiconductors and the Cambridge University Engineering Department. It says that diamond technology could compete with devices based on wide-bandgap compound materials such as SiC and GaN.
"High-voltage devices for advanced applications including traction motor control and power distribution will need high-performance materials such as SiC and diamond," said the Ascot-based firm in a statement.
"Element Six has now demonstrated that there is an opportunity for diamond technology to leapfrog over SiC by fabricating high-performance single-crystal CVD diamond Schottky diodes."
The devices made by Element Six are said to operate at 1700 V and more than 10 Acm-2.
In theory, claims the company, that operating voltage could extend to 10 kV, while the attributes of diamond would allow operation at higher temperatures than other wide-bandgap semiconductors.
Germany-based Infineon Technologies currently offers commercial SiC-based Schottky diodes operating at 600 V able to handle currents of up to 49 A.
Research Manager Steve Coe said that Element Six was working on a number of other electronic devices, saying: "Schottky diodes will be the first of many new products."
