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Scientists in China develop new diamond semiconductor chips with the capacity to be 30% more powerful and surpass the United States in terms of technology.
With a focus on overtaking the United States, a team of scientists and engineers from China, linked to the largest supplier of electronic warfare weapons in the country, has achieved a breakthrough in semiconductor production that could significantly improve the performance of high-power microwave devices, radars and detection devices. It is a new technology for semiconductor chips using diamond.
New diamond semiconductor chips have 30% more power
The secret to China surpassing the United States is the diamond, also known as the “definitive semiconductor”. The process is complex, but China appears to have found yet another solution to the semiconductor shortage generated by restrictions on the export of advanced technology from the United States.
Researchers from the 46th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Corporation (CETC) claim to have developed gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors with a diamond substrate that have a power density 30% higher than any existing product.
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If these diamond semiconductor chips, also called fourth-generation semiconductors, were widely adopted, they could bolster the PLA's capabilities in communications bandwidth, radar range and electromagnetic suppression, which could give it a decisive advantage in warfare. electronics, according to information from the SCMP.
According to the China team, led by Wang Yingmin, chief expert at the institute, in an article published in the Chinese academic journal Semiconductor Technology on January 31, these new devices have superior performance, including high power, high frequency and ultra-low power consumption.
Would diamond semiconductor chips be viable?
While other nations are still struggling with this diamond semiconductor chip technology, China has even resolved the problems on the production line.
According to the team, a technological breakthrough was achieved by growing diamonds directly on GaN in the industrial process. It is worth mentioning that China already has a dominant position in the global diamond industry with 95% of global production. Last year alone, Chinese factories produced more than 16 billion synthetic diamonds.
Once considered a rare and luxurious gem, the diamond has undergone a remarkable transformation into a profitable industrial material in China. According to the SCMP, a rough laboratory diamond now costs just $1 in some chinese online stores. This drop in price opened up space for the application of diamonds in the chip industry in China, potentially surpassing the United States.
Diamond has several properties that make it the ideal material for high-power microwave semiconductor chips, such as very high thermal conductivity, which means it can dissipate heat quickly and prevent overheating. It also has great resistance to wear, allowing it to withstand high electrical and mechanical stresses – in addition to a wide bandgap, allowing it to operate at frequencies without suffering signal loss.
Challenges encountered by scientists in China
Despite everything, using semiconductor chips with GaN diamonds is not so simple. Diamond and gallium nitride have different crystalline structures and thermal expansion coefficients, generating high stresses and defects at the interface between the two materials.
Researchers in China say they have solved this problem using a plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition method, which allows the direct growth of diamond on gallium nitride with high quality and low voltage.
Wang's team says the work was supported by several national research and development projects, including the 863 program, which focuses on developing strategic high-tech technologies.
