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Chinese Scientists Develop New Semiconductor Chips Using Diamond With Capacity to Be 30% More Powerful and Surpass the United States in Terms of Technology.
Focusing on surpassing 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. This involves a new technology of semiconductor chips using diamond.
New Semiconductor Chips With Diamond Have 30% More Power
The secret for China to surpass the United States is diamond, also known as the “ultimate semiconductor.” The process is complex, but China seems to have found another solution to the semiconductor shortage caused by restrictions on advanced technology exports from the United States.
Researchers from the 46th Research Institute of the China Electronics Technology Corporation (CETC) claim to have developed gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors with a diamond substrate that have 30% higher power density than any existing product.
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If these diamond semiconductor chips, also called fourth-generation semiconductors, were widely adopted, they could enhance the PLA’s capabilities in communication bandwidth, radar range, and electromagnetic suppression, which could give them a decisive advantage in electronic warfare, according to reports from SCMP.
According to the Chinese team, led by Wang Yingmin, chief expert of the institute, in a paper 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 energy consumption.
Would Diamond Semiconductor Chips Be Viable?
While other nations are still struggling with this diamond semiconductor chip technology, China has even solved production line issues.
According to the team, a technological advancement has been achieved through the direct growth of diamonds 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. Just in the last year, Chinese factories produced more than 16 billion synthetic diamonds.
Once considered a rare and luxurious gem, diamond has undergone a remarkable transformation into a profitable industrial material in China. According to SCMP, a rough lab-grown diamond now costs only US$ 1 in some Chinese online stores. This price drop has opened the door for the application of diamond in the chip industry in China, potentially surpassing the United States.
Diamond has various 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 avoid overheating. It also has great wear resistance, allowing it to withstand high electrical and mechanical stresses – along with a wide bandgap, enabling it to operate at frequencies without signal loss.
Challenges Faced by Chinese Scientists
Despite everything, using GaN semiconductor chips with diamonds is not that simple. Diamond and gallium nitride have different crystal structures and thermal expansion coefficients, generating high stresses and defects at the interface between the two materials.
The researchers in China claim to 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 stress.
Wang’s team states that the work has been supported by several national research and development projects, including the 863 program, which focuses on the development of strategic high-tech technologies.
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