Silicon carbide is also known as carborundum is a semiconductor material widely used in electronics and semiconductor industries. The different physical and chemical properties of silicon carbide ensure its use in varied application industries. The physical hardness of silicon carbide makes it fit for use as an abrasive in different processes such as honing, water jet cutting, grinding, and sand blasting. Silicon carbide is also used in oilfield applications such as components of pumps used to drill and extract the oil. Rising demand for silicon carbide in various application industries has led to an increase in the investments by manufacturers, governments, and research institutes in the production of silicon carbide.
PROLIFERATION OF ELECTRONICS AND SEMICONDUCTORS INDUSTRIES IS GOING TO INFLUENCE THE SILICON CARBIDE MARKET GLOBALLY
Silicon carbide is a semiconductor, and it is being used widely in electronics and semiconductors industries as a replacement of silicon. It offers greater breakdown electric field strength, band gap, and thermal conductivity, along with enabling a wider range of p- and n-type control required for the construction of a device. For instance, silicon has a band gap of ~1.12, whereas silicon carbide offers a band gap of ~3.26. Similarly, thermal conductivity for silicon carbide is 1490 W/m-K, which is significantly higher than the thermal conductivity of silicon—150 W/m-K. A majority of silicon carbide is being used to make diodes that are used in power supplies and hybrid modules such as PV7. According to the statistics cited by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global sales of semiconductors witnessed a hike of 6% from October 2019 to October 2020, reaching a market value of US$ 39 billion. Moreover, 2021 is likely to be a promising year for semiconductors businesses as per the predictions by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. As per the WSTS, the global sales of semiconductors are expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021 compared with the sales in 2020. According to The Insight Partner’s analysis, the global electronics industry is expected to register an annual growth rate of 5–6% from 2020 to 2021, and North America and Asia Pacific are expected to register a higher growth than other regions during the same period. Thus, such promising statistics depict the growth of electronics and semiconductor industries, making them a lucrative market segment for the global silicon carbide market vendors.
