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Unobtainium semiconductor

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by bwilson4web, Jul 23, 2022.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Source: MIT Discovers Semiconductor That Can Perform Far Better Than Silicon

    . . .
    Now, a team of scientists from MIT, the University of Houston, and other institutions has carried out experiments showing that a material called cubic boron arsenide overcomes both of these limitations. In addition to providing high mobility to both electrons and holes, it has excellent thermal conductivity. It is the best semiconductor material ever found, and maybe the best possible one, according to the researchers.
    . . .    ​

    This would be awesome in all power electronics, especially EVs.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #1 bwilson4web, Jul 23, 2022
    PriusCamper likes this.
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Your title of this post sums it up... Or as Elon Musk often explains: You can create whatever you want in a lab, the challenge of mass producing it in an affordable way is so exponentially harder than what you create in a lab, that work done in the lab is almost absolute 0% of the accomplishment of bringing it to market.

    For those who didn't read the article here's the one quote from it that sums it up best:

    “Silicon carbide is replacing silicon for power electronics in major EV industries including Tesla, since it has three times higher thermal conductivity than silicon despite its lower electrical mobilities. Imagine what boron arsenides can achieve, with 10 times higher thermal conductivity and much higher mobility than silicon. It can be a gamechanger.”
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Jul 23, 2022
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