Although silicon (Si) cannot be replaced in integrated circuit chip manufacturing at present, after so many years of development, every mature semiconductor material can drive the development of an industry by itself. So what semiconductor materials are there in the industry?
The first generation of semiconductors:
The industry has classified semiconductor materials. The aforementioned silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) are the first generation of semiconductor materials.
Silicon (Si): The aforementioned silicon (Si) is currently the most widely used semiconductor material, and integrated circuits are basically made of silicon (Si). Silicon (Si) is widely known because it is the material of the CPU. Intel and AMD processors are based on silicon (Si). Of course, in addition to the CPU, GPU cores and storage flash memory are also silicon (Si). The world.
Germanium (Ge): Germanium (Ge) is the material of early transistors. It can be said that germanium (Ge) has declined after the appearance of silicon (Si), but it is only that germanium (Ge) has not been completely replaced by silicon (Si) As one of the important semiconductor materials, germanium (Ge) is still active in some channel fields such as optical fibers and solar cells.
The first-generation semiconductor materials are the most mature in terms of technology development and cost control. Therefore, even if the second and third-generation semiconductor materials completely surpass silicon (Si) in certain characteristics, they cannot be replaced by commercial use. The key to the value of silicon (Si) is the inability to bring high returns like silicon (Si).
Second-generation semiconductors:
The second-generation semiconductor materials are fundamentally different from the first-generation semiconductors. The silicon (Si) and germanium (Ge) of the first-generation semiconductors belong to elementary semiconductors, that is, they are composed of a single substance. The second generation belongs to compound semiconductor materials, which are synthesized from two or more elements and possess semiconductor characteristics. Commonly used second generation semiconductors are gallium arsenide (GaAs) and indium phosphide (InP).
Gallium arsenide (GaAs): Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is one of the iconic products of the second generation of semiconductor materials. The LED light-emitting diodes we often hear about involve gallium arsenide (GaAs).
Indium Phosphide (InP): Indium Phosphide (InP) is made by heating and reacting metal indium and red phosphorus in a quartz tube. It is characterized by high temperature resistance, high frequency and high speed, so it is widely used in the communications industry for making communications Device.
The second-generation semiconductor can be said to be the foundation of the 4G era. Many 4G devices use materials based on the second-generation semiconductor materials.
The third generation of semiconductors:
The third-generation semiconductor is also a compound semiconductor material, which is characterized by high band gap, high power, high frequency, and high voltage. The representative products are silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN).
Silicon Carbide (SiC): Silicon Carbide (SiC) has the characteristics of high temperature resistance and high voltage resistance, and is very suitable for power device switches. For example, many high-end MOSFETs on motherboards are made of silicon carbide (SiC).
Gallium nitride (GaN): Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) are both high-bandgap semiconductors. They are characterized by low energy consumption, suitable for high frequencies, and suitable for building 5G base stations. The only drawback is that the technical cost is too high. , It is difficult to see in the commercial field.
At present, the development of third-generation semiconductors is popular in China because of the small gap between the starting point at home and abroad and the opportunity for competition.
Precautions:
Although these semiconductor materials are considered to be divided into the first and second generations, and they sound like iterative products, in fact, these first, second, and third-generation semiconductor materials are not a substitute relationship. Their characteristics Different, the application scenarios are different. The first, second and third generations are just a distinguishing mark for the industry, but they are divided according to the material, and some scenarios are even applied together at the same time.