“This stuff is starting to become real; things are starting to happen,” says Sandia engineer Randy Normann, a leader for more than a decade in the development and application of high-temperature electronics. High-temperature electronics, as the name suggests, are a class of electronics that functions effectively at temperatures that render conventional electronics ineffective and unreliable — temperatures ranging from 350 - 600º F.
Currently, high-temperature electronics come in two flavors: SOI — silicon-oninsulator, where an insulating substrate protects and shields conventional silicon components — and SiC — silicon carbide, with intrinsic high-temperature-tolerant characteristics. While both approaches have merits, the newer SiC-based electronics can be made smaller. “Smaller means faster and faster means more efficient. That sounds like a good combination,” Normann says.
(A still-newer high-temperature technology based on gallium nitride is in the early stages of the development process.)