SIC FOR SENSORS AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE ELECTRONICS

The paper presents an overview of recent developments in the SiC field . Within this field, two main streams are emerging: on the one hand, t he commercial availability of bulk SiC crystals is likely to establish SiC as a new wafer technology which allows many devices to be fabrica ted in analogy to known Si ones. In this way, the high-temperature lim it for the operation of sensors and electronic circuits can be signifi cantly extended. Thin films of SiC, on the other hand, can be used as an add-on to the existing Si technology. Using such films, new possibi lities emerge with regard to the fabrication of microsensors. Applicat ions of thin-film SiC in optics, optoelectronics and micromachining ar e demonstrated.