Silicon carbide (SiC) is a compound of silicon and carbon bonded together to form ceramics, but it also occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite.
Production
Due to the rarity of natural moissanite, silicon carbide is typically man-made. Most often it is used as an abrasive. More recently as a semiconductor and diamond simulant of gem quality. The simplest manufacturing process is to combine silica sand and carbon in an Acheson graphite electric resistance furnace at a high temperature, between 1600 and 2500 °C.
The material formed in the Acheson furnace varies in purity, according to its distance from the graphite resistor heat source. Colorless, pale yellow and green crystals have the highest purity and are found closest to the resistor. The color changes to blue and black at greater distance from the resistor, and these darker crystals are less pure. Nitrogen and aluminium are common impurities, and they affect the electrical conductivity of SiC.
Purer silicon carbide can be made by the more expensive process of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Commercial large single crystal silicon carbide is grown using a physical vapor transport method commonly known as modified Lely method.
Purer silicon carbide can also be prepared by the thermal decomposition of a polymer, poly (methylsilyne), under an inert atmosphere at low temperatures. Relative to the CVD process, the pyrolysis method is advantageous because the polymer can be formed into various shapes prior to thermalization into the ceramic.
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