In aerospace and automotive equipment, electronics often operate at high temperatures, such as aircraft engines, car engines, spacecraft on missions near the sun, and high-temperature equipment in satellites. Use the usual Si or GaAs devices, because they do not work at very high temperatures, so these devices must be placed in a low temperature environment, there are two methods: one is to place these devices away from the high temperature, and then through leads and connectors to connect them to the device to be controlled; The other is to put these devices in a cooling box and then put them in a high temperature environment. Obviously, both of these methods add additional equipment, increase the quality of the system, reduce the space available to the system, and make the system less reliable. These problems can be eliminated by directly using devices that work at high temperatures. SIC devices can be operated directly at 3M — cail Y without cooling at high temperature.
SiC electronics and sensors can be installed inside and on the surface of hot aircraft engines and still function under these extreme operating conditions, greatly reducing the total system mass and improving reliability. The SIC-based distributed control system can eliminate 90% of the leads and connectors used in traditional electronic shield control systems. This is important because lead and connector problems are among the most common problems encountered during downtime in today’s commercial aircraft.
According to the USAF’s assessment, the use of advanced SiC electronics in the F-16 will reduce the aircraft’s mass by hundreds of kilograms, improve performance and fuel efficiency, increase operational reliability, and significantly reduce maintenance costs and downtime. Similarly, SiC electronics and sensors could improve the performance of commercial jetliners, with reported additional economic profits in the millions of dollars per aircraft.
Similarly, the use of SiC high temperature electronic sensors and electronics in automotive engines will enable better combustion monitoring and control, resulting in cleaner and more efficient combustion. Moreover, the SiC engine electronic control system works well above 125°C, which reduces the number of leads and connectors in the engine compartment and improves the long-term reliability of the vehicle control system.
Today’s commercial satellites require radiators to dissipate the heat generated by the spacecraft’s electronics, and shields to protect the spacecraft’s electronics from space radiation. The use of SiC electronics on spacecraft can reduce the number of leads and connectors as well as the size and quality of radiation shields because SiC electronics can not only work at high temperatures, but also have strong amplitude-radiation resistance. If the cost of launching a satellite into Earth orbit is measured in mass, the mass reduction using SiC electronics could improve the economy and competitiveness of the satellite industry.
Spacecraft using high-temperature irradiation-resistant SiC devices could be used to perform more challenging missions around the solar system. In the future, when people perform missions around the sun and the surface of the planets in the solar system, SiC electronic devices with excellent high temperature and radiation resistance characteristics will play a key role for spacecraft working near the sun, the use of SiC electronic devices can reduce the protection of spacecraft and heat dissipation equipment, So more scientific instruments can be installed in each vehicle.
Post time: Aug-23-2022