Synthetic Diamond Manufacturer Feeds Expanding Semiconductor Industry and Emerging Markets

As the semiconductor industry continues to push Moore’s Law, synthetic diamond becomes more critical. There are two common methods of making synthetic diamond. High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical-vapor-deposition (CVD) crystal-formation method. Element Six, Luxembourg, a manufacturer of synthetic diamond for over 25 years, offers insight about CVD diamond and the synthetic diamond market. 

What is CVD diamond?

CVD diamond is an engineered material with the highest room-temperature thermal conductivity of any solid. Therefore, when used in semiconductor modules, CVD diamond serves as an effective heat dissipater, addressing the most-common cause of failure in electronics — overheating. Furthermore, CVD diamond heat spreaders and gallium nitride (GaN)-on-diamond wafers let chip designers significantly reduce operating temperatures, extend the operating life, and improve reliability.

The combination of CVD diamond’s ability to dissipate heat with its ability to be transparent at a broad range of wavelengths makes it ideal for optical designers. Optical designers use the material to build systems that operate at much higher powers than those based on materials such as zinc selenide.

New developments and research for CVD diamond

Recent developments and research have created new markets for CVD diamond and could lead to a number of key product developments in 2014 and beyond. One improvement is boron-doped electroanalysis-grade CVD-diamond electrode material. The material was developed by Element Six and is said to be chemically and biologically inert; meaning it can survive in chemical and radioactive environments that would destroy most other materials. The material properties also give it high sensitivity, selectivity, and responsiveness, which make it useful in electroanalysis equipment.

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