Amorphous silicon carbide can become a new standard in the high-strength materials industry.
Scientists from Delft University of Technology have developed a new material that surpasses kevlar in strength by ten times. Its strength is comparable to graphene and diamonds.
Kevlar has long served as a reliable protection against wear and abrasion, especially in bulletproof vests and helmets.
The new substance-amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) — promises to revolutionize not only protective gear, but also the world of microchips.
Associate Professor Richard Norte, who led the project, explains amorphism as a random arrangement of atoms, as opposed to being ordered in crystalline materials like diamonds. This feature does not make the material brittle, but rather provides it with a strength of 10 gigapascals (GPa).
Norte's example will help you understand this figure: to break a strip of tape corresponding to 10 HPa, you need to hang ten cars on it.
But durability isn't the only advantage. Amorphous silicon carbide is suitable for creating sensitive chips, due to its mechanical qualities.
Scientists have applied a new method of on-chip testing to explore the potential of a-SiC. The technology made it possible to create high tensile forces by growing amorphous silicon carbide films and suspending them.
The developed material is easy to scale, unlike expensive graphene and diamonds. Amorphous silicon carbide can be used in space research, DNA sequencing, sensitive microchips, and solar panels.
"Amorphous silicon carbide opens up new horizons for microchip research," Norte said.
Scientists from Delft University of Technology have developed a new material that surpasses kevlar in strength by ten times. Its strength is comparable to graphene and diamonds.
Kevlar has long served as a reliable protection against wear and abrasion, especially in bulletproof vests and helmets.
The new substance-amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) — promises to revolutionize not only protective gear, but also the world of microchips.
Associate Professor Richard Norte, who led the project, explains amorphism as a random arrangement of atoms, as opposed to being ordered in crystalline materials like diamonds. This feature does not make the material brittle, but rather provides it with a strength of 10 gigapascals (GPa).
Norte's example will help you understand this figure: to break a strip of tape corresponding to 10 HPa, you need to hang ten cars on it.
But durability isn't the only advantage. Amorphous silicon carbide is suitable for creating sensitive chips, due to its mechanical qualities.
Scientists have applied a new method of on-chip testing to explore the potential of a-SiC. The technology made it possible to create high tensile forces by growing amorphous silicon carbide films and suspending them.
The developed material is easy to scale, unlike expensive graphene and diamonds. Amorphous silicon carbide can be used in space research, DNA sequencing, sensitive microchips, and solar panels.
"Amorphous silicon carbide opens up new horizons for microchip research," Norte said.
