Electronics without silicon is unbelievable. Today, we are using silicon for the manufacturing of Electronic Chip's.

. But, it has many disadvantages , when it is used in power electronic applications, such as bulk in size, slow operating speed etc. Silicon chip, which has supplied several decades worth of remarkable increases in computing power and speed, looks unlikely to be capable of sustaining this pace for more than another decade .

Carbon, Silicon and Germanium belong to the same group in the periodic table.
They have four valance electrons in their outer shell. Pure Silicon and Germanium are semiconductors in normal temperature. So in earlier days they were used widely for the manufacturing of electronic components.

But later it was found that Germanium has many disadvantages compared to silicon, such as large reverse current, less stability towards temperature etc. So the industry focused in developing electronic components using silicon wafers.

Now research people found that Carbon has more advantages than Silicon. By using carbon as the manufacturing material, we can achieve smaller, faster and stronger chips.

In single definition, Diamond Chip or carbon Chip is an Electronic Chip manufactured on a Diamond structural Carbon wafer. OR It can also be defined as the Electronic Chip manufactured using carbon as the wafer.

Firstly, diamond structural carbon is nonconducting in nature. To make it conducting - doping process is performed. Boron--as the p-type doping Agent Nitrogen--as the n-type doping agent. This process is similar to Silicon chip manufacturing. But this process will take more time compared with that of silicon because it is very difficult to diffuse through strongly bonded diamond structure.

A diamond semiconductor operates on 81 GHz frequency, and is more than twice the speed of earlier devices. Developed by the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Japan. According to NTT, this latest development will allow amplification in the millimeter-wave band from 30 to 300 GHz possible for the first time.

 Smaller It

Components Are Possible

Works At Higher Temperature

Than Silicon Chip Power Handling Capacity

Faster Larger

 Smaller
As

Components Are Possible

the size is smaller -- it is possible to cut very smaller lines through diamond structural carbon. We can imagine a transistor whose size is one-hundredth of silicon transistor.

 It

Works At Higher Temperature

At

very high temperature, crystal structure of the silicon will collapse. diamond chip can function well in these elevated temperatures.

But

Diamond

has an extremely high thermal conductivity, can withstand high electric fields, and can be made into a semiconductor -- ideal for power devices.

 It

Works At Higher Temperature (contd..)

They can work at a temperature of up to 1000 degrees Celsius, while silicon chips stop working above 150 degrees Celsius Diamond can also resist voltages up to around 200 volts, compared to around 20 volts for a silicon chip. Due to this power electronics, such as an inverter, can become made much smaller in size.

 Faster

Than Silicon Chip

Mobility

of the electrons inside the doped diamond structural carbon is higher than that of in the silicon structure. the size of the silicon is higher than that of carbon, the chance of collision of electrons, with larger silicon atoms increases as compared to carbon chip.

As

 Larger

Power Handling Capacity

Diamond

has a strongly bonded crystal structure. So carbon chip can work under high power environment. is assumed that a carbon transistor will deliver one watt of power at rate of 100 GHZ. inter phase between low power control circuit with a high power circuit will not be needed as we can directly connect high power circuits with a diamond chip.

It

The

 CARBON

NANOTUBE is considered as the most important component of electronics in the future. It will be the major component in the carbon chip. We can realize carbon nanotube transistors and single molecular logic circuits using carbon nanotube. It is also used for inter connecting various components so the scientists are concentrating on the carbon nanotube research for the development of the future diamond chip. So we can discuss CARBON NANOTUBE in detail

Carbon nanotubes were discovered in 1991.

It is a nano - size cylinder of carbon atoms. They are made of one or several concentric walls in which carbon atoms are arranged in hexagonal pattern, measuring several tens of microns in length and less than a few nanometres in diameter

Imagine a sheet of carbon atoms, which would look like a sheet of hexagons.
If you roll that sheet into a tube, you'd have a carbon nano tube. Carbon nano tube properties depend on how you roll the sheet.

AVERAGE DIAMETER OF 1.2 NM 1.4 NM The Japanese Scientist made the smallest carbon nanotube; the diameter of that carbon nanotube is just 0.4nm.The average diameter of the carbon nanotube is 1.2 nm to 1.4nm.The diameter varies according to the manufacturing process. E-beam lithography can create lines of 50 nm wide. HIGHLY STABLE Carbon nanotubes can with stand high temperatures. It can withstand a temperature up to 2800 degree Celsius in vacuum. Ordinary silicon chip transistors can operate smoothly up to 150 degrees only. HIGH CURRENT DENSITY Maximum current density is one billion ampere per Centimeter Square. Ordinary copper conductors will burn out at a current density of one million amperes per Centimeter Square.

GOOD THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

The thermal conductivity of the carbon nanotube is 6000 w/m/k so the heat dissipation in the circuitry is quickly passed to the heat sink or other cooling mechanism. On comparison pure diamond will transmit heat at the rate of 3320 w/m/k.

HIGH TENSILE STRENGTH

Carbon nanotube has a tensile strength of 45 billion Pascal. Where as a high strength steel alloy break at about 2 billion Pascal .So NASA is planning to use carbon nanotube for spacecraft component manufacturing.

HIGH DENSITY
Carbon nanotube has very high density of 1.33 to 1.40 grams per Cm Square. So NASA is planning to use CNT alloys in the nozzles of future space shuttles

Much more expensive than silicon A four-millimeter-square diamond substrate costs several tens of thousands of yen compared to virtually nothing for silicon. Electricity cannot travel smoothly through diamond
Researches

are seeking impurities that can be added to aid electricity flow.

Thus Diamond Chip replaces the need of silicon chip in every aspect in future generations