On February 12th, according to domestic media reports, a Chinese research team artificially synthesized super diamond, potentially breaking the application limitations of cubic diamond.
A team led by Professors Liu Bingbing and Yao Mingguang from the National Key Laboratory of High Pressure and Superhard Materials and the Center for Integrated Extreme High Pressure Science at the School of Physics, Jilin University, in collaboration with Professor Zhu Shengcai of Sun Yat-sen University, achieved a major breakthrough. Their latest research paper, titled "General Approach for Synthesizing Hexagonal Diamond by Heating Post-Graphite Phases," was published in Nature Materials. The paper discovered a novel pathway for graphite to form hexagonal diamond via the post-graphite phase under high temperature and high pressure.
The paper indicates that the team synthesized high-quality hexagonal diamond bulk material for the first time, demonstrating exceptional hardness exceeding that of cubic diamond and excellent thermal stability.
This discovery not only provides an effective method for the artificial synthesis of pure hexagonal diamond, providing strong evidence for its independent existence, but also adds a new member with even better performance to the family of superhard materials and novel carbon materials, potentially breaking through the application limitations of cubic diamond. This discovery also holds important implications for a deeper understanding of the specific origins of diamonds found in meteorites and major geological events.
Currently, countries around the world are pursuing fourth-generation semiconductor technology, and the application of diamond materials has become a crucial breakthrough.
In other words, diamond semiconductor materials will be the king of the future, as their physical properties, such as hardness, acoustic velocity, thermal conductivity, and Young's modulus, are unmatched among all materials.
Diamond is often referred to as the "ultimate power semiconductor material" due to its exceptional physical properties. Its advantages include:
1. Large band gap and strong resistance to dielectric breakdown;
2. High mobility (switching speed) and low power consumption;
3. Stable operation even in high-temperature and high-radiation environments.
Diamond is particularly well-suited for power semiconductors because, as an insulator, its dielectric breakdown strength is 33 times that of silicon, far exceeding that of SiC and GaN. The band gap is 5.5 times that of silicon. The band gap refers to the energy range in which no electronic states exist in a solid material. The larger the band gap, the less likely dielectric breakdown will occur. Diamond power semiconductors can also operate in environments approximately five times hotter and theoretically handle approximately 50,000 times the power.
Japan is undoubtedly a global leader in the research and development of diamond semiconductor materials. From diamond substrate research and development to device design and equipment manufacturing, Japan has already laid a solid foundation, with a gradually improving industrial chain. my country is also catching up.
