GoKawiilKyoto University's SiC transistor design fixes leakage and voltage drift at 600°C
Researchers at Kyoto University led by Mitsuaki Kaneko, Shunya Shibata, and Tsunenobu Kimoto built a silicon carbide transistor that operates at 600°C using standard ion implantation, the same doping process used in commercial chip fabs. Their bottom-gate, double-well design narrowed the gap between designed and measured threshold voltage to under 0.1V at 400°C, a sharp improvement from the more than 2V drift seen in conventional layouts, while also curbing substrate leakage as temperatures rise.
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Silicon electronics typically fail above roughly 250°C, limiting sensors and controls in jet engines, deep wells, and planetary probes. By achieving high-temperature stability using ion implantation rather than custom epitaxial processes like NASA's Venus-rated chips, this approach could let mainstream semiconductor fabs manufacture extreme-environment electronics without building entirely new production lines.
- Bottom-gate design corrects dopant channeling that previously caused over 2V of threshold voltage error.
- Double-well isolation reduces substrate leakage near SiC's theoretical material limit.
- Compatibility with standard ion implantation could make 600°C-capable chips producible in existing commercial fabs.
Fundamentals of Silicon Carbide Technology (Kimoto & Cooper) — Tsunenobu Kimoto, one of the Kyoto University researchers behind this 600°C SiC transistor, co-authored this textbook on silicon carbide materials, devices and processing. It's the natural deep dive if the article's talk of ion implantation, JFET thresholds and pn-junction isolation left you wanting the full story behind SiC power electronics.
See Fundamentals of Silicon Carbide Technology (Kimoto & Cooper) on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: tomshardware.com — Luke James, 2026-08-24
Published there as: “Kyoto University builds transistor that survives 600C temperatures, compatible with standard fabs — Standard ion implantation and bottom-gate design fix leakage and voltage drift”
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