RE Isotopically pure Si and SiC.
Atoms are made of a core of Protons and Neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. The number of Protons in the core is the Atomic Number, and that determines what element it is.
But the number of Neutrons can vary. Atoms of the same element with different number of neutrons are called Isotopes. All isotopes of a given element have the same gross chemical behavior (which is determined by the electrons), but differ very slightly in weight, magnetic moment, etc. The number of neutrons in the core also determines how radioactive the isotope is.
Most common elements, like Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, and Silicon, have several stable (non-radioactive) isotopes, as well as several non-stable isotopes. Ordinarily, a sample of any element contains a mixture of all the stable isotopes (an a tiny fraction of the unstable ones.)
Subtle things happen when you create an isotopically pure sample of an element. These subtle changes usually can only be measured with high-precision instruments. But they are useful for scientific and medical methods.
One example is that GE has made an isotopically pure diamond, and found that, as predicted, it conducted heat far better than ordinary diamond.
SiC is a good heat conductor -- though nowhere near as good as diamond. I suspect this research is aimed at finding out if there are any unexpected effects on heat conduction when you make isotopically pure Si and SiC crystals. This would be purely of scientific, not commercial interest.
It was not noted in the source article, but they will certainly have to use isotopically pure Carbon, as well as Silicon to make pure SiC.
The bottom line is that this is not anything likely to affect the stock price of CREE. It is, however, always nice to see people investing in research. Modern technology didn't just come out of nowhere. |
