Why is Diamond an Electrical Engineer’s Best Friend?
Almost everyone loves diamonds because they are pretty stones. However, diamond has more diverse uses than making jewelry. In fact, when you ask electrical engineers why they love diamonds, they have endless reasons.
The stone has unique properties, primarily its high thermal conductivity. However, in addition to that, diamond’s turning optics, the movement of electrons, and hardness and strength are significant reasons why it’s a favorite among electrical engineers.
Over recent years, manufacturers have come up with synthetic diamond, which is more cost-effective and makes more use of diamonds’ properties. But why do electrical engineers like it in particular?
Diamond as a Super Semi-Conductor
Diamond is easy to transform from an excellent electrical insulator into a highly conductive metal. After that, the diamond turns into a superconductor by adding impurities. Usually, manufacturers use boron, phosphorous, and nitrogen.
Theoretically, diamond semiconductor devices drive circuits at high frequencies (up to 400 GHz). Therefore, diamond semiconductors work perfectly in the following devices:
- Power and speed transistors
- Microwaves
- High-power switches
- Passive devices of high frequency
- Lasers
Once the diamond devices turn thinner and faster, engineers can use them for more advanced uses. Such uses include powering supercomputers, hybrid vehicles, and next-generation instruments.
Diamond’s Wide Bandgap Semi-Conductivity (WBG)
Diamond’s turning optics, among many other brilliant properties, make the stone the ultimate semiconductor material. In addition, diamond is a top heat conductor as it conducts heat five times better than copper.
On top of thermal conduction, electrical insulation makes it better to use. The stone’s dielectric strength means a diamond can isolate high voltages through its thin layers. Compared to silicon, used among other current technologies, you need 50 times less the volume of a diamond. Moreover, silicon has many other limitations, especially energy loss from power generation to end use.
A Summary of Diamond Material Use in Electrical Applications
Indeed, a diamond has many properties that make it a favorite in engineering. Some of the advantages of diamond devices include:
- Surface modeling
- Lens design
- High dielectric abilities
- Resistance to radiation
- High optical transparency
- Wide bandgap
- 90% less energy loss
- Over 300 degrees operating temperature
Natural or Synthetic Diamond? Which is Better?
The crystal structure in natural and synthetic diamonds does not change. As a result, the physical properties also remain constant. On the other hand, synthetic diamonds make it easier to deal with defects during synthesis. This is because there is precise control during processing.
This way, manufacturers and engineers can use the specific properties in various ways. Making synthetic diamonds is no different from the natural process in the earth’s crust. Both high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) make the process more realistic.
While diamond makes timeless and beautiful pieces, electrical engineers find many industrial uses for the stone. For example, aspects like surface modeling and lens design rely on single-point diamond turning for extreme smoothness and optimal quality of the surfaces.
If you are into electrical engineering, it’s best to find a good company with testing infrastructure and extensive in-house design. That way, it becomes easier to adopt optical components for different electrical uses.