________________________________ From: Paul Koning via cctalk <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 1:31 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [cctalk] Re: The transistor invention
> On Oct 25, 2025, at 4:12 PM, ben via cctalk <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 2025-10-25 2:01 p.m., Paul Koning via cctalk wrote: >>> ... >> "carborundum" is better known as silicon carbide. It has been a niche >> semiconductor material for quite a while; I remember reading about its use >> for blue light lasers, back around 1980. Nowadays it's mainstream for >> certain application areas, like high power devices or high temperature >> operation. >> There are also silicon carbide resistors, very nice for high power >> non-inductive applications. Ham Radio people know of these for "dummy >> loads". I have one that happily takes 100 watts for minutes on end, and if >> I were to dunk it into transformer oil for cooling it could take a kilowatt. >> paul > I think too that the same diodes are used as high voltage rectifiers in the > better hi-fi audio using valves. > Ben. Could be, but I'm not sure why. Silicon diodes have been used in high voltage service for many decades. It may be a case of using odd technology just because. That would fit with stuff like using vacuum tubes, or using oversized copper wiring, or any number of other weird things "high end audio" people do. It would not be quite as strange as gold plated fiber optic connectors. paul Putting silicon carbide semiconductors in the same boat as silicon it missing what is going on. They are both semiconductors but completely different. They are about as different as sodium is from table salt. Dwight
